George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes the threat of violent extremism to Australian society;

(2) further notes the:

(a) acts of terrorism committed by violent extremists within Australia against Australians;

(b) specific terrorism incidents:

  (i) the attack on police officers at Endeavour Hills Police Station in 2014;

  (ii) the siege at Sydney' Martin Place which resulted in the death of two Australians; and

  (iii) most recently the murder of Mr Curtis Cheng at Parramatta Police Station; and

(c) significant number of ISIL recruits coming from Australia;

(3) commends the Australian police forces for their efforts in countering terrorism;

(4) notes the numerous acts of terror which have been prevented because of police efforts, in particular the:

(a) attempt by the 'Sydney Five' to commit acts of terrorism in the city of Sydney in 2005;

(b) Benbrika Group's planned bombing of various sporting events in 2005 and 2006 as well as a plot to assassinate former Prime Minister the Hon. John Howard; and

(c) 2009 plot to storm the Holsworthy Barracks in Sydney;

(5) praises the Prime Minister for his statement in response to the recent terrorism incident in Parramatta, that it is not compulsory to live in Australia and if one finds Australian values unpalatable then 'there's a big wide world out there and people have got freedom of movement'; and

(6) calls for continued action in countering violent extremism and in particular, radical Islam within Australia in order to prevent further acts of terrorism within our borders.

This motion concerns the threat of violent extremism, particularly in the form of radical Islam, in Australia, a the threat that has been borne out in this country. This is not violence for the sake of violence; it is violence driven by an extreme ideology, a jihadist ideology that does not accept the Australian way of life.

The ideology of Islamism despises our freedom, hates democracy and rejects our values—Australian values—which are very clearly defined. They are no state secret. When someone applies for a provisional, permanent or temporary visa, applicants must sign a statement that they have read and understood about the following Australian values: respect for freedom and dignity of the individual; freedom of religion; commitment to the rule of law, parliamentary democracy, equality of men and women, and the spirit of egalitarianism; and embraces things like mutual respect, tolerance, fair play and compassion for those in need in pursuit of the public good. These are the values that new citizens and new entrants to Australia sign up to, but not all citizens—or, indeed, their children—agree with these values in practice. In practice, some people hate these values. Those people can be found in Paris, they can be found in Europe, they can be found in the Middle East. Sadly, they can be found in Australia.

We would be kidding ourselves to think everyone in this country subscribes to our common set of values, and we would be foolish to think that there are not jihadists in this country who wish to do us harm because of who we are and the values that we hold dear as a nation. We have witnessed the violent extremism inherent in radical Islam in this country. We have witnessed the attack on police officers at the Endeavour Hills police station last year by a person who brandished an Islamic State flag while dressed in military gear in a photo posted to social media, where he also attacked or vilified police and security forces in this country online. We witnessed the siege at Martin Place in Sydney where two Australians were killed by a man who wanted police to bring him an Islamic State flag, a man who was a self-styled imam with thousands of Facebook followers. We witnessed the murder of Curtis Cheng at the Parramatta police station by a man who repeatedly chanted 'Allahu Akbar' after the killing. And we have seen a significant number of Australian citizens recruited by Islamic State—hundreds, in fact—who have left this country to go over and fight for that terrorist organisation.

The Australian police forces and security services have done a magnificent job combating radical Islamic terror plots—not just in their handling of the examples I listed but also in the prevention of others that have not gone ahead. Numerous acts of terror have been prevented through diligent police efforts and the efforts of security services, including the attempt by the 'Sydney Five' to commit acts of terrorism in Sydney in 2005. The Benbrika group's planned bombing of various sporting events in 2005 and 2006 was diverted, as well as the plot to assassinate former Prime Minister John Howard that the Benbrika group came up with. There was also a plot to storm the Holsworthy barracks in Sydney in 2009—again foiled by security and police efforts.

