Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of the Prime Minister's statement on national security—a statement which follows troubling events last week when law enforcement agencies moved to foil a suspected terrorist act in Australia. Last week more than 800 police and security personnel across Sydney and Brisbane raided homes, executed search warrants and arrested a number of individuals.

The allegations about what was being planned are truly horrifying but the events of last week should also give us a sense of reassurance. Australians should be reassured by the skills and capabilities of our security and law enforcement agencies—agencies which have a strong track record in tackling threats of terrorism before innocent people are harmed. Before last week's action, four major terrorist attacks on Australian soil have been disrupted since 2003, with participants prosecuted, convicted and jailed. Labor has confidence in the ability of our security agencies to keep Australians safe.

As Labor's leader in the Senate, I thank the Australian Defence Force personnel who are currently pre-deployed to the United Arab Emirates. Those personnel enjoy the full support of the Australian Labor Party and the Australian community as they prepare to assist the Iraqi Army and the Kurdish Peshmerga in their fight against IS. I also wish to extend our thanks to their families who remain at home—partners, children, parents and friends—who must now endure nervous weeks and months as their loved ones head into harm's way. Australian personnel are being asked to enter a very dangerous situation and there are significant risks involved in any potential mission. We know that the women and men of our ADF will undertake their mission with their usual professionalism, termination and dedication, and they will be in the thoughts of all of us until they are safely returned home.

As I have previously stated in this place, Labor's support for this deployment reflects a number of motivating factors. We believe Australia should respond effectively to help relieve humanitarian crises and prevent genocide. Australia has accepted the responsibility of taking part in international action to protect the innocent and honourable in the past.

I have mentioned before in this place our participation in missions in places like Cambodia, Rwanda, Somalia and East Timor , where Australia has acted with international partners to protect populations at risk of violence and bloodshed. We now face a situation in Iraq where local populations face the risk of terrible atrocities at the hands of IS. Labor believes these circumstances warrant Australia's participation in action to prevent mass atrocities in Iraq.

An other important factor motivating our support for this action is that it is being done in cooperation with the Iraqi government. We believe that for stability in Iraq there needs to be a democratic government that provides cohesion and unity. It needs to be a government that governs for all Iraqis, that rejects sectarianism and that protects minority groups. For these reasons — and subject to the conditions that the o pposition l eader , Mr Shorten , has outlined in the other place —La bor supports th e provision of air support and s pecial f orces troops in training and advisory roles in Iraq.

This nation is a good global citizen and, as such, Australia has a responsibility to act with others to protect vulnerable civilians from genocide, murder, rape, forced marriage, forced conversion and other crimes. The new unity government in Iraq has sought assistance to prevent further atrocities occurring. We will be participating in supporting them and helping this Iraqi government as part of coalition of many nations from the region and around the world.

With this assistance, it is our hope that the government of Iraq will be able to defeat the threat posed by IS and, ultimately, to provide the Iraqi people with the peace and stability that has eluded them for so long. I stress again that Australia's military involvement in Iraq should only continue as long as it is necessary. As Mr Shorten said today, we want Australian military personnel to carry out a clearly defined mission in Iraq, at the request of the Iraqi government, and then come home safely.

An important dimension to this crisis is the significant number of refugees and internally displaced people fleeing the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. Labor believes Australia should be doing more to help address this refugee crisis. In government we increased the annual intake under Australia's humanitarian refugee program to 20,000 places. The government has cut the intake to 13,750 places. As our foreign affairs spokesperson, Ms Plibersek, has stated, Labor believes that the intake of 4,400 refugees from Iraq and Syria, which the government has announced, should be in addition to the existing 13,750 places. This is the appropriate thing to do given the sheer number of people who are fleeing violence and persecution.

I turn, now, to anti-terrorism legislation. In his statement in the other place, and tabled today, the Prime Minister has referred to legislation to strengthen the ability of our law enforcement and security agencies to tackle terrorism. There is legislation already in the parliament dealing with the powers of the security agencies. This is due to be debated in the Senate in coming days.

I note that the Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security made several recommendations to improve this legislation and I am pleased that the government has accepted these recommendations. The Prime Minister has also foreshadowed new legislation to be introduced shortly to create new terrorist offences and to extend existing powers to monitor or detain terror suspects. As our shadow Attorney-General has stated, Labor supports our intelligence and law enforcement agencies having the necessary powers to deal with the threat of terrorist attacks. We will consider the detail of the new legislation when it is introduced to parliament.

A fundamental responsibility of government is to protect the safety of the country's citizens. To ensure we live in a safe community we also need to ensure we form a cohesive and united multicultural community. Political leaders not only have a responsibility to protect the safety of citizens and the security of the nation. We have that responsibility but we also have a responsibility to uphold Australia's values of tolerance, diversity and inclusion.

I was struck by the comments of a Muslim boy interviewed on the ACT 7:30 program last Friday 19 September. He was asked by the reporter what he would like to say to the program's viewers. He responded, 'Well, I'd like to say that I'm an Australian and I'm not a terrorist.' No child in this country should feel that they are suspected of being a terrorist. This boy is just one of nearly half a million Muslim Australians. They are valued members of our community. They deserve the same respect and they are entitled to the same freedoms as every other Australian.

I reiterate Mr Shorten's comments in the other place:

We should never make the millions of Australians, or the people who have become Australians—people of every nation and every faith—feel less safe or less welcome. We will not overcome hatred with hatred, we will not overcome intolerance by being intolerant.

He went on to say that multiculturalism is one of the nation's greatest gifts.

In closing, I make the following observation.    Australia should remain focused on its core objectives of protecting Iraqis from ISIL and ensuring that Australians fighting with ISIL are not a threat to Australia. The government should ensure that we continue to work with our coalition partners. It should encourage those partners from within the region to take as great a share of the responsibility as possible.

Australia is doing the right thing by supporting the Iraqi government. But any lasting solution to combat this threat and organisations like ISIL, will need to be driven by the government of Iraq and by other nations of the region. While it remains difficult to predict the future course of the conflict in Iraq, it is important for the people of Iraq and the security of that country and the neighbouring region, that IS be defeated.

The ADF is playing an important role in this mission, which we anticipate will bring about a safer and more inclusive Iraq. ADF personnel should know that they are carrying out their mission with the gratitude and support of the Australian people.