Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian Labor Party understands the important of cybersecurity to a nation. The security and protection of our nations, our institutions and our shared beliefs is a goal shared by all members of this parliament. Of course, so is the lasting defeat of ISIS. The defeat of ISIS requires, as we all know, a multi-pronged attack upon them, and this includes the disruption of cyber operations. The importance of protecting our government agencies from digital attacks is on par with the more traditional methods of warfare.

We know that we must never downplay how devastating digital attacks can be to a nation. I noted in the Fin Review an opinion piece published on 22 November that says:

According to industry sources, the average cost of a cyber attack for Australian businesses is about $622,000 and about three-quarters of all Australian businesses have been attacked in the past year …

The article also reports that the government's Computer Emergency Response Team has responded to over 14,000 incidents affecting Australian businesses, with just over 400 of those incidents involving 'systems of national interest as well as critical infrastructure'.

Labor recognise that preventing digital attacks is important to our national security. As we heard yesterday in the statement by the Leader of the Opposition, that is why in 2010 Labor opened the Cyber Security Operations Centre and adopted our first comprehensive National Cyber Security Strategy, providing our armed services personnel with the tools they need to combat all types of attacks on our nation's security. Enhancing a nation's security involves pulling together many elements within our society—different cultures, shared beliefs, common traits—and requires the leadership skills to successfully do this. It also requires respect for and an understanding of the fabric of society, and a commitment to inclusiveness and egalitarian ideals. At the moment, leadership is sadly lacking within the government ranks.

We have a Prime Minister telling members of the Muslim community that ISIL wants them to believe they are not wanted in Australia, they are not accepted here and they never will be. This Prime Minister has also been quoted as singing the praises of former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser—that he was 'ahead of his time' and 'remarkable'.

I want to contrast that today with the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection telling members of our multicultural community last week that they were 'a mistake' and are not welcome here. The minister for immigration even turned on former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser while delivering his shocking and, in my opinion, ill-informed tirade against members of the Australian multicultural community. Last week, the minister for immigration stated:

The reality is Malcolm Fraser did make mistakes in bringing some people in the 1970s …

During the week, I made a statement to the House about these remarks. In particular, I reflected on the contribution of the Vietnamese community in our nation. I am privileged to represent one of the largest concentrations of Vietnamese Australians in the country, in the electorate of Oxley. During the seventies we saw some remarkable Australians arrive on our shores who were fleeing a brutal Communist regime. They risked their lives in pursuit of freedom and a better way of life for not only their children but their grandchildren as well.

Over the years that I have represented that community—first at the Brisbane City Council level and now in the national parliament—I have made literally hundreds and hundreds of friends from the Vietnamese community. The two things they value more than anything else are freedom of speech and democracy. They have contributed so much to our community in the south-west of Brisbane, just as all our migrant communities have done right across Australia in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. They have contributed through great economic achievements. Every time I visit a school in my electorate, I see academic excellence from young Vietnamese students. I see and visit language schools on the weekend, where we are protecting and enhancing the Vietnamese culture, language and way of life. They love being Australians.

That we could have a minister for immigration in this country trashing their reputation, saying that the children and grandchildren of immigrants to Australia, who have contributed so much, are somehow second-class citizens does not sit well with me and it does not sit well with the constituents that I represent.

According to the ABS, in the period between July 1970 and June 1980, Australia received 32,207 settler arrivals from Lebanon, which represented 3.4 per cent of the total settler arrivals for that year.

This sort of dog whistling—these sorts of offensive comments, which have not been repudiated by the Prime Minister and which he is refusing to condemn—does nothing to keep Australia safe or deal with national security issues. It simply reinforces division in our community. I note that during the week we have also seen the Fraser government immigration minister Ian Macphee singling out the comments by the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, as 'ignorant, alarmist'. Ian Macphee was the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs from 1979 to 1982, and he labelled the comments by the current immigration minister as 'outrageous'. Mr Macphee said the 'attack'—that is the word he used—had 'prompted justifiable anger from the community'.

I can report to the House that there is disappointment and dismay from members of my community, proud Australians who do not see themselves as second- or third-generation immigrants; they see themselves as Australian. The minister stands condemned from those comments. They are alarmist, they are unnecessary and they do nothing to deal with the national security issues. This is precisely what our opponents want to see: division and Australians against each other.

I also note that a former leader of the Liberal Party, John Hewson, has slammed the immigration minister. Dr Hewson led the Liberal Party from 1990 until 1994, and he also has joined a chorus of Australians—mainstream, moderate Liberals, who sadly are lacking in this parliament—and has called on the Prime Minister to show some leadership. He is quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald as saying:

"But, why make this point now? Is this a cheap attempt to appeal to the anti-immigration, anti-refugee movement?

"Time for forward-looking leadership—time to rise above the mire."

During the term of the Fraser government, we saw as many as 200,000 migrants arrive in Australia from Asia, and these were deliberate policies focused on multiculturalism and resettlement. This is not just an issue of multiculturalism; it is an issue of economic benefit to our nation. We have seen time and time again the economic and cultural benefit of the migration policies of both sides of politics. To think we are now trashing that bipartisan nature of immigration and multiculturalism is a shame for this time in our history. But I certainly hope that in the future we will see a higher standard not only from this minister and this Prime Minister but ultimately from this government.

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The rise of terrorism has tested the strength of our character as a nation in the face of an ongoing threat of a probable domestic terrorist attack. As a nation, we are faced with two options: either we come together as a united, harmonious and inclusive nation, or we let ourselves be torn apart by fear. The aim of terrorism is to spread fear, and that is what it can do if we do not fight to protect the Australian values that we all hold dear. It is fear that leads people to turn against each other and to create scapegoats to be blamed for an external threat. But in these difficult times we must be careful that we do not become blinded by fear. When we are scared, it is easier for us to find someone to blame than to confront and deal with our fears with strength and clarity.

