Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Acting Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has left the country to go to San Francisco to meet with senior tech executives at a time when community safety is at risk from 84 hardcore criminals being released from detention by his government.

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Leader of the Opposition will cease for a moment. Members on my right will be warned if they interject while the Leader of the Opposition is asking his question. The Leader of the Opposition will be heard in silence and will begin his question again.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Acting Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has left the country to go to San Francisco to meet with tech-sector executives at a time when community safety is at risk from 84 hardcore criminals that have been released from detention by his government. The Prime Minister was unavailable to negotiate these matters this morning. I want to thank the Acting Prime Minister for his engagement. In the Prime Minister's absence, can the Acting Prime Minister give an assurance that the government will make contact with each of the victims of these 84 individuals or, in the cases where the victim is deceased, the victim's family?

Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In response to the last part of the question: we will make our best efforts to communicate with the families of victims around not only the circumstances of the release but the steps that the government is now taking in accordance with the legislation as amended that has passed this parliament. We will make our best efforts in relation to that.

In respect of the first element of the question that the Leader of the Opposition asked: indeed, the Prime Minister is in San Francisco right now at APEC, a leaders meeting which has been attended by every prime minister, including the member for Cook, and by all Liberal prime ministers since the establishment of APEC, along with Labor prime ministers. We make no apology for the fact that we are engaging with the world. What we inherited when we came to power in May of this year was the worst circumstances in terms of our global relations that this country has ever faced. We had the situation with our largest trading partner where there was no contact whatsoever. With the country about whom we have the greatest security anxiety there was no formal defence dialogue in place at all.

What the government has done is that we have been out there; we have been out there in a way which has made sure that our country is safer, our national security is improved and our trade is improved. When the Prime Minister was in the United States and when the Prime Minister was in China, he was there representing Australian working people and creating Australian jobs by getting trade back in place, and that's exactly what he is doing in San Francisco right now.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What we have from those opposite, which is to yell out shrilly whenever anyone goes overseas, is so compatible with the fact that when they were in government all they did was yell at the world! It's a complete lack of understanding about what we need to do as a nation in terms of improving our economy and our national security. That is why the Prime Minister is in San Francisco right now; we make no apologies for that. He is there representing Australians.