Mrs WICKS (Robertson) (10:20): I move:

That this House recognises:

(1) the importance of the events that took place on 3 December 1854 on Eureka Hill at Ballarat;

(2) the significance of these events in Australia's history;

(3) the impact of Eureka on our discussions surrounding free market, individual enterprise and representative democracy; and

(4) that Australians have interpreted the events in numerous ways that impact and inspire our economic and social frameworks.

I do thank you for being in the House today, Mr Speaker, for a very important motion. I rise to speak on the importance of the Eureka Stockade—a significant moment in time that unfolded in the space of just 15 minutes in the early morning of 3 December 1854 on Eureka hill at Ballarat. It was 15 minutes that became legendary in Australian history. In those 15 minutes, what unfolded was a grassroots community revolt—a protest—against government policies that were holding back the development of the free market, individual enterprise and representative democracy. These principles that I, as a Liberal, hold dear are ones that it is clear the events of 161 years ago sought to establish.

Democracy, by its very nature, is not something that can be owned by either the Left or the Right. It is owned by the people of a nation. Yet, unfortunately, there have been attempts by various political and ideological movements over the past 161 years to redefine and mythologise this significant historical event. There have been efforts to force it to align to various political agendas, tying it to the same proverbial tree that the Victorian police chained those diggers who were found to be without a mining licence in those months leading up to the Eureka Stockade—so much so, that today the Eureka legend has largely been captured by those on the Left of politics, who seem to be very good at mythology but not so good at celebrating reforms of free market enterprise, small government and capitalism. These are very principles fought for by the diggers and on which the success of Australia is based today.

I am pleased to be able to present an alternative view—one born from our great former Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, who said, in 1946, that if the Eureka Stockade meant anything at all it indicated a 'fierce desire to achieve true parliamentary government' and, through it, 'true popular control of the public finances.' So, far from being some sort of triumph of the collective over the establishment, the story of Eureka is a story of a revolt against excessive taxation and overregulation. It was an uprising against an aggressive mining levy by hardworking entrepreneurs and individuals in search of financial opportunity to create a better tomorrow for themselves and their families than what they enjoyed at that time. For, as history tells us, many diggers would take the money they made from the goldfields to start a farm, a new business or, perhaps, to purchase a home for themselves and their family. Their stand on Eureka hill was a fight for opportunity and a better standard of living.

The gold rush, while creating opportunities, also created a headache for Australia's squatters and businessmen, who found themselves short of labourers and workers. This was why the hefty mining licence fee, and the excessive regulatory burden of compliance that went with it, was such a clear example of a government more interested in framing policies to engineer a social and economic outcome than enabling enterprise and free market to continue to shape Australia. Some of the historical accounts I have read—stories of twice-weekly paper checks with fines, if the paper on which the miner's licence was printed was found to be damaged in any sort of way—simply smack of overregulation. These were excessive burdens which our Eureka men so rightly opposed.

But it was the impact of Eureka that ultimately frames this issue and outlines why today's conservative political parties can rightly claim the Eureka Stockade as much their own as those on the Left do so willingly and so well. As a result of Eureka, we saw taxation reform, less regulation, greater democratic participation and the election of the leader of the Eureka Stockade, Peter Lalor, to the Victorian parliament just a year later. He was later to become Speaker. As the ultimate sign of the impact of the Eureka Stockade in Australia's economic and social history, there remains a thriving tourism industry in that place.

This event became etched in the psyche of Australia, capturing in a few short moments our history, our values our identity and helping frame our future too. They were 15 minutes which ultimately defined a generation and captured our nation's imagination and identity. Eureka belongs to all of us. We cannot change history but we can and must, at least for the sake of the men and women of Eureka, change the interpretation of the Eureka flag as a symbol of representative democracy. Perhaps today we should have a discussion about whether, come the next major event here in Canberra, the Eureka flag should be flown in an appropriate way.

I commend the motion to the House.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Irons ): Is the motion seconded?

Ms Henderson: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Ms KING (Ballarat) (10:26): It is a pleasure to speak on this motion focusing on a pivotal and significant moment of our history, the Eureka Stockade. What we see demonstrated in this debate, which we have around this time every year, is how Eureka continues to be a subject for political debate and discourse. I am delighted that the member for Robertson has again brought this on for debate in this chamber.

