Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is well known that an important event is due to take place in November in Brisbane and that is the G20 forum. A two-day leaders summit will see Australia's presidency on display. It will provide us with the opportunity to help craft a better future for not just the peoples of G20 countries but everyone in the world. This is the chance to address economic issues and advance the opportunities for everyone.

To ensure that the Commonwealth and Queensland governments can keep this forum safe and effective, this legislation, the G20 (Safety and Security) Complementary Bill 2014, is required and I therefore endorse the bill. The key themes for the gathering will be stronger economic growth and therefore more jobs. More jobs mean better standards of living. The other theme is to put in place measures that will make the global economy more resilient to enable more nations to be able to cope with the challenges of the future. Stronger economies give nations the ability to fulfil their primary responsibility of helping the people in their countries to live a better life. Strong economies in G20 countries encourage greater trade and will help to lift other nations as well. Stronger economies also enable better development assistance to non-G20 nations and help to build better capacities around the world. The G20 is therefore a positive organisation with a positive agenda.

In spite of the value it adds for billions of people, there is no doubt that the G20 is a target for extremist groups and extreme left-wing groups both locally and internationally. I was thinking about naming some of these groups that have already apparently committed to protesting as it is easy to look them up on the internet. I was thinking about it but decided that, just like graffiti tags, they add no value to the world and the aftermath of their effect is a cost to the taxpayers. They therefore do not need to be given any credibility by being named here.

The history of the G20 and other forums, including those in Toronto in 2010, London in 2009 and Melbourne in 2006, shows that there is a very small but violent and destructive element that wants to destroy property and recklessly endanger lives. Ultimately the cost is borne by taxpayers or insurance companies and, no doubt, the livelihood of many of those responsible is even provided for by taxpayers. There is therefore a need for laws such as these to counter dangerous and violent extremists who emerge at these events. There is also an opportunity for the Department of Immigration to watch out for those international troublemakers who will seek visas to come to Brisbane. Basically this bill is about ensuring that the security arrangements that apply to the security area in Brisbane will also have application at Brisbane Airport and on Commonwealth land.

As I said before, there is a history of protests and an unfortunate willingness to make those protests destructive and even violent. We must therefore have security arrangements in place to counter, or at least handle, the threats expected. From my research there is a theme for those readying themselves to protest. It would be fair to say that those against the G20 are those who proclaim themselves socialists or even communists. They are those who have not yet realised that collectivism has always failed. It has failed because the rhetoric of class struggle has not been realised by a new ruling class replacing the last one or it has failed because its systems strangle innovation and entrepreneurial spirit due to there being no incentive for hard work or for coming up with new ideas. It is a system of inertia where the only progress made is towards ever-increasing poverty. The reality is elevation of the population of developing countries is achieved through trade and economic development, not through endless aid. Although I am no fan of one-party states, China, a G20 country, is an example of a country that is elevating itself through increasing levels of economic development. More and more private enterprise and a willingness to demonstrate capitalistic tendencies, even within government enterprises, is helping to lift the population. It was not through foreign aid or collectivism that things changed, but through increasing amounts of business freedom. Of course, a full multiparty democracy would lift the remaining shackles.

The G20 represents about 85 per cent of global GDP and 75 per cent of global trade. This is seen by the lunatic Left as some sort of attack on the majority of the world's population, suggesting that this has come at the direct cost to the poor in the developing world. This is obviously not true, because the G20 represents two-thirds of the world's population. So many of these socialists and communists criticise the G20 by talking about the usual scapegoats such as the USA and the United Kingdom, and maybe throw in France, Germany and Australia to make their case for the evils of capitalism. But the G20 is not an English-speaking forum or even a Western Hemisphere club. Yes, it is the USA, the UK, Canada and Australia. Western European members are France, Germany, Italy and the EU itself. But members are also Argentina, Brazil and Mexico—populous countries keen to make decisions to lift their populations to better standards of living, and yet still attacked by those small and terrible left-wing groups.

Yes, there are other countries with big economies whose membership is probably not surprising, like Saudi Arabia, Russia, South Korea, Japan and China. I do not think that the destructive and often violent protesters should protest when the G20 also includes India, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey. This general protest, seen by the Left as being almost fashionable in a grotesque way, is an attack on the poor of those countries as well.

