Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We've all been sickened by the stories of the kidnap, trafficking and sale of women and girls as sex slaves by ISIS. Seeing the courageous survivors tell their stories, it's sickening to see such appalling mental and physical torture. We must seek to find and punish the perpetrators, and we must do all we can for the victims. I believe the government should be commended for its vigour in pursuing this important aim. With the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Act, the government granted the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection the right to strip any dual national who commits these crimes with ISIS of their Australian citizenship. Though it's not always possible to gather proof and extradite offenders from conflict zones, the government will not allow perpetrators of these crimes to return to Australia. We will not permit them to continue to call themselves Australians. We will not count among our number dual citizens who reject everything that we so cherish. We also, with the support of members opposite, passed amendments to the Foreign Evidence Act and other national security legislation which enhance our ability to gather and exploit evidence gathered overseas in trials of returned fighters. These amendments enable evidence received from foreign partners on an agency-to-agency basis to be deployed in prosecutions here in Australia.

The government were among the most vocal supporters of attempts on the UN Security Council to refer the crisis in Syria to the International Criminal Court so we can hold individual fighters to account. We supported a resolution that strongly condemned these sorts of crimes, though both of these actions were vetoed. As the Minister for Foreign Affairs has reported, the government continues to call on the Security Council to involve the International Criminal Court and give strong support to the 'Bringing Daesh to Justice' initiative of Belgium, Iraq and the UK. Ultimately, it is only through international cooperation that we will be able to progress these aims, and that is the path that the Australian government are following. So we are already doing what we can in collaboration with our international partners to bring those Australians who commit crimes in the Middle East to justice. In the case of those who are still actively engaged in armed conflict against our national interests, they live in constant danger. I understand, for example, from media reports that Australian ISIS fighter Khaled Sharrouf was killed in a coalition air strike only last month.

Though it is important to investigate Australians who have committed these crimes and to prosecute them where their involvement is suspected, what is more important is to prevent more of these crimes being committed in the future and to provide support to those who have been victims. To do that, we must destroy ISIS and bring an end to the conflict in the Middle East. We are making considerable progress. The coalition has retaken Mosul and is beginning the work of taking Raqqa. Australia remains a fully committed member of the coalition and under the defence white paper we continue to increase our defence spending to ensure that we have the resources we need to maintain that commitment.

We're also doing what we can to support the victims. In total, our committed humanitarian and stabilisation assistance for both the Syria and Iraq crises since 2011 is over $500 million, while we've committed another $220 million going forward to respond to the Syrian conflict. In Iraq, Australian aid has delivered food and shelter to one million people each month and, in particular, provided access to health services for over 200,000 women. The additional $10 million the government allocated to aid for Mosul's civilians provided food, medical assistance and temporary shelter as well as support to women and girls. Of course, in the final resort, we also have one of the most generous refugee settlement programs in the world and are accepting an extra 12,000 people out of Syria.

Sexual violence, whether in war or in the home, is deeply abhorrent. It is a crime against humanity and an affront to what makes us human beings. We must do what we can to stamp it out and to help those whose lives it blights. I commend the government for its action to date and am confident the foreign minister will continue to make a difference in this vital task in the future.

Debate adjourned.

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