The third of December is certainly a date we should know much better in this country. Eureka is a moment of history very close to my own heart and very close to home. It occurred within my electorate of Ballarat in Victoria. The site of the stockade itself is just a few kilometres from my electorate office. The troopers were stationed a mere block away, in Camp Street. The Southern Cross still flies proudly on buildings in the town. What remains of the original flag rests behind glass at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka. And I note that the Prime Minister's wife, Lucy Turnbull, is a patron of that centre.

The Ballarat Reform League fought for equality, honest representation and a fair go. It was a remarkable body pulled together from the will of 10,000 diggers across the Ballarat goldfields. The charter, a copy of which rests in my office, called for equal rights. League members swore to stand truly by each other to defend their rights and liberties. The member for Robertson raised the issue of taxation; but, in fact, the diggers fought first and foremost for the right for representation—which they were denied, even under a system of oppressive taxation. So 'no taxation without representation' was really one of the themes. They were scathing of the unelected paid officials who made laws that suited their selfish ends and narrow minded views. It is clear that the Ballarat Reform League was incensed by inequality. Of course, the league came very much out of the Chartist movement in the UK and other such movements internationally. They saw the abolition of the diggers and storekeepers licence tax—which had an immense impact on those who worked on the goldfields and very little on those outside it—as a matter of great importance. Even they could see that the Goldfields Commission and the Legislative Council held no concern for the poor, those who worked on the diggings or the large number of people who had come to Ballarat in search of a better life.

Between 1851 and 1860 some 500,000 people migrated to the Australian colonies. Sixty per cent of those went straight to Victoria to join the gold rush. The diggers came from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. They came from Germany, Italy, North America and China. They came from New Zealand and a number of the South Pacific nations. Ten thousand diggers of more than 20 nationalities took an oath under the Southern Cross to fight for their representation and a fair go. Their fight, both at the stockade and, afterwards, through the courts, grew into a wider struggle that formed the freedoms that all Australians now hold dear—personal liberty, a national identity built around mateship and a great ideal of community. They understood that political action leads to universal empowerment and a more equal society for all.

They understood that the press was a vital part of that process and that parliament needed to be structured as an accessible body. They knew that a body representing the full political rights of the people needed a solid and open platform as a base and fashioned the diggers charter with that in mind. The significance of their efforts cannot be overstated. This charter represents an incredible first step towards a democratic Australia—a measured, thought-out building block of a more equal future, the solid expression of an idea that would see each and every Australian empowered to take control of their future and through that shape the future of our nation.

While the situation is not purely black and white, and even today there are very different interpretations and perspectives that can educate us and help us understand such an integral part of our history, and while the charge on the stockade itself may have only lasted some 15 minutes, the 27 dead from both sides have left a legacy that has carried down 161 years since.

In my hometown of Ballarat there are a number of groups dedicated to the remembrance of the Eureka Stockade. I encourage everybody to attend the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka, which is a fantastic way of seeing all of the democratic expressions from Eureka to modern day, including things like a display about the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Eureka is a proud part of our history and I am proud to join this motion commemorating it here in this chamber today.

Ms HENDERSON (Corangamite) (10:31): I rise to second the member for Robertson's motion on the importance of the Eureka Stockade in Australian history. As we have heard in this debate this morning, there is no doubt that the Eureka rebellion played a very significant role in one of the underpinnings of Australian democracy. As a Victorian, and coming from Corangamite, the seat adjoining the seat of Ballarat, I am very proud that we are having this debate this morning. This Thursday, 3 December, is 161 years since the uprising.

On that fateful day, 33 miners and five soldiers were killed. It was, as we heard so eloquently put by the member for Robertson, a battle against oppression, a battle against authority, a battle like no other that we have seen in our community. It was a battle over goldmining licences. The miners, led by Peter Lalor, believed that the licences were being imposed unfairly by Governor Charles Hotham. Lalor led hundreds of miners who formed the Eureka Stockade. This followed a rally of some 10,000 five days earlier. Following the Eureka Stockade, a group of 13 diggers were charged with treason and, very symbolically, they were found to be not guilty.

I want to reflect on the career of Peter Lalor, who, as we have heard, was elected to the Victorian legislative council in 1855. He went on to serve in the legislative assembly as the member for North Grenville, now known as Ballarat. He was a member of the Victorian parliament for over 20 years and he also served as Speaker for a period of seven years. According to Lalor, and I know you would be personally very interested in this, Mr Deputy Speaker:

The first duty of a Speaker … is to be a tyrant. Remove him if you like, but while he is in the chair obey him.

