Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Modern Slavery Amendment (Australian Anti-Slavery Commissioner) Bill 2023. The bill before us establishes an Australian antislavery commissioner as a statutory appointment within the Attorney-General's portfolio. The bill—I am pleased to say—builds on the important work that the coalition did. In fact, the coalition was world-leading in terms of our record of combating modern slavery.

The term modern slavery itself is an umbrella term. It is used to describe all human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like offences in our Criminal Code. It can refer to human trafficking, as I said; forced labour and servitude; debt bondage; forced marriage; and child labour, including, in its absolute worst forms, the commercial sexual exploitation of children and the exploitation of children for illegal activities such as drug trafficking.

Modern slavery, unfortunately, can occur in every industry and every sector, but, regardless of the circumstances, it has incredibly severe consequences for victims. Modern slavery practices distort global markets, undercut responsible businesses and can pose significant risks to entities that find themselves inadvertently benefiting from slavery practices at some point in the supply chain. It is an egregious abuse of the dignity and the rights of an individual, and that is why the coalition has been fighting modern slavery for a number of years—in fact, for many, many years. And I certainly commend the work that Senator Linda Reynolds has been doing on the global stage in this regard.

If you look at the history of tackling modern slavery, it was a coalition government that first introduced slavery offences into Australia's Criminal Code, and we did that through the Criminal Code Amendment (Slavery and Sexual Servitude) Act 1999. Prior to that, the law on slavery and the slave trade had been governed by 19th century imperial acts. Those acts employed archaic language and related to outdated circumstances and institutions that had either changed or long since fallen into disuse. It was a coalition government in 2018 that passed Australia's Modern Slavery Act 2018. Why did we do this? It was an important transparency measure to shine a light on not only slavery risks in international supply chains, to help businesses better control their own risks, but also the business model of those who profit from the servitude of others. Consistently, it has been coalition governments that have brought a coordinated and strategic approach to the fight against slavery and human trafficking.

This coordinated approach started some time ago, in fact, with the Australian government's 2004 Action Plan to Eradicate Trafficking in Persons. That was released by John Howard when he was Prime Minister of our great nation. It was then succeeded in 2015 by the National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking and Slavery 2015-19, which laid the foundation for the current work and the current framework that we now have in place. Most recently, we have shown the way forward by implementing the National Action Plan to Combat Modern Slavery 2020-25, and that was released by my colleague and very good friend, the member for La Trobe. Australia has benefited from the coalition's multidecade-long fight against slavery and human trafficking, and Australia has benefited from the coordinated multipillar approach to modern slavery for which we have all advocated.

It's also worth reflecting on those other pillars in our strategy against modern slavery; that puts the bill we have before us into context. There are five national strategic priorities that provide the foundation for our fight against modern slavery. The first is about prevention; it is our first national strategic priority. Doing things like addressing risks in global supply chains and stopping forced marriage in Australia help cut off modern slavery at its very root. The second national strategic priority is rooted in the justice system and the criminal law: to disrupt, to investigate and to prosecute modern slavery. Our national action plan is clear. When we encounter slavery, human trafficking and similar offences, perpetrators must be held to account by our police and our investigative agencies. The third national strategic priority is about—and this is so important—supporting and protecting survivors. This means supporting victims and survivors, who are, as we know, predominantly women and girls. It also means working with civil society and with business. The fourth national strategic priority is partnership. This means working with state and territory governments, victims, civil society and international partners. Modern slavery is a global problem that needs cross-border solutions. And the fifth national strategic priority is research; we need a strong evidence base to support our response to these crimes.

These five national priorities established in 2020 by the former coalition government provide the framework that has consistently shaped the approach we have taken to modern slavery. One of our core achievements in the field, the Modern Slavery Act, aligns with these priorities not only by identifying slavery risks in the global supply chains but also by building an evidence base about practices around the world. Similarly, on the coalition side, the calls we have made for Magnitsky-style sanctions in response to forced labour and other abuses in Xinjiang province align with actions taken by our like-minded peers. Australia should be collaborating with its international partners to call out and address modern slavery issues, including by applying the coalition's Magnitsky-style sanctions to hold those responsible to account.

In Australia, where we encounter slavery, human trafficking and similar offences—and I think it's absolutely disgusting we even have to say that, but that does remain and it is a fact in our country—perpetrators are held to account by our police and investigative agencies, who enforce our criminal laws. Yet when these same offences are encountered overseas, including by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Albanese Labor government has shied away from using existing tools already available to it. Quite frankly, there is no answer to the question as to why it would do that. Despite the coalition offering the Albanese government bipartisan support to do this, the Albanese Labor government has refused to take concrete action in holding perpetrators in Xinjiang to account and by joining with international partners to impose Magnitsky-style sanctions. Of course, that is exactly what Australia and the Australian government should be doing.

As our work over many years has made clear, to fight effectively against modern slavery you need to coordinate your efforts across multiple fronts. Taking action in one area—for example, by establishing a new commissioner—does not, it is very clear, alleviate the need for action on other fronts. Whatever this bill does, it does not take concrete steps to combat modern slavery on the international stage. The bill establishes an Australian antislavery commissioner, and this then provides an enabling effect. The commissioner's functions as set out in the legislation generally relate to support liaison, encouragement consultation and advocacy. The commissioner would be influential in shaping responses to modern slavery. But, in many respects, the direct outcomes would be delivered by others, and that's why we describe it as 'an enabling effect'. For example, the commissioner would play a role in engaging closely with business in relation to slavery issues in international supply chains; however, the commissioner would not be responsible for administering the Modern Slavery Statements Register. Similarly, the commissioner could play a role in identifying slavery risks in Australia and overseas; however, they would not replace the police when it came to investigating slavery offences, and nor would the commissioner duplicate the functions of Australia's Ambassador to Counter Modern Slavery, People Smuggling and Human Trafficking.

Importantly, however, this educative and enabling role has been welcomed by businesses and by civil society. In keeping with our national strategic priority of collaboration, groups like the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Business Council of Australia have welcomed the opportunity to work with the commissioner to further address slavery risks, and this is a welcome sign from the business community.

The bill was referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry, and a final report has now been handed down as a consequence of that inquiry. I commend, in particular, Senator Scarr for his work in forensically analysing this bill during the inquiry and for the recommendations that he made, on behalf of the coalition, to improve the transparency and accountability of the commissioner.

The government has addressed many of the recommendations made by Senator Scarr, on behalf of the coalition, in the legislation. In particular, it has now circulated amendments that directly address the concerns that have been raised by Senator Scarr on behalf of the coalition about the disclosure of sensitive information. We understand that the majority of the other recommendations that have been made by Senator Scarr will be dealt with in an addendum to the explanatory materials, and we welcome that development.

Again, the coalition will continue to argue for an effective, multipronged and coordinated response to modern slavery, and I commend the bill to the Senate.