Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Hansard source

I know the opposition are making interjections. They are not interested in what the community thinks. They are not interested in what Australians think about criminal law and condign punishment for people who commit serious offences, but we are and we are carrying out our undertaking at the election to have a look at it.

I can point out that, while states and territories deal with offences largely dealing with the person and property, at the Commonwealth level there are some very serious offences indeed with which we are involved. Of course, we are cracking down on the illegal importation of drugs, people trafficking, sex trafficking and child sex tourism. That might be of some interest to senators opposite, but we are vitally interested in this. I might also point out that, when you look at the penalties that we have in place, it is vitally important that we abide by the undertaking that we gave the Australian people that those penalties will meet community expectations, and that is what this is all about.

I was interested to note that, out of some 691 Commonwealth offenders that we have around the country, over 200 are serving sentences in excess of 10 years imprisonment. In some cases, they are serving life imprisonment with non-parole periods exceeding 20 years for drug trafficking. I think that sends a very clear message in relation to the seriousness with which we attack the trafficking of drugs. Part of this will also assess the adequacy of penalties in relation to corporations. We have heard the opposition talk a great deal about corporate liability, but what we will be looking at is the question of penalties for corporations.