Louise Markus (Macquarie, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

When as colleagues we rise to speak on such an issue as the recent terrorism attacks around the globe, we join in a non-partisan way not only to speak on behalf of our own people, Australians who, in the recent attacks in Paris, have been directly affected but also to speak on an issue that impacts every part of the globe in one way or another. When members spoke today, they reflected on this government's first priority, and that is of course the safety of everyday Australians. But I am sure that as I and others watched the unfolding of the recent events in Paris, the question for all of us was: how, in a very challenging, unpredictable environment around the globe, do we get the balance right between an open and free democracy and putting those barriers, laws and resources in place to protect our people?

As we reflect on what has happened in various parts of the world, and I will talk about that a little bit later, what has happened is brutal, evil, unfounded behaviour which has resulted in tragic loss of life where innocent men, women and children—people who are grandfathers, grandmothers, fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, husbands and wives; people that have connections and people that are loved—are tragically taken from us. Of course, others have to deal with the long recovery from injury, sometimes to return to a life similar to before, but other times not. Anybody that has observed these events directly has a long-term psychological challenge ahead of them.

But what do we do at this point in time? We acknowledge the grief, the loss, and we have an emotional response, but at the same time what we see in leadership is that capacity to calmly look at how we move forward from here. It has already been mentioned earlier that this requires leaders coming together. This requires nations working together in a coalition that aims to fight to ensure that we maintain our values, those values that underpin our democracy, and that we work with determination and resoluteness to defend and protect those freedoms that we hold so dear.

As we have seen in recent days and weeks, often when we see these attacks take place the result can be division. We question: who do we trust; how can we trust? I have many friends that are of Muslim faith. Indeed, the Mahdi community that hold their celebrations in Marsden Park are here because they have been persecuted. Their mosques have been burnt down in Pakistan and other parts of our region. They have come here because they seek safety from persecution and from their women being raped. They come here and they invest in Australia. They raise the Australian flag on Australia Day. They encourage and connect their community to business, to work. They invest in their young people and talk to them about the importance and the value of becoming an Australian.

The government's approach has several important layers. I want to focus on them very briefly. As a government we want to maintain a strong multicultural society. We come from all nations around the globe. We have a very strong history of being able to do that, probably better than any other country in the world. We also want to help those institutions and sections of our society to combat violent extremism ideology where it emerges. We want to challenge and undermine the appeal of terrorist propaganda, particularly online. Importantly, we want to intervene and divert individuals away from their violent extremist views.

We look at where attacks have taken place most recently and, of course, we have reflected on Paris. I want to talk about the people. There were 120 killed and more than 300 injured. Of course, Emma Parkinson, an Australian, was very brave during that event. In Beirut 40 people were killed. But these are 40 families, 120 families and 300 families. The Russian airliner has been mentioned over Sinai, when 224 people were killed. These are families that are directly affected by evil. Mali and Ankara have been mentioned. Momentarily I want to reflect on Curtis Cheng. While I did not have the opportunity to know him, as someone who has lived in Greater Western Sydney for a number of years, I have many connections with the police that work in the region. In fact, the husband of one of my staff works for the police. Immediately all of us were on the phone to each other asking: 'Is everybody safe?' These are people that we know, potentially, that can be impacted. Of course, Martin Place has been mentioned.

If we are going to really protect people, what has to be the focus is the evil threat from ISIL. It is a global issue. It must be addressed at its source in the Middle East. It is important that our involvement in the coalition efforts in Syria and Iraq is resolute and effective. Strategically, ISIL wants to create division between us.

It is also vital that legislation and the environment of legislation is able to empower our police, our defence forces and our key people in the intelligence community with the powers and the resources they need so that they can take action. We have invested $1.3 billion in our agencies. That was mentioned earlier by the member who spoke about the cost. The cost is worth it. It is about keeping us safe. It is so vital. I want to particularly acknowledge ASIO, Defence, our police, Border Protection officers and communities around Australia that are coming together to fight for what is important to us—our freedom.

Again I want to pass on my condolences and acknowledge the deep sorrow we feel for those who have lost loved ones recently and over recent years through terrorism attacks. I want to affirm and acknowledge the government, with the support of the opposition, being resolute in determining to ensure that we do everything we can to defeat ISIS.

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