Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Could I begin by commending the Minister Assisting the Minister for Climate Change on the passage of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme through the House. But we move on from that slow, deadly, creeping crime perpetrated on the environment by humanity to another type of crime.

I am pleased to speak in support of the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Serious and Organised Crime) Bill (No. 2) 2009. When we talk about organised crime we are not talking about small-time, petty criminals out to make a quick buck but serious, systematic career criminals intent on making large amounts of money from crime. If you know your literature, Mr Deputy Speaker Sidebottom—and I know you do—we are talking about the Fagins rather than the Oliver Twists.

The main focus of organised crime remains illicit drugs, but these groups also dabble in fraud and financial crime, firearms trafficking and intellectual property crime. In fact, the Australian Crime Commission estimates organised crime costs Australia more than $10 billion a year as well as significant social harms that are perpetrated on individuals and communities. In their report Organised crime in Australia, the commission says organised crime groups: (1) are transnational; (2) operate in two or more regions; (3) are in multiple crime markets; (4) are engaged in illicit drugs, fraud or money laundering; (5) intermingle legitimate and criminal enterprises; (6) withstand disruption; and (7) use new technologies. Their innovation would be commendable except that the consequences are so horrific.

We have also seen organised crime operating through rogue bikie gangs. I hasten to add that it is not all bikies; just an errant few, unfortunately. For example, in March this year one man died when rival bikie gangs slugged it out at Sydney airport. A number of shootings and retaliations then followed, with more crimes perpetrated. As I understand it, a complex history of positioning and power plays in the bikie gangs led up to these violent acts. Apart from the violence which erupts between rival rogue gangs, there are also known links between bikie gangs, the illicit drug trade and other organised crimes. The Australian Crime Commission in March this year said bikie gangs:

… represent a real and present danger to the Australian community. There are approximately 39 active outlaw motorcycle gangs in Australia with more than 3300 ‘patched’ members.

Bikie gangs:

… remain a visible criminal threat and … have developed a strong presence in many illicit markets throughout Australia, maintain strong and complex criminal networks and remain highly functional despite ongoing targeting.

In response to this danger the bill before the House will beef up laws to help our authorities better prevent, investigate and prosecute organised crime in Australia. It introduces new criminal organisation and association offences. These amendments are based on resolutions agreed by the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, SCAG, in April and August this year. Associating with persons involved in organised criminal activity or with those who direct, support or commit crimes for a criminal organisation will become an offence. Law enforcement agencies will also gain greater access to telecommunications interception powers to help investigate these new offences. Criminal laws generally punish crimes perpetrated by individuals but this area of participation in a criminal organisation is more of a grey area. South Australia—at the forefront in this law like they have been in so many other forms of legislation—and New South Wales already have laws that criminalise participation in criminal groups. There is also obviously strong agreement between all attorneys-general that we have to do more to police these criminal organisations. And I believe we must respond to the serious crimes we saw between those gangs in Sydney at the airport and afterwards, and later at the Gold Coast, for the sake of safety in our community.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I draw your attention to a former Howard government minister and former Liberal member for Moreton who apparently does not share this view. I heard him tell some of his 4BC listeners a few weeks back that he thought Anna Bligh, the Premier of Queensland, was unfairly targeting bikie gangs by bringing in similar legislation to that in South Australia and New South Wales. He continued his rabid, myopic, anti-Labor ranting, even though it is two years since he was shown to be out of touch with his electorate on election night 2007. It was rather strange for me to hear him air such views on 4BC and, hopefully, his listeners do not agree with him.

This bill before the House will boost powers to investigate and prosecute money laundering, bribery and drug importation offences. The amendments extend the scope and geographical limits of the Commonwealth’s authority in relation to money-laundering offences. Penalties will be increased for bribing a Commonwealth or foreign public official. And the definition of ‘import’ will be extended to include dealing with a substance in connection with its importation.

The bill also contains some practical amendments to improve cooperation between jurisdictions. Materials seized under search and document production powers in the Crimes Act 1914 will be able to be shared between the Commonwealth, states and territories as well as with foreign law enforcement agencies. As I said previously, organised crime groups operate across jurisdictions, so these amendments are necessary to ensure our law enforcement agencies can work together to combat crime in a global environment. They will ensure agencies can access and search data from electronic equipment.

The bill also contains improvements to the National Witness Protection Program. Unfortunately this is a necessity. As we know, the witness protection program gives protection to people who are believed to be in danger because of their evidence in criminal proceedings or because of their relationship to such a person. These amendments provide increased protection and security for witnesses, allow protection and assistance available under the program to extend to former participants and other related persons where appropriate, and ensure that state and territory participants are afforded the same protection as Commonwealth participants.

Finally, this bill reforms the criminal asset confiscation laws—we attack their wallets and their wheels, not just their skulduggery. The bill amends the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to make tests for exclusion and recovery of property fairer and more consistent and to improve the operation of examination provisions. As I said from the outset, serious and organised crime costs our law-abiding community more than $10 billion a year. Our law enforcement agencies cannot investigate and prosecute these groups with their hands tied behind their backs. Instead they need effective Commonwealth laws and consistent laws throughout Australia to enable them to combat organised crime, as all of the fair-minded members of the community would expect.

This bill sends a strong message to rogue bikie gangs and those involved in criminal groups that the Rudd Labor government is serious about combating organised crime. I thank the hardworking Attorney-General and other ministers for introducing this bill and I commend it to the House.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly, I would like to thank members for their contributions to the debate on the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Serious and Organised Crime) Bill 2009. I support the comments made by the most recent speaker, the member for Moreton, and also those made by the members for Werriwa, Cowan, Dobell and Newcastle on the significant threat posed by organised crimes.

