Chris Hayes (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A few weeks ago I informed the House that, along with my wife, Bernadette, I met with Lee and Christine Rush, the parents of Scott Rush. Scott, as many will know, is currently on death row in Kerobokan prison in Bali after being arrested in Denpasar on 17 April 2005. Along with other members of the Bali nine, he was charged and convicted under breaches of the Indonesian narcotics law.

Scott appealed his life sentence by the Indonesian court to the Supreme Court only to find his sentence increased to death. This occurred without any request by the prosecution or any comparison with the severity of penalties handed down for those convicted of the same crime by the same court. I should point out that Scott was 18 years old. As a result, Scott now spends his days and nights in Bali not knowing from one day to the next when his final hours will be.

In my previous remarks to the House I highlighted the fact that Lee and Christine are typical parents with all the struggles of ordinary life and certainly a love for their kids. But you could see unmistakably the emotional strain of having a son condemned to death in a foreign land. As parents we could not help but be moved by that. I just cannot think how I would react in the same circumstances.

When speaking to Christine and Lee, I mentioned that a friend of mine, Colin McDonald, the Australian lawyer who is appearing for Scott and has represented him ever since he was arrested, was due to meet Scott the next day. I indicated that I would speak in parliament, which I did on 2 June. Colin requested that I email him a copy of the speech, which I did. Colin contacted me and told me that when Scott read the speech he broke down and cried—and I have to say that my comments very much had bipartisan support. I would like to read the letter that I got back from Scott the very next day:

Dear Mr Hayes,

I have just read the speech that you delivered in the House of Representatives last night.

I was very moved by what I read, and I, my family, and friends and supporters thank you for caring.

I would like to thank you and your colleagues for your concerns and the actions that you recommend that Australia takes.

I hope that your recommendations are carried for the benefit of all young Australians, and their parents.

I am a living example of how drugs destroy the life and ambitions of a young Australian and his family.

I have lost so much but I still want to give. Can you please say to all young Australians: don’t even try experimenting with drugs.

I want you to know I’m sorry for what I have done and am reforming myself.

I am extremely grateful for what you and your Bernadette have done.

Sincerely

Scott Rush

Last week I again met with Scott’s mum and dad and I showed them the letter. Whilst they diligently read every word of that piece of correspondence, they broke down and cried. It is not sympathy that these people want. It is about more than that. What they need is a very clear sign that both sides of the parliament support the abolition of capital punishment in all places.

In order to avoid as much as possible the exposure of Australian citizens to the death penalty, Australia should act consistently and in a determined way in our opposition to capital punishment, including legislating to give effect to the second operational protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This would have the effect of preventing any Australian jurisdiction from making laws to introduce capital punishment, but, more importantly, it would communicate very clearly and unequivocally to the world at large the position Australia takes in opposing the death penalty.

In concluding, I leave you with the words of the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Ismail Mahomed. He said that the death penalty:

... is the ultimate and the most incomparably extreme form of punishment ... It is the last, the most devastating and the most irreversible recourse of the criminal law, involving ... the planned and calculated termination of life itself; the destruction of the greatest and most precious gift which is bestowed on all humankind.

He went on to say:

It is not necessarily only the dignity of the person to be executed which is invaded. Very arguably the dignity of all of us, in a caring civilisation, must be compromised ...