Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

To assist the House, I'll withdraw. For any political party to not see the benefit in this bill and in this character assessment test, which is talking about deporting paedophiles, rapists and people in this country who have done the most heinous things, is absolutely disgraceful. The member for Melbourne, the Leader of the Greens—who should absolutely hang his head in shame—talks about this being harmful. I tell you what the harm will be if we don't do this. The harm will be to the Australian children and to Australian people who have been hurt and victimised—people who have had their rights stripped away. They shouldn't be in this country. They should be deported. For the life of me, I couldn't think of anyone in this place who would oppose it, but the Leader of the Greens, the member for Melbourne, surprises me most days. The Leader of the Green also stated that he's sick and tired of migrants and immigrants being targeted. This isn't targeting people who are doing the right thing; this is targeting people who are committing crimes. This is targeting people who are doing the most heinous things to our children throughout this country, and they should be deported.

We've seen time and time again judges give lenient sentences. We saw in Cairns recently a lenient sentence given to someone who was convicted of rape and did not do time in jail. They were convicted, but they didn't do any time. If that person was a foreign national, guess what? They're out. They do not stay in this country. I don't care if they've been here for one minute, 10 years or decades. If you commit a crime like this, you're out of this country. It should be as simple as that. To have any political party oppose that is shameful.

The member for Melbourne is interjecting, saying that there already is that. No. This needs to be broadened to capture those people. That's what's disappointing. The member for Melbourne comes in here, not knowing what he's talking about, blaming the Labor Party and blaming the Liberal Party. I'll tell you what we're talking about doing. We're talking about broadening the character assessment—the character test—to ensure that these people who commit these crimes don't stay here.

The Greens decided to oppose this bill in 2019, and they didn't bother to attend any of the committee hearings. One of the senators for the Greens described the bill as damaging and toxic and said she was glad it did not pass the Senate. These are their words. When you go through the bill, when you look at the details and you look at what we want to achieve—making sure that we can get rid of the people who commit these heinous crimes—well, the Greens stand by it; they don't want this to pass. We've seen another senator saying that the government is stigmatising and persecuting particular groups of people. Stigmatising and persecuting paedophiles? Stigmatising and persecuting murderers and rapists? Yes, that is true! Get out! You shouldn't be in this country! I don't think it is fair to hear the Labor Party or the Greens say we are really worried about the reputation—

It's always good hearing the Leader of the Greens interjecting. But, like I just stated, the senators described the bill as damaging and toxic. Senator McKim described it as stigmatising and persecuting. This is just garbage. And I'm not worried about what another country cares about when it comes to getting rid of and deporting criminals out of our country. I understand we have really strong relationships with New Zealand, and I think that's great, but, when it comes to deporting criminals, getting rid of these people who have committed these crimes, whether they are bikies, drug pushers, rapists, murders, rapists, paedophiles, we should do it every single day.

I think the Labor Party shouldn't be wanting this to go in on the voices so they can make amendments in the Senate. The Labor Party should bring this to a vote, so the people of Australia will know where you stand. Do you support the bill in its entirety? Do you stand with us in expanding and strengthening the character test to ensure these people, these paedophiles, are kicked out? Or do you want it on the voices, so can make amendments in the Senate? Let's be clear: no-one watches the Senate. No-one is paying attention there; they're paying attention to where the Prime Minister sits and the Leader of the Opposition sits. They want to see the government and the opposition state what their intentions are.

I think it's clear what our intentions are. I think it's very clear what we want to achieve with strengthening this character test, and we should be standing as a parliament together, minus the one Green we have here, who is more interested in politicking and throwing mud at the government. We heard him slandering the ministers here. But, at the end of the day, this government, this government that I'm in, this government on this side of the House, wants to deport these people who commit these serious crimes. We should not have foreign nationals who've been convicted of being paedophiles, of sexually abusing children, of murder, of rape and of domestic violence in this country.

I read an endorsement just before from a sister. She wrote to the Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee in 2019. She said that her sister was murdered and her sister's partner was murdered. Their deaths and the impacts on their family, their three children and their close family would not have occurred if this proposed legislation was in place.

Taking away the politicking and taking away the grubby antics of the Leader of the Greens, taking away all commentary in this place, we should be listening to the people that it affects. We should be listening to the people who would still have their loved ones here if this were in place. The Police Federation of Australia also made a submission to the same committee. They said that anyone convicted of a crime of violence, regardless of their length of sentence, and who is a noncitizen of Australia, should have their status to remain here 'immediately reviewed'. I agree. I couldn't think of a more fitting statement from the police.

People get deported to many countries, not just to New Zealand. And whilst having strong relationships with other nations is very important, we should never put other countries before our own. We should always put Australians and the future of Australians first. I heard the member for Ryan mention Senator Keneally. Senator Keneally has written to the government suggesting that this bill is designed to capture trivial offences. Senator Keneally wrote to Minister Hawke saying that this bill is designed to capture trivial offences. I don't think rape, sexual assault, child abuse and paedophilia are trivial offences. They're some of the most heinous crimes that this nation has ever seen. Senator Keneally should explain why she considers domestic violence and the other offences captured in the bill as trivial. I disagree with her statements. I think most people around the country would disagree with her statement as well.

The member for Bruce, Julian Hill, claims the punishment does not match the crime. This is what Labor members have stated. I don't know how many times to reiterate it. If you commit these serious offences, if you are sentenced to jail, you should be deported. How can we have foreign nationals, regardless of their time spent here, committing heinous offences, and having people like the member for Bruce say that the punishment does not fit the crime if there is a murder or a rape. Those people who commit these crimes should be deported. Quite frankly, they should be locked up for good. I don't think paedophiles should be released, let alone give non-Australian citizens a free pass because they may have been here for some time, as the Leader of the Greens stated. That's not good enough. Bad behaviour should be punished, regardless of time in country.

The Greens have made their position clear. The Labor Party have made their position murky; no-one really knows where they sit. But I would urge the Labor Party not to let this go through on the voices and not stop it from going to a vote where you have to stand for something. This is a time when Australians will want you to make a strong decision. My view is that you'll let it flow through on the voices and then make amendments in the Senate. We want to see what the Leader of the Opposition has to say on this. I want to see what the Leader of the Opposition has to say on this. The Australian people want to see what the Leader of the Opposition has to say on this. He'll either bring it to a vote and stand with the coalition and support it or he’ll sit with his mate from the Greens and talk about the coalition that they want to form. This is the time you stand to be counted. The Australian people deserve that. They don't deserve to hear about it a time when the Senate does whatever the Senate does.

It is my belief that all members in this place should support strengthening the character test. We should ensure that future generations, our children—Australians—are protected. If violent, heinous, disgusting crimes are committed by foreign nationals, then they should deported. Australia deserves that. Australia deserves better than what the Greens are suggesting.

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