David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Crime videos on social media are completely out of control. We are seeing a wave of shocking crime videos right across this country, and the extraordinary thing is that these videos are posted to glamorise and celebrate crime. Every one of these videos has a victim. It might be a person who is asleep in their bed when someone breaks in during a home invasion. It might be someone who is violently assaulted. It might be someone who has their property destroyed or stolen. But every of these crimes has a victim, and people are posting these videos to glamorise that crime. It is absolutely outrageous. It is a problem right across this nation, and it's got to stop.

That's why the coalition today introduces legislation to take action on this very serious problem in our society. The Albanese government needs to take action and support the Crimes and Online Safety Legislation Amendment (Combatting Online Notoriety) Bill 2024 because this bill responds to something that's a very real problem in the community.

There are three things that this bill will do. The first thing is that this bill will make it a federal criminal offence to post a video of crime for the purpose of boosting a person's online notoriety—for property offences, for drug offences and also for violent material. We say, 'If you post a video that is a video of crime, that is designed to make you notorious or the person who is depicted in the video notorious, then that should be a criminal offence,' because we want to send a very clear message that this is unacceptable. If you're thinking about posting one of these videos, if you're thinking about committing a crime and posting a video about it, the message under a coalition government is very, very clear: don't do it, because, if you do it, you could go to jail. Of course, these provisions are a part of the existing telecommunications provisions in the Criminal Code. There's a well-established section of Commonwealth law where telecommunications criminal offences exist, and we will add this crime to those provisions.

We will also enable courts to ban people from using social media for a period of up to two years if they're convicted of one of these offences, because if someone has committed one of these offences they shouldn't be going straight back onto social media. So we will stop that from happening. We will also give the eSafety Commissioner a clear and unambiguous power to take these videos down. She does not have that clear power in relation to these crime videos to require those videos to be taken down, and we will give that to the eSafety Commissioner under this bill.

So, there are three clear elements. The first is a criminal offence if you post these videos online to glamorise a crime, to make yourself notorious. Under a coalition government, don't do it, because if you do you could go to jail. The second element is that the court can also ban that person from using social media. The third element is to give the eSafety Commissioner a very clear and unambiguous power to remove these videos, to get them off the internet, and that's as it should be.

And this is happening all around the country. We have seen terrible examples. In northern New South Wales, in the town of Moree, a video was recently posted of thugs smashing their way into a motel room. We hear the gut-wrenching sounds of a woman screaming. It's horrific. The criminals take the woman's car keys, steal the car and then post the footage online. In another video we see a group of intruders enter an elderly man's home, creep up on him while he sleeps and then rob him and post the video online. Why do they do that? Because they think it's cool. They think it's going to impress their friends somehow—the perverse logic of these videos. It's got to stop, and that's why we need to take action on this issue.

There is a video where machete-wielding youths in a stolen vehicle in Queensland are seen ramming a terrified motorist. Then the victim tells the Townsville Bulletinand I note that the member for Herbert, who has been very outspoken on these issues, is here in the chamber—of the terrifying moment he thought he would die after the thugs collided with his car and it began to spin out of control. He said:

They were ramming me through every roundabout until Hervey Range Rd, where I was pushed through there at 120km/h spinning out of control.

The paper reported that the criminals inside the car later posted this chase online and said, 'You don't chase us; we chase you'—shocking. Then on the Mornington Peninsula: there's a shocking video of an elderly man being pushed of a pier into the dark waters below at night, and the people who posted the video stand there and laugh after this elderly man is pushed into the water. It's absolutely disgraceful.

It is happening all around the country, and the Albanese government has done precisely nothing about it. There is a very well-established part of Commonwealth law, under the federal Criminal Code, where we can take action. We should take action. We must take action. We shouldn't just sit here and say, 'It is all too hard' or 'It's someone else's problem.' This is an issue that affects thousands of Australians. Action needs to be taken, and that's why this bill is being presented today. It is so important that everyone in this parliament gets behind it.

I want to note in particular the member for Groom, who was one of the first people to raise the issue and has championed this issue over an extended period. He's seen the terrible consequences of these shocking videos in his own electorate. I want to cede some of my time to the member to for Groom to also speak on this bill.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Groom.

Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very happy to speak on this bill, because today we are seeing Toowoomba's voice heard. We are seeing Oakey's voice and Pittsworth's voice heard. Right across our region, this has been raised with me by locals as a great example of a grassroots campaign being adopted as Liberal Party policy. The people in my region have had enough of this youth crime crisis. It's been tearing through our region for far too long now, and people expect action from all levels of government on this.

This was a true grassroots campaign, and I want to thank the people who started this off—Helen Bell and Jo Noble, working with the Voices of Victims group. They raised this with Trevor Watts, the state member for Toowoomba North. He saw that this fell into federal jurisdiction, and he raised it with me. Through a private member's bill that I brought to this place over a year ago I've continued to advocate for this. I've given the Labor government and the crossbench every opportunity to be involved in this conversation. They've offered no solutions. They've not wanted to be involved at all. I'm very happy to be bringing this forward.

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Katter's Australian Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What have you done about relocation?

Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What are you doing about supporting this bill, Bob? If you want to get serious about this, people expect every level of government to be involved in this. I'm very happy to say that I have listened to the voices on the ground. People who rejected those voices and turned their back now want to interject and pretend they have some reasonable part in this.

This has been tearing apart of our communities, and this bill seeks to end the cycle of youth crime. We have seen this become a key recruitment tool. Kids as young as eight years old are watching these videos and then coming out and doing copycat versions of their own, committing the crimes.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member of Kennedy, on a point of order.

Bob Katter (Kennedy, Katter's Australian Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am being misrepresented. He accused me of doing nothing about this bill. We—

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Kennedy will resume his seat. The member for Groom, in continuation.

Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are seeing exactly the problem here. People's voices on the ground are not being listened to. I'm very happy to have taken this from the ground. It is now Liberal Party policy. I do not want to see more kids in detention. Nobody does. I want fewer kids committing these crimes, so we need to take steps to make sure that happens.

Thank you very much, Helen, and thank you very much, Jo, for raising this with me. Thank you to the very excellent members for Herbert and Bowman, who have stood side by side on the issue knowing that it was supported all the way through. Thank you to the shadow minister and thank you to Peter Dutton, who are willing to stand up and show we are quite happy to be tough on crime and to look after the people we are here to represent.

Debate adjourned.