The member for Farrer raised some concerns about whether the safeguards for the unexplained wealth provisions were sufficient. Checks and balances have been included to ensure that the unexplained wealth measures operate fairly. Law enforcement agencies must satisfy a gatekeeping requirement to trigger the application of the provisions. A preliminary unexplained wealth order cannot be made unless law enforcement agencies satisfy the court that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that a person’s total wealth exceeds the value of lawful earnings. Strict affidavit requirements apply so that an officer must set out all the property of the person and the property that is known or is suspected to have been lawfully acquired. We will also require the affidavit to set out the grounds on which unexplained wealth is suspected.

Once a court has made a preliminary order against a person, the person will have the opportunity to apply to the court to have the preliminary order revoked. If a person is unable to demonstrate that the preliminary order should be revoked, they will be required to demonstrate that their wealth was derived from lawful sources. At this point in the process, if a person cannot satisfy the court that their assets were not obtained from criminal offences, the government considers that it is reasonable to require them to account for their wealth. The person is only required to satisfy the court on the balance of probabilities, which is a civil standard of proof rather than the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt. The government also proposes to amend the bill to enable a court to refuse to make an order where it is satisfied that it is not in the public interest.

The member for Flinders indicated that the opposition would seek further amendments to the proceeds of crime information-sharing provisions. Several safeguards have been included to ensure the information-sharing arrangements operate in a way that strikes an appropriate balance between the public interest in sharing information and an individual’s right to privacy. Information obtained under the Proceeds of Crime Act may only be disclosed when the person disclosing the information believes, on reasonable grounds, that the disclosure would facilitate performance of functions under the Proceeds of Crimes Act; assist in the prevention, investigation or prosecution of criminal activity; or protect public revenue. There are limits on how the information can be used by other agencies. Generally, the information cannot be used against the person who disclosed it in criminal or civil proceedings. The government will also accept the Senate committee recommendation and limit the disclosure of information for the prevention, investigation or prosecution of offences to indictable offences punishable by imprisonment for three years or more.

The government takes very seriously its responsibility for ensuring a safer, more secure Australia, and this bill is a significant achievement towards that goal. As members know and as many members recognised in their contributions to the debate, organised crime inflicts substantial harm on the community, on business and on government. Organised crime networks are extensive, entrepreneurial and adaptive. They are involved in a range of criminal activities, from illicit drug trafficking and money laundering to identity theft and cybercrime. The increasingly aggressive nature of organised crime requires a more aggressive response. It is important that there are strong laws in place to combat this national security threat.

Passage of this bill will represent a significant advance in the tools available to fight serious and organised crime. This bill implements resolutions agreed by the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General in April this year for a comprehensive national response to organised crime. Members will recall that, at the meeting, Commonwealth, state and territory governments committed to decisive action to address the threat of organised crime and to ensure that there are no safe havens in Australia for organised criminal groups.

This bill also delivers on the assurance given by the Prime Minister in his inaugural National Security Statement, delivered last year, that the government would act to address the threat posed by organised criminal activity. This bill will combat organised crime by strengthening criminal asset confiscation and targeting unexplained wealth; enhancing police powers to investigate organised crime by implementing model laws for control operations, assumed identities and witness identity protection; addressing the joint commission of criminal offences; and facilitating greater access to telecommunications interception for criminal organisation offences.

While the bill contains strong measures to combat organised crime, it also contains ample safeguards to ensure accountability and natural justice. I have already outlined the safeguards that will apply to the unexplained wealth provisions and the proceeds of crime information-sharing provisions in response to issues raised by the members for Farrer and Flinders. The freezing order provisions contain strict time limits and provide the opportunity for the person affected by the freezing order to apply to a magistrate to have the order varied to meet their living expenses, business expenses or lawful debts. For controlled operations, key safeguards include requiring external authorisation for variations that would extend an operation beyond three months, imposing a maximum total duration for controlled operations and introducing a stronger oversight regime.

I will be moving government amendments that I will outline more comprehensively during the consideration in detail stage of the bill. These amendments will implement recommendations made by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee and address issues raised by the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills. It will also incorporate further advice from agencies directly involved in preventing, investigating and prosecuting organised criminal activity, including the Attorney-General’s Department and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.

I thank the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for its consideration of the bill. The government carefully considered the Senate committee’s report and has amended the bill to implement most of its recommendations. The government amendments implement eight of the 12 substantive recommendations of the Senate committee. These include changes to the criminal asset confiscation, controlled operations, witness identity protection and telecommunications interception provisions of the bill. The amendments are intended to provide, among other things, clarity and further procedural fairness. The amendments also address issues identified by the Senate committee, the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, the Attorney-General’s Department and other agencies involved in combating organised criminal activity. These changes include removing intelligence agencies from the witness identity protection provisions in the bill. This is necessary because it has become clear that the scheme does not entirely meet their needs. Consideration will be given to developing a separate scheme to meet the specific needs of the intelligence agencies. They also include minor amendments to the proceeds of crime, cross-border investigative powers and telecommunications interception provisions of the bill. These amendments are designed to ensure that they operate as intended, improving the clarity of provisions to aid interpretation and in some instances increase procedural fairness. All of the measures contained in the current bill and the bill as amended are an important part of the government’s commitment to keeping Australia safe and secure. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.