Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Faruqi is correct—the government will not be supporting these amendments at this time. I want to put on the record some of the reasons and what the Criminal Code Amendment (State Sponsors of Terrorism) Bill 2025 does and doesn't do in terms of protections. The Australian government strongly supports the critical work of humanitarian workers in crisis zones around the world, and we are deeply committed to ensuring humanitarian workers are protected and afforded the access that they need to carry out lifesaving work. This is why we led the Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel, launched in September in New York, with over 100 signatories. We will continue to work across government and with the sector to ensure we can uphold the principles we committed to in the declaration.

The government acknowledges the advocacy of groups such as the Australian Council for International Development and the Save the Children Australia for greater humanitarian exemptions not only in respect of this bill but existing terrorism offences. The government is actively engaging with humanitarian organisations in relation to their concerns with these frameworks and their advocacy for a broad humanitarian exemption. These are complex matters requiring careful consideration, and we must avoid the risk of unintended consequences. The bill directly responds to the highly concerning emergence of the threat of state sponsored terrorism. It is not an appropriate vehicle to consider broader changes to Australia's counter-terrorism framework. Further these amendments propose changes to part 5.3 of the Criminal Code, which is supported by referral powers from the states. Consistent with section 100.8 of the Criminal Code and the Inter-Governmental Agreement on Counter-Terrorism Laws, the agreement of the first ministers is required to change part 5.3.

It is important to note that the bill contains general defences in relation to individuals performing an official duty or function of the United Nations or the International Committee of the Red Cross. This acknowledges the mandates of these organisations under international law or as multilateral entities, which necessitate their engagement with all state actors. The bill also contains an express humanitarian defence to the offence of associating with a state sponsor of terrorism. This mirrors the existing defence of association with a terrorist organisation contained within part 5.3 of the Criminal Code. We believe any changes to humanitarian exemptions should be consistent across terrorism frameworks.