STATEMENTS BY SENATORS
Senator HANSON (Queensland—Leader of One Nation) (13:17): The first responsibility of any government is to keep Australians safe. Australians rightfully expect this government to put their safety and our national security above all else. The Albanese Labor-Greens government has failed to meet this expectation.
Since the government took office, 15 women linked to listed terrorist organisation Islamic State, or ISIS, have returned to Australia to face terrorism and slavery charges, and they have been released into the community on bail. The government says it offered no assistance to bring these people home, but we know the government met with lobbyists campaigning for their return.
Records and handwritten notes on that meeting indicate the minister discussed how a return could be achieved without a formal government undertaking. They indicate he thanked those lobbyists for keeping the matter out of the media. They indicated a department official was asked to leave the room so there could be a frank discussion.
We don't know what was said after that official walked out. We don't know what was promised. We don't know whether a pathway was agreed to for the return of others.
What we do know is this: the minister blocked the last of these women on national security grounds. A short time later he issued her a permit to return. His explanation was that the law gave him no choice.
That is not good enough. If the minister genuinely believes the law stops him from keeping Australians safe, his job is not to shrug and accept it. His job is to come into this place and change it.
One Nation will today introduce a bill to do the job Labor refuses to do. One Nation is acting to keep Australians safe. Labor and their Marxist mates in the Greens claim this bill is unconstitutional.
It's ironic that politicians who hate our Constitution suddenly hide behind it. In the end, it's just another convenient excuse to sit on their hands and endanger Australians. If the government has advice the bill is unconstitutional, I challenge them to reveal it.
Commentary from prominent legal experts and others, including the former secretary of the department, indicate this bill addresses prior constitutional concerns. In the end, only the High Court can make the determination. Australians are sick of the excuses of this government.
They are sick of this government passing the buck on protecting the community from terrorism. Let us not lose sight of what we are dealing with here. Islamic State horrified the world.
It enslaved thousands of people. It burned captives alive and filmed it. Let us not forget the beheadings that occurred and were witnessed—a severed head held up by a child of one of these ISIS terrorists.
Individuals who left Australia to join this organisation celebrated these acts and actively took part in them. Thirteen of them are reported to be held in prison in Baghdad. They include Tareq Kamleh, otherwise known as 'Dr Jihad', who appeared in ISIS propaganda videos urging others to travel to ISIS held territory or to wage jihad elsewhere.
It is reported that he and others who served ISIS may soon be released from custody and may seek to return to Australia. One Nation's legislation is aimed at putting in place every possible barrier to prevent their return and protect Australians. It creates a new foreign terrorist fighter exclusion order for which the minister may apply through the Federal Court.
The bill creates stronger bail laws, making community safety and national security the most important factors. The legislation gives the minister the power to refuse, cancel or suspend passports where an exclusion order is in force or if an individual is charged with or convicted of a terrorism offence. Finally, One Nation's bill makes it an offence to facilitate bringing a foreign terrorist fighter into Australia without the prior written permission of the foreign affairs minister or the home affairs minister.
These are sensible and necessary measures. One Nation will never apologise for exploring every possible way to prevent foreign terrorist fighters from returning to Australia. I will never apologise for trying to keep Australia safe.
I am asking the Labor government and the Greens and everyone in this chamber to actually look at the bill, come to the conclusion it is in the best interests of the Australian people, to keep them safe, and to pass my bill.