The disturbing thing about these foiled jihadist terrorist plots, and the ones that were actually enacted, is knowing that people walk amongst us who are both willing and able to commit these atrocities. Many of the people who hate Australia, Australian people and Australian values are not forced to live here. Some have dual citizenship and can just as easily go and live in another country. Others have the ability to gain citizenship of another country because their parents came to this country, often under the guise of seeking asylum or something like that. I would acknowledge the message the Prime Minister gave to those people when he said in his response to the terrorism incident in Parramatta:

It is not compulsory to live in Australia. If you find Australian values unpalatable, then there's a big wide world out there and people have got freedom of movement.

They should exercise it.

The government is taking the issue a step further, with a bill stripping citizenship from dual citizens who join with foreign fighters such as Islamic State soon to go to the vote in the Senate. I note that Labor is now talking about opposing that, and that is concerning. I believe the message should go further than that. We should strip citizenship from those who have the ability to become citizens of another country when they join foreign fighters or threaten this country and its people with terrorism. It would be a fair assumption that, if someone truly hated this country and everything it stood for, they would leave if they could—and they should leave. I say: goodbye to them, good riddance, and don't let the Customs gate hit you on the way out.

Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Russell Matheson (Macarthur, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Dawson for raising this serious issue. I do not agree with all of the arguments that he makes, but it is a very serious issue. The terrible events that have taken Australian lives in Martin Place, Endeavour Hills and Parramatta are certainly things worth focusing on. The basic chronology of events that he outlines in paragraphs (4)(a), (b) and (c)—the attempts of the 'Sydney Five' and the Benbrika group and the plot to attack Holsworthy barracks—are all very serious incidents which could have gone a lot further.

The opposition wants and has achieved bipartisanship on national security legislation. We have so far supported four tranches of legislation which have been sent the Intelligence and Security Committee for refining and ensuring they strike the right balance between the need for security and the rights of the individual and, above all, the safety and security of the Australian people. Bipartisanship and the need to balance the rights of security and privacy are what we are examining now in the citizenship amendment legislation. We dealt very effectively with it by sending the metadata legislation back.

The entire world faces the threat of violent extremism outlined by the member for Dawson. It is not unique to Australia, to France, to Israel or to the United States. The proliferation on the internet particularly of violent jihadism has enabled some deluded young people to be radicalised in privacy, in their own bedrooms, all around the world—sometimes without even their parents being aware of it.

In response to the Paris attacks, some people said they were caused by the West victimising members of the Islamic faith. I do not accept that, but I would note the words of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the member for Sydney, when she said yesterday:

… it's important for all members of parliament to be leaders and to bring our community together. I think we by our own actions and words need to set an example of unity for Australia. Of course there is today a genuine security threat in Australia and the best way that we can reduce that security threat is to support our intelligence and security agencies but support community building too.

She said the most important partners we have in that fight against violent extremism are among the Muslim community, as was outlined by the former Director-General of ASIO.

I support the comments of the Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, who said he would not have a bar of the notion—he was talking about the violence in Israel—that, if a mother or father is randomly attacked in the street, then, so long as you go back far enough in time, cast your net wide enough of draw your bow long enough, it is somehow the victim's fault. This is a very important point to understand.

Rabbi James Kennard, one of the leading rabbis in Melbourne, in a wonderful article outlining the ethics of this issue, wrote:

Explanations are not justifications. But sometimes they come dangerously close …

In this search for the political motivation behind terrorism, some have crossed the line between explaining and excusing—

arguing that—

… "curtailing freedoms", "duplicitous foreign policies" and "military interventions" are the causes of terrorism …

The danger that flows from legitimating terrorism by acknowledging the justice of the grievances that "provoke" such actions, is that violent actions are then rewarded when those grievances are addressed. The message is clear, terrorism achieves results. Those who tell us that only by understanding terrorism's political causes and alleviating them will we see a more peaceful world could not be more wrong; such "understanding" only encourages more to seek the benefits of violence.

