Chris Hayes (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of this very important motion by the member for Barton. No matter what group and no matter what cause, suicide bombing as a means of protest, or as a method of getting an organisation’s message across to the wider populus, must be condemned by this parliament in the strongest possible terms. No matter how geographically far we are from individual occurrences of suicide terrorism, it not only instils fear in the minds of the general population but also affects the treatment and characterisation of members of communities from which the suicide bombers have come. No matter how one describes it, the act of suicide bombing is nothing but the deliberate targeting of innocent people in order to deliver a political message. No matter how groups try to rationalise their use of the technique of terror, no matter how they might try to defend their actions, suicide bombing is nothing short of a criminal act and should be declared a crime against humanity.

I acknowledge that it would be virtually impossible to stop a determined suicide bomber. No matter how stringent the checks put in place may be, a determined bomber could possibly get through the net with the express purpose of delivering his—or, on rare occasions, her—payload of death. Suicide terrorism may seem senseless and irrational to most of us, but to those leaders and groups, religious and political, who view this as a tool of their trade, it is a powerful weapon against whoever they consider to be their enemies. Suicide terrorism has increased.

Robert Pape, author of Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism, has collected data on acts of suicide terrorism. Between 1980 and 2004 there were 462 acts of suicide terrorism worldwide. Obviously, given the activities in Iraq of late, this number is now significantly higher. The data that he has collected indicates, contrary to popular opinion, that religious beliefs are not the principle driver of these attacks. For instance, the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka are the world’s leaders in suicide terrorism and, as every member of this parliament would appreciate, their motivation is not religion. Pape concludes that it is not religion but rather a desire to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from lands which the terrorists consider to be their homeland that is the primary motivator. One interesting aspect of these attacks which I would like to draw to the attention of the House is that, again contrary to popular belief, until the United States’ invasion of Iraq there had never been a suicide terrorist attack in the whole history of Iraq.

No matter the motivation, Australia must play a role in bringing this form of terrorism—and any other form, for that matter—to an end. The terms of the motion before the House are pretty straightforward. The motion calls on the Australian government to undertake simple actions that will clearly state the manner in which the international community views suicide attacks. While of itself the drafting and the adoption of an international convention on suicide terrorism will not bring an end to attacks, while it will not bring an end to the incitement of action on behalf of extremists, it will clarify the world’s condemnation of this form of terrorism. Enough time has passed and enough innocent lives have been lost for the world community to properly clarify the international standard by which suicide terrorists, and in particular their backers, will be judged.

The threat of suicide terrorism is more likely to grow rather than diminish. While Australia and most Western nations have yet to see this tactic of protest used on their own soil, that is no reason to dismiss the possibility. It was only a little over four years ago that we saw suicide bombing attacks in Bali targeting Western tourists. They resulted in the deaths of 202 people, including 88 Australians, and the injuring of more than 300 others. The Australian government owes it to those who lost their lives in Bali and owes it to the families of everyone who has suffered at the hands of suicide bombers to take every action possible to lead the charge of ridding the world of this threat of suicide terrorism. If the Australian government is to provide the leadership required to combat terrorism, this leadership has to extend beyond military action and it must address some of the fundamental issues that go to the heart of terrorist activity.

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