Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

First of all, I'd like to thank all of my colleagues in this chamber for their contributions on the Unexplained Wealth Legislation Amendment Bill 2018. Before I address the specifics of this bill, I'd like to address some of the issues that I understand Senator McKim has raised in the course of this debate. I would acknowledge that, as Senator Macdonald has just said, Senator McKim was a participating member of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee report that Senator Macdonald has just gone through and apprised the Senate of. I would also note that that Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee report had no dissenting comments at the time or additional comments made to that report.

In relation to the specific issues that Senator McKim raised in protections and human rights considerations, I can advise this chamber that these orders have extensive protections to ensure they are only used where appropriate and, specifically, I'll highlight three of those areas. Firstly, a court can refuse to issue these orders on public interest grounds or where the unexplained wealth amount is below $100,000. Secondly, the court may also exclude property from the scope of these orders in a range of situations, including where it is in the public interest or in the interest of justice to do so. And, thirdly, a court may also allow for reasonable expenses to be paid from restrained assets. So I hope that these arrangements, which I know were extensively canvassed in the legal and constitutional committee—deliberations that he participated in—reassure Senator McKim.

I'd like to remind us all in this chamber that serious and organised crime syndicates never stand still and they're always seeking new ways to exploit jurisdictional gaps, and that is certainly the case here in Australia today. Serious and organised crime syndicates, we know, are operating in an increasingly fluid manner across all of our jurisdictional borders. In fact, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission estimated that it is costing the Australian community at least $36 billion a year. I'll just say that number again because many Australians might not realise that is the implication of having these jurisdictional gaps that serious and organised crime can exploit. It's costing the Australian community $36 billion a year. So depriving criminals of their wealth is a key measure in combatting these insidious individuals. Unexplained wealth laws provide a valuable tool for law enforcement to confiscate these assets of these criminals where they cannot demonstrate that this wealth has been lawfully obtained.

However, it's also important to keep in mind that the scale and complexity of this criminal threat have necessitated an enhanced focus on cooperative cross-jurisdictional responses by Australian governments. The Unexplained Wealth Legislation Amendment Bill 2018 will provide for the first time a truly national approach to targeting unexplained wealth. It will enable all participating jurisdictions to work together to effectively deprive these criminals of their wealth, irrespective of the Australian jurisdictions that they operate in. Through a referral of powers from participating states, the scheme will allow the Commonwealth unexplained wealth orders to be used where a person or property can be linked to a broader range of state and territory offences. This will allow the AFP to use a single unexplained wealth order to target criminal syndicates instead of the patchwork of orders that would otherwise be sought by the Commonwealth, state and territory law enforcement agencies. The scheme will also enhance the capability of state and territory agencies to contribute to national efforts by providing access to enhanced information-gathering powers and the ability to use lawfully intercepted telecommunications information in unexplained wealth matters.

The bill also incentivises greater cooperation between jurisdictions through the establishment of new equitable sharing arrangements. These arrangements will give participating jurisdictions preferential treatment in the distribution of seized assets. The scheme does not replace existing unexplained wealth schemes around the country but, rather, creates a more effective and more cooperative network of law enforcement working towards a single common goal. On behalf of the Commonwealth government, I thank the states and territories that have worked with the Commonwealth to design the national cooperative scheme on unexplained wealth. And I particularly take the opportunity to thank the New South Wales government, which should be acknowledged for the passage of its legislation in its parliament, which was done earlier this year.

The federal government will continue to negotiate with the remaining states to secure their support to ensure the benefits of the scheme are maximised nationally. The government urges its colleagues to support the passage of this critical legislation. Together, Australian governments can demonstrate they are committed to working collaboratively to strengthen unexplained laws and strike at the heart of serious and organised crime.

In conclusion, I again thank all of my colleagues here in this place who have spoken on this bill and those in this chamber who are supporting this bill. The bill does provide a national approach to targeting unexplained wealth, enabling participating jurisdictions to work together to effectively deprive these serious and organised criminal gangs of their ill-gotten gains, regardless of what jurisdiction they operate in and the jurisdictional boundaries they exploit. I commend the bill to the Senate. I also table an addendum to the explanatory memorandum relating to the Unexplained Wealth Legislation Amendment Bill 2018. The addendum responds to concerns raised by the Scrutiny of Bills Committee.