Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2016. The Minister for Justice was wondering how I felt about this bill, and I thought I might end the suspense for him while we wait for our next speaker to come into the chamber. I see that he is now here but, since I am speaking, I will make a couple of observations about this bill.

Firstly, it is preferable to avoid the detention of children wherever possible, and I certainly hope that the availability of control orders can be used as a means of avoiding detention of children—which, obviously, should be a last resort. I know that Australia takes its international law obligations in relation to the rights of children very seriously. I would like to see a slight extension of that. For example, I would like to see us ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. That is something that a number of people have been speaking about in this place for some time, and I would like that to happen. When we talk about control orders, I also think it is important to put on record—as the member for Moreton has just done—that we are a very successful multicultural society in Australia. We should be very proud of our very successful multicultural society and we should, in our bipartisan approaches to national security issues, make sure that we are continuously mindful of the success that we have had in bringing so many different cultures together. We are always stronger when we work together as a community and when we are cohesive, and I am very proud to be an Australian on that basis. I commend the bill to the House.

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