  …   …   …

… portraying terrorism as the inevitable consequence of external factors is not just dangerous and incorrect. It is morally wrong. It denies that the terrorist has his or her own human ability to make choices … Every child knows that killing innocent people is wrong—

whether it is done here in Australia or anywhere else.

We all have to work together. We have to ensure the security of Australia, but we must never say that some cause, this or that cause, justifies people killing people in Australia or anywhere else in the world, whether it is Paris, Melbourne or anywhere else. (Time expired)

Russell Matheson (Macarthur, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Dawson for this important motion highlighting the threat of violent extremism to the Australian community. Since the attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001, we have all had to accept that terrorism poses a threat to everyone's safety, no matter where they are in the world. The very term itself captures the intent of these groups to strike fear into our hearts by inflicting death and destruction on the population indiscriminately. Civilians are not collateral damage in these campaigns; they are the target. It does not matter whether you are a Christian or a Muslim, a pacifist or not, young or old, every one of us is a target of this ruthless, opportunistic death cult emanating from the Middle East.

According to expert opinion, violent extremism is becoming more diffuse and harder to tackle. The recent attacks in Paris once again proved that we are dealing with an enemy devoid of compassion or any form of humanity whatsoever. As Janet Daley wrote in the UK Daily Telegraph:

All the things that make an enemy – however evil and malign – predictable, analysable, and intelligible are missing here. The actions make no sense in any terms that are within common understanding.

This is not to say that we give up hope or in any way change how we live our lives. In fact, quite the opposite—defiance is the perfect response to this hideous ideology. Football fans proudly singing the French national anthem as they left the Stade de France in Paris amid the attacks proved in my mind that this barbaric ideology cannot withstand the joy and reason of our way of life. What we are seeing with these attacks on innocent people, as they enjoy dining out with family and friends, watching football or listening to a concert, are the final desperate acts of a group of fanatics with no future or place in the modern world.

I have no doubt that terrorism will be defeated. We will win. However, until that point, we must show solidarity and take every precaution to ensure our citizens and those that who serve to protect them are safe from harm. Last year's attack on police outside Endeavour Hill police station in Melbourne illustrated the threat posed to law enforcement officers in Australia. The attacker, Numan Haider, who had been known to police and counter-terrorism officers but was not considered a significant threat at the time, lashed out at two officers, stabbing one officer in the arm and the other, who was lucky to survive, in the neck, stomach and head. Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said the man had been asked to come to the police station to discuss his behaviour, which had been causing some concern. When the man pulled up at the station, he stabbed the two officers as they went to greet him.

In October, the police community was again under attack: this time by a radicalised 15-year-old teenager, a naturalised Australian of Iraqi-Kurdish background who arrived with his family from Iran. He walked to police headquarters in Charles Street from his home in North Parramatta before opening fire on a civilian police employee.

The victim was Curtis Cheng, a 17-year veteran of the police finance department who had received medals for long service and who was admired and respected by his colleagues. Mr Cheng, a father of two, was shot at point-blank range by the teen as he left work. The day he died he had been working late on the police annual report. He was a dedicated, trusted and loyal employee of the New South Wales Police Force. He had stayed back longer than usual.

At Mr Cheng's funeral, an executive guard of honour was presented by the highest-ranking police officers in Australia, lining both sides of the steps of St Mary's Cathedral, including New South Wales Commissioner Andrew Scipione, along with deputy commissioners Catherine Burn, Nick Kaldas and David Hudson.

St Mary's Cathedral was filled with 1,500 mourners, near capacity for the funeral service, surrounded by tight security throughout. All states were represented, as well as New Zealand, the Australian Federal Police and Fire & Rescue New South Wales and the ambulance service.

Although these terrible attacks highlight the difficult and dangerous environment police are made to operate in, it is important to remember that Australia's law enforcement officers are having a significant impact on terrorism in our communities, foiling a number of planned terrorist attacks in recent times.

As Prime Minister Turnbull said yesterday, while paying tribute to 747 fallen police officers at a service to mark National Police Remembrance Day:

Our democracy depends on many things. But none is more important than the daily heroism and commitment of the police forces of our nation.

