Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Autonomous Sanctions Amendment (Thematic Sanctions) Bill 2021. I have continued over the years to advocate for the enactment of laws to deal with perpetrators of human rights abuse and corruption by those who transfer assets to use them in countries which are usually democratic and financially stable. I thank Senator Kitching for her comments and for the strong sentiment with which she expressed them. I know that those of us who have been on this journey agree very much with the sentiment of her comments. She outlined the history of the Magnitsky legislation following the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, the work that Bill Browder has focused on and the efforts made internationally to bring human rights perpetrators to the front line of responsibility in introducing targeted sanctions.

Standalone Magnitsky legislation has been introduced in various countries. I'm very pleased that the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, of which I'm a member, has recommended that we enact world-leading law to apply targeted sanctions to perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption, so as to align Australia with the global movement and to limit opportunities for human rights abusers, corrupt officials and their beneficiaries to enjoy the proceeds of their abuse. The recommendations that were made by the committee were aimed at strengthening our commitment to protecting human rights, including banning entry of perpetrators to Australia and the capacity to seize assets. Therefore, proper and targeted sanctions legislation will make Australian places and institutions off limits to people who have profited from unconscionable conduct.

I would have liked to see standalone legislation enacted, rather than an extension of the sanctions framework that we are now adopting. Having said that, I think this is a very good start to legislation. I am pleased that we are adopting the amendments that are going to be proposed by the Labor Party, as I understand, most especially to ensure that the name Magnitsky is included in the title, to emphasise the important links with the global movement. I am disappointed, though, that we are not going to have a watchlist of people being considered for sanctioning, given that many of them come from the range of authoritarian regimes that Senator Kitching referred to and that I have made comments about, particularly in relation to the communist regime in China and its skulduggery. I note that perhaps in the past there has been a reluctance and resistance to a full-blown Magnitsky standalone sanctions act. Whilst I think this piece of legislation is a good step in the right direction, I do think that ultimately there is scope for us to strengthen and enhance the framework in the future.