Listen to those that protest against the G20 and you would think it is a protest against the USA and the West, but such protests are against most of the world. The question then becomes: why do these protesters hate the poor people of Soweto in South Africa so much? Why do they hate the poor people on the streets of Mumbai or those in Sao Paolo? It is a sad state of affairs when these protesters are doing their best to hold back the development of so many poor people in the world. But there is an answer to that question, and that answer is that, unlike the vast majority of the people in the world, these small numbers of protesters have not realised that history has moved on. The revelation yet to strike them is that communism and socialism has failed everywhere. There is no example of a success story. Even the one-party states proclaiming themselves the Communist Party have moved away from collectivism and controlled economies because they failed.

I know that talking about socialism may be useful for pre-selection in some parties, even here in the House, but the reality is that there are very few that hold onto the communist ideals. Some may say that talk of communism here in Australia is some sort of 1950s scare campaign, but despite there being hardly any Communist Party members left in Australian society there are some. Ballajura resident Richard, within Cowan, often makes the point to me that he is both a member of the Communist Party and the Greens. The first time I met him at the Marangaroo Primary School polling booth in 2004 he wore a CPA hat and a Greens shirt. I see that he also writes for The Guardian newspaper regularly—by that I mean the Left-leaning one. To clarify: I mean The Guardian is also the Communist Party newspaper.

It is also a point worth making that on the Communist Party website the only link to a political party that I can recognise is actually to the Greens. For this country, they are fellow travellers—no doubt marching in five columns. I have also noted that the Communist Party has website links to the CFMEU, ACTU, UnionsWA, Greenpeace and the Australian Conservation Foundation.

So I say again that there is a very small group of people that will protest at the G20 in Brisbane. They are people that mainly have allegiance to the failed political systems of socialism and communism. Ironically, while they have the right and the opportunity to peacefully protest because of the democracy they wish to end, if they lived in a socialist or communist nation, such as those of the past, such a protest would have been brutally dealt with.

I also reiterate that the world has moved on and those that protest are stuck in the past. They are stuck with a belief in the good of a system that failed all but the ruling elites. They are also stuck with the reality that even the massive population countries such as China, India, South Africa and Brazil are all in support of the G20 and the results that the G20 pursues. It is little wonder that Richard of Ballajura is the only person in my electorate that is a self-proclaimed communist; that is probably because he is the only one of 100,000 voters.

The Communist Party, no doubt, will be joined by their fellow travellers in protesting at the G20. The numbers will be small, but the trouble they cause will be dealt with properly under the existing and/or short-term measures provided for in this bill and the Queensland G20 (Safety and Security) Act. I hope that there will be no problems, that no-one will be hurt and there will be no property damage, but the question still remains: why do these anti-G20 groups want to stop developing nations such as Indonesia, India, South Africa and others from lifting their populations to a better future? Why do they want to hold back the residents of Soweto, Sulawesi, Sao Paolo and Mumbai?

The G20 countries know that it is through economic activity that people are lifted up. It is through excellent opportunities, such as the G20 Forum in November in Brisbane, that a better future is planned for and implemented. I endorse this bill and the benefits for the people of the world that will come from the G20 deliberations.

David Feeney (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Justice) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The opposition supports the G20 (Safety and Security) Complementary Bill 2014. It is a bill which will create a new standalone Commonwealth act clarifying the interaction between provisions in the G20 (Safety and Security) Act 2013—that being a piece of Queensland legislation—and existing Commonwealth legislation at the Brisbane Airport during the G20 Summit in 2014 in Queensland.

As this place well understands, it was former Prime Minister Julia Gillard that secured for Australia the host nation status for the 2014 G20 Leaders Summit. That, of course, was secured by her at the 2011 G20 Leaders Summit held in Cannes.

The 2014 G20 Leaders Summit will be the most important event in the G20 year and will be held on 15 and 16 November in Brisbane. This will be the most significant meeting of world leaders that Australia has ever hosted, with as many as 4,000 delegates and 3,000 media representatives expected to attend.

The G20 is, without doubt, the premier forum for international cooperation on the most important of issues of the global economic and financial agenda. As set out on the G20 website, the objects of the G20 are threefold: firstly, policy coordination between its members in order to achieve global economic stability and sustainable growth; secondly, promoting financial regulations that reduce risks and prevent future financial crises; and thirdly, the modernising international financial architecture.