On behalf of all my parliamentary colleagues, I would like to thank the police community and their friends and families for your bravery and service to our community, keeping us safe from violent extremists and the threat of

terrorism.

Finally, as a community, we should all heed the words of French President Francois Hollande:

We will not give in either to fear or to hate …

He said France would respond to the attacks with 'more songs, concerts and shows'. 'We will continue to go to stadiums.' Our love of life will defeat our enemies. Thank you.

Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians watched with horror as 130 people were murdered in Paris last month by sadistic criminals driven by perverted delusions. It was a tragedy, yes, but it was also an atrocity—a deliberate act of barbarity and cruelty. We know all too well that we are not immune from this kind of barbarity in Australia.

In light of this, this motion calls for:

… continued action in countering violent extremism and in particular, radical Islam within Australia in order to prevent further acts of terrorism within our borders.

This is welcome and timely, yet, today, Australians woke up to a front-page article featuring a picture of an Australian MP in the uniform of his former life as a member of the ADF under the headline 'Islam must change'. The member for Canning is quoted in this article as saying:

Modern Islam needs to cohere with the Australian way of life, our values and institutions. In so far as it doesn’t, it needs reform.

He wants an 'honest debate' about the links between Islam and extremism.

The mover of the motion, the member for Dawson, is also quoted in the article as saying:

It's got everything to do with Islam. The terrorists say as they are doing it that it is in the name of Allah.

A number of other coalition MPs and ministers are quoted in this article. Articles like this are utterly counterproductive to the effort to counter violent extremism in Australia.

The mover of this motion, and others like him, praise the work being done by Australia's excellent and dedicated police forces in combating violent extremism but they do not listen to what our police forces are saying. They are unanimous in their recommendations: the best way to curb religious extremism is through cohesive communities.

Assistant Commissioner Steve Fontana, the leader of Victoria Police's anti-terrorism response, has previously emphasised how reliant we are on information about radicalisation from the Muslim community and how anti-Islamic sentiment makes their job of talking to communities and countering radicalisation harder. He said:

Any sort of groups like that—

like Reclaim Australia, which the member for Dawson has been associated with, and the anti-halal movement—

whatever their intentions are, can create tension and intolerance, and that intolerance can lead to racism, and it can further marginalise young people … it's inappropriate … People really need to think about what cause they're going in for.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin echoed these comments recently, noting:

Both my organisation, Duncan's organisation (ASIO) and state and territory police around the country work very hard to make sure there isn't misrepresentations of those actions by police. Words matter, as does narrative and we work very hard … to make sure the community understand that we are trying to work with them and that we need their cooperation.

There are almost 500,000 Muslims in Australia and a bare handful of perverted fanatics in this country who would seek to hijack this religion to commit criminal acts in its name. The problem here is not a religious text; it is how individuals interpret it. The more we marginalise and vilify the Muslim community in Australia, the harder our job will be to tackle the real problem: the vanishingly small number of perverts who use the text as a justification for barbarity.

Modern Islam is not the fevered dream of bigotry and paranoia that is inside the minds of some conservative MPs; it is the individual life choice of half a million Australians. What is it about the way that Ahmed Fahour, Bachar Houli, Waleed Aly, Fawad Ahmed, Captain Mona Shindy, Usman Khawaja, Ed Husic, Nazeem Hussain and Aamer Rahman live their lives that is a problem for these people? There are 99 per cent of this community who are not choosing terrorism, child marriages or female genital mutilation. Those who do ought to face the full force of the law, but the rest, who do not, should not be tarred with the brush of religious bigotry.

If those opposite believe that 'modern Islam' is the problem, and they want an honest debate, I challenge them to be specific. If Islam is the problem, when was the last time they visited a mosque in their community, and what was it that they heard or saw there that threatened our society? Do they want a religious test in our migration program? What do they propose to do about the largest Islamic nation in the world on our northern border? The Prime Minister ought to show some leadership on this important national security issue and call his ministers and his party room members into line with the strategy of our police forces for dealing with this threat. That is the policy—

George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You are an appeaser!

Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I take the interjection from the member for Dawson that I am an appeaser. I am advocating the policy being pursued by the Premier of New South Wales, Mike Baird; by the Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews; by Steve Fontana, the Victorian police assistant commissioner in charge of counter-terrorism; by Andrew Colvin, the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police—

George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You are an appeaser of radical Islam!

Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I take these interjections. I would like them in Hansard because, while the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, is advocating a bipartisan approach to this issue, an approach of cohesion in our society, this approach is being utterly disregarded by his backbench. These people need to get in touch with what we are trying to do in this nation. It is an important national security issue that is being hijacked by irresponsible, ignorant members of a minority group within the coalition. It is about time it stopped. (Time expired)

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is interesting to speak after such an outlandish outburst from the member for Gellibrand. This is a difficult and sensitive debate, but it is a debate that we must have without the type of rabblerousing, accusations of racism and Islamophobic statements we just heard from the member for Gellibrand. As the member for Dawson's motion notes, we have had serious terrorist incidents in this country over recent years. One of those occurred in my electorate, in Holsworthy. In 2009, there was a plan to attack the Holsworthy Barracks with automatic weapons. The perpetrators' plan was to murder as many people as they possibly could until they themselves were shot and killed by security forces. When Justice Betty King sentenced three individuals to 18 years imprisonment, she added that they were all unrepentant radical Muslims who would remain a threat as long as they held those extremist views.

These terror plots that have recently occurred in our country have all had one thread in common: they have been undertaken in the name of a radical interpretation of Islam. If we are going to have this debate—and it is a debate that we must have—we must do it without being bogged down and censored by the tyranny of political correctness. I believe we are slowly turning the corner and overcoming that tyranny of political correctness.

I will give you one example. Earlier this year, there was a T-shirt being sold in Woolworths that had the words, 'If you don't love it, leave.' Somehow, the politically correct found this offensive and carried on a massive song and dance until Woolworths removed those shirts, called them 'the offending T-shirts' and apologised. Several months forward, we can see how things have moved on. Our Prime Minister said only recently:

It is not compulsory to live in Australia, if you find Australian values are … unpalatable, then there's a big … world out there and people have got freedom of movement.

That may be a little bit more verbose, but it is exactly the same as saying, 'If you don't love it, leave.' I wonder if, next Australia Day, Woolworths will be selling T-shirts quoting the words of our Prime Minister.

The other reason that we need to have this debate is that, if we continue on our current path, we know what the future will be. The future will be what we see in the town of Molenbeek in Brussels. I think Mark Steyn summed it up correctly. He said, 'The barbarians are inside, and there are no gates.'

This generation of politicians cannot allow this happen to our country. What do we need to do? We need to tighten our migration policies. We need to admit that we have made mistakes in the past by allowing people who hold values completely contrary to everything that most Australians hold dear to migrate to this country. We need to say that if you want to migrate to this country and if you oppose democracy, if you have some sympathy for Islamic State, if you seek to advance sharia law, if you are against equal rights for women and if you do not share the Western freedoms and values that we enjoy, then Australia is not the country for you to migrate to. As our Prime Minister says, there is a big wide world out there, and people have freedom of movement.

Secondly, we need to tackle this anti-Western ideology that permeates many sections of our society. It is too easy to malign our Australian Defence Force and many people do so. We, every member of parliament, need to be crystal clear: when our Australian Defence Force personnel fight overseas, they are only there to protect innocent civilians from murder and rape. We need to talk up the principles and the liberal values that have created the wonderful society that we enjoy and that people from all around the world try to migrate to. (Time expired)

Laurie Ferguson (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If, like the member for Dawson, you represent an electorate where only three out of every 1,000 people are Muslim, you will have a different level of interaction and, I dare say, knowledge of these issues than a person like me, who lives in an electorate with 22.7 per cent of the population being Muslim and, nationally, represents an electorate which is 9.8 per cent Muslim, where, for the last decade, at least one of your neighbours is a Muslim family or your friends have children who go to the same school that Farhad Jabar, the murderer of that public servant in Parramatta, did. Quite frankly, sloganising and hatred are counterproductive.

