Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Acting Prime Minister. I refer the Acting Prime Minister to the fact that the government has now agreed with Labor that Indigenous child abuse and family violence should be placed at the top of the Council of Australian Governments’ agenda.

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is what I thought you wanted. In the light of this bipartisanship on such an important issue, will the Acting Prime Minister ensure that all agreements made at COAG’s next meeting will have benchmarks, targets and review mechanisms so that progress can be regularly assessed?

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We would certainly welcome bipartisan agreement from the Australian Labor Party on the measures that are necessary to deal with violence in Aboriginal communities. The measures which are necessary include additional policing; they include bringing offenders before courts; they include ensuring that there are proper penalties; and they include a very clear and very direct message to all Australians, including Indigenous Australians, that there is no justification—no cultural justification and no other justification—for offences against persons. We would certainly welcome the assistance of the Northern Territory Labor government in ensuring that adequate police resources are made available in relation to those communities.

Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Beazley interjecting

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is where we would welcome bipartisan support, which I do not hear from the interjections now coming from the Leader of the Opposition. Whatever he says, it is clear that the people behind him do not agree with that position and are not supporting the government in those efforts. I would make it clear that this government called a summit to put those matters back on the agenda.

Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order that goes to relevance. My question was about COAG and about benchmarking.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat.

Kim Wilkie (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Wilkie interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Swan is warned! I remind the Leader of the Opposition that, when he is asked to resume his seat, I expect him to do so. He has raised a point of order. I have been listening carefully to the Acting Prime Minister; he is answering the question.

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A national summit, the call for which was made by the minister for Indigenous affairs, will be held next month—I have written to all premiers and chief ministers—and it is to get agreement on these points: to make sure that we are strong, tough and clear about stopping violence in Aboriginal communities. It will be reporting back to COAG and COAG will be involved in the procedure. Let there be no mistake about this: this government believes very strongly in protecting innocent children and women in Aboriginal communities and we will not let political correctness get in the way of that.

Barry Wakelin (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Acting Prime Minister. Has the Acting Prime Minister seen calls for customary law to be taken into account to reduce punishment for serious and violent offences? What is the government’s view of these calls?

Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Grey for his question and I can tell him that there are calls for customary law to be taken into account to reduce punishment for serious and violent offences. Even the Law Council of Australia came out yesterday calling for Aboriginal customary law to be given consideration by courts and saying that proposals to exclude that were ‘misconceived, dangerous and promoted the issue ahead of more demanding social problems’. We do not agree with that. We believe that there can be no more demanding social problem than the protection of innocence, particularly of children in Aboriginal communities or, for that matter, in the white community.

I noticed in the paper today that the Chief Justice of the Northern Territory, Brian Martin, said that he had made a mistake in sentencing an Aboriginal elder to just one month’s jail for having anal sex with a 14-year-old girl. I welcome that from the Northern Territory Chief Justice. It would not have been easy for him to do, but it was absolutely right of him to acknowledge that. That matter was overturned in the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeal, which imposed a sentence of three years in relation to that crime.

Many Australians would believe that a sentence of three years for having anal sex with a 14-year-old girl and bashing her with a boomerang was still a very lenient sentence. Many Australians would think that. Many Australians would think that even that sentence by the Court of Criminal Appeal was not much of a deterrent. I would make this clear: if we are to send an unequivocal sentence to the Aboriginal community—and the white community, for that matter—that these are violent offences that will not be tolerated, we need strong support from the judiciary with strong sentences. A suggestion that cultural matters should be taken into account to lighten sentences on what are violent and serious offences will not find the support of the Australian people. We believe that there should be an unequivocal message.

In raising this issue, an issue which has now been acknowledged by the Chief Justice of the Northern Territory himself, the minister for Indigenous affairs has behaved quite courageously and properly. I notice that the Attorney-General in Western Australia has accused Mr Brough of bigotry over his statement. Nothing could be further from the truth. In a courageous way, he has raised this issue; he has determined to do something about it. He is now finding support from the Chief Justice of the Northern Territory himself. He will find the support of Australians of goodwill. We can never justify, under customary law or on any other basis, heinous and serious and violent offences. Those who do them must be brought to justice, and this government believes that they should be.