Garth Hamilton (Groom, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the chance to talk on this very, very important bill. Today, I rise in support of the Crimes Amendment (Penalty Unit) Bill 2022, which legislates for an increase in value of the Commonwealth penalty unit to from $222 to $275 from 1 January this year. Like the previous speaker, I note that the number 275 must be the most noted number in this term of government so far.

This is an additional increase beyond the usual triennial indexation of the Commonwealth penalty unit, with the usual schedule of automatic indexation resuming on 1 July 2023. This change will increase the revenue return to the Commonwealth by $31.6 million over the next four years. These penalty units that we are discussing determine the maximum fines which can be imposed for offences in Commonwealth legislation and territory ordinances. While the application of these penalty units will rightfully remain in the hands of sentencing judges, the change will ensure that financial penalties, when used, align with community expectations and provide a meaningful deterrent to those engaging in unlawful behaviour.

To pick up on a few comments from the shadow Attorney-General, the intent of the coalition's approach when in government was to take the profit out of crime and to find ways to address the motivating forces that drive crime in our community. I think that's why I very much support any measure whatsoever that increases that punishment. As the Leader of the Opposition has said, wherever there is legislation that supports the Australian people we will support that legislation. The shadow Attorney-General spoke about the work of outlaw motorcycle gangs in my region. What this has led to is the ice problems that we've faced, particularly in small country towns, where we've seen an explosion in the amount of that drug being used and sold. It's had devastating impacts on those communities.

I think it's also quite important to focus on the fact that when the coalition were in government we not only focused on addressing crime but also made it a key priority to focus on the victims of crime, especially, as has been raised, the $1.3 million for the women's safety package. Again to speak to my area of Groom, one of the issues we have seen is a rise in domestic violence cases, particularly amongst women in the 55-plus age group. Sadly, we see so many people in this age group coming to Toowoomba to try to find housing, work and support, so this is a key area for us to continue focusing on.

In the electorate of Groom residents are currently being plagued by break-ins and car theft from a revolving door of youth offenders, and nothing erodes community trust faster than the perception that the punishments being handed out by the courts do not fit the crime. To all the people I have spoken to on this issue across the electorate of Groom, be it doorknocking or at mobile officers, I say that I will continue to make this a priority of my time in this place. I will support any legislation that is tough on crime. When you have the erosion of community trust, it leaves people feeling scared, unsafe and alone, which is utterly unacceptable. But, as is the case here, we can't blame the courts when they're dealing with inadequate laws that provide inadequate penalties. It's up to us as lawmakers to ensure that they have the tools they need and that our legislation is regularly fine-tuned and updated to keep pace with community expectations.

This is something that we on the side of the House and the previous coalition government pay particular attention to, amending and introducing new offences to keep Australians safe. We took an unapologetically tough-on-crime approach, and our achievements must be upheld by this new Labor government. That starts by properly funding our law enforcement agencies so that people are pursued and prosecuted for illegal activities. In the 2022-23 budget the coalition government announced an investment of $170.4 million in AFP and Australian Border Force capabilities to harden Australia's border against transnational serious and organised crime, including the establishment of dedicated AFP strike teams to target the importation and manufacture of illicit drugs, firearms and money-laundering. The investment also included boosting the AFP's specialist capabilities to keep pace with the growing threat of outlaw motorcycle gangs, organised crime cartels and other crime groups and strengthening investment in the AFP's Criminal Asset Confiscation Taskforce to further disrupt criminal businesses and remove the profit out of crime. Under the coalition the AFP's funding increased to a record $1.7 billion, and I think we can be quite proud that, wherever the opportunity arose for us to support strengthening law enforcement during our time in government, we were there supporting our people on the front line to do that. That is an achievement of the last coalition government that we can be very, very proud of.

