QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Prime Minister) (14:05): Child sexual abuse is abhorrent, and it's totally unacceptable. All children deserve to grow up safely and free from abuse. And I would have thought, if there were an issue, that should be free from partisan shots.
It is that. For new members of the House, private member's business is dealt with on Monday after it's introduced. Everyone knows that that's the case.
It's been the case since at least 1996—since I've been here. People know that that is the case. Opposition members interjecting— Mr ALBANESE: The government is committed to protecting Australia's children from harm.
And we'll always seek to engage— Mr Violi interjecting— The SPEAKER: The Chief Opposition Whip, of all people, is now warned. He should not be interjecting on this subject. Mr ALBANESE: It would be good if there weren't interjections on this subject, I would have thought.
We give credit where credit is due. I give credit to Peter Dutton for the work that he did as minister in establishing the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation in 2018. This was a critical initiative, backed by the then opposition and now supported by the current government.
That's the way that we deal with these things, and, in 2020, the opposition, then under my leadership, without shots across the chamber, supported the then coalition government in introducing mandatory minimum sentences for the most serious Commonwealth child sex offences and repeat offenders. Those laws from the former government are what remain in place today, after their nine years in office.
My government will continue to enhance Australia's response to child sexual abuse, including through implementing the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse and working with states and territories on reforming their Working with Children Checks. I note that the shadow Attorney-General has written to the Attorney-General with ideas for further reform, and my government will always consider any sensible proposals for reform.
As our record makes clear, we're always ready and willing to work constructively in the interests of child safety, something I think—if we could find one issue on which we can actually work together, I would have thought this was it.