Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

From the outset, as the Defence Amendment (Safeguarding Australia's Military Secrets) Bill 2023 is about safeguarding our military secrets, I will acknowledge the presence in the chamber and the service of the members for Menzies and Herbert. I also acknowledge the member for Wills, the Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, and the member for Fisher, the deputy chair, for their diligent work on the SAMS inquiry.

Our government is taking decisive action to bolster Australia's national security by ensuring that our military secrets remain safe. Keeping our secrets in Australian hands is essential to preserving our national security and maintaining the trust of our like-minded security alliance and other partners. While this SAMS bill does not represent the entirety of our legislative ambition in this respect—for example, there are some issues that were identified through the PJCIS inquiry that will be addressed at other times and in other ways—it is an important step towards establishing more seamless tech transfers with our AUKUS partners. I'm very proud to have started, with the member for Casey, the Parliamentary Friends of AUKUS, and we are working hard to make sure that this arrangement is better understood, in the interests of all countries involved, with the ability for like-minded countries to keep the world open and fair.

Australia already has a range of robust legislative measures and policies in place to deter and respond to the risk of foreign collection of our defence secrets; I think it's important to state that upfront. It's not as if our government or the former government have just worked out that we need to extend measures, but this bill does exactly that. It extends the measures that already exist. We protect our sensitive defence information, including through relevant offences under the Criminal Code Act 1995 and secrecy provisions. Australians who work, or have worked, in defence who come into possession of the nation's secrets have an obligation to maintain those secrets beyond their employment with the Commonwealth. The Criminal Code, for instance, contains general secrecy offences that apply to current and former Commonwealth officers, including ADF personnel, who harm the national interest by disclosing the information entrusted to them, and the code specifically prohibits the provision of military-style training involving a foreign government principal. This is an enduring obligation; to reveal any of those secrets is already a crime.

This bill extends Australia's already robust legislation and policies further, strengthening Australia's existing laws by protecting the export and transfer of sensitive defence information to foreign militaries. It will create a new framework, which will require certain individuals to seek authority to perform, work for or train with foreign militaries. It's about protecting our knowledge, skills and experience as well as regulating the military training that Australians may provide to foreign countries. The legislation delivers on the Deputy Prime Minister's commitment to strengthen Australia's legislation, following the investigation he instigated into reports that ex-ADF-personnel were being approached to provide military training to foreign countries.

These sensible reforms will be confined to only those individuals with knowledge of Australia's world-class defence training and military technology who are engaging in activities that would harm Australia's national security. This includes former defence staff members—both Australian Defence Force members and APS members—seeking to perform work for or on behalf of foreign militaries, and Australian citizens and permanent residents seeking to provide training to foreign militaries in relation to items in part 1 of the Defence and Strategic Goods List or in relation to military tactics, techniques and procedures.

The government's sensible, decisive and timely approach is in stark contrast to the former Coalition government's, who were warned about this security issue two years ago and did nothing to address it. I'm sure those on the other side will have an opportunity to speak to that. I have it on good authority that the then Minister for Defence and now opposition leader, Peter Dutton, was warned in mid-2021 about alleged attempts to recruit former ADF personnel to train China's military. The opposition leader clearly didn't act on these warnings and did nothing to address the issue, even though it was widely known about as far as I am aware.

This legislation also bring us into line with the approach taken by our like-minded partners to protecting their own military secrets, and this includes a greater alignment with the US approach under its International Traffic in Arms Regulations. People may have heard that referred to as ITARS. These important reforms are also needed to ensure we have the necessary safeguards in place to unlock the potential of AUKUS and the benefits it brings to Australia.

The penalty for performing work for or specified training with a relevant foreign country without authorisation is 20 years imprisonment. An individual will not commit an offence if they have been granted an authorisation for the work or training.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 17:09 to 17:20

There are also other exceptions to the offences created by this bill. They include if an individual's work or training is in relation to providing aid of a humanitarian nature or if the individual performs an official duty for the United Nations, an agency of the United Nations or the International Committee of the Red Cross. An exemption also covers work or training in the course of an individual's employment or engagement by the Commonwealth.

This bill will enable the Minister for Defence to determine, by legislative instrument, which countries are not to be regarded as relevant foreign countries under this framework. That means that, if an individual intends to work or provide training to a foreign country listed on the instrument, the individual would not be required to apply for an authorisation. This bill will also enable the Minister for Defence to determine, by legislative instrument, a class of former defence staff members who are not required to apply for an authorisation. The class may be determined by the type of work previously performed by that member and the period of time that has elapsed since the performance of that work.

This authorisation framework is not intended to prevent Australians from working overseas or with foreign governments or militaries. Rather, our legislative intent is to prevent individuals with knowledge of sensitive defence information from training or working for certain foreign militaries or governments where that activity would put Australia's national security at risk. This bill will ensure individuals in possession of sensitive defence information who want to undertake these activities must first seek authorisation to do so. This is to ensure their activities are not damaging Australia's national interests.

The measures in this bill are serious and vital, and that is why the bill was the subject of an inquiry by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, which I am a member of. The committee agreed with the need for these reforms and noted the importance of the passage of this bill in providing AUKUS partners with an assurance of Australia's commitment to the security of military secrets. Throughout the inquiry process, the committee heard that most submitters were supportive of the need for the bill. Our bipartisan report recommended that the bill be passed.

This is an important piece of legislation that will keep our country safe by preventing potential threat actors from leveraging former ADF members' classified knowledge of tactics, techniques and procedures. Defence members know that their nation entrusts them with the high honour of safeguarding our Commonwealth's most sensitive secrets. Veterans are the lifelong guardians of these secrets, even after they separate from the Australian Defence Force, and this bill will make it easier for all members and veterans to know how to safely manage their classified knowledge. No-one who does the right thing will be adversely affected, and the right thing will be to apply for authorisation if an opportunity comes up to work with a foreign military. It isn't a ban on such contracts, though there is a requirement to seek authorisation.

We have a deep and vital interoperability with the armed forces of our closest allies. For example, our Australian submariners are currently training in the US Nuclear Power School to prepare the way for our acquisition of nuclear powered submarines, and that won't be constrained by the bill. What the bill does is create a straightforward process that will ensure that ADF members and veterans have a clear sense of their left and right of arcs and their responsibility as guardians of our nation's secrets, both in and out of uniform. It's a crucial piece of legislation, and I commend it to the House.

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