Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Dawson for raising this serious issue. I do not agree with all of the arguments that he makes, but it is a very serious issue. The terrible events that have taken Australian lives in Martin Place, Endeavour Hills and Parramatta are certainly things worth focusing on. The basic chronology of events that he outlines in paragraphs (4)(a), (b) and (c)—the attempts of the 'Sydney Five' and the Benbrika group and the plot to attack Holsworthy barracks—are all very serious incidents which could have gone a lot further.

The opposition wants and has achieved bipartisanship on national security legislation. We have so far supported four tranches of legislation which have been sent the Intelligence and Security Committee for refining and ensuring they strike the right balance between the need for security and the rights of the individual and, above all, the safety and security of the Australian people. Bipartisanship and the need to balance the rights of security and privacy are what we are examining now in the citizenship amendment legislation. We dealt very effectively with it by sending the metadata legislation back.

The entire world faces the threat of violent extremism outlined by the member for Dawson. It is not unique to Australia, to France, to Israel or to the United States. The proliferation on the internet particularly of violent jihadism has enabled some deluded young people to be radicalised in privacy, in their own bedrooms, all around the world—sometimes without even their parents being aware of it.

In response to the Paris attacks, some people said they were caused by the West victimising members of the Islamic faith. I do not accept that, but I would note the words of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the member for Sydney, when she said yesterday:

… it's important for all members of parliament to be leaders and to bring our community together. I think we by our own actions and words need to set an example of unity for Australia. Of course there is today a genuine security threat in Australia and the best way that we can reduce that security threat is to support our intelligence and security agencies but support community building too.

She said the most important partners we have in that fight against violent extremism are among the Muslim community, as was outlined by the former Director-General of ASIO.

I support the comments of the Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, who said he would not have a bar of the notion—he was talking about the violence in Israel—that, if a mother or father is randomly attacked in the street, then, so long as you go back far enough in time, cast your net wide enough of draw your bow long enough, it is somehow the victim's fault. This is a very important point to understand.

Rabbi James Kennard, one of the leading rabbis in Melbourne, in a wonderful article outlining the ethics of this issue, wrote:

Explanations are not justifications. But sometimes they come dangerously close …

In this search for the political motivation behind terrorism, some have crossed the line between explaining and excusing—

arguing that—

… "curtailing freedoms", "duplicitous foreign policies" and "military interventions" are the causes of terrorism …

The danger that flows from legitimating terrorism by acknowledging the justice of the grievances that "provoke" such actions, is that violent actions are then rewarded when those grievances are addressed. The message is clear, terrorism achieves results. Those who tell us that only by understanding terrorism's political causes and alleviating them will we see a more peaceful world could not be more wrong; such "understanding" only encourages more to seek the benefits of violence.

  …   …   …

… portraying terrorism as the inevitable consequence of external factors is not just dangerous and incorrect. It is morally wrong. It denies that the terrorist has his or her own human ability to make choices … Every child knows that killing innocent people is wrong—

whether it is done here in Australia or anywhere else.

We all have to work together. We have to ensure the security of Australia, but we must never say that some cause, this or that cause, justifies people killing people in Australia or anywhere else in the world, whether it is Paris, Melbourne or anywhere else. (Time expired)

See this speech in context