Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) condemns the murder of Mrs Jo Cox, Member of Parliament in the House of Commons for the constituency of Batley and Spen, killed in the course of performing her responsibilities to her constituents;

(2) expresses its deepest sympathies to Mrs Cox's family, colleagues, and to all who knew her; and

(3) pays tribute to Mrs Cox's extraordinary contribution to public life.

On 16 June this year, a woman was brutally murdered while she was at work in the course of doing the job that she loved. Her name is Jo Cox. She was the Labour member in the House of Commons for Batley and Spen, amongst many other things. Today we remember her in this place, Australia's parliament. This is the least we can do. I hope this motion can be the start of a response, not simply a statement of respectful condolence. This motion follows motions in the House of Commons and other legislatures, including the United States House of Representatives. I note that many Australian members of parliament, along with parliamentarians around the world, have signed a statement expressing our shock, our horror and our sympathy.

I stand here with colleagues to pay respect and to extend deepest sympathy to Jo Cox's husband Brendan, her children, all of her family and friends, to all who knew her and to all who loved her. I do not presume to understand what they have been going through. My words here cannot of course compare to the incredibly brave words and thoughts of her husband. In his moving editorial for The New York Times entitled 'Brendan Cox: carrying on Jo's work against hate' he said:

… I’ve thought about what we can do to advance Jo’s beliefs. While she worried about the direction of politics in many countries, she was never despondent. She knew from a lifetime of activism that most people are good, and that human empathy is a powerful force for change.

I am in awe that he could say such generous words at such a time, and I am inspired to do justice to those words and to their spirit. I never met Jo Cox. I cannot speak today of her life from personal experience—I am grateful for the advice of those who did know her—but it is so important that her life and work are spoken of here. It is clear to me that her work and the way in which she did it made a great impact on those she encountered. I am aware of the extraordinary regard in which she is held by former colleagues from the humanitarian and not-for-profit sectors, and how deeply her death has affected so many in those fields and in the Labor Party more generally.

Jo Cox was born on 27 June 1974. She studied at Cambridge university and then at the London School of Economics before working for Oxfam and in significant political roles. She was elected to parliament in May 2015 with an increased claim a majority. In her sadly too short time in that parliament she made an impact, through both the work she did and the manner in which she did it. Across her working life she was a consistent advocate for equality, for a more peaceful world, for women's rights, against poverty, for inclusion and for strengthening our democracy. At the time of her murder Britain was in the course of a bitter and too often rancorous debate about its future in Europe. Jo Cox spoke out bravely for her vision against those forces seeking to divide, in particular against the growing recourse of populists to mobilise insecurity by promoting hatred.

I make this contribution at a time when we confront great challenges to our democracy. On the one hand, there is a pervasive cynicism about the way in which political processes work, or don't. On the other hand, there is a rejection of pluralism, indeed of democracy itself. In her life and her work, Jo Cox confronted these challenges head on. This must continue. I note the memorial fund established to honour her has been supporting HOPE not hate, an organisation challenging extremism in alienated communities—hope not hate. In Jo's first speech, speaking with pride in representing a diverse community, she said, 'We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us.' And we do.

Here in Australia, as in the United Kingdom, we must continue to choose hope over fear in how we carry on our representative work every day and in standing up against the voices of division and despair. It is necessary but not sufficient that we call out and stand up to the voices of division wherever we hear them. But we must also strive throughout our work for a kinder politics—through how we conduct ourselves, through demonstrating by listening attentively and leading our concern for those whose lives are insecure, and by instilling across the community a sense that politics still matters, that it is how people can come together to expand opportunities in their lives and in the lives of others.

Brendan Cox, Jo Cox's husband, whose heartbreakingly beautiful piece referred to earlier, began that article by saying, 'All our lives, Jo and I had been optimists,' and ends by returning to that optimism. If this brave man can do this then surely all of us here, with the chance and the duty to speak for others, can and must. Jo Cox demonstrated politics at its best. As her husband wrote, it is our job to realise her vision. We should continue to remember her and do this by striving to live up to the example she said. Rest in peace.

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

Is the motion seconded?

Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

I rise to second the motion and to add my condolences to the people of Britain, and also to the family of Jo Cox, the Labour MP for Batley and Spen. Jo Cox died on 16 June after being stabbed and shot while conducting what we would call a mobile office. The 52-year-old man who was later charged with her murder shouted 'Britain first'.

Jo was 41; she had two children, aged three and five. Like every death at work, her death was a tragedy. It came about two weeks before the Australian election. Everyone in this place at the time was campaigning. We were meeting constituents on street corners, like Jo Cox was when she was murdered. I felt her death very keenly, and I know that my colleagues, like the member for Lalor, who is here with us today, did as well. My guess is that each member of this place has received threats of violence, so I suspect that alongside the sadness we all felt there was a pang of fear and something like recognition.

Becoming a member of parliament is a very great privilege and a great opportunity to make change. And it is also an act of bravery that carries with it some sacrifice. We are ridiculed. We are hated by some people. We are looked upon with contempt. We are called children. We are told we are in it for the money. We are dehumanised. We are constantly spending time away from those that we love, like our kids and our partners and our families and our friends. Expectations of us are simultaneously so high as to be unachievable and so low as to be insulting.

Each person in this place could choose a much less difficult path, and it seems to be getting worse for those in public life, particularly for women. Witness the attacks on Hillary Clinton and the tacky obscenities and sledges of her opponent. As former Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in her speech at Jo Cox's memorial very recently:

Our community would not consider it acceptable to yell violent, sexually-charged abuse at a female politician walking down the street. Why is it okay to let these voices ring so loudly in our online worlds?

These voices weaken, ridicule, humiliate and terrify. Not only do they challenge the resolve of the women who cop the abuse, but they deter other women from raising their hand to serve in public life. For all the structural barriers to women’s participation in politics, and for all the gender bias and sexism that must be addressed, so too must we challenge and defeat—

the words that are said. She went on to say that it was very unclear at what point those sorts of online abuses would spill over into real life, into public life and onto the street. It is true. A friend of mine is a public figure—she is a columnist; she goes on television—and she is routinely abused online. But very recently she received, at her house in her mailbox, a letter containing a package of photos of gang rapes, of genital mutilation. It is horrifying to see these things happening in public now, and so the murder of Jo Cox really reminds us of the sorts of things that people in public life face and the fact that it is an act of bravery.

So you might say: 'Why on earth would anyone do it? Why would anyone put themselves up for public life?' The answer for every single person here, I think, is because we feel obliged. We feel a sense of duty. We ask ourselves these questions: 'If I say it is too much for me and I give it up, what message will that send to other people? If I don't do it, who will do it? If, being able to make change, I fail to make that change am I not failing in my obligation and my duty?' I really feel that those are the reasons why Jo Cox was in parliament. You can see it through her advocacy on Syria, on pregnancy and childbirth; you can see it through the work that she did on diversity and the imperative to bring people together. You can see it from all of the things that happened in her short political career, which was far too short, that did take her away from those beautiful young children and her husband too much. And you can see it in the fact that she was doing what we should all be doing, which is talking to our constituents and listening to them. And you can see that sense of obligation, that sense of duty and that imperative to make change in the words that her husband spoke at the memorial on what was to have been her 42nd birthday. He talked about the beautiful irony that there was to her death. Though it was an attempt to silence her, the act of murdering her had actually brought people together, had continued her work to bring people together even after her death. It is really an honour to be able to stand up in this condolence motion to express my condolences to the British people and to Jo Cox's family. May she rest in peace.

David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to join with other members of this House in supporting this motion of condolence to the family of Jo Cox. I commend the member for Scullin for bringing this to the House. Ms Cox was the first member of her family to go to university. Having graduated from Cambridge University, she went on to work in very important parts of the community, through Oxfam and through being a strong advocate for women's rights and refugees, and also as a political adviser. Ms Cox's experience in those fields made her a fitting member of the British parliament to represent her constituents in Batley and Spen, which is a diverse electorate. Ms Cox thoroughly enjoyed representing the people of Batley and Spen in the 15 months that she was in parliament. She quickly made her mark as a bright and compassionate representative for those people, advocating across political party lines to ensure that she got the best outcome, not only for the people she represented but also for the people of Britain. There is no doubt that her hard work and dedication was something that she saw as a commitment to the people of Britain and to the people she represented, and particularly to the most vulnerable in the community. She stood for parliament for that particular reason—to be the best representative and to be entrusted to represent them in that place.

