David Fawcett (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support Senator Scarr's motion. I'd like to firstly address the comments by members of the government as to the reason for them not supporting this motion, claiming that for members of the Senate to raise this is somehow politicising the issue.

I served on the intelligence and security committee for nine years and was involved in the listing or relisting of a number of terrorist groups. Whilst the coalition was in government, the coalition members of that committee were calling for the listing of Hezbollah, for example, even though agencies were indicating that they didn't support that action for a range of reasons. But, with the support of members of the Labor Party—now the government—members of the coalition called, outside the committee and through committee reports, for the listing of the entirety of that organisation, which was eventually done.

This parliament—this Senate—has a role, just as it does in civil control of the military, to ensure control of the representatives of the Australian people over the legislative basis and the actions of our national security agencies. In a case such as this, where the element of glorification of terrorist acts is not specifically listed—as it is in the UK, which gave them the ability to outlaw this particular group in question, Hizb ut-Tahrir—it's quite legitimate for members of this parliament to call for legislative change to enable that listing to occur.

It is the case that this parliament has acted in the past where we see foreign influences affecting the safety and unity of Australian people and, particularly, bringing foreign concepts and ideas into our universities. The Confucius institutes, which have been the matter of some contention over the years, are a good example of that. They have come under appropriate scrutiny, and universities have been required to register and be transparent about their relationships, and that has substantially reduced the influence of those institutes in shaping the conversation, the views and the attitudes of both lecturers and young Australians. So it's quite appropriate to highlight where we see what is considered by any reasonable standard to be a malign influence on our university campuses, affecting the thinking, the behaviour and the actions of both students and academics.

We are not alone in that. There are some people who would say that any such discussion about a group that has a religious identity is somehow vilifying that particular group, but I note the fact that around the world a range of nations have banned Hizb ut-Tahrir—not only the United Kingdom and places like Germany but Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and Turkiye. They have all banned this group because the Islamist agenda crosses the line not only between religion and politics but also of the use of violence to see their will enacted. That's why it's important to also realise that, whilst it's not our approach, you can see nations like Morocco, a 99 per cent Muslim country, that have banned certain teachings, particularly Wahhabist teachings, because of the association with the Islamist view and the violence. They've also banned the manufacturing, importation or sale of things like the burqa because of the association with that teaching.

Even in relation to the glorification of this kind of violence and the teaching that goes along with it, the AFP have written in their guidance to parents about how to identify radicalisation and extremism in children—the fact that, even in things like games, any socialisation or glorification of this kind of violence can lead to radicalisation. So Australians should be concerned, and I support the call for the government to look at what is required under legislation to ban this organisation and also for the responsible agency, whether it's Treasury or the Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, to look at the DGR status that was awarded to a group that is closely linked with Hizb ut-Tahrir to make sure that we are not allowing any of these groups to establish themselves and remain as a malign influence in Australia.