David Van (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

No-one in this place would be surprised to know that we on the government benches believe that slavery in any form is an abhorrent practice that must be eliminated. No-one, no matter their race, age, sex, gender, nationality or ethnicity should be subject to having their basic freedoms being taken away from them. The Morrison government believes in freedom of the individual and the importance of this in a good society. The government does support the intent and acknowledges the importance of this issue in this bill, including the need for transparency and appropriate action in response to instances of modern slavery and human rights abuses.

However, the government does not support all aspects of the proposed Customs Amendment (Banning Goods Produced By Forced Labour) Bill 2021 and, instead, recommends that the departments continue working with domestic stakeholders and international counterparts to address modern slavery wherever it is identified and to collectively respond to reduce and eliminate its practice, including through a review of the Modern Slavery Act 2018. This act creates a robust transparency framework to drive business action and to identify and address modern slavery in global supply chains.

There is no doubt that business has a large job ahead of it. With 3,000 companies in Australia due to report, it is absolutely amazing the work that our companies are doing. There are an estimated 40 million men, women and children in modern slavery today and it can be found in almost every country in the world, according to the International Labour Organization and the Walk Free foundation, who I will come back to later. With increasing globalised trade, it affects almost every business through those interconnected supply chains. This is not just limited to one region; this is a whole-of-world problem, and the interconnectedness of those supply chains is an incredibly difficult thing to unwind and to get transparency of, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be doing it.

I thank the resources industry for the work they are doing in this space. Given the global nature of supply chains for minerals and resources companies, they are leading some of the best transparency work on this. I call out and thank Mr Andrew Forrest for the work he is doing, not only through his mining company but also through the Walk Free Foundation that he founded and funds, and the important work that they are doing in bringing transparency to supply chains, not just in the mining industry but right across the globe with their anti-slavery index.

The government, however, goes further. We take a country-agnostic, victim-centric approach that focuses on supporting the best outcomes for victims in addressing modern slavery in supply chains. This reflects the reality that modern slavery can take many forms and exist in any sector, supply chain or country. However, Senator Patrick's explanatory memorandum highlights a concern over which the government has held deep concerns—that is, the widely reported state-mandated enforced labour occurring in Xinjiang. The government made a submission to the parliamentary inquiry into this bill on 15 March this year, which outlines our response to combatting modern slavery. In addition to administering the act which drives business due diligence around supply chains, the government has recently also committed $10.6 million to implement Australia's national action plan, which delivers initiatives to prevent, disrupt, investigate and prosecute modern slavery crimes.

The Department of Home Affairs and, with them, one of its agencies, Australian Border Force, as well as the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade were all participants in the whole-of-government submission to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee's inquiry into this bill. The Australian government, through that submission, notes that the intention of the bill, as expressed in its explanatory memorandum, is to take a strong stand against the well-documented human rights abuses of hundreds of thousands of Uighur people in the Xinjiang province. The Australian government acknowledges the intent and importance of the issue, including the need for transparency and appropriate actions in response to all instances of modern slavery and human rights abuse. However, the government does not support all aspects of the bill. The government is working with domestic stakeholders and international counterparts to bring to light modern slavery, wherever it is identified, and respond collectively to reduce and eliminate its practice. The government consistently raises concerns about the treatment of Uighurs and other minorities in China and other countries, including at ministerial level directly with China and in multilateral forums. Reports of forced labour are a key element of Australia's international advocacy, and the government, jointly with other countries, continues to urge China to allow meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang by independent international observers. The government is committed to tackling modern slavery, including forced labour.

The landmark Modern Slavery Act 2018 established a robust transparency framework to drive business action to identify and address modern slavery risks in supply chains. Supply chains are incredibly complex. They are interconnected and criss-cross the world, and, until everyone is being transparent, it's hard for everyone to be completely transparent, but those actions must continue.

The government notes the recent report by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade of its inquiry into the use of sanctions to address human rights abuse, and is considering its response to the report and its recommendations. The government is committed to monitoring, evaluating and reviewing its actions to combat modern slavery to ensure it is delivering a targeted, effective response. In particular, the government will continue to monitor reports of forced labour globally, including in Xinjiang, to assess Australia's policy settings and to engage with stakeholders and partners with a view to supporting international efforts to reduce the risk of modern slavery, including forced labour in Australia's supply chains.

