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

As part of our commitment to combating terrorism, the Australian government has a longstanding policy across governments that it does not pay ransoms. Daesh accrued up to US$45 million from kidnappings between September 2013 and September 2014 alone. Kidnapping contributed about US$89 million to the al-Qaeda war chest between 2013 and 2017.

It's important to note that, as ransoms have been paid more frequently, so the ransom price has gone up. In the early 2000s we saw payment for hostages demanded in the tens of thousands of dollars. Now it's as much as $5 million per case. Kidnap for ransom, unfortunately, is an important and reliable literal revenue stream for terrorist groups, which we are determined to disrupt. In the kidnap for ransom section, French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, New Zealand justice minister Andrew Little and UN CTED director Michele Coninsx contributed. (Time expired)