Bob Baldwin (Paterson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At all times whilst I have been the member for Paterson I have been very proud to represent the people of Williamtown RAAF base—the best RAAF base in Australia; our defence people are the best in the world. I have had some discussions with some very concerned defence people and their families. Their concerns surround an individual called Mohammed Dawood—a person who is a trained terrorist. He was trained by the Kosovo Liberation Army and further trained by the al-Qaeda movement and associates. This person in Australia goes by another name and that name is David Hicks. But to my defence people it is Mohammed Dawood. This is a man who purposely took up arms to train against coalition forces—a man whose intent was to kill fellow Australians who have been engaged in those theatres of operation where Mohammed Dawood had trained and taken activity.

I read the papers and my constituents read the papers, and they hear about some summer camp misadventure of a nine-year-old fellow called David Hicks who was on a journey of life and stepped outside of the normal bounds—it was not really his fault. Our defence people take a totally different view when someone wants to take up arms against them. Nothing hurts more than when a fellow Australian wants to take up arms against our defence people. Nothing hurts even more than that when people in Australia and the media report how innocent this person is.

We do not know if he fired upon coalition forces. We do not know that yet. We do not know in fact whether his gun sights were aimed at our fellow Australians in the Defence Force. But I think that what needs to be stated, restated and reinforced is that this person made a deliberate decision prior to 9-11 to become a terrorist. This is the person who, after fellow Australians were killed in the 9-11 bombing, kept going. He knew what he was getting into. The people in my defence forces want no mercy shown. They want a quick and speedy resolution to the trial process. They do not want him brought home scot-free. They want him to be held fully accountable for his actions against coalition forces made up of Australian troops.

I will stand by my troops and my fellow Australians each and every step of the way. I will represent their interests. I say: bring David Hicks—better known as Mohammed Dawood—to a speedy trial and allow the full force of the law to continue. But this idea of bringing him home and slapping him on the wrist and setting him free is not—(Time expired)