Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

I understand what the minister is saying and I appreciate his at least putting on the record the clear-cut position of the government’s abhorrence of torture in any circumstances. I think that in itself is valuable to have on the record. As he pointed out, the fact that Senator McCain has had to undertake some admirable work in recent times to make this crystal clear in a US context is a sign that that total and absolute abhorrence of torture is at risk of becoming less than absolute amongst some of our allies. Obviously, if the minister is as strongly and categorically advised as he has said, he would take that advice, as I would in his circumstance. I will just repeat that this was specifically raised as a concern in one of the submissions to the Senate committee inquiry by a person on behalf of a couple of bodies that I believe have quite strong reputations as well. If, as the minister says, it is redundant then it certainly will not do any harm. As I said, I think the broader value of making this categorical statement should not be completely dismissed either. I think it is appropriate to re-emphasise that. It is not just a whim to make a point; it is in response to a specific concern raised in the Senate committee inquiry.

On the wider point, which goes to the next amendment, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s submission, whilst not referring to the torture issue, also referred to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The fact that we are a signatory and have ratified these conventions does not make them automatically applicable under Australian law. However, I accept and acknowledge what the minister said about existing law and other wider laws covering the matter the Democrats have raised. It is not particularly unusual for things to be inserted into legislation for the purposes of removing doubt. In fact, one of the clauses in this amending bill does that in a few places where, for the purposes of avoiding any doubt, something is spelt out. I believe this would have been a good opportunity to do the same in this circumstance.

Question negatived.