Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the member's suspension of standing orders motion for one simple reason: whether or not reform has been fast enough in coming when it comes to the Public Interest Disclosure Act, the reality is that we now have an Australian citizen who, for all intents and purposes, has done what he believes is in the best interests of our country, and yet he finds himself to be under the full attention of our judicial system.

To many Australians, including many in my electorate of North Sydney, it makes absolutely no sense that the first person to face criminal prosecution in our country for war crimes in the Afghanistan conflict is actually the person who blew the whistle on them. It makes no sense. It's just not logical. More concerningly, it sends a very chilling message to anybody else currently sitting in a position who is watching the activities of a department or process that they may be involved in and thinking that they need to speak up about this. The message this prosecution sends to those people is: 'Do not, or, if you do, you will face the full weight of the law.' As a civil society that is seeking to progress itself ever forward, one of the things we must commit to is transparency. We must commit to integrity in all of our processes. In this simple case, it's hard not to see David McBride as a pawn in a much bigger political game. That's why I believe it's important that we suspend standing orders today to debate this.

I absolutely pay my greatest respects to the Attorney-General. I know this is a passion project of yours, and I know this is an area you are incredibly committed to. I also know, though, that you do have the power to stop this prosecution. The terms under which you can exercise that power are not written in the legislation. It is up to you to decide whether they are extraordinary. I would make the case here that, in this circumstance, just as with Bernard Collaery, these are extraordinary circumstances. David McBride should not be the person on trial today.

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