Amanda Stoker (Queensland, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

The threat, the impact and the cost of serious crime of this kind in Australia are real. There is a significant amount of information that indicates that serious and organised criminals who are based in Australia are controlling the illicit markets that can serve to fund a broad range of criminal activities and that they do pose a real risk to Australians. Organised criminals are gaining a major source of their revenue from the illicit drug market. Quite frankly, anything we can do to ensure our airports and seaports are not safe havens for serious criminal activity is important. These are important goals. They are objectives worth chasing.

The Australian Institute of Criminology has estimated that the cost in 2016-17 of crimes of this nature—serious organised crime—is between $23.8 billion and $47.4 billion. It's a cost that we expect will continue to rise. And so it is really important that the government put measures in place to prevent serious crime so that we can provide for the safety and security of all Australians.

I understand the point that you make is in relation to the foreign flagged vessels, as distinct from the Australian based people who carry an MSIC. I've indicated already in my answer to Senator Keneally the ways in which the maritime crew visa involves criminal history checks and security assessments to ensure that the risk on that front is mitigated, and the regime proposed in this bill is about strengthening the checks that apply to those who are based on Australian soil.