In contrast—and these are important points about the last time the Labor were in government—they raided the accounts of our law enforcement agencies for the sake of propping up the budget bottom line. With the recent Optus and Medibank hacks so fresh in the minds of many Australians, including many people in my community who've been affected by these incidents, we cannot afford to take a backward step on the funding of our key security agencies who are investigating who is responsible and how we can hold them to account. As we enter another challenging economic period, can we really trust that we will not see a similar approach from this government? The approach the previous coalition government took worked, and we need to see that continue. But beyond the budget the coalition's approach to organised crime was multifaceted. We locked criminals up but we also kicked out the foreign criminals and thugs who abused our nation's hospitality. When the coalition was in government we cancelled or refused the visas of 335 outlaw motorcycle gang members and removed 233 from Australia for breaking our laws, including 52 from my state of Queensland. In total we've cancelled or refused over 10,000 visas on character grounds since 2014, keeping Australians safe from the triads, mafia gangs and bikies who seek to ply their deadly trade in our community.

Simply, the coalition government did not tolerate noncitizens who engage in criminal activity or behaviour of concern, including involvement with outlaw motorcycle gangs and organised crime, and acted decisively to protect the community from the risk of harm posed by these individuals. We supported the department and Australian Border Force to work closely with law enforcement agencies to identify and, where appropriate, cancel or refuse the visas of noncitizens engaging in organised criminal activity or associating with criminal gangs and ensure that all noncitizens who wish to enter or remain or remain in Australia must satisfy the requirements of the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994, including the character test at section 501 of that act. A noncitizen may not pass the character test on a number of grounds, including but not limited to if they have a substantial criminal record or they are suspected of associating with or being a member of the group involved in criminal conduct. Further, a noncitizen's visa must be cancelled if they are serving a full term of imprisonment for an offence committed in Australia or they have at any time been sentenced to a period of 12 months or more in prison.

If a visa is cancelled in these circumstances, the person may apply to the minister for revocation of the visa cancellation decision. The minister has personal powers enabling them to cancel or refuse a visa without notice where it is considered in the national interest to do so. Noncitizens who do not hold a valid visa will be liable for detention and removal from Australia, pending resolution of any ongoing matters. All removals are carried out in a way that ensures the safety and security of those individuals being removed, staff and the public. Removals from Australia are undertaken as soon as reasonably practicable through both voluntary and, unfortunately, sometimes involuntary pathways. As I've just said, we not only put these protections in place but used them, because no good comes from losing control over our borders. From December 2014 to February this year, 335 outlaw motorcycle gang members, associates or organised crime members had their visas cancelled and or refused under the character and general cancellation powers.

This was real, practical action to keep Australians safe that the previous coalition government undertook, and Labor must follow suit. I note the Prime Minister has said he will be more lenient when it comes to allowing New Zealand criminals to stay in Australia. For the victims of crimes committed by these people I think that's a very difficult statement to hear. The Prime Minister needs to provide more details about which criminals he will allow to remain in our country and why. The coalition will continue to hold Labor to account on its approach to our borders and crime from opposition, because we've seen their track record on these important issues, and it hasn't been good enough. For another example, I'll talk about the backflip in relation to firearms trafficking before the last election. For five years Labor objected to tougher penalties under new national gun laws for organised crime syndicates, outlaw motorcycle gangs and other criminals who trafficked firearms—finally backing down, though, at the start of this year and supporting the legislation. It's astounding that it did take five years to come to the realisation that Australia and Australians need to be protected and want to be protected and that importation of illegal firearms was something the community indeed needed to be protected from.

I'll stress very much why this has been such a core principle of coalition governments past. Law and order is absolutely the bedrock of our society. Without it, the basic agreements we have as individuals fall apart. Our people, the Australian people, need to know that at all levels support is there—here as legislators, making sure that the legislation we're doing is up to date, addressing threats as they occur in our time, and that we are, as in the case of this legislation, making sure the penalties applied meet community expectations. They also need to know our courts have not only the tools they need but the willingness to use them, and the Australian people need to know our law enforcement agencies have the support from all levels to do their job and to keep us safe. We're blessed in this country to have fantastic law enforcement agencies, as I'm sure every member of this House would agree. It's very important that we maintain laws in place to support them.

To wrap up, I think the key point I'd offer on this is that the punishment must fit the crime. It's important that we take steps to make sure that we're keeping up with community expectations. It's important we take steps to understand new crimes and threats that are coming through, and it's very important we find ways to address the profits that crime lives and thrives off. When we can do that, we know we can cut away at it, and we can remove as much of this scourge as we can from our society.

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