Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) | Hansard source

As a servant to the people of Queensland and Australia, I speak in support of the Combatting Child Sexual Exploitation Legislation Amendment Bill 2019. When we see a toddler—the joy in that child's eyes, the free spirit, the sparkling eyes, the bounce in the step, the running, the curiosity, the fun-loving nature—isn't it a marvel? Tom Peters is a renowned management consultant and leadership expert. I heard him personally state once, in Brisbane, 'The four-year-old is the pinnacle of human society,' and I happen to agree with him. Something happens after that in our society that dulls that bounce, dulls the eye and dulls the spirit, but a toddler, a four-year-old—what a joy to see! How can anyone possibly abuse such a beautiful thing?

The child creates the adult. The child creates Australia's future, and that's why One Nation is the advocate for the child, because this is the future of the country. This bill goes to the core of what One Nation is about: children, families, our nation, today and the future.

I want to take some words from Maria Montessori. For those who don't know of her, she was an amazing Italian doctor. She actually entered engineering back in the 1880s, I'm guessing—somewhere around there. She became Italy's first female engineering student. Imagine that in a patriarchal society like Italy back then. She fought and became a student. She didn't like it, so she changed. She became Italy's first female medical student, and she loved it. She then spent her life working with children around the world. I'm not an expert in this, but, having talked to many people who are experts, I would argue that, after many decades of meticulous observations, she delivered by far the most comprehensive set of observations of the child and the development of humans. Her writing was prolific, and she was not only objective in her observations but in her measurements and documentation. She said, 'The critical years for the formation of both character and intellect are between birth and the age of six.' I'll say it again: 'The critical years for the formation of both character and intellect are the years from birth to six.' All children who are abused suffer. Abuse of any sort, especially sexual abuse, changes the brain's architecture; it affects that beautiful person's development in the future and it changes their ability to learn—it compromises their ability to learn. After all, we all learn best when we're calm and at ease, not when we're feeling intimidated, fearful or threatened.

It's very important to understand that we need to give the future of Australia, the future of the planet, a very strong start without abuse. Sexual abuse in particular hurts the human spirit. Just think about it: we don't allow 16-year-olds to drive and we know that 16-year-old brains are not fully developed. An abuse of a 16-year-old—the abuse of a child at any age—will potentially lead to a future dysfunctional adult, because, as I said earlier, it is the child that creates the adult. Paedophilia, exploitation and abuse are sickening and horrific, and lead to perpetuating cycles of abuse. We all know that, and I commend the government for acknowledging that.

However, I understand the bill refers to Commonwealth officers and not every person. I may be wrong, but if I'm correct then that would indicate this bill is just a good start. There are a couple of prominent provisions that we commend. It is now an offence to fail to protect a child at risk of a sexual abuse offence—wonderful. It is now an offence to fail to report child sexual abuse—wonderful. It reduces the standard for the offence of persistent sexual abuse of a child outside Australia from three offences to two. After two offences a person is deemed persistent, and we think that is wonderful. We must stamp out child abuse of any kind, especially sexual abuse.

In line with the recommendation of the royal commission, this bill will introduce two new offences into the Criminal Code to criminalise public officers who exercise care, supervision or authority over children but who fail to report child sexual abuse or negligently fail to reduce or remove the risk of child sexual abuse to those children. With the internet being so prolific and easily available, we need to understand the impact of those who groom children through the internet.

This bill will also strengthen the existing forced marriage defences to ensure they explicitly capture all marriages involving children 16 or under. Child marriage is a pernicious practice. It doesn't matter what the religion or ideology is; child marriage is a pernicious practice that seriously harms the development and wellbeing of victims. Indeed, it hurts our whole society, with disproportionate impacts on girls and young women. Children—children!—trapped in early marriages are often subject to physical and mental abuse, rape and forced pregnancy, and this bill sends a clear message that this morally reprehensible practice will not be tolerated. People who officiate or allow these marriages—the officiator and the parents—will now be guilty of an offence, with no exception.

We stand up for the child. Whether that be through our immigration policies—we are careful about who we allow into this country—or the way we conduct ourselves in our society, One Nation is always going to protect the child. Those in this chamber who heard Senator Hanson talking yesterday about her experiences under the family law system will understand why the child is so important to One Nation. One Nation is an advocate for the child and we will continue to support all aspects of the protection and safety of children.

As a former mine manager and mining executive, safety was always very important to me, so I came up with a definition of safety. This is what I guided my management experience on: safety is the state in which people are conscious of, successfully manage and feel accountable for the potential of injury or risk. We must be always conscious of the potential for injury or risk to our children. That's why we are an advocate for the child.

We will be supporting this. We will also be supporting the Law Council's submission on restoring the presumption of innocence. So we will be supporting the amendment when it's put forward by the Greens that they have taken from the Law Council's submission on the presumption of innocence. That is very important for the protection of our society.

Finally, One Nation is pleased to support this bill and commends the government for making a good start. We will always be an advocate for the child.