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

I am angry—like many Australians, I am angry. I was angry on Monday and I'm still angry today. It's appropriate that I follow up from the previous speaker. Over the past week or so, tens of thousands of Australians have gathered in our streets to protest, as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. Four of them were from the Australian Labor Party. We know that what spurred that movement was the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. What happened to Mr Floyd was a disgrace. It was wrong. It was a crime. It is entirely unreasonable for police to treat a suspect in the manner in which they did, particularly whilst that person is restrained in handcuffs. As I said, I believe it was a crime and I hope that not only is justice done but that it is seen to be done.

The Australian protests were also raising awareness of Aboriginal deaths in custody. These are noble causes. One death in custody is a tragedy and one too many, whether it be an Indigenous or non-Indigenous person. But, sadly, we have seen too many Aboriginal deaths in custody. I have no issue with people wanting to voice their peaceful concerns, whether that be about the Australian or the US context, but just not now—not in the middle of a pandemic that has today seen nearly 7½ million cases and almost 420,000 deaths worldwide, and, sadly, those figures are continuing to rise. In my view, it is entirely unreasonable and selfish for those people to have demonstrated in our streets during a pandemic and not only placed themselves at risk but also their friends, families and co-workers. There is a time and a place for everything. This is neither the time nor the place to be holding mass demonstrations of 30,000 people in King George Square in Brisbane, or in Melbourne, or in Sydney or anywhere else.

One of the fundamental tenets of our justice system is that no one person is above the law. The law applies equally to all Australians, or, to put it in the vernacular, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Most of us understand this. The vast bulk of Australians have been doing the right thing for several months now. They've been doing their bit to help flatten the curve and defeat the coronavirus and we've been doing that so successfully. Millions of Australians have sacrificed a great deal for the greater good. We have in some cases shut down businesses and entire industries. Hundreds of thousands of people have joined the unemployment lines, supported by JobKeeper and JobSeeker. Businesses have failed and, sadly, more will fail in the weeks and months ahead. People have, with enormous anguish, not been able to say their goodbyes to loved ones who have passed. Weddings have been cancelled, long awaited holidays have been postponed or cancelled altogether. The tourism, retail and construction sectors, which are so important to the Sunshine Coast economy and many other economies throughout our country, are on their knees. By government edict, places of worship have been closed to the public. As a nation, we've found a new way to commemorate our most precious of days, Anzac Day.

The sacrifices borne by Australians over just the past three months have been great but those sacrifices may have been for nought because of the misguided actions of these protesters. I say misguided, not because of their beliefs, but because of the way they have trashed the sacrifices of millions of Australians who have worked so assiduously to do the right thing, at such great cost to the public purse. We learnt just yesterday that at least one of the protesters has tested positive for coronavirus. I hope and I pray that that is the only one. For those who are considering taking part in another demonstration over the next few days, I plead with you: please don't! Please respect your fellow Australians and the sacrifices that we have all made. Two wrongs don't make a right. Please do what is right for your fellow Australians.

House adjourned at 17:00

See this speech in context