John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

A very good interjection, as sometimes there is from Senator Xenophon. He talks about the possibility that subordinate legislation might deal with this matter, and of course that is true. I hope that Senator Xenophon would agree with me that the best way forward here is for the government, the opposition, minor parties and Independents in the parliament to work collaboratively on this issue. I hope Senator Xenophon would agree with this.

Of course the government will support its own bill, but I would argue that there should be collaboration across the chamber, where I believe there is a high degree of unanimity—total unanimity—about the importance of dealing with this matter and members and senators are of one mind about the high priority this is. There is every opportunity that a collaborative approach will ensure that the parliament and, of course, more importantly the victims of terrorism will achieve the best outcome. I note that Senator Wright, on behalf of the Australian Greens, has proposed that this bill be referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 8 May 2012. I do think that such an approach might be a very useful step in achieving that best outcome that I have spoken about.

So I do acknowledge the support and concern around the chamber, across all parties, for our fellow Australians who have fallen victim to terrorist attacks overseas and the importance of us ensuring that we have in place the best possible legislative framework to support victims of terrorist attacks overseas into the future. It is not surprising that the government considers that the Social Security Amendment (Supporting Australian Victims of Terrorism Overseas) Bill 2011 is the best way of ensuring that victims of terrorism and their families are provided with the support that they need from the federal government, but I acknowledge again the fact that all parliamentarians are well motivated in this regard.

The threat to Australian citizens from terrorism overseas is real. The need for this parliament and the Australian government to deal with this issue is also real. I have welcomed the opportunity of speaking in this important second reading debate, and I commend to the Senate the approach that I have outlined as a sensible way of moving forward to achieving the shared outcomes that have been spoken about by all senators participating in this debate.