Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

When it comes to reminders about how lucky we are in Australia we are rarely left wanting. The incident on Malaysia Airlines flight 128 last night was not terrorist related, but it tugs at the same thread of fear, doesn't it? 'Terrorist' is the first thing we think when we hear of that kind of incident taking place. When children who head out to a pop concert pay with their lives, as was the case in Manchester, do you think, 'There but for the grace of God go I'? I do. We are separated from Manchester by great distance, but it feels very close to home—those children are our children.

We call their killers terrorists, but they are just murderers, aren't they? They hide behind a veil of pseudo-religious belief, but that is little more than a red herring. Some call them religious fanatics. But that seems to offer an excuse. They are straight-up murderers, and I am reassured to know that those people are in the crosshairs of the Turnbull government and the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, someone I know who never takes a backwards step.

With submissions on proposed changes to values and other citizenship tests closing today, I think it is timely to consider the big picture on border protection and who we invite to become an Australian. Our safety, our sovereignty, is no accident; it is the result of an informed strategy well executed.

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