Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Ryan for this motion today. I would like to speak on this motion. On Sunday, 1 February this year, the imprisonment of Australian journalist Peter Greste came to an end. To the Greste family, I would like to say this: you have been a source of admiration. Your persistent stoicism, support and love for Peter is a credit to you as a family and makes me feel humbled and proud to acknowledge you as fellow Australians. In circumstances where at times it must have seemed as though all was lost, you never gave up hope and the dignity with which you continued to campaign for Peter's release has been a shining example for the world.

To Peter's parents, Juris and Lois, and as a parent myself, I cannot imagine what you endured for 13 months in not knowing whether you would ever see your son again. To Peter's brothers, Michael and Andrew, you are both a credit to your family in the way you supported your parents and your brother through all your efforts in travelling to Cairo to visit him and, when back in Australia, maintaining a public campaign to ensure his plight was never forgotten. I want to take the time to specifically mention Peter's brother Andrew, who I had the great pleasure of meeting late last year. I want to highlight my admiration at the calm and respectful manner in which Andrew took up his brother's cause at a time when he and the rest of his family must have been frantic and emotionally distraught as to his brother's welfare. Juris and Lois, all your boys have done you proud.

While Peter's release from prison in Egypt, after more than 400 days in detention, was a source of enormous relief to his family and to the wider Australian community, it highlights for us that all the freedoms we enjoy in this country are freedoms that we can never and should never take for granted. For the vast majority of Australians, the detention of a journalist for simply doing his job was at odds with our core values of freedom of expression and an independent media. What we need to be mindful of though is that the situation in Egypt in the past four years has been characterised by enormous political and social upheaval and grave national security challenges.

Peter Greste was in the wrong place at the wrong time. His arrival in Egypt coincided with the crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and it being branded a terrorist organisation. Al-Jazeera was seen by the Egyptian government as key part of that problem and, as one of the employees of al-Jazeera English, Peter and his colleagues were unfortunate to be caught in what was a wide sweep by Egyptian security authorities of all groups considered to be sympathetic to the brotherhood. Peter's case needs to be seen through this prism rather than being seen in any way as a hostile action directed against Australia.

In this spirit, I want to show my gratitude to Egyptian President el-Sisi for his intervention. I want to thank Egypt's Ambassador to Australia, His Excellency Dr Hassan El-Laithy, who appeared on this matter before this Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade. In the time allocated, I will not be able to mention everyone else who worked to secure Peter's release, but I do want to make specific reference to the personal representations made by the Prime Minister; the Attorney-General, Senator the Hon. George Brandis QC; Australia's Ambassador to Egypt, Dr Ralph King; and Egypt's Foreign Minister Shoukry among many, many others.

I also cannot speak highly enough of the work done by Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Julie Bishop. Her tireless efforts in mobilising the world's diplomatic community in support of Peter's release was nothing short of masterful. At a time when it appears that nuanced subtlety, respect and courtesy is disappearing from our world, Minister Bishop has shown diplomacy to be an art that transcends the blunt instrument of sabre rattling. As a result, Australia's relationship with Egypt has emerged from this incident deeper and more respectful and, I hope, with a greater understanding and a level of trust that will enable us to progress together with even greater security into the future.

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