Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Attorney-General. As the Attorney knows, my seat is home to many strawberry growers who have been hit hard by recent events. Will the Attorney update the House on steps our government is taking to strengthen Commonwealth laws guaranteeing Australians' food safety and dealing appropriately with those who seek to sabotage our food supply?

Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. He and I both have electorates with many market gardeners and fruitgrowers, and I've come to know people in my electorate like Anthony and Lee-Anne at Berry Sweet farms in Bullsbrook. They are a couple who have worked their entire lives to build a great business, employing local people. So to see all their hard work now put in jeopardy by the despicable and senseless criminal acts of a small number of perpetrators across Australia is just heartbreaking, and I know everyone in this parliament agrees that we owe it to these hardworking people in your electorate and mine to do everything in our power to stem the tide of this wanton and shocking behaviour.

As part of this response, I can inform the House that, after being tasked by the Prime Minister yesterday to provide advice as to how this parliament may improve and strengthen the offences which criminalise this grotesque behaviour, our government will proceed with urgency to effect two changes to the Commonwealth criminal law. While the drafting is being finalised, I can inform the House as to how that drafting will generally operate. Presently, section 380 of the Criminal Code sets out what are known as contamination offences. The four existing offences relating to contaminating food with the intention to cause public alarm or anxiety or the intention to cause significant economic loss or the intention to cause harm to public health will have their maximums increased from 10 to 15 years, making them serious offences comparable to offences such as sex offences and financing terrorism, because that's what they are—terrible and serious offences. Four new offences will also be created with 10-year maximums and they will be created in a way that will not require proof beyond reasonable doubt of intention but rather proof of recklessness as to outcomes. The point is that anyone who chose to argue that it couldn't be shown they had the intention to cause loss or harm would no longer be able to escape prosecution and penalty.

Finally, we are looking to create amendments to the sabotage offences in division 82 of the Criminal Code. This would be achieved by amending what was a relatively new definition of sabotage which was meant to cover sabotage of supply of important goods, such as electricity and water, and to extend that definition to goods intended for human consumption. The point here is that on a larger scale we've recently determined that it's appropriate to include sabotage of electricity and water provision, but what this unprecedented criminal behaviour has shown us is that food supply chains can be just as important to Australians' wellbeing and, so, to our national security as the provision of water and electricity.

I conclude by saying that, while there are already serious crimes included under Commonwealth law and in each of the states and territories, this parliament has an opportunity to act in a bipartisan way to help people like Anthony and Leanne by responding even more forcefully to this type of terrible criminality.