Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to rise to make a contribution on this motion and I thank the member for La Trobe for putting this motion before the House and enabling this very important debate. Mr Deputy Speaker Hastie, I acknowledge the very significant role you play in our parliament in relation to matters which are the subject of this debate and wider concerns relating to our security. I was very pleased to be here for the contribution from my friend the member for Lalor, and I associate myself with her remarks, both their tenor and their substance. I note that speakers on this side of the House have included the shadow Attorney-General and also the member for Holt, who, over a very long period of time, has made a very significant, measured and always thoughtful contribution to these questions of national security. He is someone whose advice I have often been the beneficiary of. Hopefully, I have taken that advice appropriately.

This motion sets out some very significant events for all of us in this place but particularly for me as a Melburnian. Noting that, I think it is also appropriate that we turn our attention to more recent events in the United Kingdom and express our thoughts to those affected there and our hope that justice will be done in the short term but also in the longer term, which I think are the two aspirations we should be seeking to achieve in this area. This motion is one that I am very pleased to speak to, support and make a few additional remarks in relation to.

Firstly, it is important when we discuss questions of national security, as this motion does—particularly matters which are before the courts—to remember our role, which is, of course, first and foremost as lawmakers and as legislators. I know this motion goes specifically to some questions there and I will turn to that immediately, but it is absolutely critical that we respect the role of other branches of government and allow them to do their job. We should confine ourselves to setting a framework of community standards and, indeed, for community safety rather than engage in commentary which transgresses those bounds. We also need to reflect on our role as community leaders, as the member for Lalor did. She put it neatly in saying that we must not be paralysed by fear. We must create circumstances through the laws we enact and the manner in which we resource the enforcement of those laws but also the way in which we conduct ourselves and the way we show our best face and Australia's best face to ensure that we stand for the values that we are all striving to protect in this place. Those are important matters in any consideration of security debates. We must always be mindful of the sort of society we wish to protect and not unnecessarily undermine it.

On our role as lawmakers, I turn particularly to item 3(a) of the motion. I was pleased to be part of the parliament that dealt with very difficult questions of national security through those eight trenches of counterterrorism and national security legislation. I do not think anyone can doubt that the parliament significantly improved both the substance of the legislation and the acceptance of that legislation in the community through the work of the joint intelligence and security committee, and the parliamentary process more generally. And I hope, while I am in this place, I can continue to devote myself to thoughtful consideration of significant laws to get the balance right between security and our personal freedoms. It is a difficult balance, one which will have to be addressed in the particular circumstance of each law and each case, but it is a balance we must all be mindful of in exercising our responsibility and, indeed, our duty as lawmakers.

I will touch very briefly on one additional matter. I acknowledge the positive elements of the government's counterterrorism strategy. National security is a bipartisan issue in this country, and I think we are all thankful for that, but I do think there are some issues, highlighted by the Manchester Arena bombing, that require some further consideration. I have been guided in this by the work of my colleague the member for Cowan, Dr Anne Aly. If the terrorism profile is changing, there needs to be a further focus not just on punitive measures but also on early intervention, early identification of those people who might be at risk of radicalisation. Otherwise, I am very pleased to support this resolution.

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