Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2025-2026
Mr CALDWELL (Fadden—Opposition Whip) (18:56): Whilst it's great to see you, Mr Deputy Speaker Small, I was really hoping to see Minister Burke here this evening. I think that the least he could probably have done with his evening was to come and share it with a few of us here in the Federation Chamber. You see, of late, the minister has really enjoyed getting around and seeing the sights of Australia and making his presence well known.
Last week he was welcoming refugees at the airport, and then, while the Prime Minister was overseas, he was talking about modern Australia on the steps of the Opera House, just gently raising his profile. But today, in parliament, when we are in the middle of consideration in detail on the appropriation bill, the minister is not here. The only person in this portfolio who has a track record of going missing more often is the former minister, Minister Giles, who we know was punted unceremoniously.
Whilst Labor talks a big game on their national security credentials, the reality is far from it. I wanted to see Minister Burke here tonight because he is a very, very experienced parliamentarian. He's been in this place for 21 years, and I am sure he would know the answers to some of these questions that we will pose here tonight.
He is the Minister for Home Affairs, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and the Minister for Cyber Security, so I reckon he'd be the one to know the answers, but I appreciate the fact that he has sent along the Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs, and I suppose that, on balance, that's better than nothing. In following on from the contribution of my good friend from the Sunshine Coast, the member for Fisher, I think it is right to point out that the first obligation of every government is to keep its citizens safe.
On that very basic point, one has to call into question whether or not this Albanese Labor government has what it takes to defend our citizens and make sure that they are safe as they move around their communities. The most recent example that I can recall happened just this week. It was when Australians were shocked to hear that six people—two ISIS brides and their four children—had smuggled themselves out of Syria and had returned to Australia.
This is a highly dangerous cohort of individuals who were members of the barbaric Islamic State regime. If it's not bad enough that these people are in our country, there are questions that I really want Minister Burke to answer. Or perhaps Assistant Minister Hill, in his stead, will answer these questions: Where are these ISIS brides now?
Does the assistant minister know where they are located? Are our communities safe from these people—because I question whether or not, given the track record of this Labor government, it will have in fact carried out some pretty basic security screening on these people? Will there be some sort of program of deradicalisation to ensure that, if they've brought their extreme ideology back to Australia, it will be impressed on them that that is not the Australia that we support?
In fact, I'm pretty sure that, by the very nature of their support for an international terrorist group, they have committed offences. So perhaps the answer from Assistant Minister Hill will be that they're in jail. That'd be a great answer, because then we would know where they are and we'd know that the government has been able to keep Australians safe.
But I suspect that's probably not going to be the response. Minister Hill would perhaps also like to explain what support the government provided to these people in their returning to Australia and how much it has cost Australians. All of this is pretty bad, but the inconsistency in the explanations from the Prime Minister has been quite interesting.
You see, initially, back in question time on 3 September, he said that the reports of the return of these so-called ISIS brides were not accurate, but interestingly enough it appears that they have now landed in Australia and that the New South Wales police had been right. They were coming, and now they are here, and Minister Burke and this Labor government must explain it.
(Time expired)