The Modern Slavery Act, which entered into force on 1 January 2019, aims to combat modern slavery in global supply chains of Australian goods and services by increasing supply chain transparency and holding large businesses publicly accountable for their actions to combat modern slavery. It does this by providing public visibility to businesses, civil society, NGOs and consumers about modern slavery risks that have been identified and the actions taken by reporting entities to address those risks. The act requires large entities operating in Australia—that is, companies with a turnover of over $100 million annually—to prepare an annual modern slavery statement. Those statements set out their actions to identify and address modern slavery risks in their global operations and supply chains. The government estimates that approximately 3,000 entities will be required to report under the act, including globally recognised brands and the Commonwealth. Many of these entities are likely to have supply-chain links with China, including entities in the textiles, electronics and vehicle manufacturing sectors. Under the act, the government has established an online register of modern slavery statements. The register is a government-run central depository of all statements submitted under the act. The government published the first tranche of those statements on 27 November 2020 and continues to regularly publish tranches of statements as they are received. To date, approximately 400 statements have been published on the register.

In implementing the act, the government has engaged proactively with business and civil society to provide detailed, comprehensive and practical guidance to support entities to understand the modern slavery risks in supply chains and operations and to take actions to address these risks and report on their actions in compliance with the act. To support an understanding of the modern slavery risk in compliance with the act, the government actively undertakes outreach to Australian entities on risks related to modern slavery in supply chains. Agencies, including the Border Force and DFAT, engage closely with peak bodies and individual businesses, both in Australia and overseas, as well as with officials from state and territory governments, to raise awareness of relevant supply chain risks.

The government encourages Australian companies and institutions to conduct appropriate due diligence specific to their industries to satisfy themselves at board level that their commercial and other arrangements are consistent with legislation and international standards. Australia's approach to combating modern slavery is grounded in the United Nations' guiding principles on business and human rights—the UNGPs, as they're called. In line with those principles, the government encourages entities to work collaboratively with suppliers to address modern slavery risks and ensure responses prioritise the best interests of victims, no matter where they are.

The government takes a country-agnostic approach in its efforts to address modern slavery. In this way, the government recognises that all instances of modern slavery—whether forced labour, servitude or forced marriage—in any country or region are egregious and necessary to address.

The government is committed to ensuring the act provides a strong and effective mechanism for addressing modern slavery risks, and the government reports annually to the parliament on the implementation of and compliance with the act. The government is required to review the act in 2022, next year, including whether it is necessary to amend the act to improve its operation. This will include consideration of compliance, penalties and other complementary measures. The government will consider bringing forward, if required, further legislation.

Modern slavery can affect any country. The United Nations estimates that there are more than 40 million victims of modern slavery worldwide. Over half of these are exploited in the Asia-Pacific region, where the supply chains of a significant number of large businesses operating in Australia are based. Modern slavery in supply chains also distorts global markets, undercuts responsible businesses and imposes significant legal and reputational risks for companies.

Like Senator Patrick, the government is concerned that there may be parts of Australian businesses relying on supply chains that have links to slavery. This government is committed to ensuring that, no matter where the practice of slavery or forced labour occurs, Australian businesses are not linked to it in any manner. While this government believes in and appreciates the intent of this bill put forward by Senator Patrick, the bill as it currently stands cannot be supported.

Eliminating slavery and human rights abuses is a global necessity as a society, and we must ensure that we are not inadvertently supporting it. This is why we're conducting a review of the Modern Slavery Act next year. As I've said, the Modern Slavery Act creates a framework for businesses to drive them to act in ways that eliminate slavery from their supply chains and their operations. When this was introduced, it was a world-first step which demonstrated the government's commitment to taking real and serious action to combat modern slavery. As it currently stands, large businesses are already required under the Modern Slavery Act to identify how their operations and supply chains may contribute to modern slavery and explain what they are doing to address those risks, no matter where that risk occurs. This increased transparency creates a level playing field for large businesses to disclose their modern slavery risks. I believe that, if we're going to do something, especially on an issue as important as this, it must be done right.

I note the intention of the bill is to take a strong stand against the documented human rights abuses of hundreds of thousands of Uighur people in Xinjiang province in China. As the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women, Senator Marise Payne, has said, Australia is deeply concerned by the reports of human rights violations and abuses in Xinjiang. However, modern slavery risks are not limited to any single region or country, and business action to assess and address these risks should not be limited to any geographical region. I don't think there would be anyone here in the chamber today or in this parliament who would not support the intention of this bill, that being ensuring we are not supporting slavery anywhere in the world. However, as I said earlier, I believe if we're going to act against this issue it must be done right to ensure that it properly addresses the issue globally.