John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on an issue that is perhaps not widely discussed in our public life but is a growing concern and severe problem which deserves our full attention. I'm speaking of modern slavery. We could be forgiven for thinking that slavery ended some time ago in the 19th century. The impassioned words of William Wilberforce and other abolitionists finally put to rest the belief in the West that owning another human being's life was in any way permissible.

Sadly, more slaves exist today than at any other time in human history. Contemporary slavery has changed a lot from its historical precedents. Very few people today are kept in chains but are instead most commonly owned through bonded labour. This describes the situation where the extreme poor take out loans to be paid off by labour, only to discover that they have no hope of repaying the loans and are therefore bonded by debt to work for life. In other cases, workers are coerced by threats to their family or are forced into sexual slavery. In whatever form, modern slavery is a wicked crime and a gross deprivation of human liberty.

In Australia, slavery occurs far less than the international average. Since 2004, the government has identified upwards of 350 suspected victims of slavery, and advocacy groups estimate that there are in excess of 4,000 people trapped by criminal syndicates in slavery-type scenarios. In comparison, there are an estimated 45.8 million people worldwide in some form of slavery. Even though we have very few cases domestically, Australia is in fact very connected to slavery through worldwide value chains for consumers goods. Many goods which Australians consume, such as clothing and electronics, involve components that may have been involved in slavery, often without the knowledge of the downstream businesses or consumers. This is a terrible situation that can only be rectified through regulatory changes and with cooperation from the business community in Australia.

To their credit, most Australian businesses have been quick to act when they have discovered that their operations involve slavery. The Business Council of Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry have both publicly supported the need for higher reporting standards to put an end to modern slavery. This demonstrates that businesses are often simply unaware that the inputs that go into their products have been produced in part or wholly by slavery. The opaque international supply chain system is so vast that it can be difficult to tell which products may have been produced through slave labour. It is therefore clear that relying on voluntary reporting simply isn't good enough and more must be done. Putting the onus on businesses to actively investigate their operations and report their findings is an essential reform.

I'm proud to say that last year's parliamentary inquiry into modern slavery and global supply chains, led by the Chair of the Foreign Affairs and Aid Subcommittee, my colleague the member for Dunkley, was an excellent success, and the final report presented many valuable recommendations. Of note, the inquiry endorsed a dedicated modern slavery act similar to the legislation adopted by the UK in 2015 with the passage of their Modern Slavery Act 2015. As suggested by the inquiry, the central aspects of this bill should include the creation of an independent antislavery commissioner to monitor supply chain reporting in Australia, a national compensation scheme for victims of slavery and protections for workers vulnerable to exploitation, such as seasonal foreign labourers in Australia.

I would like to thank the Carlingford Baptist Church and Reverend Hales, who met with me recently to draw this issue to my attention. I would like to publicly add my support for essential legislative reform. I encourage the parliament to adopt the recommendations of the inquiry's final report in full. Only through exposing this horrid practice, which is all too often hidden in plain sight, might we redress the terrible injustice committed against millions of the world's most vulnerable people.