Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

The government will not be supporting the proposed amendments from Senator Leyonhjelm. The existing ASIC and MSIC schemes protect against unlawful interference with aviation and maritime transport and offshore facilities. The purpose of the bill is to broaden the ASIC and MSIC schemes to also capture persons convicted of serious or organised crime offences, to improve the government's ability to combat serious or organised crime. Limiting any serious or organised crime offences to a connection with terrorism minimises the improvement to the ASIC and MSIC schemes. It prevents the government from implementing the recommendations of the parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement and the National Ice Taskforce to address serious or organised crime in the aviation and maritime sectors.

The various Australian criminal codes and organised-crime-specific legislation define concepts of 'unlawful or criminal organisation' by reference to serious violence and criminal activity and not in relation to terrorism. These offences have been enacted by state and territory governments to combat serious or organised crime. For a person to receive a conviction under the state and territory organised-crime legislation, a court must have been satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that an offence has been committed. This is a high bar. Including these offences in the ASIC and MSIC eligibility criteria will assist the government to address serious or organised crime in the aviation and maritime sectors.