Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the member for Calwell’s motion, which calls for an end to the ongoing detention without trial of South Australian man David Hicks. It is a fundamental role of the Australian government to protect and promote the interests of all Australian citizens—not just the citizens that they like and agree with—and make sure that they get a fair go by ensuring that they are treated with basic fairness under the rule of law. Members opposite seem to think it is our job to determine whether David Hicks is a good bloke or not. It is not. That is not the assertion we are putting forward. It is our job to uphold the principle that one is innocent until proven guilty and that one has the right to a fair trial. That is the government’s job and it has shamefully failed in this case.

Labor members have been vocal from the very outset on the issue of David Hicks’s detention. For the past five years Labor has argued that David Hicks should be charged and tried using a legal process that is consistent with both international and Australian standards. We have argued that the legal process by which David Hicks has been detained has been deeply flawed and is unacceptable for Australian citizens. We have been highly critical of the United States military commission process, which we have argued does not afford an acceptable standard of justice for Australian citizens and is in breach of both the Geneva convention and the Australian Criminal Code. It is worth reflecting that as early as 2001 the then Labor leader, Simon Crean, was calling for David Hicks to be returned to Australia, arguing that ‘the Australian government should be taking all steps necessary to bring him back here for justice in accordance with Australian law’. But these calls for adherence to Australian legal principles have fallen on deaf ears, and the Howard government has continued to allow David Hicks, an Australian citizen, to remain in detention without trial for five long years.

In Australian streets, however, this debate has been gaining momentum. In my electorate of Adelaide, residents are becoming increasingly disturbed by the Howard government’s handling of Hicks’s situation. They are outraged that an Australian citizen could be subjected to a US legal process that has been deemed unacceptable for the United States’ own citizens and be locked up for so long without charge. For this reason and for the information of the Prime Minister, I would like to outline some of the sentiments being expressed to me by the people of my electorate. A woman recently wrote to me to ask:

How can our Government allow an Australian citizen to be tried under a system that does not allow an accused to have access to all evidence against them? Does our Government condone an unbalanced level of power in a legal system? ... Does our government believe people are guilty until proven innocent?

These are questions that deserve an answer. I call on government members present today to outline their case, because, disturbingly, another theme emerging from correspondence on this issue is one of alienation from the political process, a sense of hopelessness and a resentment that this government is allowing an Australian to be held under a legal process that falls well short of international legal standards. One constituent, asking me to pass on this message to the foreign minister, wrote:

I am still of the opinion that nothing I or anyone else says or does can shift the cold hard hearts of this Government but to do nothing implies endorsement of your actions.

Another stated:

I am absolutely appalled by this situation and embarrassed to be an Australian ...

Another asked:

How can we as a nation remain powerless to do anything?

Another local man wrote to me explaining:

I am very concerned with the Government’s treatment (or lack thereof) of Mr Hicks. I find the Government’s treatment of this matter to be hypocritical, inequitable and inhumane. This is the first time I’ve written to any member of parliament to voice my opinion and I hope that you can, in some way, bring my increasing concern for the physical and mental welfare of David Hicks to the Government’s attention in the hope that he will be released in the immediate future.

I agree with the people of Adelaide and I agree with the member for Calwell’s motion. It is vital that we ensure that all Australian citizens are given a fair trial, that the principle of habeas corpus is maintained for Australian citizens abroad and that we unconditionally oppose unfair legal processes. I know that the Howard government may not accept the recommendations being made today, so we pledge to keep the pressure on the government, to keep in their face about this issue and to keep campaigning until we get freedom from Guantanamo, fairness and the right to a fair trial for all Australian citizens.

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