From her time with Oxfam, where she worked on humanitarian issues, to her role as an MP, through which she sought to address some of the most pressing international challenges of our time, particularly in Syria, Jo Cox committed to making the world a better place. Her contribution to public life is an example to all of us as we carry on our parliamentary duties here. Her death at such a young age—similar to my age—is a tragic loss for constituents but above all for her family, particularly for her husband Brendan and her two small children—and that is quite poignant to me, because it mirrors much of my life and my family situation.

Ms Cox's death occurred in the midst of the Brexit campaign, and the attribution of the nature of the campaign to the stupidity of the man who wrongly took her life. I was not there, and I did not know Jo. I do not know the man who took Ms Cox's life, other than the reports that he was quite unwell. But I think that this tragedy illuminates more broadly the growing contempt of democracy and of the role that we as MPs play and the work that we do in representing the people of our constituencies, particularly when there are 69 countries around the world where democracy does not exist. Democracy is something that we as elected representatives should be custodians of, to ensure that it is seen as something precious. The voices of the people that we represent in this parliament—that is something that is precious to us, but also precious to them, in ensuring that democracy in our country is undertaken without the vitriol and hatred that this person exemplified by taking the life of Jo Cox.

These principles are really the foundation of any good democracy. But it is important that we as their representatives ensure that is encapsulated in our actions in this place—that we actually take the community with us, and that the community understands and respects that, while we have differences of opinion in this place, we are able to work together collectively for a better nation. There are plenty of examples that I have seen, only in my short five months in this place, where both sides of this parliament can work collectively and constructively to make our electorates and our country a better place. That is our responsibility. It is also the responsibility of the media to ensure that they come on that journey with us; that they portray the bipartisanship that does exist from time to time. This tragic death should not be just a tragic event in history; it should be something that we should all learn from. We should all ensure that we actually move forward as a nation, and that we move forward as a world, to ensure that this type of hatred and violence is never accepted, and that the community understands that each and every one of us, no matter our political persuasion, is here to make this place a better place in the world.

Can I again commend the member for Scullin for bringing this forward: this is a very important motion. I give my deepest sympathies to the British people and to Jo Cox's family. Thank you.

Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also rise to send my condolences to the British public and to Jo Cox's family. I echo the sentiments expressed by the member for Scullin—and I thank him for the motion—in particular, the sentiments he expressed around the notion that it is important that in this place Jo Cox's death be marked. For me, that is a very personal thing. On the morning that I heard of Jo's death and across that day, I made contact with many people—the member for Griffith was one, the member for Hotham another—and I sent a text to former Prime Minister Julia Gillard. I have collected those things together. My first response went like this:

And suddenly the thing we think isn't really possible - or the thing we won't contemplate happening happens. It is not here and it is not our Julia Gillard but it is a younger version in a place we know too well. It is one of us, a woman committed to representing a multicultural, multi faith community and the killer is someone we know too well, someone whose hate has broken with all human decency.

I went on, 'And the sadness.'

My text to former Prime Minister Gillard was simple. I thanked her for teaching us to stare down the hate. I lived as a personal friend of our former Prime Minister through her years as Prime Minister and, like many of her friends and many of her constituents, of which I was both, I worried. I worried that something like this might happen in our country. Jo Cox's death reminded me how close we did come to those events. As the member for Griffith has referenced, the online hate that is thrust upon women who stand up for their communities is becoming almost intolerable.

Julia Gillard gave a speech recently at a commemoration for Jo Cox, and I would like to quote her here. This was on 11 October in London:

Like millions of others around the world, I remember where I was when I heard of Jo's death. I was in a hotel room in Brussels and—unusually for me—I had the television on. Normally, I get my news online but I was sorting through documents and other stuff I had accumulated on the trip. I flicked the television on for background but on hearing about Jo I stopped moving around the room, sank on to the bed and watched—saddened, stricken and shuddering about what this said about our world.

