Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Hansard source

The government does not support the Criminal Code Amendment (Keeping Australia Safe) Bill 2026. The bill is poorly drafted and ill conceived and will have unintended consequences. It reeks of desperation from a new leader of the opposition who is chasing headlines, not solutions. The reality is that this bill does not seek to address the cohort of people that the opposition have been claiming to want to target. This is a political stunt. It's not a serious proposal from a serious party of government. The Australian people are seeing through the Liberals and Nationals and their lack of serious approaches to challenges the country faces.

The bill, as currently drafted, is absurdly broad in its scope. The number of people that could potentially be committing criminal offences in the circumstances contemplated in the bill would be significant, from commercial pilots, baggage handlers, aid workers and members of the clergy to even our allies in the region. It is wildly inconsistent. For example, there is an inconsistent application of knowledge elements across the offences. For some limbs it is recklessness. For others it is actual knowledge. And, finally, it contains redundant provisions which refer to terrorism offences already covered by other sections of the bill. This entire bill is an absurd contribution from an opposition that has given up on good policy and retreated into the madness of right-wing populism. Ultimately, this bill would actually do very little to address the policy issue those opposite claim it would address—namely, the return of Australian citizens in Syria. The government's position on this issue is clear and longstanding. We are not providing assistance and we are not repatriating individuals from Syria.

National security is not political theatre. We follow the advice of our security agencies and we follow the law. If any one of these individuals finds their own way to return to Australia, our agencies are prepared and will be able to act in the interests of community safety. That is how we keep Australians safe, not through political stunts like this bill. On that basis, I strongly urge the Senate to oppose this bill.