Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to 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.

Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today on the last day of this sitting fortnight, because the past fortnight has been harrowing, with terrorist attacks and the loss of innocent lives in Manchester, Kabul, Baghdad and the attack in Egypt which killed 28 Coptic pilgrims travelling on a bus in the town of Minya. This one is particularly close to home for me, because Minya is actually my mother's home town. She grew up there, and I have aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces who live there. And my sister, who grew up here in Australia, also lives in Minya.

What is particularly harrowing about this attack is that it does not represent Egypt, an ancient civilisation in which various religious, primarily Coptic and Muslim, have coexisted peacefully for hundreds of years. They have coexisted because of a love for their country, the land of the Pharaohs, and a deep sense of pride that unites them as Egyptians first.

The Egyptian Christian population is around 15 per cent of the population. In terms of numbers, it is the largest in the Middle East and North Africa. This week, 11 Australian bishops from various Coptic churches are in Egypt. They include bishops from the Armenian, Coptic, Orthodox and Maronite churches. They are there as part of a delegation from Australia to build on Australia's strong relationship with Egypt, and today they will be meeting with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

I call on my parliamentary colleagues and all Australians to unite against terrorism wherever it occurs and to ensure that the fight against terrorism does not weaken or threaten our shared identity.