Women friends of mine, who were campaigning in Australia's election, were particularly shaken. They wondered, "What does this mean for us now?" Standing at street stalls and giving out pamphlets at train stations they asked themselves for the first time ever—"Are we safe?"

How do those who loved Jo recover? How do we all move beyond the shock and the fear?

My answer is that while we must farewell Jo, we must never farewell the values that defined her.

I think with those words our former Prime Minister captures a lot of the thoughts that we had across that day. Like the member for Griffith and the member for Scullin, we were campaigning, as were those opposite, and we picked up our bags that day and we headed out and we said hello to our constituents, because ultimately, like Jo, we believe that most people are good. We believe that the things we fight for are important, and so we stood.

The links to Jo Cox, for me, are also there in her maiden speech, where, if I tweak a few of the words, I could be speaking about Lalor. She said:

Batley and Spen is a gathering of typically independent, no-nonsense and proud Yorkshire towns and villages. Our communities have been deeply enhanced by immigration, be it of Irish Catholics across the constituency or of Muslims from Gujarat in India or from Pakistan, principally from Kashmir. While we celebrate our diversity, what surprises me time and time again as I travel around the constituency is that we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.

  …   …   …

I am Batley and Spen born and bred, and I could not be prouder of that. I am proud that I was made in Yorkshire and I am proud of the things we make in Yorkshire. Britain should be proud of that, too. I look forward to representing the great people of Batley and Spen here over the next five years.

The death of Jo Cox was an absolute tragedy. I hope that her death serves to remind us of why we serve, and I hope that it serves to remind the community of why we serve and to give us some credit and some value for doing that.

Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I join my parliamentary colleagues on both sides of the House to acknowledge the tragic death of UK member of parliament Jo Cox. As described earlier, Ms Cox died on 16 June this year after being shot and stabbed. It was tragic. She is survived by her husband and two children. Without going into the details of the case, it does highlight the vulnerability of MPs in all parts of the world, including Australia, when carrying out their daily role in the community. In many cases, mental illness plays a factor in the murder of political representatives worldwide; in other cases it is due to the radical ideology of the likes that we see in ISIS and in other extremist movements.

Back home in Australia, the incident is a reminder of how lucky democracies—like those based on the Westminster system—are to have access to politicians openly. MPs in Australia walk the streets and visit many events and places in their electorate, just like Jo Cox did. They do this because they seek to make a difference in their community, through taking local issues to Canberra. Interestingly, Australia is not immune from these incidents. There have been numerous attempts to murder politicians, and some have, tragically, been carried out—like that of New South Wales MP John Newman. This year sees almost 50 years since an attempt on the life of former Labor leader Arthur Calwell. According to reports, Calwell had just addressed a meeting at Mosman Town Hall in Sydney. He was in the car when a man he thought was a wellwisher came close, so he partly wound down the window. Nineteen-year-old Peter Raymond Kocan aimed a sawn-off rifle at Calwell's face and fired. Fortunately, Calwell received only minor injuries to his chin, as the bullet was deflected by the window, but he ended up with a bullet hole in his coat.

Back to 2016—the tragic death of Jo Cox cannot be rationalised by either lawyers or health workers, but it does highlight the importance of preserving our democracy. Whether this murder was the result of mental illness or Nazi idealism is unclear, but it is not for us to judge here; it is for a court room in England. However, the general conversation around this incident does create a new conversation on the safety of our democratic principles, and that includes the ability of Australians to freely elect anyone who can stand for nomination for an election into parliament. That is why we need to maintain high national security through strong border control and immigration processes. As John Howard once said, we choose who comes to our country. We should never be pressured by the green movement or social activists to change our standards for vetting people who want to come to Australia, no matter what form of transport they arrived on.

The recent anniversary of the Bali bombing, which killed many Australians, is a reminder that we must constantly be vigilant against extremists and their dangerous rants. We are a proud and peaceful multicultural nation, and we are known as the lucky country for good reason. May you rest in peace, Jo Cox. Our thoughts are with you and your family.

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

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.