Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to also speak in a truncated manner about this particular piece of legislation, the Social Security Amendment (Supporting Australian Victims of Terrorism Overseas) Bill 2011. As previous speakers have acknowledged, this bill is an important acknowledgement of the cost that Australian families and individuals pay in response to overseas terrorist incidents simply by virtue of being an Australian citizen, in many cases, and hence being the target of these reprehensible acts by overseas terrorists. We should not forget that high price that is being paid. This bill is actually a copy, as was mentioned earlier today, of the private senator's bill introduced by the coalition in March this year by Senator Brandis. It follows a long line of private members' bills seeking to address the cost that is paid by individuals and families who are influenced and hurt as a result of terrorist attacks.

Since 11 September 2001, some 300 Australians have been killed or injured in terrorist incidents overseas. We know Australians died in the World Trade Centre. We know many Australians died in Bali in two terrorist attacks. Australians died in a terrorist attack in London. So we lost Australians in the World Trade Centre. We lost too many Australians in Bali, not once but twice. And we lost Australians in London. We have also lost Australian citizens in Jakarta. Some 300 Australians have been killed or injured simply because of their citizenship and the value that we hold dear within this nation of freedom—freedom to worship, freedom to express our opinions and freedom to live and work together.

So let us never forget that those bombs went off because the perpetrators of these outrageous attacks believe that our way of life, for them, is equivalent to evil. That is what they believe—that how we live our lives, how we conduct our governance and how we go about our everyday existence is actually evil. That is what they believe. The people who died or were injured in these terrorist incidents were targeted precisely because of their way of life, their values and the civilisations of which they were a part. Australia has been targeted precisely because we are part of the Western civilisation and the values system which these terrorists hate. It should be remembered that after each of the terrorist incidents which I have just mentioned the Australian government was there to help. Centrelink assistance was rendered. Medical expenses were paid. I want to congratulate governments of both persuasions for the efforts they have made to help Australians, and they continue to help Australians who have been injured and the families of those who have been killed in terrorist incidents overseas.

We have to acknowledge the fact that these people have suffered for their country in a way not entirely different from the sufferings that our soldiers have faced in the struggle against terrorism. They were not random victims; they were victims because of the way of life of this country and they were chosen as targets because of the way of life and the civilisation in which they participate. Simply as a result of our civilisation and values, the act of terrorism, the act of random violence against innocents, has a specific impact on our value systems that it does not necessarily have in other places. We cannot thank these agencies enough for the assistance that they rendered. We must stand by our fellow Australians in trouble, those who are targeted because they are Australian.

I will go to the bill specifically now. The bill provides for up to $75,000 in government compensation to be paid to people affected by an overseas terrorism act. They can be either primary victims—those directly involved in the attack itself, who have to have been in close proximity to or within the place where the specific terrorist attack occurred—or secondary victims, in the event of the death of a close family member. Who is defined as a close family member is outlined within the legislation.

Eligibility for the scheme requires the Prime Minister to declare the incident an overseas terrorist act. I am confident that Australian prime ministers understand very clearly what constitutes an overseas terrorism act and will be more than willing and able to respond if the horrible need arises. The applicants would have to be Australian residents and, for obvious reasons, would have to have in no way contributed to the act itself. An additional aspect is that victims will not be required to repay Medicare, workers compensation or other benefits. Payments under the scheme would be tax exempt.

I would like to mention, though, that the coalition moved amendments to see if payments could be applied retrospectively. However, the amendments were not passed in the other place. I would also like to mention that we do have a variety of other acts within the Commonwealth that deal with victims of criminal acts, and obviously acts of terrorism are defined as criminal acts right throughout the Commonwealth. Within Victoria, Victorians are covered by the Victims' Charter Act 2006. However, that only covers terrorism acts within the state, not overseas. Victoria has also passed referring legislation under section 51(xxxvii) of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, giving the Commonwealth powers to cover this sort of thing.

I was overseas during the 2001 attacks. I was in North America, not in America itself but in Canada, on that fateful day. It was quite horrific to wake up, and I had young children with me at the time, in a foreign land, albeit a Western country. We woke up on the other side of Canada to the news of the attacks on the World Trade Centre. To see the carnage, to watch firsthand how people within that nation dealt with the absolute horror of what had occurred in America on that day was very moving.

I remember that my father, who is a milkman, was up very early in the morning delivering milk to the various small shops in Gippsland. He is not a very emotive man and does not regularly call or write but he gave me a very early phone call that morning. Obviously, Australians knew about it a lot earlier than people on the west coast of Canada did. He said, 'I want you to get on a plane, Bridget; I want you to get home.' It was something that struck me because it was quite out of character for my father. The people who went through the carnage and horror of that event have struggled to rebuild their life over time, struggled to reconnect and make sense of the act itself and also the loss of family members and loved ones. Governments internationally are struggling with the way we deal with the new risks involved in a globalised world. We have all had to struggle with how we are going to deal with this, and this piece of legislation will assist families. It can never cover the cost that they have had to bear as a result of our shared values. It will never bring back their loved one or repair the damage personally in a physical and mental sense that has occurred as a result of these horrendous act. But it will allow them to know that they have been recognised by the state and it will allow them to seek other means to help them deal with their loss.

I am extremely conscious of the lack of time and the long list of coalition senators who would like to speak to this piece of legislation. Before the guillotine is enforced, in approximately seven minutes, I will have to conclude my remarks. I did want to go on to more specific things that I have an issue with within the legislation but obviously I will run out of time to do that. I will cede before time.