Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Brandis. Since senators last had the opportunity to ask questions of ministers in question time, there have been further horrific terrorist attacks around the world. These include attacks in Manchester, London, Kabul, Tehran and Minya, and we have lost Australian lives in Melbourne, Baghdad and, of course, most recently in London. I know all of us in this chamber express our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those lost or harmed in these recent attacks. Can the minister outline how the government is working to assist Australians impacted by these attacks?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much indeed, Senator Wong, for a very timely and important question. Of course, I am sure I speak on behalf of all members of this chamber in expressing our horror and outrage at the terrorist attacks that have occurred since the Senate last met, and, in particular, our grief at the news that Australians have been among the victims both here, in Melbourne last week, and overseas. It is a reminder to us that this is not a problem that exists on the other side of the world; it is not a problem that is not our problem; it is a problem that reaches out, both in a familiar and hospitable city like London and in our own suburban streets, as in Brighton last week, to threaten and take the lives of Australians.

Senator Wong, I want to thank you and the Australian Labor Party for the spirit of cooperation that you have shown over the past several years in supporting the government in passing the eight tranches of legislation with which we have dealt which have been designed to make Australians safe. The point I would make to the Senate is this: in none of those cases have we been reactive. In none of those cases have we been in the position of, after a terrorism attack, saying, 'We have to rewrite our legislation.' We have anticipated the need so as to avoid it and, as a result, we have saved Australian lives through the work of this chamber and the work of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. We have achieved that together.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Wong with a supplementary question.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Government for those remarks. Could he also go on to advise the Senate as to how the government is working with partners and allies in response specifically to these horrific attacks?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We of course have a very close partnership at every level with like-minded nations and other nations as well to confront and defeat this common enemy. Our most intimate partnership is with the like-minded English-speaking democracies who meet in the Five Eyes community. There has been very close cooperation among Five Eyes countries, in particular, obviously, in relation to the UK event between Australia and Britain at an agency level. I am able to tell you—though I cannot go into the details—that ASIO and the AFP have been directly engaged in assisting MI5 and the UK police in the investigation of the terrorism events that occurred in Manchester and at London Bridge.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Wong, a final supplementary question.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Turning now to our region, can the minister outline steps taken by the government to work with the nations of our region to ensure regional stability and regional security?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have worked very closely with regional neighbours. In December 2015 Australia and Indonesia held the first Australia-Indonesia Ministerial Council on Law and Security in Jakarta, and that regional council has met on three occasions thus far, most recently in Jakarta earlier in the year, and will meet again at a venue to be announced in Australia in the second half of this year.

Our agencies work with Indonesian agencies in a close and collaborative way, but our cooperation does not merely extend to Indonesia. This is a regional problem and we work with regional neighbours. I recently spoke to the visiting Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia on his visit to Australia and discussed the matter with him, as I did with the Singaporean Minister for Home Affairs, who visited Australia recently. I also raised the issue with—(Time expired)