Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I say at the outset that I don't have an issue at all with a representative of the trade union movement with appropriate expertise in modern slavery and supply chain management being a member of this expert advisory group. I suspect there will be a fulsome discussion. As Senator Keneally acknowledged, the minister has agreed to meet with her, and that's a good thing. I also acknowledge Senator McCarthy's warm comments directed towards Senator Linda Reynolds and also a previous member of the other place, Chris Crewther. Those were very warm comments, and I certainly acknowledge them.

My issue with this MPI is with respect to the language used. Can we come back for a moment and consider what civil society is. What is civil society? It's people brought together with common interests, and whether or not they are a member of a company or a legal academic or have been at the forefront of setting up charities which have helped protect the most vulnerable people in our world, every single person on that expert panel is part of civil society, and their common interest is to abolish modern slavery. That's the concern I have with the wording of this MPI—it is a 'them and us' MPI.

Does anyone in this place seriously think any of the 10 members on that expert panel are going to try to wriggle their way out of complying with the legislation? Does anyone honestly think that? I say that as someone who was a senior executive and a director of companies in Laos, in PNG, in Myanmar, in Thailand—countries where there was modern slavery. I say that as a person who has held those senior director positions and senior executive positions. And you know what? We didn't even need a piece of legislation to fight against modern slavery. We didn't need this chamber to pass this act when we decided to fight against modern slavery. Why? Because it was the right thing to do. It was to have appropriate due diligence with transport supply chains, to make sure contractors and their subcontractors weren't engaging in abhorrent child labour. It was the right thing to visit the contractors, walk their factory floors, have a look at their occupational health and safety standards and see if they met the requirements. Each and every person on this expert panel brings some particular expertise to this committee.

I don't know who worded it but I think it's quite shameful that this MPI has been worded in a way that seeks to pit business against worker. We are talking about civil society here and the collective interest to abolish modern slavery. Let's not forget the great Australian who was at the forefront of fighting against modern slavery—Twiggy Forrest. What side is Twiggy on? He was at the forefront of combatting modern slavery but the Labor Party—some of them, not all—want to make it a partisan issue and want to say it's about them and us. It's not; it's about collective interest to abolish modern slavery.

I will just refer to some of the qualifications of some of the members of that expert panel because one of them is a constituent of mine from my home state of Queensland—Dr Kate van Doore. Kate has done an absolutely wonderful job setting up a charity that looks after orphanages. I can't think of anything more vile than people trafficking in children, selling them into orphanages. Kate has established a charity, an NGO, that specifically addresses that. So why come into this place and tip a bucket on these good people? Why? To what end? Why didn't you just raise the matter in a civil way with the minister and say, 'You know what, it could be helpful to avoid something like this if you actually put on a member from the trade union movement.' Why put forward this awfully worded MPI? It's disgraceful. And to actually assert that this has the potential to undermine Australia's progress to eradicate modern in supply chains—how? They didn't explain how.

The fact of the matter is, the legislation which was passed by this House through the committee Senator McCarthy participated on requires companies to put a statement on a publicly searchable register outlining how they comply with the legislation in their supply chains, how they do that due diligence, how they do that risk management. The people on the committee are people who have experience in sustainability reporting, in public reporting by public companies, in advocating on these issues, in supply chain management. What an idea—some of the experts we have got on the expert panel actually do supply chain management! And this is an issue that you couldn't raise some other way? Goodness me! It's despicable, absolutely despicable.

Let me refer to someone else who has had the bucket dumped on them by those opposite, in particular by Senator Keneally. Sunil Rao, a lecturer at La Trobe University law school, founded the Modern Slavery Initiative. He's written books on child trafficking, the history of anti-slavery laws. You say he is unbalanced on the issue? Why don't you do your homework before you tip the bucket on Australians?

It might be the way the New South Wales Labor Party behaves, Senator Keneally, but I would have expected you to rise to a higher standard when you came to this place—maybe not! And let's not talk about the Victorian Labor Party. I'm not sure they're part of civic society, are they, Senator Keneally?