Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to sum up this debate. I thank the members of the House for their contributions to the debate. I particularly thank all members for the multipartisan spirit in which this matter is being progressed very promptly through the House today, and as I know it will be progressed through the other house today. We booked the hall, so we need to use it. We need to get the bill passed today and it needs to get out of the parliament and into our laws so that there is a very, very clear message being sent about the resolve of this parliament and of our government.

It is a great shame, I'm sure members will agree, that this is what we have to be doing today—that the idiocy, the carelessness, the recklessness, the vengefulness of some characters out there would mean that we would have to be here today passing these types of laws. But when they're necessary, you must act—you must pass them and you must act swiftly to do so. That's what our government is doing, and we're doing it with the support of the parliament, for which we're appreciative.

The Criminal Code Amendment (Food Contamination) Bill is a powerful denunciation of the deplorable, cowardly and idiotic conduct that we've seen. It's not just about the initial intentional act that has caused this crisis and this anxiety and concern, but it is also the follow-up actions of people who should know better, and if they don't know better they should now know better. It's important for our law enforcement agencies, whether at the state level or at the Commonwealth level, to have the powers, the tools, the penalties and the support of this parliament and of the government to get on and do their job and keep our community safe, keep Australian families safe, keep kids safe, and also keep our farmers' livelihoods safe. We're dealing currently with many challenges in our rural sector, particularly in relation to the drought. To have this come on top of that is a deplorable situation to find ourselves in. But that's what we are sent here to do. We're sent here to deal with these issues and that's what we are doing, by moving swiftly to address these issues with the Criminal Code Amendment (Food Contamination) Bill, which gives effect to the government's priority to keep Australians safe and to support the livelihoods of farmers.

The bill will increase the penalty for existing offences in section 380 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code, which relates to the contamination of goods. These offences currently carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. We need to be clear about this: those who have commissioned acts of intent in this area are already captured by the existing law and that penalty, up until where we're standing today, has been 10 years. As a result of the measures that we are progressing through the parliament today, that will now increase to a maximum 15 years imprisonment. The bill will also introduce new offences that replicate the existing offences in section 380 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code, but with the mental element of recklessness being required, rather than intention, in relation to whether their conduct causes public alarm or anxiety, causes economic loss or causes harm, or creates a risk of harm, to public health in Australia. It is basically a law against idiocy. That's what it is. If people want to act like that, they need to know what the consequences are. And there are consequences for their actions, but the ultimate decision on the full extent of any penalty that will be put in place will be left to the usual judicial process. Measures also exist at the state and territory jurisdictional level which provide that discretion to the law enforcement agencies and, indeed, the courts, who ultimately deal with these matters.

For the most serious cases that have national security implications, the bill proposes amendments to ensure that sabotage of Australia's food supply is captured by the extended sabotage offences, and the penalties for these offences range from seven to 25 years imprisonment. When things like this happen, you need to take the opportunity to think about the broader possible risks that can occur from these events, and I commend the Attorney on his work in identifying these additional areas. I'm sure there'll be further work and focus applied by the government and, indeed, across the chamber to ensure that, when it comes to Australia's national security and keeping Australians safe from terrorism, we're all working together to achieve the best possible result. Recklessness will be enough for significant jail time, and in the future we will capture more serious offences that would affect Australia's food supply if it were subject to sabotage and that would be a threat to national security if sabotage were done.

There are other measures that the government is taking, and I imagine there will be other measures the government will take. We are watching this closely. The legislative measures that are before the House today are our first set of responses, but we're already providing $1 million to make more food safety officials urgently available to increase detection, fast-track recalls and assist the strawberry-farming industry to rebuild confidence. That matches what has been provided by the Queensland government to spend on advertising and marketing to assist the rehabilitation of the industry. The Commonwealth Department of Health will work with the Queensland Department of Health and Safe Food Production Queensland to ensure additional resources are made urgently available, including additional inspection officers. These measures are in addition to measures outlined by the Minister for Health and the regional services minister. The food standards authority, Food Standards Australia New Zealand, will continue to lead the coordination of product recalls through a government, state, industry and retailer task force. There will be an investigation of the supply chain as well to understand whether there are systemic breaches in the supply chain.

While these measures are in place, it is important customers and families are aware and take their own actions, closely inspecting and dicing fruit—cutting it up not cutting it out, and not cutting our farmers out, as we've all said. That remains an effective deterrent. These are the measures that we believe will assist. There are other things we need to be very mindful of—and I've been having these discussions in recent days—and they are to ensure that we do not lose these strawberry fields. These fields, if you don't pick them, get contaminated, and that means they have to be walked away from. There are some real pressures right now, and our government is looking at ways that we can ensure that we minimise that risk. One of the most obvious ways to do that is, as we've all been discussing, for people to go out and restore their normal habits of buying strawberries and other fruit. It's not a call to a national strawberry binge, but if you feel so inclined over the next few days to give it a big running-up start, well, by all means do so.

As I said the other day, Jen's cooking a pav this weekend to go with a curry. It's not a strawberry curry, by the way; that not going to work! It won't be a strawberry curry; it'll be a dessert. But whatever it is—whether it's strawberry muffins or whatever it is—I think it's one of those things you can do. And I love the idea. As the member for Robertson said, there have been idiots on social media making this problem worse. How about a lot of good-natured Australians getting on social media this weekend and making the problem go away? Let's say, 'We're having strawberries this weekend. This is what I've done,' and share your favourite strawberry recipes. Make some strawberry chutney, if you must! But, whatever it happens to be, I think that is the great way to respond. We're acting as lawmakers in here today but Australians will act in every way they can as we stand together, as we come together, as we keep Australians together to focus on dealing with this challenge.

I'm aware of the proposal from the shadow Attorney-General in relation to a statutory review. We're happy to facilitate that review administratively; you have our commitment on that. If that requires a letter, to that extent, then that can be accommodated. But I think it's important that we move forward with the bill as quickly and as promptly as we can, and take into account these matters at an administrative level, and that can be more than adequately provided for.

In conclusion, we are being really serious here. People who do this are not being funny; it's not a lark. Sometimes people don't think through the consequences of their actions. What we're doing here today, as a parliament, as a government, is encouraging Australians to stop and think about this—to think about the behaviours that have serious consequences for their fellow Australians. We're making this law to put the ultimate stop in here. But let's hope the law won't be necessary. Let's hope that the good-natured and honest response of Australians will be sufficient to deal with this. This law is now there and it sends a clear message, but I have great confidence in the good-heartedness and the good faith of Australians that, together, we will respond in the right way to this. One of the good things about this sector is it can rehabilitate reasonably quickly compared to other sectors. There are exceptions to that, I know. But, if we just get back about it, if we put these measures in place and continue to address the other measures that are necessary, then we can give that assurance to those family farmers in their strawberry fields. We can give an assurance to families when they put their kids' lunches together; when they make the dinner on a weeknight and, particularly if it's a special occasion, there are some strawberries on the table; and on the weekend, when the family comes around. I think it's a great time to show our family nature as a country. I thank members for their cooperation in this place today and I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

See this speech in context