MATTERS OF URGENCY

Senator WHITEAKER (Western Australia) (16:53): There are many things that we don't agree on in this place, but there are some things that I think we can confidently say we do agree on, and one of those is that the safety of Australians, the safety of the communities that we live in—the communities that I know we're all very proud to represent in this place—is at the core of all of our work, and that's certainly at the core of the work that our government is doing.

One of the things that I'm most proud of that our government is doing to protect the safety of Australians is our investment in defence and national security. In the 2026-27 budget, our government announced record funding for defence—the biggest boost in funding in peacetime that this country has ever seen. We're delivering an extra $14 billion over the next four years and an additional $53 billion over the next 10 years.

We can see the impact of that investment right in my local community through the work that's happening at the Henderson Defence Precinct and, more broadly, through the acquisition of conventionally armed nuclear powered submarines through the AUKUS partnership. This is a key priority of our government and just one example of our commitment, a commitment that is shared by many of us, to keep Australians safe.

We've heard just in recent weeks about the really important work that the foreign minister and the Prime Minister have done to strengthen our relationships across our region and beyond. This is another example of our commitment to keeping Australians safe. The work that we do with our neighbours in the Pacific and in Asia is really, really important in making sure that our partnerships with those neighbours are strong and that they know that they can rely on us as a strong partner.

As I said, it's just another example of the commitment of our government to keeping Australians safe. On this particular issue to which One Nation senators have referred in this debate and that they talk about in the bill that they plan to introduce, it's really easy to play politics and to stoke fear and division in the community. I think that's a really irresponsible thing to do.

I think it does nothing to keep Australians safe. In fact, I think it only further harms Australians and puts our safety at risk to try and undermine social cohesion and to try and stoke anger and fear in the community when it's just not necessary. I think, as Senator Walker pointed out very rightly in her contribution, it is really important that, when you attempt to legislate for these kinds of really, really important things, you do it right.

To go into it with some kind of assumption, saying, 'This is probably not going to pass a constitutional test, but we'll give it a go anyway,' is not how you keep Australians safe. It's not how you protect Australians. I think it's really important that we don't put decisions on temporary exclusion orders into the hands of the court.

We've heard in response to One Nation's policy on this issue that it's very unlikely to increase the number of temporary exclusion orders being issued and, in fact, creates only an additional barrier for governments who are looking to issue one. The current system was designed by the former government to be at the absolute limit of constitutionality, and many of the laws that have been made by former governments that attempted to strip rights from citizens or strip citizenship altogether have been thrown out by the High Court.

This brings complex and difficult consequences. Our government has been really clear that we think these people have made appalling decisions. To travel and fight with or support one of the worst terrorist organisations we have ever seen is abhorrent, and we will not provide any assistance to those cohorts attempting to return to Australia.

We've used every available tool to try and manage that risk, and we will continue to do that. Question agreed to.