Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Feeney's answer raises an issue about the effectiveness of this legislation in the absence of the amendments proposed by the Australian Greens. My understanding from material that I have been provided is that, in report No. 103 of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties in May 2009, JSCOT recommended ratification of the convention. However, it expressed concern 'that some of the terms contained in the convention are not clearly defined and may provide an avenue by which Australia could participate in actions which may contravene the humanitarian aims of the convention'. It went on:

The Committee therefore considers that the Australian Government and the ADF should address these issues when drafting the domestic legislation required to implement the Convention, and when developing policies by which the personnel of the Australian Defence Force operate.

I am relying on the Bills Digest in relation to this. JSCOT recommended that particular regard should be given to 'preventing inadvertent participation in the use, or assistance in the use, of cluster munitions by Australia'. Given what the parliamentary secretary has said in relation to the whole issue of the aims of the convention and the concerns expressed by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties in May 2009—when there were, I think, some quite heavy caveats given, or perhaps warnings sounded, by the committee about there being a potential avenue by which Australia could participate in actions which could contravene the humanitarian aims of the convention—to what extent does the government say that those matters have been addressed in this legislation so that there is not a potential contravention of the humanitarian aims of the convention?