Sam Dastyari (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm not even a lawyer; that's right. I think what has been a good part of this process—I have spoken to other senators as they were going through the parliamentary committee process and the recommendations were being developed—has been the ability to have had some of this debate out there.

Senator Wright interjecting—

What is important is that there be more of this kind of debate. I will take the interjection from Senator Wright, who made the point that my party was part of those deliberations and through the committee process her party was excluded. If that is the case, that does not allow for good legislation. The opportunity to have those kinds of debates in the committee environment as a rule leads to better legislation and better amendments. I acknowledge that Senator Brandis has really gone out of his way to make sure that, from the perspective of the Labor Party, we were fully engaged in this debate. I think that adds to it.

I also acknowledge the real work that a lot of not just the Muslim community leaders that I mentioned earlier but the parliamentarians who have been engaging with the Muslim community. I was at Lakemba mosque on Saturday morning with Scott Morrison. That is not something that most people can say they have done. It was good to see the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection go there. I acknowledge that Senator Fierravanti-Wells in particular has spent a lot of time engaging with the emerging communities of Sydney and the Sydney Muslim communities. We have to be careful in the language we use in this chamber and about the message we send. I am not going to get into a debate now about things like the debate we had on the burqa and whatnot, but we have to be very careful that we are not sending the wrong signal to the sections of the community that are doing their best to try to engage, who want to be part of this process. We have to empower them, speak highly of them and bring them in as part of the process. I know the law enforcement agencies have really gone out of their way—they deserve our congratulations—to try to engage with the community. If the real issue here is a group of impressionable, young, mostly, men—I think almost all are men—from a Middle Eastern background, some of whom were born here, many of whom came here while they were quite young, as I did, then the best people to counter the narrative that they are getting, of hate and of the incitement of violence, are those within their own community. It is about empowering those kinds of voices.

Senator Brandis, turning more specifically to the question, I hope this question is not too far from the amendment so that it is one you can answer. I would not mind if you are able to touch on, while we talk about the specifics and the wording of this amendment, what the government is doing not just in the letter of the law but to try and make sure that we are engaging with Muslim community leaders and empowering them. When we talk about the issue of those who incite and those who encourage reckless behaviour we must talk not just about punishing those who have committed the crime but encouraging those who on the opposite end are trying to send the right kind of message to the community.