Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would also like to lend my voice in thanking the member for Fowler for moving this motion, which serves as a reminder in this House not just of Australia's commitment to abolishing the death penalty but also of our bipartisan position over many years in continuing to pursue the abolition of the death penalty not just here but worldwide. In doing so, I should acknowledge also the member for Dunkley for his contribution here today. And also I acknowledge the Australian government's strategy for the abolition of the death penalty, which details Australia's reasons for opposing the death penalty.

The theme for this year's World Day Against the Death Penalty is to raise awareness of the inhumane living conditions of people sentenced to death. Indeed, one of the most prominent reasons for the abolition of the death penalty is its arbitrary application, which can never be ruled out. The death penalty is often used in a disproportionate manner against the poor, against minorities, and against members of racial, ethnic, political and religious groups. I must also make mention here of related laws, particularly in countries like Pakistan, of apostasy and blasphemy that are punishable by execution. I reiterate here my hope that those laws be abolished not just in Pakistan but also in other countries, where they are—blasphemy and apostasy laws in particular—used arbitrarily to condemn people to death.

While the theme is improving the inhumane living conditions, I think it is appropriate that we should also not take our eye off the ultimate goal of the abolition of capital punishment across the world. In preparing for today, I had a look at Australia's record on this. It's quite interesting to note that, while we abolished the death penalty in 1973 at the Commonwealth level in respect of offences under the law of the Commonwealth and territories, state legislation in some states took a little while to catch up. New South Wales was the last to abolish the death penalty, in 1985. Though it had abolished the penalty for murder in 1955, it retained the death penalty for treason and piracy right up until 1985, which really wasn't that long ago when you think about it.

It also shows how far we've moved in such a relatively short period of time—a matter of decades. We now have over 140 nations that have abolished the death penalty, but there are still too many people being executed around the world, including in countries that are our close allies. It is important for us to continually be reminded of the opportunity for Australia to take a lead in encouraging the United Nations to support a global moratorium on the death penalty and to use our voice and our position in the region to do so. I trust and hope that the government strategy for the abolition of the death penalty goes some way to doing that.

The reasons why the death penalty should be abolished have been outlined here today by several speakers. Probably one of the most apparent reasons is that it risks the execution of innocent people. The justice system is fallible. Humans are fallible, and in many systems humans are often the weakest link. There are several cases of innocent people who have been executed, most recently in the US, for example, for crimes that they did not commit. It's also incompatible with human rights and human dignity. As a country that considers itself progressive, particularly in the upholding of the very basic human rights, it would be remiss of us to not continually state our opposition to the death penalty and to do everything that we can to ensure that more and more countries sign up to abolishing or at least having a moratorium on the death penalty.

Finally, the death penalty doesn't deter crime.

Debate adjourned.

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