Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion moved by the member for McPherson. It is an important motion indeed, in the sense of the subject matter involved. Foreign interference can come in many forms, with many different shapes and sizes. It can be overt. It can be covert. Foreign interference and activities associated with it can complement other forms of espionage and attempts to sow disinformation. Foreign interference can be violent, whether the violence is real or implied. Foreign interference can appear innocuous or benign. It can be done with a smile. But there is nothing benign about it. It can find its way into many facets of Australian society, such as our universities and, in turn, our R&D, and into important, nationally significant industries. It can infiltrate social media. It can even try to pervert our democratic processes in Australia. This is, sadly, not something that is entirely unheard of in other parts of the world. I know we can all point to some very noteworthy examples of this.

As the emphasis of the member for McPherson's motion suggests, foreign interference can find its way into one of our many vibrant and active multicultural diasporas. The member for McPherson is no stranger to the subject of foreign interference, having been Minister for Home Affairs in the previous Liberal-National government, the Morrison government. As we know, the leader of that government opted to share the role of Minister for Home Affairs, alongside the member for McPherson, for the preponderance of the time she held that office. But the point I'm ultimately making is that the member for McPherson can appreciate the dangers posed by foreign interference in Australia and the ever-present need to have constant vigilance as a nation—a vigilance that begets our nation's ability to identify and then disrupt the activities of a foreign government, or those acting at the behest of one, that threaten our sovereignty and not only threaten the safety of people in the multitude of Australia's multicultural communities but also attempt to impede them from conducting themselves in the manner that anyone in Australia would expect to have every right to do, such as participating in free political discourse.

I note that the member for McPherson's motion refers particularly to Australia's proud Cambodian diaspora. Australia is home to thousands of people whose country of birth was Cambodia, with many more descendants of people born in Cambodia in the generations after their arrival. Their community exists across the country but with many concentrated pockets. I take it as a mark of pride that a vast number reside in my electorate of Spence and elsewhere in South Australia. I know that I am richer for the many engagements I have had with this community in the relatively short space of time I have been a representative in the Parliament of Australia.

The community has definitely come a long way since the first six Cambodian refugees arrived in my home state, way back in 1976. Those unfamiliar with Cambodian contemporary history might instead be familiar with the recent events within the country, namely the elections that were held on the 23rd of this month. Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party have gone so far as to ban opposition parties from even participating in what they would call a 'democratic election' and to claim the legitimacy of election results that had them win 125 of 125 seats in their national assembly in 2018, and 120 of them at the recent election.

Without an opposition at home, some governments may begin to turn to eliminating any opposition to their regimes that may exist in other countries. This is not something that we as a nation should tolerate happening within our own backyard. Those in our Cambodian community within Australia—or any multicultural community in Australia, for that matter—should expect that they can participate within their communities in this country, and in the community at large, without fear of a foreign government monitoring and surveilling their movements; who they associate with; and their written, verbal and digital communications. Acts like this have a chilling effect. It's bad enough when they happen abroad, but we must not tolerate them happening within our borders.

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of attending a speech on foreign interference at ANU, delivered by the Minister for Home Affairs. It is something we should all have on our radars, but it gives me comfort knowing that it is something acutely on the radar of our government. Through the agencies that comprise our national intelligence community, with state and territory law enforcement agencies and bodies such as the Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce, we can combat corrosive foreign interference activities. But that isn't the whole of it. Fostering an environment where members of our multicultural diaspora can safely and comfortably communicate with agencies to report their suspicions of foreign interference activities goes a long way to these activities not occurring in the shadows. Our multicultural communities make Australia the amazing place that it is today, and any attempt from abroad to pervert that should not be without consequence.

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