It is particularly important for Australian politicians not to succumb to fear and to the urge to blame and divide, which is exactly what our enemies want. Instead of turning against each other we need to join together as a nation to celebrate our diversity, not to seek to denigrate or belittle our great history of inclusiveness as nation. It gives power to the forces of hate if we allow ourselves to be divided as a nation. We know from the reports of our security agencies that that is what ISIL and their like want. They want to create division and resentment. They feed off hatred, anger and fear. We must call out those who try to threaten our way of life, the life that Australians are accustomed to in a nation made great by migration and multiculturalism. We are a nation that prides itself on its diversity, and we must not forget that. We have been asked once again, as we have been asked many times throughout history, to reject extremist ideologies that seeks to divide people. We must draw on our ability to look beyond cultural, religious and racial differences to demonstrate respect for and recognition of those members of our community who practice a modern and tolerant form of Islam. As a nation we are presented with the challenge of whether or not we can turn away from hatred and embrace the challenge humanity that binds all us who value freedom and democracy. This was noted by ASIO Director-General Duncan Lewis in mid-2015:

We understand we can't arrest our way to success.

If there is indeed a silver bullet to solving the issue of radicalisation, it is in the area of social cohesion.

That is why a very important approach to responding to the threat of terrorism is ensuring that we promote tolerance and acceptance to ensure that the fabric of social cohesion in this country cannot be unwound. We must also invest in programs that promote people's sense of inclusiveness and prevent young people from being radicalised. Such programs can provide options to young Australians who feel isolated and abandoned and then turn to terrorist recruiters. Unfortunately, programs like this have not been handled well by the government, and we are nowhere near where we should be.

If we do not call out divisive language we are playing into the hands of those who seek to divide us. It is shocking and astounding that some people in this place cannot see the impact of their own words and behaviour. We in this place have a responsibility to demonstrate to the Australian community the kinds of standards that we will accept the kind of language that we will tolerate. The recent comments by the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection have the potential to undermine Australia's tradition of multiculturalism, to undermine our national cohesion and to undermine our national security, for all the reasons I have outlined today. His suggestion that it was a mistake for a generation of migrants to come to Australia more than three decades ago, because of the crimes that are small number of their grandchildren may have committed, is unnecessary and inflammatory. These types of comments contribute to people's sense of isolation and resentment. This is the exact opposite of what we should be doing to defeat extremism.

It is because of anger hatred and fear that people are drawn to extremist ideology. It is fear and isolation that is turning our young people towards terrorism and towards embracing terrorist recruiters and joining the conflict overseas in Iraq and Syria. If ministers engage in inflammatory rhetoric that invokes fear, how then can we be asking those communities to take on the responsibility of teaching community and respect? In the Prime Minister's own words yesterday:

… governments cannot win this battle alone. Community leaders and groups have great responsibility both in denouncing violent extremism and teaching unity in diversity and mutual respect instead of hatred.

It is incredible that the Prime Minister could say those words yesterday after he has failed to reject the comments of the minister for immigration. He surely should be able to see the effects that the comments of the minister for immigration will have on the Lebanese Muslim community in Australia and on other communities in Australia who have contributed so much to our nation. How can he ask community leaders and groups to teach 'unity in diversity' when his own ministers do the opposite? Is he so weak that he is unable to even address this kind of, really, rank hypocrisy?

National security agencies have made it very clear that we need to work with, not against, local Muslim communities to change attitudes and behaviours that can foster extremism. The member for Cowan, an internationally renowned expert on countering violent extremism who has just joined the parliament, has spoken out against the minister for immigration's comments, just as we all should, and has received death threats towards her and her family. We must take our leadership responsibility seriously and be much more careful about what we do and say.

The rise of ISIL, and of al-Qaeda before it, has changed much about our world. The age of digital transformation has brought with it many benefits, but it has also led to new tools being developed and used to spread violent extremist ideas and to encourage more and more people to turn towards extremism. ISIL's extensive use of social media has had the unfortunate consequence of drawing into conflicts many people who would not otherwise have been attracted. We have seen propaganda that is used throughout history to turn people away from rational, progressive mindsets and instead go to a dark place of anger and resentment, and this most recent outbreak from ISIL is another example of that. If we are going to win the fight against violent extremism, we must limit the spread of violent extremist ideas. It is through relationships of trust and solidarity between governments and communities that we can all make sure that the right messages get through to communities: that Australia is a country of inclusiveness and that we welcome all people to share our values.

Labor is committed to ensuring that law enforcement agencies and security agencies have the powers and resources that they need to keep Australians safe. That is why Labor continues to take a bipartisan approach on national security. But the fight against terrorism goes far beyond just giving appropriate powers and resources to our security agencies. Our words and our actions matter just as much as our policy decisions. Practising isolationism and division is not going to help our security agencies; it will, in fact—and I know this as a former Attorney-General—make their job harder. I hear constantly in briefings from the security agencies of the importance of working with communities. What working with communities means is, in part, using the right language in public statements about national security matters and about our immigrant communities, and certainly not using the kind of demonising and ignorant language that we have heard from the minister for immigration in recent days. The minister for immigration must know this as well, yet he continues to make these kinds of comments, he refuses to apologise for them, he refuses to retract them, and, worse, the Prime Minister backs this minister for immigration. I find it astounding.

Labor is very proud of the diversity and multicultural heritage of Australia. We will continue to defend that diversity, multicultural heritage and multiculturalism against the divisive comments by cabinet ministers, and we will continue to defend that multicultural heritage and diversity against attempts to water down racial hate speech laws. We stand for unity in this country, not division.

Debate adjourned.