Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs ) Share this | Hansard source

My argument to you, Mr Speaker, is that standing orders should not be suspended, for a number of reasons. Firstly, they should not be suspended because this debate will occur in this House at the end of question time. The member for Stirling has placed this on the parliament's record as a matter of public importance, and that debate will occur this afternoon. That is the appropriate opportunity to have that debate.

Secondly, standing orders should not be suspended now because of the evidence to the contrary. Today is a very important day for Customs. It is a very important day for law enforcement. The New South Wales police, working with Customs and Border Protection as well as the Federal Police and the Australian Crime Commission, have worked together to dismantle a major illegal firearms syndicate. The work they did yesterday shows the terrific job our law enforcement agencies do, working together. That stands in stark contrast to what the Leader of the Opposition said in his argument about why standing orders should be suspended.

This all came to pass because of a number of things. A Glock firearm was seized by New South Wales police in Wiley Park. The Australian Crime Commission, working with the New South Wales police, did a trace analysis of that firearm. That analysis helped to trace the gun back to the company that makes it in Austria and, in turn, to a gun distributor in Germany, which in turn led to the arrests in Sylvania Waters yesterday. Since I have been in this job I have made a point of making this my top priority, speaking with the New South Wales minister for police and speaking with the Australian Crime Commission to make sure that whatever resources the New South Wales police need they get. The Australian Crime Commission told me, in my first briefing, that they have made that very clear to the New South Wales police and that, as a result of that, they have provided tracing analysis services as well as their Fusion Centre to identify criminals involved in this market. That is why standing orders should not be suspended—because of this evidence to the contrary. I have done the same thing with the Australian Federal Police, and they have made it clear that they stand ready to help the New South Wales police wherever they are needed. And it has been the same with Customs.

What is the result of all that? Working with the Liberal police minister in New South Wales, Mike Gallacher, we directed the Australian Crime Commission to conduct a national intelligence audit of the illegal firearms market in Australia. This is why standing orders should not be suspended—because of the evidence presented here to the country. Finding one gun in Western Sydney and then tracing that and identifying who was responsible for importing it led to the arrest of four people and the shutting down, or dismantling, of a criminal syndicate. The work I have done is to direct the Australian Crime Commission to do that work for every single firearm that has been seized by police over the last 12 months and to do the same sort of analysis for all the shootings, all the bullets and all the casings that have been found, whether they are in Western Sydney or in South Australia or anywhere across the country. That work, that intelligence, will assist police right across the country, and this is why standing orders should not be suspended, because of this evidence of the work that we are doing as a government, hand in glove with the New South Wales government, with the South Australian government and with all governments across the country. That will lead to a presentation of this criminal intelligence information to a meeting of attorneys-general next month and will lead to recommendations to police ministers when they meet in July this year.

The Leader of the Opposition and the shadow minister, the member for Stirling, talk about cuts to Customs. It is a bit rich, the Liberal Party talking about cuts, when they have a $70 billion black hole.

Opposition members interjecting—

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