Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Social Security Amendment (Supporting Australian Victims of Terrorism Overseas) Bill 2011. There was a time when the term 'terrorism' seemed to be something that only ever happened in very faraway places. Television footage of the aftermaths and at times the continuation of acts of terrorism were from places in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. The best remembered terrorist related incident beyond these recent years in Australia was the bomb that was placed in the bin outside the Hilton Hotel. That tragically killed a policeman and two garbage truck workers when the bin was emptied and detonated in the back of the garbage truck. That act took place in Sydney back in 1978. Terrorism, of course, came back to Australia on 23 November 1986 when a car bomb exploded in the car park beneath the Turkish consulate in South Yarra, Victoria, killing the bomber, who failed to correctly set up the explosive device. Levon Demirian, a Sydney resident with links to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, an Armenian terrorist group, was charged over the attack and served 10 years.

It is also certainly the case that we have had, to a degree, domestic terrorism. There were attacks on Family Court judges which took place in the early eighties. The Australian Federal Police were involved in the investigation and also in the protection of judges. That was as a result of aggrieved recipients of justice from Family Court judges at the time. This country does unfortunately have a history of acts of terrorism. I recall the time in the 1970s when a bomb exploded in front of the Yugoslav consulate in Sydney, causing a significant amount of damage. That is not something that is expected in Double Bay in Sydney. That was many years ago.

The reality for the world is that things have changed and they have changed radically with what happened in New York on 11 September 2001, with a massive loss of life in New York; the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta; the two Bali bombings; and the London bombings. Unfortunately, and very sadly and tragically, Australians were amongst those killed and wounded—wounded in the physical and the mental sense. We have seen arrests here in Australia of those who were accepted into this country in good faith, only for us to have had that trust so badly abused by those who have planned and taken active preparations towards implementing their terrorist plots. But fortunately the security forces—ASIO, the Federal Police and the state police forces—have been up to the task and have managed to avert what could have been tragedy.

But the reality is that we sadly do have traitors in this country. We have people here who wish to attack and tear down the institutions of our society. We have traitors here who find fault with the foundations of this nation, the principles upon which it was founded and upon which generations of Australians have prospered. We have traitors who wish to replace our democratic system of government and our set of secular laws with alternatives based on a religion that in other places has produced only a legacy of political, social and economic failure. It is a religion that holds the people in those countries back, discriminates against women and fails to recognise the potential of the individual. What is encouraging is that there are people in various ethnic and religious communities around Australia who are prepared to inform on those who seek to betray us. That is why we have had arrests in Australia and effective action taken to cut off the plans of these locally based terrorists.

As the MP for Cowan, representing Kingsley and, by consequence, the Kingsley Amateur Football Club, I am pleased that this bill is being brought to the House for debate. I am the federal representative for a football club that lost seven members in the 2002 Bali bombing. I am pleased to congratulate the Hon. Tony Abbott for his initiatives to support Australian victims of terrorism overseas, and the way in which it has led to this bill. It is right that we keep this fact in mind. We know who initiated this bill and who then followed. Nevertheless, I also thank the government for bringing this bill forward. I understand that since 11 September 2001 some 300 Australians have been killed or injured in terrorist incidents overseas.

This bill acts as an important reminder of that which we should never forget, and that is the high price that Australia has paid due to overseas terrorists. I would also say that it is unfortunate that this bill has not allowed for retrospective support. This bill will not deliver support for anyone at the Kingsley football club, and I think that is wrong. We should also remember that what happened in Bali will be a life sentence for those injured and for the families of those who died. The events of 12 October 2002 will remain with them forever. It is getting close to 10 years since those terrible events in Bali—terrible for those who were there and for those who farewelled their family members at Perth airport on the last occasion on which they would see them alive. Those people now have to carry on, forever affected by the trauma and the loss and, above all, never being able to forget the pain. As time passes the impact on those who remain will not pass.

On 12 October 2002 the members of the Kingsley football club arrived in Bali and went straight to their hotel to relax for the rest of the day. They then went out to dinner to begin enjoying their end-of-season football trip. Then, unfortunately, they decided that they would go to those local night spots in Bali and their first stop was, tragically, at the Sari Club.

The first explosion was at Paddy's Bar and very shortly thereafter the Sari Club itself was blown up in a terrible explosion. The result was that seven of the players from the club were killed, and I name them: Dean Gallagher, Jason Stokes, Byron Hancock, Corey Paltridge, David Ross, Jonathan Wade and Anthony Stewart. Thirteen survived, but two were seriously injured with severe burns and were airlifted back. As we know, money will not bring back any of them. It may not lessen the effect of the tragedy but it can assist the survivors and the families of the victims—those that died. It is unfortunately the case that this bill will not help any of my constituents who were so badly affected by the first Bali bombings, because this bill is not retrospective.

This bill, the Social Security Amendment (Supporting Australian Victims of Terrorism Overseas) Bill 2011, creates a mechanism through the social security system to be called the Australian victim of terrorism overseas payment. That payment will provide up to $75,000 to a person injured or to a close family member of a person killed. This will apply in cases of terrorist acts that take place overseas.

Of course, in the detail, the attack needs to be declared—as I understand it—as an overseas terrorism event, with the bill also setting out eligibility criteria in the form of guidelines for compliance in order to access a payment. These include the nature, duration and impact of the injury or disease; the likelihood of future loss, injury or disease; the circumstances in which the injury or disease has incurred; the nature of the relationship between the primary and secondary victims; whether there are other persons who have made a claim; whether there is an agreement by claimants on the amount that should be made to each; whether there was an adverse Australian government travel advisory; whether the person was directed not to go to the place where the attack took place; and what other payments may already be applicable. As was advanced by the Hon. Tony Abbott, the payment will not be taxable and will not result in repayments for paid Medicare, workers compensation or any other benefits paid by the Commonwealth.

We should not forget the fact that these victims of overseas terrorism have suffered for their country. They were victims of overseas terrorism largely because of the way of life in this country. They were chosen or targeted because of the way of life of the civilisation in which they participated, and we should not underestimate the ongoing suffering of those people. There is a lifetime of suffering and pain for those who have been victims of terrorist activities overseas, and this can be both psychological and physical, as I have already said. I believe that this needs to be acknowledged, recognised and in some form made up for and provided for by the wider Australian community.

It is certainly not my intention to speak for much longer on this bill. However, I would say that we are happy to see this bill here in the parliament, but we would want it to be amended to provide the support for those who have already been so badly affected. I do speak for those from the Kingsley Amateur Football Club who will not be the beneficiaries of this bill. They certainly should be. But otherwise, we certainly appreciate that the bill has been brought to the parliament and that those who are the victims of terrorism in the future will be better provided for as a result of this initiative.

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