Kerry Nettle (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

At the end of the motion, add “and, in respect of the Removal of Recognition of US Military Commissions (David Hicks) Bill 2006, the bill be referred to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee for inquiry and report by 20 March 2007”.

I do so because what this piece of legislation seeks to do is to remove from Australian legislation the recognition of US military commissions which were put into Australian law in the Proceeds of Crime Act in 2004 by the government and opposition at the time. These US military commissions have subsequently been found to be unconstitutional and therefore illegal by the US Supreme Court, yet they still exist in the Australian statutes. So this piece of legislation needs to be addressed and referred to committee.

I understand that in the discussion by the Selection of Bills Committee there was an indication that these matters had been dealt with previously, and that is correct, but there has not been an occasion for a Senate committee to look at the issue of whether or not Australian legislation should recognise the US military commissions that have now been found by the US Supreme Court to be illegal and unconstitutional. What the Australian Greens are seeking to do in this referral is ensure that Australian legislation does not legitimise a military commissions process in the United States that has been found by the US Supreme Court to be unconstitutional and therefore illegal. If we do not deal with this issue then Australian law will be the only law in the world that recognises the US military commissions that have been thrown out.

The government and the opposition may object to this legislation, but what I am seeking to do on behalf of the Australian Greens is ensure that it can be looked at by a committee. A committee has not looked at this issue since the US military commissions were ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court. I accept the argument that, yes, this issue has been looked at, but it has not been looked at since the US Supreme Court ruled the commissions unconstitutional. That was a fundamental change and a fundamental shift, I would have thought, in whether or not people chose to recognise the military commissions.

The Australian Greens have never supported the US military commissions that were proposed as a way to try David Hicks, because we recognise that they are a kangaroo court. They are completely unfair. They are designed and set up to convict people such as Australian citizen David Hicks. We think that the parliament should never have recognised them, and in 2004 we voted against that. That was not a time when the government had the numbers, so they only got the motion up because the opposition supported them. The government and the opposition put into Australian legislation a recognition of these US military commissions that now the opposition claim they oppose. I am sorry; they voted for them in 2004 and that is why they are still in our law.

The Australian Greens’ legislation seeks to ensure that that recognition is removed. What I am doing now is ensuring that a Senate committee has an opportunity to look at that. Whether or not people agree or disagree, it is an opportunity for a Senate committee to discuss whether we should have on the statute books in Australia, in Australian law, recognition of a system of US military commissions that has been found to be unconstitutional in the US Supreme Court. They are unconstitutional in the US but they are on the statute books in Australia. Is that the situation we want? It is certainly not the situation the Australian Greens want, and we think the Senate should look at it. All I am moving here is that a Senate committee look at this issue: should we have on our statutes recognition of US military commissions that have been found to be unconstitutional? The Greens do not think so. We want the opportunity to at least look at that matter.

Clearly, we support the bill. It is a bill that I introduced into the parliament this morning in my name and in the name of the Leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Bob Brown, because that is our position. But come on: can’t we at least look at it? The government have said, ‘We don’t want to look at this matter. We’ve dealt with it before.’ I am sorry, but that is wrong. We have not dealt with this matter since the US Supreme Court ruled that the US military commissions were unconstitutional. This is the opportunity to do that. Does the Australian parliament want to look at the matter of whether or not Australian law should recognise the US military commissions that were set up some years ago to try David Hicks and were subsequently found by the US Supreme Court to be unconstitutional? Does the Australian Senate think we should look at the fact that these US military commissions are recognised in Australian law? (Time expired)