Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Powers, Offences and Other Measures) Bill 2015. This bill is particularly significant to me in my role as the federal member for Paterson. No matter if I am at the very north of my electorate in Forster, south in Raymond Terrace, in Maitland or out at the Port Stephens peninsula, the topic of crime prevention remains a key concern for all of my constituents in Paterson. It is a sentiment that is not lost on this government, a government which today has renewed its commitment to creating safer communities for all of us to enjoy.

By providing our law enforcement agencies with the tools and powers they need to do their jobs and by ensuring the Commonwealth's laws are robust and effective, this bill reflects the government's efforts to target criminals and reduce the heavy cost of crime to all Australians. This bill contains a range of measures across various Commonwealth acts. They include measures to implement tougher penalties for gun related crime, to increase the operation and effectiveness of serious drug and precursor offences, to increase penalties for forced-marriage offences, to ensure our criminal offence regimes are robust and effective, and to ensure efficient arrangements for administering criminal law and related provisions. In this way, the government are delivering on our commitment to tackle crime and make our communities safe. And that is the role of members of parliament: to make our communities safer havens.

The amendments will have a major impact on the lives of many, particularly those in Paterson. In 2014, it was with great horror that I learnt of a young girl, 12 years of age, who was forced to wed a man 14 years her senior. The girl was not living on the other side of the world. Her parents were not unaware of this barbaric arrangement. The wedding took place in Raymond Terrace—sadly, the same town where my electorate office is located. The wedding was arranged by her father with the blessing of a Hunter-based Muslim cleric. In the absence of her family or the church advocating for her basic human rights, this young girl would have benefited from our legal system providing a stronger framework and support. I am proud that the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Powers, Offences and Other Measures) Bill 2015 delivers this support.

This young girl's alleged husband has already been jailed for 7½ years, charged with the persistent sexual abuse of a child. It disgusts me. Last month, her father was sentenced to at least six years jail for procuring a 12-year-old child for unlawful sexual activity and being an accessory before the fact of sexual intercourse with a child. I am disgusted. How could anyone do this to a child, particularly their own child?

The case sparked debate on how widespread the problem of child marriage is in Australia. A children's legal centre has stated that, in the two years prior to that young girl's illegal marriage, it identified 250 cases of forced marriages involving a child, and I am informed that these statistics, without doubt, are only the very tip of the iceberg.

Accordingly, the government is introducing new laws into the parliament today to clarify what constitutes a forced marriage and to increase the penalties for conduct that causes a person to enter into a forced marriage. As a consequence of these amendments, a child under the age of 16 is presumed incapable of consenting to marriage. Any person who engages in conduct that causes a person who does not understand the marriage ceremony to enter into marriage, such as through arranging or officiating at the marriage of a child, may be committing an offence.

In addition, these changes, if successful, will increase the penalty for engaging in conduct to cause another person to enter into a forced marriage. The penalty for an aggravated forced-marriage offence will be increased from a maximum of seven years imprisonment to a maximum of nine years imprisonment. The forced-marriage offence is 'aggravated' if the victim is under 18 years of age. We will also increase the maximum penalty for non-aggravated forced-marriage offences from the existing four years to seven years imprisonment.

Forced marriage is a hideous crime and it is something I feel very, very strongly about. The criminalisation of forced marriage in Australia in 2013 signalled that forced marriage is never acceptable in our country—and it is our country. Accordingly, it is vital that criminal law be supported by community measures to detect and prevent forced marriages, because, if such a heinous crime can happen within striking distance of my electorate office, without the right deterrence it can and will continue to happen all over our country.

I applaud the government for listening to my representations on this matter and the views of many who were appalled by this heartbreaking story. Introducing practical tools to guard against forced marriages is well and truly appreciated. Education is crucial to changing behaviour, and, as such, this government has taken the following steps to address and educate people about the issue of forced marriage.

The government are providing funding of $485,925 over four years to prevent and address forced marriage by providing ongoing education. We have launched the Forced Marriage Community Pack, which provides information and resources on forced marriages; maintained the operation of specialist teams within the AFP to investigate forced marriage; and hosted a series of forced-marriage workshops in each capital city throughout April and May 2015 to raise awareness of forced marriage amongst front-line officers and service providers. I am sure that everyone in this House shares my hope that these changes in the bill will prevent any further person from organising or officiating at forced marriages in Australia, particularly a marriage involving an innocent child.

