Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today in support of the government's Criminal Code Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Bill 2016, which amends the Criminal Code Act 1995. Australia has changed over the years, and so has the world, with an Islamic ideology that has brought us to the point where we need to make changes here. Terrorism is part of our life on the Australian streets, and we have seen that with the murder of innocent Australians due to terrorism. We have been fortunate enough to have ASIO, our Federal Police and others, who have done a wonderful job in stopping any other threats of violence and acts of taking people's lives. But we know that this is not always going to be the case. Especially today, outside the front of Parliament House; we have protestors there, and people who have been able to get into a position on top of this house and put a banner up. It beggars belief that this was able to get to the stage that they could be there and put a banner of that size up without being stopped.

We have to look at where Australia is headed and what we are going to do about it. I have always stated that we need to look at the rest of the world and at problems that other countries are having. I would like people to cast their minds back to Lebanon and what has happened to that country. Today, we view from a distance the disaster that is unfolding in the Middle East. Worst though—and one that could be cataclysmic to the civilised world if not prevented—is the obliteration of the last oasis of freedom for Christianity in the region. I refer here to the Christian existence in Lebanon. Sometimes it appears that we turn a blind eye to this dilemma, being thousands of miles away.

Today in the Middle East, Lebanon remains the only place where Christians can live, worship, gather, socialise together, build churches and schools, have political and social rights, and not have to pay duties just to be Christians. We in Australia take these freedoms for granted because we here are free of oppressive entities; however, this liberty, except for Lebanon, ceased to exist for Christians in the Middle East since the onset of Islam. Now the danger bells are ringing aloud in Lebanon as well.

This land has known a free Christian existence since Jesus's days on earth. In fact, Tyre was the first of the Lebanese cities to embrace Christianity. Many of these early Lebanese communities got to know Jesus from his visits to Tyre, Sidon and the Galilee region. The first church in Lebanon was in fact the church of Tyre, established in 34AD, and it is considered to be the earliest outside of ancient Israel. Throughout the 3rd, 4th and 5th centuries, Christianity spread into most of modern day Lebanon—inland into the mountains and the Beqaa Valley. Free Christian worship has continued until now. But if we wish to see this endure we must act now.

This community has suffered immeasurably over the centuries. The oppression of this Christian community began with the rise of Islam in the region from the 7th century onward. From this period forward, the Christians were subjected to many conquests, leading to systematic persecution, forcible conversion and ethnic cleansing. Probably the most brutal periods were during the reign of the Mameluke Sultanates and the Ottoman Empire. Despite their isolation, the Christians of Lebanon managed to survive centuries of persecution and conquests, and, through their sacrifices, managed to keep the Christian faith alive in this hostile region. In more recent times, even after the demise of the Ottoman Empire, attitudes have still not changed and Islam continues to reject Lebanon as a country with Christians as equals. Despite this attitude, Christians continued to work hard to establish Lebanon as a land of freedom.

Modern day Lebanon was built, by the efforts of Christians, to be a beacon of freedom and hope to all its inhabitants. This was in stark contrast to the realities of the region. A new understanding was forged between Christians and Muslims—Sunni, Shiite and Druze—to protect the identities of everyone, including a power-sharing formula. Despite this understanding many attempts have been made by Islamic forces to change the face of modern day Lebanon. The most serious and devastating of these was through the initiation of the civil war in 1975. The circumstances that arose at this time were not dissimilar to the events enveloping other Middle Eastern countries today, namely Syria and Iraq, where a combination of murderous actions by Islamic State, the Assad regime and the Iranian regime have led to occurrences of genocide, ethnic cleansing and mass forced migration of local populations, with minority groups—the Christians especially—being the main victims. The Christian community in Lebanon faced throughout the civil war the same existential threats and dangers as we see unfolding in terror hotspots around the world today, namely the Assad regime, the forefathers of Islamic State and, later, the Islamic state of Iran.

The situation in Lebanon today is very precarious, and it is on the precipice of the abyss. For example, there are more moderates in the Sunni population of Lebanon currently than there are extremists, who are presently only a small minority. However, the presence of the extremist Shiite face of Islam—and its provocations and incitements—represented by Hezbollah could lead at any instance to the radicalisation of many of these moderate Sunnis. Lebanon today still projects the Free World's values into the region because Christians still have some influence in that country, but, once this influence disappears, the last oasis of freedom in the region will have vanished. Then Lebanon will be torn between the 'Shiite crescent' led by Iran and the form of Sunni extremism projected by al-Qaeda and Islamic State.

The delicate demographic make-up of Lebanon that was already under threat due to the Islamist mentality of nonacceptance of others is now under more pressure due to a recent wave of Syrian refugees in addition to the existence of Palestinian refugees from previous conflicts, the vast majority of whom are Muslims. These refugees in total number close to two million, which represents 50 per cent of the population of Lebanon. To bring this reality into context, imagine if 12 million predominately Muslim refugees landed on our doorstep overnight.

I have stated that because Australia is in a very precarious situation, and we need to take control of our borders and control who comes into our country. We should be very strict and bring in people who are compatible with our culture and our way of life. And we are a Christian country. A lot of Australians will not admit that, and say, 'We are multicultural and can allow other people here.' That is why we have come to the stage that we have, where we see murders on our streets—and I do say 'murders'—and where a lot of people wish to cause us harm because of their political ideology and the way they wish to change our country.

I will not apologise to anyone for my patriotism towards my country. The fact is that we are—our heritage, our culture—a Christian country. We have other religious organisations here; we never hear any terrorist threats from them whatsoever. They live in peace. They live in harmony. They are assimilated into our society.

We would not be discussing this bill or talking about extending sentences for terrorists unless, as I believe, Australians are in fear of what they are faced with every day on our streets—and you cannot close your eyes and minds to what is happening. People are in fear, and that was quite evident when 49 per cent of Australians said, 'No further Muslim immigration into this country.' The main reason was that they do not assimilate into our society and they have no intention of doing so. It is quite amazing that, of that 49 per cent who actually voted for that, or agreed to it, 34 per cent were Greens voters. They are saying they do not want further Muslim immigration into this country.

So let's just stop saying that everyone has a right to come here; start working towards protecting our country; and take notice of what is happening in other countries around the world, whether it be France, Germany or the Netherlands—even what has happened in England, because people voted for Brexit, to get out of the EU, so that they control their borders.

We have to be smart. We are the leaders of this nation. It is up to us to ensure that we make our streets and our communities safe for all Australians. I tell those people out there with the intention of committing terrorist acts on Australians: you are gutless, you are the worst people that I could ever imagine speaking about, and, if you have so much hatred for the Western world, I suggest you go back to another country that suits your beliefs, your ideology. As long as I am here in this parliament and I have a voice for the Australian people, I will continue to speak out against them and I will continue to speak out against those who keep protecting them and shout me down and call me racist or say I am tolerant. Tolerance comes from both sides of the argument.

In closing, I do support the government's bill. I think it is a good start to show some strength about where we are headed and to take control of our own destiny.