Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—It is worthwhile putting on the record Labor’s position on this issue. Labor have consistently argued that the United States military commissions will not afford a standard of justice that should be acceptable for Australian citizens. We have been very critical of the Howard government’s failure to demand a fair trial for Mr Hicks. Labor’s view has been that the Australian government should demand that Mr Hicks be tried through a normal judicial process with proper rules of evidence, independent presiding officers and an independent avenue of appeal. In our view, a normal court martial or a trial by a US civilian court would be suitable, depending on whether the US accuses Mr Hicks of war crimes, of crimes against humanity or of breaking American domestic law.

Unfortunately, the motion that Senator Joyce is proposing today is in stark contrast to his comments on Friday when he was reported as saying that he:

... had been impressed by Major Mori’s presentation and had grave concerns about the prospect of Mr Hicks getting a fair trial. ‘I think it is now time that people do stand up and start saying “enough is enough”. The process has not been followed,’ Senator Joyce said. ‘Our respect for the process of law should be what engenders our support to bring David Hicks ... back to Australia for trial.’

I suspect Senator Joyce had an epiphany on Friday, but it seems that has been turned around since then.