Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Education and Training. Will the minister inform the House of action the government is taking to protect our young people from the insidious scourge of radicalisation in schools?

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bass for his question. I know that he takes very seriously the measures that this government is implementing to counter violent extremism across the whole of government, whether it is the Minister for Justice, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Attorney-General or, indeed, in my own portfolio of education. No-one could doubt the very serious nature of the threat posed to our way of life by the radicalisation of students at schools—of Australian youth. This was starkly brought home to all of us in recent weeks by the case of Oliver Bridgeman, an 18-year-old Gold Coast student who had recently returned to Toowoomba and then, from Toowoomba, was radicalised and is now, we believe, suspected of joining a terrorist organisation overseas. It provides us with a stark reminder of the challenges that we face at every facet of our society.

So, last Friday, I asked the education ministers council, the state and territory ministers, to join with the Commonwealth in devising a strategy around the deradicalisation of at-risk youth at school. While baby steps were made, it is fair to say, there was some movement. There was not the sense of urgency that I think the Australian people demand from their governments, state, territory and Commonwealth. We want to work with the states and territories on a number of different measures. We need to create the resources for teachers and for schools that provide information, that identify at-risk students, that tell the teachers and principals where to get help and to provide advice in emergency situations.

We also need to provide resources to parents to be able to see the signs of at-risk children at home, to ensure that they get very early to nip in the bud potential danger signs of their own children and then provide them with the information they need to contact those who know how to help for emergency assistance. Every single family knows in their households they are dealing with children who have terrific access these days to the internet, and all of the people who are trying to radicalise our youth are operating through the internet—operating online.

So we do need the policies in place, and the government wants to work with the states and territories. I do call on the states and territories to accept that offer to work with us to ensure that we have the policies in place, right across government, to protect our society and our way of life from those who would seek to overthrow it.