Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

I just want to put on the record, as we're about to approach a vote on the amendment that's put forward here by NXT, the context in which this is happening. Labor support this bill, but we have consistently said that it doesn't go far enough to address the seriousness of image based abuse.

The context is that, in October 2015, Labor introduced a private member's bill that would make the non-consensual sharing of images a crime. Over two years later, the Turnbull government continues to delay criminalising the non-consensual sharing of these private images. In April 2016, the COAG Advisory Panel on Reducing Violence against Women and their Children released a report recommending clarification of the serious and criminal nature of the distribution of intimate material without consent. Legislation should be developed that includes strong penalties for adults who do so. Labor actually went to the last federal election, in the year 2016, promising Commonwealth legislation to criminalise what we're talking about here today—to criminalise what was then called 'revenge porn' but within this legislation is called 'non-consensual sharing of images'. We promised to do that within the first 100 days of being elected because we sensed the urgency of this matter, and we sensed that the urgency that exists about action on this matter to criminalise this sort of conduct is shared by the Australian people.

In October 2016, Labor reintroduced its private members bill into the current parliament. However, it was removed from the Notice Paper on 23 May 2017 because the government refused to call it on for debate for eight consecutive sitting Mondays. It's all well and good for the minister to say that criminal priorities are important, but this is the action, or lack of action, that we've seen.

In June 2017, the shadow minister for communications moved a second reading amendment in the House of Representatives, calling on the Turnbull government to criminalise image-based abuse, but that motion was defeated. It's clear, in our view, that what is proposed in this bill by the government doesn't go far enough. The non-consensual sharing of intimate images is exploitative, is humiliating and is a very damaging form of abuse, and it needs to be treated as such.

Labor is pleased that the Xenophon party has joined Labor in calling for the criminalisation of image-based abuse. Labor has been the proponent of this and has approached it in a very measured way based on our extensive work behind our own private member's bill, which the government refused to bring on. This was a 2016 election policy, and Labor will take it to the next election, if we don't see action from this government. The Xenophon party has adopted Labor's position. Indeed, they have adopted the very words of Labor's private member's bill as their own. Labor's clear and longstanding position has been that the non-consensual sharing of intimate images should be made a criminal offence. We thank the Xenophon team for moving these amendments.

Labor will not oppose what is essentially its own private member's bill that was prosecuted for several years but rejected by the government. While Labor supports the introduction of a civil penalties regime as a step in the right direction, the government's bill doesn't go far enough. Labor supports the introduction of a civil penalties regime. However, we do not oppose this amendment given it's, effectively, our own bill. Labor didn't move the amendment itself, because we didn't want to risk the government packing up its bags and packing up its bat and ball and going home, if this amendment gets up in the Senate. It's important to note that the government has indicated that, potentially, it'll pull the civil penalties bill from the program, if this amendment is carried. That's of great concern. We urge the government to give the four-out-of-five Australians who want criminalisation what they want by letting this bill continue its progress through the parliament, whether or not this amendment succeeds in the Senate.