Today, the member for Dawson conveniently takes one quote from the Prime Minister of this country to cloak his extremist position. I will quote further comments made by the Prime Minister of this country. As far back as 28 February 2011, he said:

It is important for us that we promote and encourage Islam ... Islamic traditions which are moderate, which support freedom, which support democracy and which support Australian values not in the sense of Aussie values but in the sense of democracy, rule of law, tolerance, freedom. That's what we're talking about and they are universal values.

Further, on 8 July, he said:

Now, just as it's important not to underestimate or be complacent about the national security threat … it is equally important not to overreact to that threat.

In this same speech, he also said:

The Islamic terrorist seeks to provoke the state to overreact because it creates a more receptive environment for the extremists' recruiting efforts …

He further added that the government had the right balance in its national security laws.

On 3 October 2014, the Prime Minister said:

Can I just say again as I have said here before, the terrorists want us to demonise and alienate the Muslim community in Australia. The Muslim community is part of Australia, they are Australians. We have to pull together.

The member for Dawson has tried to be moderate in his motion today in contrast to his own performance. Today, he described the Lindt Cafe murderer as a 'self-styled cleric'. However, on 11 December 2014, he described him as a 'cleric'. He did not reveal to the Australian people that that murderer had been rejected as a preacher at 10 Sydney mosques, including one mosque a kilometre from my home. Today, he has used the term 'extremist Islam'. However, on 19 July 2015, in one his many twitters, he talked about Islam itself 'coping' with Australia.

The situation here today is that we have to make sure that these extremist elements, these psychopaths, these murderers and rapists, these people with a very obscure interpretation of Islam, are not able to recruit people. It is interesting to note a very timely article in The Saturday Paper this weekend, which quotes Dr Joshua Roose, a research fellow at the Institute for Religion Politics and Society at the Australian Catholic University. Dr Roose made this assessment of Australian Muslims:

As best we can assess … only about 30 per cent of Australian Muslims are practising. Seventy per cent are not particularly engaged with their faith. They may have a basic respect for religious leaders, much as many people consider themselves Christian but don’t go to church, or maybe at Christmas.

They are the silent majority, who are just not engaged, not on the political spectrum. They are neither radical extremists nor moderates out there encouraging any particular view of Islam.

He went on to say:

Somewhat ironically, what we are seeing is the generation that has grown up in the post 9/11 context, now in their teens or early 20s, in a quite politically hostile atmosphere, where everything to do with Muslims is scrutinised and suspected …

Similarly, in TheHerald this morning were once again some very timely comments in relation to Mr Christensen's motion. Professor Kevin Dunn—who actually knows a few things about this subject, unlike the member for Dawson; he has actually done research—from Western Sydney University, following a survey of Muslims came up with the following conclusions:

Most Muslims surveyed ranked education and employment as issues most important to them; identified themselves as Australians and felt a sense of belonging to Australia; frequently mixed with non-Muslims; and felt Islam was consistent with Australian norms and society.

Ninety-seven per cent agreed that it was a good thing for a society to be made up of people from different cultures …

In conclusion, I refer to an article in the latest edition of The New York Review of Books where Max Rodenbeck makes this distinct comment:

The very shrillness of today's zealots may reflect an underlying fear that conservative orthodoxies are under threat as never before, facing a growing backlash not so much from the outside world as from within the faith.

What he is essentially saying is that ISIS and Boko Haram are making a desperate, last-minute attempt to enforce their interpretation, their narrow beliefs, on a world in which Islamic belief is changing. We are seeing that in surveys in this country and internationally.

Debate adjourned.