Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak to this motion. In doing so I reflect that William Wilberforce is regarded by many people as one of the greatest parliamentarians. He was born to a wealthy merchant family and attended Cambridge University, where he became lifelong friends with William Pitt the younger. Pitt was to become a member of parliament and Prime Minister at the age of just 24, a position he held for some 17 years. Neither Wilberforce nor Pitt were renowned for serious study at Cambridge, as they enjoyed the life of the university. Among other things, Wilberforce was known for his fine singing voice. Like Pitt, he was elected to parliament in his early twenties. Despite his friendship with Pitt, Wilberforce never held ministerial office.

Why, then, is this backbencher, an independent MP who served in the House of Commons for some 45 years, regarded as one of the greatest parliamentarians? After being elected to parliament, Wilberforce was recruited by the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade and became their parliamentary leader. Many will have seen the movie Amazing Grace, which marked the bicentenary of the 1807 vote in the House of Commons against the slave trade. It depicts the struggle for over 20 years by the abolitionists, led by Wilberforce, to overcome the evil of slavery. The film depicts a tension in the mind of Wilberforce between serving his religious cause and serving the nation through parliament. In one memorable scene in the film his friend Pitt asks Wilberforce, 'Do you intend to use your beautiful voice to praise the Lord or change the world?' At the urging of the Clapham Sect, Wilberforce eventually concluded that he could do both. Indeed, his epitaph in Westminster Abbey reflects this choice. It reads in part:

Eminent as he was in every department of public labour, and a leader in every work of charity, whether to relieve the temporal or the spiritual wants of his fellow-men, his name will ever be specially identified with those exertions which, by the blessing of God, removed from England the guilt of the African slave trade, and prepared the way for the abolition of slavery in every colony of the empire: in the prosecution of these objects he relied, not in vain, on God; but in the progress he was called to endure great obloquy and great opposition: he outlived, however, all enmity…

Indeed, through sincerity of purpose and civility of manners, Wilberforce attracted many to his long fight for the dignity and liberty of each individual. His courage and perseverance ultimately won through. But it was a long struggle, which endured many decades after the first breakthrough in 1807. There were many setbacks and many more decades before slavery was abolished throughout the developed world.

These reflections bring me to the motion before the House. Regrettably, slavery still exists in the world today. It may be more subtle, less obvious, hidden in places, but there is little doubt that many people, probably millions of people, are enslaved, often but not only in third world countries, and often in the production of goods for sale internationally. Our task, like that of Wilberforce and others two centuries ago, is to get rid of the evil of slavery in all its guises throughout the world. A modern slavery act would aid that cause. As evidence from the United Kingdom indicates, it would be game changing in raising awareness of modern slavery issues for many businesses.

I therefore commend the report of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade to the House, especially the work of the Foreign Affairs and Aid Sub-Committee chaired by my friend the member for Dunkley, and I congratulate him on this work. I hope that in due course a modern slavery bill would have the support of all members of this parliament.

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