George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Might I thank honourable senators for their contributions, and might I thank you in particular, Senator Xenophon, for those very gracious words. It is a shame, in a sense, that these proceedings are not being broadcast, because if the public had heard your eloquent speech they would understand that most of what we do in this chamber is done collaboratively and in a spirit of collegiality. All they see on the evening news is those occasions where there are controversial political issues in which strongly held points of view or strongly held different points of view are argued, sometimes in an immoderate tone, but most of what we do is done in a spirit of collegiality and, dare I say, friendship.

Thank you for the kind words you have been good enough to say about me, but thank you more particularly on behalf of my staff and in particular the indefatigable Mr James Lambie. I thought Mr Lambie might actually be working for you, Senator Xenophon, rather than for me. He seems to spend more time collaborating and meeting with you than with me on a wide range of legislative measures, and this has been one. I can assure you, Senator Xenophon, that, having known Mr Lambie for some 25 years now, he is unembarrassable.

Those light-hearted remarks aside, we should pause to reflect for a moment on the fact that, although this is a good legislative outcome which is the product of a very good process, it has its genesis in a tragedy. It has its genesis in the killing of Anthea Bradshaw-Hall in Brunei in 1994. This bill will forever after be known as the Bradshaw bill. That terrible event did disclose a lacuna in our law which you, Senator Xenophon, and the member for Sturt, my friend Mr Pyne, have worked together on with me and my office to address and to solve, and it is now solved. I could not put it better, Senator Xenophon, than to use the words you used when you said that this is the product of both love and grief. It was a humbling experience to meet the members of the Bradshaw family who have turned their grief, through an act of love, into a benefit for all Australians so that no family that suffers at any time in the future the horror that they suffered will find themselves remediless. Of all the people who deserve thanks and praise it is the Bradshaw family, of course, that most deserve thanks and praise and acknowledgement.

As honourable senators are aware, the Bradshaw bill, which is technically known as the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Harming Australians) Bill 2015, makes amendments to the Commonwealth Criminal Code to extend the operation of the harming Australians offence of murder and manslaughter of an Australian citizen or resident of Australia overseas to cover crimes committed prior to 1 October 2002—that is, the gap or the lacuna that I referred to: the period prior to 1 October 2002 was not covered. The bill ensures that the crimes of murder and manslaughter of Australians overseas can be prosecuted wherever and whenever they occur. Although technically that means that this is a criminal law which has a retrospective operation, it only has retrospective operation in a technical sense because there is no jurisdiction in the world which does not recognise within its domestic criminal law a crime of murder or manslaughter, however so described. The retrospective character of the bill is formal only; it has no practical significance.

The maximum penalty under the new law will be life imprisonment for murder and 25 years for manslaughter. The bill demonstrates the government's commitment to ensuring that Australia has every legal tool it needs to prosecute those who commit crimes against Australians wherever occurring and whenever occurring. Although I said a moment ago that it demonstrates the government's commitment, I should perhaps better have said that it demonstrates the parliament's commitment.

Thank you, Senator Xenophon; thank you, Mr Pyne; and thank you, most particularly, the Bradshaw family for your courage, perseverance, decency and generosity through this difficult time.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.