As I previously touched on, the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Powers, Offences and Other Measures) Bill 2015 also offers support for the Paterson community by way of introducing measures to prosecute individuals who knowingly engage in large-scale drug and precursor importations. Significantly, the new laws will ensure that it is simpler to prosecute individuals who, to date, have evaded punishment because they have managed their involvement in a drug operation in such a way that the prosecution could not prove that they had sufficient knowledge of planned illegal activities. The first change will ensure that the same burden of proof applies to cases involving an attempted drug offence and to cases where the offence was actually committed by the accused. Under this change where a person attempts to commit a serious crime, or a precursor offence, the prosecution will only need to prove that the person knew there was a risk that the substance involved was an illicit drug. This will make it simpler to prosecute individuals who are part of a larger drug enterprise but who deliberately ignore obvious signs on how their actions fit into the broader scheme. This amendment is particularly important where a controlled operation is used as part of the drug investigation.

The amendments I speak on today also simplify the offences for importing the chemicals used to manufacture illicit drugs like methamphetamine and ice. I welcome these changes, in particular in relation to my electorate of Paterson and the Hunter region at large which has seen over the past two years a 71 per cent increase in the use of the drug ice—the figure is horrifying. This ice epidemic is prevalent across the entire Hunter region but is found in concentrated pockets in the region, and Port Stephens in my electorate is one such pocket. On 5 June this year the Port Stephens Local Area Command undertook a drug bust operation in the Heatherbrae and Raymond Terrace area. Alarmingly of the 87 tests conducted, 26 returned a positive reading to illicit drugs—this is a ratio of one positive for every 3.3 drivers tested.

Under these amendments the prosecution will no longer have to prove that the importer intended to use these chemicals to produce illicit drugs or pass them on to a drug manufacturer for that purpose. It will be enough that the person imported a precursor without the appropriate authorisations. This change is intended to make sure our laws keep pace with the methodologies of the drug traffickers. It will assist in prosecutions of persons involved in the importation of precursors but who deliberately avoid knowing their place in the larger criminal operation.

In my electorate late last year a clandestine methamphetamine drug lab was uncovered in suburban Nelson Bay. It has since been discovered that it was a large supplier of the deadly drug to the Port Stephens area and was also linked to bikie gangs. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of ice and meth oil was uncovered from the Nelson Bay home. These drugs were being sold on our streets, in our electorates. I am glad as a government we are taking a strong approach in relation to this.

The changes in this legislation will not affect people who bring these chemicals into Australia with the appropriate authorisations. These authorisations exist specifically to minimise the risk that precursors can be diverted into drug manufacturing. Increasing the avenues to prosecute individuals who are knowingly involved in importing and manufacturing illicit drugs will, it is hoped, decrease the amount of drugs on our streets. Decreasing the prevalence of drugs in our community ensures not only a healthier population but a safer one as well.

The spike of drug use in my electorate concerns me deeply. With the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research reporting a fivefold increase in people being caught using ice in the New South Wales Upper Hunter region, laws to prosecute people associated with the illegal importation of ingredients used to make the harmful drug are welcomed. They are welcomed by my regional command because they are determined to make a difference in the outcome. In the Port Stephens LGA alone there were 10.6 cases per 100,000 people being picked up for something else in the year to September 2010 and in the year to September 2014—four years on—there were 94.2 amphetamines incidents. Of course, this is a deeply concerning trend and without intervention it shows no signs of easing.

As the ABC recently reported, as the demand for the drug grows the price of it falls. It is a vicious cycle and one that has encouraged the illegal importation of ingredients used to make the illicit substances. The side effects of using manufactured drugs, such as ice, include increased heart rate, hallucinations, paranoia, aggressive behaviour and psychosis, with studies showing prolonged consumption can have permanent impacts on the user's brain. Many in the community are scared to be around people under the influence of ice—and rightly so when there are countless cases involving trained professionals, such as paramedics, healthcare workers and police officers, being assaulted by ice users, let alone the innocent bystanders.

The Abbott government understands what a scourge these drugs are on our community. We are determined to tackle the problem from a number of angles. In addition to increasing the operation and effectiveness of serious drug and precursor offences, this government has introduced measures such as the National Ice Taskforce to stamp out the problem and improve the safety of our community. This combined approach is a shining example of the multifaceted approach this government adopts to creating a positive change.

This bill introduces a variety of measures which improve the safety of all Australians on a number of different fronts. The amendments have been welcomed by many in the community and from members on both sides of this House but I am not surprised. This bill, like so many already introduced by this government, is proof that the Abbott government delivers on its promises and is serious about cleaning up our communities. Accordingly, I strongly support the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Powers, Offences and Other Measures) Bill 2015.

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