Senate debates

Thursday, 18 February 2021

Bills

Transport Security Amendment (Serious Crime) Bill 2020; Second Reading

1:29 pm

Photo of Claire ChandlerClaire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to rise in support of the Transport Security Amendment (Serious Crime) Bill 2020. As an island nation, Australia is incredibly reliant on our ports and airports to keep us connected to the world and to facilitate the arrival of both people and goods into the country. A huge amount of goods and—COVID travel restrictions aside—a huge number of people pass through our ports and our airports every year. These people, services and goods are essential to our economy, our health, our livelihoods and our safety.

We've seen that, more than ever through COVID-19, with workers at our ports and airports playing an incredibly important role in keeping our country going—and that's a role we thank them for—given our reliance on ports and airports for all of our imported goods, it's no secret that they are also the way in which illicit substances and weapons arrive in Australia from overseas. It's an unfortunate reality that there have always been, and sadly, always will be, criminals and criminal enterprises who seek to profit from bringing these items into Australia. That is why it is so important to ensure security at these entries to our country.

Serious crime is a major threat to our way of life. It costs Australia up to $47 billion a year and causes enormous human suffering. We have fantastic police forces and security agencies who work incredibly hard and diligently each and every day to disrupt those criminal enterprises and reduce their cost and harm to the community. But, to allow them to do that, we need to keep our methods up to date and respond to the methods which have been used by criminals to breach security, and that's what this bill that we are debating today is all about.

Schedule 1 to the bill will expand the purpose of the Aviation Transport Security Act 2004 and the Maritime Transport and Offshore Facilities Security Act 2003 to prevent serious criminal influence and activity from occurring at our airports, seaports and offshore facilities. Schedule 2 to the bill will provide the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, or the ACIC, the ability to conduct criminal intelligence assessments for use in background checking for aviation and maritime security identification cards—ASICs and MSICs.

The ASIC and MSIC schemes are a vital part of the Australian government's approach to transport security. While they've been incredibly effective in helping to protect Australia from terrorism, our airports, our seaports and our offshore facilities are vulnerable to exploitation by serious criminals. That's because currently the scope of background checks for ASICs and MSICs is limited to only preventing unlawful interference with aviation and maritime infrastructure. This bill that we're debating today will provide for the strengthening of the ASIC and MSIC schemes by ensuring that those with serious criminal convictions or links to serious and organised crime do not exploit the schemes to access the secure areas of our ports and offshore facilities. This is a real and present threat to the nation's security.

We know, as at December 2019, there were approximately 227 ASIC or MSIC holders who were listed on the ACIC's national criminal intelligence lists. We know that there are real examples of people with serious criminal offences, including offences like trafficking illicit drugs, who have been granted an ASIC or an MSIC because at present the background for ASICs and MSICs only examines whether a person may be a threat to aviation or maritime security. Those checks do not consider whether a person could use their access to airports and seaports in connection with serious and organised crime. These individuals, without the provisions in this bill, can access secure and sensitive areas of airports and seaports without supervision. Clearly, we need to give authorities the ability to prevent this and close down the access which criminal enterprises have to our ports.

It's also important to note that, if there are gaps in our security regime which can be exploited by organised crime, they could also be exploited by terrorists, by foreign agents or by some other group with malicious intent towards Australia and towards our community. So it is vital we crack down on this now, and that's what the Morrison coalition government is doing with this bill.

This bill is appropriately targeted to exclude those who have been convicted of relevant serious offences, including offences arising from antigang or criminal organisation legislation, illegal importation of goods, interfering with goods under customs control and foreign incursion and recruitment. What we are talking about here are very serious offences directly relevant to being involved in serious organised crime and terrorism. The new criteria will ensure that those convicted of these offences will be ineligible to hold an ASIC or a MSIC. They will not be able to access secure areas of our ports and airports. This will enhance the government's ability to disrupt and hinder serious criminal gangs or syndicates in transporting and supplying illicit drugs and goods.

Strengthening the scheme to prevent individuals who are a high criminal risk from holding an ASIC or a MSIC is consistent with the findings of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Law Enforcement as well as the National Ice Taskforce. This bill will ensure that Australia's airports and ports are no longer safe havens for serious criminal activity, including the trafficking of illicit drugs, narcotics and weapons into our country. I commend the bill to the Senate.

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