G20 members account for 85 per cent of the world economy, some 80 per cent of global trade and two-thirds of the world's population. The G20 represents all geographic regions of the world. Hosting a meeting of the significance of the G20 gives Australia a valuable opportunity to influence the economic policies of the major economies of the globe and contribute to a healthy, growing and resilient global economy. Achieving such outcomes will also boost Australian jobs, living standards and long-term prosperity. The G20 summit, of course, is an opportunity to showcase the very best of Australia.

Inevitably, this event will involve a complex security operation—perhaps not the Warsaw Pact versus NATO conflict that the previous speaker seemed to summon into being. Nonetheless, event organisers will need to ensure that appropriate security measures are in place to protect visitors, while minimising disruptions to inner city residents and businesses. As a consequence of Queensland hosting the G20 summit in 2014, the Queensland Police Service will take on the primary responsibility for providing security to G20 delegates and their official parties, security for meeting and accommodation venues, including motorcade routes, and security for other official events associated with the G20 meeting in Queensland. The G20 delegates will include internationally protected persons who require the very highest standards of personal security. In addition to the protection of delegates in G20 events, the Queensland Police Service is also responsible for protecting members of the public, as one would well imagine, together with businesses and property—those things being unrelated to the G20 summit—from any illegal activities that may be planned by persons opposed to the G20 meetings.

With these additional responsibilities falling on the Queensland Police Service for the safe conduct of the G20 meetings, the Queensland Newman LNP government determined it would be appropriate for an additional stand-alone act to be passed by the Queensland parliament granting specific powers to the Queensland Police Service for the G20 event. The powers are broadly similar to those provided for under the New South Wales APEC Meeting (Police Powers) Act 2007 and the Western Australian Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Special Powers) Act 2011. I think it is worthy for this House to note that that legislation passed the Queensland parliament with the support of both the government and the opposition.

This bill we are considering will create a new stand-alone Commonwealth act clarifying the interaction between provisions found in the Queensland G20 (Safety and Security) Act 2013 and existing Commonwealth legislation at Brisbane Airport during the G20 summit in 2014 in Queensland. The Queensland act provides police officers and appointed persons with special powers for the purposes of the summit. Those powers supplement the powers available under the Queensland Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 and are designed to ensure the security and safety of the G20 summit, events, delegates, members of the public, and public and private property. The powers are exercisable for a limited period and apply only with respect to certain specified locations, including Brisbane Airport, which is the important part for our purposes, because that is a Commonwealth place.

The G20 (Safety and Security) Complementary Bill 2014 provides mechanisms for dealing with any overlap between the provisions and the G20 (Safety and Security) Act 2013 and existing Commonwealth legislation in their application to the relevant parts, or part, of Brisbane Airport. This will ensure police officers and other authorised persons have a very clear understanding of the powers available to them at Brisbane Airport during the summit. The powers will be exercisable for a limited period and apply only with respect to those limited locations.

The bill would not directly provide for any additional powers; however, to avoid any inconsistency between Commonwealth aviation legislation and the Queensland legislation, the proposed section 8 provides certain provisions which ensure that those functions are able to be exercised with absolute clarity by the responsible authorities. This will prevent there being any concerns about powers being available under the Queensland act not being able to be exercised in Commonwealth places. One can readily appreciate what a nonsense it would be if a regime applying more generally in Brisbane was not able to be exercised in certain particular Commonwealth places.

Members of the AFP will have access to powers found in the Queensland legislation, as that act confers powers on 'non-State police officers', which includes members of the AFP and the police force of another state or New Zealand. This is legislation which is utterly practicable and which ensures that the Commonwealth and the powers and authorities of the Commonwealth are able to work effectively and with jurisdictional clarity with Queensland and the Queensland Police Service.

This is a piece of housekeeping legislation, but, again, let me make very plain the fact that this G20 event is something of enormous significance for this country. It is an opportunity, again, to congratulate former Prime Minister Julia Gillard for securing Australia as the host nation for this very significant event. This is an event that both government and opposition support and demonstrate great support and pride in Australia's hosting. On those bases, I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.