Andrew Wilkie (Denison, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak on the motion moved by the member for North Sydney in recognition of World Day Against the Death Penalty. As one of the co-convenors of the Amnesty International Parliamentary Group, I know that this issue is one that has strong support from across the parliament, including from my fellow co-convenors the member for North Sydney, the member for Scullin and Senator Rice.

The death penalty is patently abhorrent, a shocking abuse of the power of the state and deeply unethical. It simply has no place in the justice system of any civilised country, not least because it deprives people of one of the most basic human rights, the right to life. Indeed, it is entirely fruitless as a deterrent to crime given that there is no evidence to prove that it deters people any more than imprisonment. The death penalty is also entirely at odds with international law. For instance, it is contrary to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights. The fact that other countries think it is okay is nothing short of appalling.

Thank God, then, that the world has made great progress on moving away from the death penalty. Indeed, 140 nations have now abolished it, compared to only 16 countries just under 40 years ago. But, despite this good news, in 2015 more people were executed than in any year in the past 25 years—a total of 1,600 people, at an average rate of over four people a day. And this was not only in horrid places like North Korea, because some of the biggest economies in the world and some of Australia's closest allies still practise capital punishment, including Indonesia, China, India, Japan and the United States. Many countries still implement the death penalty for drug offences, including the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. In fact, in some countries like Iran, Malaysia and Singapore it is the only sentence for drug offences.

Moreover, in Japan there are 13 prisoners on death row for their role in the sarin gas attacks in the Tokyo subway system in 1995. Of course none of us excuse this despicable crime, but it is never okay for the state to take a life as a form of punishment. In Pakistan, Imdad Ali is on death row for the murder of a religious teacher in 2001 despite being diagnosed with a mental disability and the fact that international law clearly prohibits the use of the death penalty against people with mental or intellectual disabilities. Of course, the recent execution in Indonesia of drug traffickers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran put the death penalty back on the agenda in Australia.

Australia obviously has the opportunity to influence these recalcitrant countries and we can do that through our diplomatic relations with the rest of the world, especially with some of our closest neighbours and trading partners in the Asia-Pacific region. That is why, like my colleagues who have supported this motion, I call on the government to encourage other countries to support a resolution for a global moratorium on the death penalty during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly negotiations.

But we need to do more, like telling specific countries both publicly and privately that capital punishment is never acceptable. The fact that some countries like China are important to Australia's economy does not mean they should get off lightly. Indeed, the reality is quite the opposite. The significant bilateral economic relationship we have keeps us noticed and more influential than we would otherwise be.

I applaud Amnesty International for their hard work and advocacy on this issue, and I again thank my fellow co-convenors of the Amnesty International Parliamentary Group and members from across the parliament for supporting this motion. I was also pleased to join Amnesty and parliamentary colleagues last week on World Day Against the Death Penalty for a candlelight vigil here in the parliament.

Australia has the opportunity to be a global leader in the campaign against the death penalty. We know that the death penalty lacks popular support and so it is the job of all of us to keep up the pressure. Just as most if not all grave injustices are righted eventually, I hope, as I am sure many others in this place hope, that one day we will see a world where the death penalty is abolished for good.

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