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

Last year, one million Australians took cruises. It is a booming industry which is growing at the rate of 20 per cent each year, with another 200,000 expected to undertake a cruise next year. In the 43rd Parliament I was chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, and that committee conducted an inquiry into the arrangements surrounding crimes committed at sea and produced a report entitled Troubled Waters.

Crucial to that inquiry was the evidence of Mark Brimble, the former husband of Dianne Brimble. Dianne's horrendous death on a cruise ship in 2002 horrified all Australians. Marks commitment to ensure that justice was served after Dianne's death contributed enormously to that inquiry. The Troubled Waters report was tabled in the House of Representatives on 24 June 2013, two years ago today in fact. The government response was due six months after it was tabled, but there was an election, so we moved that out to February 2014. However, the report was not received from the Attorney-General, the honourable George Brandis, until November 2014. It took the government a full year and a half to consider the report and to respond, yet when they did the honourable George Brandis responded very limply indeed.

The report made a total of 11 recommendations, ones that would help prevent crimes at sea, help to care for victims and make it easier for law enforcement agencies to investigate crimes at sea if they did occur. However, the government's response was not only tardy it was completely inadequate. Of the 11 recommendations in the Troubled Waters report concerning arrangements surrounding crimes committed at sea, two were agreed to, three were not agreed to, two were noted and four were agreed in principle. Unfortunately the three recommendations that were not agreed to by the Abbott government go to the heart of crimes at sea and appropriately managing and responding to such crimes. Bizarrely, the Attorney-General, the honourable George Brandis, refused to agree to collect and publish statistics on crimes committed at sea. The Attorney-General, the honourable George Brandis, a senator for Queensland, also refused the recommendations that would make it a condition of entry to Australian ports for cruise operators to meet minimum standards in responding to alleged crimes at sea. This would ensure that crime scenes are properly managed, which was a big issue in the Brimble case, and would also ensure that there is reporting of any alleged crimes at sea. The Social Policy and Legal Affairs Committee, now chaired by Mr George Christensen, the member for Dawson, considered the government's response and the committee took the unusual and unanimous—I stress—step of holding a further hearing so that the government could provide more information after the government tabled their response. The Social Policy and Legal Affairs Committee was so concerned about the Abbott government's lack of adequate response to these serious issues that it has tabled its own response, Reviewing Troubled Waters, which I have here. This is the committee's response to the response to the original report from the Attorney-General, the honourable George Brandis, senator for Queensland. The committee, under the member for Dawson, has set out a further three recommendations—again, they are unanimous. They are: 1) that the government ensures that all data on alleged crimes at sea involving Australians is collected and published annually; 2) that the government report back to the committee at the end of 2015 on operators' agreements to provide safety information to all cruise passengers departing Australia; and, 3) that legislation be introduced to create mandatory international maritime organisation guidelines, crime scene management protocols and reporting of alleged crimes at sea. This report, Reviewing Troubled Waters, is an amazing response to Attorney-General George Brandis. It is from a committee chaired by a fellow Liberal National party member for Queensland, George Christensen. This is definitely a case where George slapped George.

Holiday cruises are an important part of our tourism industry. Tourism contributes $3.2 billion to the economy every year and employs one million people in Australia. It is our largest services export. We need to protect this tourism industry and Australia's reputation as a premier tourist destination. All Queenslanders understand the importance of tourism. Certainly the member for Dawson does; however, our senator for Queensland, the honourable George Brandis, does not. More importantly, we need to protect all Australians who embark on a holiday cruise thinking that they will be safe. Many people mistakenly think that they take the laws of Australia with them when they go outside of Sydney Heads or outside of Moreton Bay and into international waters. Many people on these cruise ships think they have access to appropriate law enforcement when that is not necessarily the case. It is actually protection enforced by contact with the cruise company.

The recent coronial inquest into the deaths of Paul Rossington and Kristen Schroder from a cruise ship in 2013 further underscores the necessity of these important recommendations being implemented. The government's response so far has been embarrassing. The Abbott government needs to take this committee report seriously and reconsider. George needs to listen to George, and by that I do not mean that he should listen to himself.

Debate adjourned.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 10:56