Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Abetz for his question, and I'll come to Senator Smith in a moment. Australia's position on the death penalty is clear and unequivocal. We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances for all people. We are committed to its universal abolition and we will pursue this through all fora. This morning I launched here at Parliament House our new whole-of-government strategy to pursue global abolition of the death penalty. I also acknowledge the former foreign minister, the Hon. Julie Bishop, the member for Curtin, for her work on the development of this strategy over the past few years. I thank today the co-chairs of the parliamentarians against the death penalty group, Senator Dean Smith and the member for Fowler, Chris Hayes. They are leaders in this place in the campaign against capital punishment. Their strong advocacy is very highly regarded and much appreciated.

The strategy I launched today, the first of its kind in Australia, will see our nation work very closely with partners across the world to protect and promote our shared human rights. Last Wednesday, we marked World Day Against The Death Penalty, a reminder of the progress that we have made but also of the work that remains to be done to achieve global abolition. In the 50 years since Australia's last execution was held, 95 countries have completely abolished the death penalty. Last week, the Malaysian government announced that it will abolish the death penalty in our region and place an immediate moratorium on carrying out the death penalty. It is this kind of progress that has encouraged us to continue with our advocacy on this issue. It is the work of the parliamentary group against the death penalty that enables us to send such a strong signal from our own parliament.