Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications and Cyber Security) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Ryan for moving this important motion and recognise his ongoing interest in this issue and the advocacy that he has done in this House on this cause since being elected. It is a cause that is shared by all of us in this building. There wouldn't be a single member of parliament from any political party of any particular persuasion that would not be as equally committed to stamping out this most heinous, most repulsive and most revolting of crimes—child abuse. The motion rightly recognises the outstanding work done by the Australian Federal Police and, in particular, the ACCCE. I'm pleased to support this motion that recognises this vital work and the role that our law enforcement agencies and policymakers across the spectrum play in keeping our children safe from predators.

There were more than 21,000 reports of child exploitation to the ACCCE in 2019-20. All of us in this place agree that the ACCCE and the AFP perform many crucial investigative, intelligence and national security functions in this fight, and we can all agree that this cause should be above politics of any kind. We can have differences of approach. We can discuss the best way to deal with this scourge. But we do it in good faith. We do it knowing that all sides of this chamber are trying to get to the same end goal. The ACCCE's objective to free children from exploitation through its four pillars would be supported by all members—preparing future capabilities and technologies to counter child exploitation, preventing the exploitation of children, intervening earlier in the abuse of victims, protecting victims from further victimisation, protecting the wellbeing of members and supporting authorities to pursue and prosecute child sex offenders and remove victims from harm.

Child exploitation didn't stop with lockdowns during COVID-19. It never takes a break. Unfortunately, this is a crime that is growing exponentially. Officers have continued to be at the coalface, fighting this crime during the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, child exploitation cases more than doubled in the first months of COVID-19. The AFP laid 1,078 child exploitation charges against 144 people in the 10 months to May 2020. It's an outstanding job, but it reflects a horrific reality. The officers at the AFP have worked tirelessly throughout 2020 to keep Australian children safe. As the motion notes, recent operations in Australia removed 16 children from harm and arrested 44 offenders, laying 350 charges against them collectively. It's worth reflecting on what those statistics mean in the real world, what the consequences of those actions by the AFP mean to those children. The mind boggles. It's an incredible contribution that these officers have made. The AFP has also assisted with eight international arrests over the 12 months to November 2020.

These officers do an incredible service to our nation and to children across Australia, but they need our support in the work that they do. Child exploitation is a heinous crime and the officers who do this work are exposed to images and to situations that are traumatising, that are horrific, that none of us even like to think about, let alone confront face to face. We really need to make sure that, as a government, we support AFP officers who do this critical work to ensure they get access to the services and support that they need so that they aren't paying a price for doing this invaluable work for the nation.

All of us have a role to play in this fight against child abuse and child exploitation, in this fight to stamp it out. Law enforcement is on the front line against offenders, but all of us—in our communities and in our families, as parents, as family members—have a role to play in having a hard conversation with our families, with our children about these risks. As the member for Longman rightly pointed out in his contribution, it's hard to have these conversations. It's awkward. It makes us feel terrible. But we need to confront this for the sake of our children. So have that conversation with kids about knowing who they're engaging with on the internet, about knowing what the risks confronting them are. It's uncomfortable, it's awkward, but it's a small price to pay in the face of statistics that are, frankly, horrifying and that show the growing nature of this threat around the world. All of us have a role to play in this chamber, in our communities, in our families, and I thank all Australians who are united in their common purpose to fight against this scourge against children in our society.

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