Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage) Share this | Hansard source

In rising to sum up on behalf of the government for the Customs Legislation Amendment (Border Compliance and Other Measures) Bill 2006 I want to proceed in three short steps. Firstly, I want to outline the core measures within this bill; secondly, I want to address some of the comments made by honourable members; and, thirdly, I want to address very briefly the context in which this bill and other border protection measures advanced by the government are being taken forward.

The measures are simple. Firstly, they deal with the disposal of dangerous goods in providing appropriate mechanisms under circumstances where such goods have been obtained by the Customs Service. Secondly, they outline new steps in relation to the access of security identification card holders to section 234AA places, ships, aircraft and wharves. In effect, they help deal with the regime for securing critical sites for Customs activities. Thirdly, there are minor corrections to provisions implementing the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement. Fourthly, there are activities and changes in relation to the provision of information in respect of security identification cards to Customs. Fifthly, there are amendments in relation to the implementation of the accredited client program. Sixthly, there are amendments in relation to the protection from criminal responsibility of Customs officers handling narcotic goods in the course of duty. Finally, there is an amendment in relation to remaking a misdescribed amendment to the Customs Act—a house-cleaning exercise.

All of those amendments have been largely uncontroversial, but I want to acknowledge and very briefly respond to the comments by honourable members. The member for Brisbane on behalf of the opposition raised one concern—that is, while the opposition generally supports the measures in the bill, it had concerns in relation to the scope of the accredited client program. I thank the member for his general support and I note that we seek to take initial steps in this area. We are not closed to the notion of proceeding further at a later stage, but we think that this first step is an important base. It proceeds as far as we want to proceed at this time, but it will allow us to assess the long-term requirements. If we see that it is workable and if we see that it is necessary to expand it, then we would be happy to consider it. But at this time we have set out a limited and prescribed range of activities in relation to the accredited client program.

The second speaker, the member for Kingston, spoke with great passion on this issue. I think most importantly he established a framework for the necessity of broader border protection measures in a global context, where there are real issues of security and real issues of protection of our resources. In particular he noted his support for the brave and strong men and women of the Australian Customs Service.

The third speaker, the member for Kennedy, gave us his unique interpretation of the global history of the 20th century. I thank him for that and seek not to interpret it myself. However, I note, in relation to one point he made on illegal fishing, that the government introduced a $380 million illegal fishing protection package in the May budget. Amongst the many things that that does, most critical is the engagement of the Indigenous population as sentinels, as guides and as people who will play an active role. It is good for those people and it is an important role. It is backed by real dollars and real military expenditure and enforcement, and I argue that it is the most significant package for the protection against illegal fishing in Australian history.

In summing up this bill, I want to note the context. The context is two great challenges. The first of those challenges is that there are real issues in relation to the illegal movement of people and the security elements that come from that. What we have seen in the last week in the United Kingdom is that there are those who will seek to destroy the fundamentals of the society in which we live. We as a government make no apologies for laying down a regime which is about protecting borders, which is about ensuring that there is genuine security and which makes it as difficult as possible for those who would seek to defraud or bypass the system for whatever purposes.

The second contextual point that I wish to make is that there are real concerns about our fishing resources. The role of the Australian Customs Service, in conjunction with the Australian Defence Force, is fundamental in that, and we take every step we possibly can. We will be vigilant and unrelenting in protecting those resources. I commend this bill to the House. I thank all of those officers and staff of the Australian Customs Service and the different government departments involved in the bill’s creation. I thank them and pay particular tribute to the men and women of the Australian Customs Service. Once again, I commend the bill to the House.

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