Mr Lalor was considered to be a wonderful local member. The Argus at the time described him as 'a bluff, straightforward gentleman who blurts out plain truths in a homely, matter-of-fact style'.

As we have heard from the member for Ballarat, the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka was opened in 2013, supported by the then Victorian government and the federal government. There was also a significant contribution from the City of Ballarat to establish this important museum. It displays the Eureka flag on a rotating basis with the Art Gallery of Ballarat. I want to fully commend and support the suggestion by the member for Robertson that the Eureka flag be brought at the appropriate moment to this chamber, because it is a very important symbol of our democracy. It is a very important symbol of so much that was achieved and of so much that changed in the way that people sought to be governed at that time.

It may not in fact be known that when writer Mark Twain visited Australia he actually spoke about Eureka. He said:

It was a revolution - small in size; but great politically; it was a strike for liberty, a struggle for a principle, a stand against injustice and oppression. It was the Barons and John, over again; it was Hampden and Ship-Money; it was Concord and Lexington; small beginnings, all of them, but all of them great in political results, all of them epoch-making. It is another instance of a victory won by a lost battle.

I also want to reflect on the comments made back in July 1946 by Robert Menzies. Robert Menzies said:

Arms were used by working men in the most important historical struggle that this country has known—the struggle at Eureka Stockade—and arms will probably be used by the workers in this country again.

The attempt to connect the Eureka Stockade incident with communism is ridiculous, he said:

Insofar as the Eureka revolt indicated any general movement at all, it [was] a fierce desire to achieve true Parliamentary government, and … true popular control of public finances.

Peter Lalor, the leader of the revolt, went into the Victorian parliament and became its speaker. The communists are antiparliament, antirepresentative government, and for all their own brand of dictatorship. (Time expired)

Ms RYAN (Lalor—Opposition Whip) (10:36): I rise today as the member for Lalor, named after Peter Lalor, the leader of the Eureka Stockade. I welcome the opportunity to join what I note to be four female members speaking today in this debate. I would of course put on record that I forgive the member for Robertson not knowing how to pronounce Peter Lalor's name, as many in this place need a reminder. It is one of the reasons I am here today—to say it as many times as I can in this important debate.

My electorate of Lalor was named after Peter Lalor, the leader of the Eureka Stockade rebellion that called for democratic representation in the colony of Victoria. We have heard from other speakers that beyond the Eureka rebellion Lalor was then elected to the Victorian Legislative Council and into the Assembly, and he for some time acted as speaker. More importantly, for me as the member for Lalor and as I have reflected in this place before, the Eureka rebellion is noted not just as the birth of democracy of Australia but also as the birth of multiculturalism. It was our only armed struggle for change in Victoria.

The spirit of the oaths taken under the Southern Cross still lives in the seat of Lalor today. I would link that to the multicultural nature of my electorate that reflects again the diaspora that was there in Ballarat on the goldfields. Twenty nationalities were represented by or involved in the Eureka Stockade rebellion. I think that is an important point we should all understand—it was not an Anglo revolt. There were 20 nationalities. Of course, we should note that many of those rebels were Chinese. We should also note that many of the members of the Ballarat Reform League were Chartists wanting workers' rights acknowledged in their new country. The member for Ballarat has very eloquently outlined the Ballarat Reform League's charter.

What is not so well known about Eureka is the women who were involved in this rebellion. The names that are not as well-known as Peter Lalor's are those of the women who stood together with the men to fight to defend their rights and liberties. Women played a critical role in the Eureka Stockade, yet the story has always been told as if half of the participants were not there. In 2013 I was pleased to attend the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka to witness the launch of Clare Wright's book, The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka, a groundbreaking book that documents the role of women within the Eureka Stockade and the remarkably unbiddable women of Ballarat.

Wright spent the last decade researching the thousands of women who were in Ballarat in 1854; identifying and documenting the remarkable women who were leaders in the people's movement against government corruption and taxation without representation. It is also worth noting contributions of the women who were on the goldfields that day. One was Ellen Young, the self-proclaimed 'Ballarat poetess', who gave voice to the collective grievance of her community by publishing politically charged poetry and fiery letters to the editor in The Ballarat Times. Another was Clara Seekamp, an Irish single mother of three who became the de facto wife of Henry Seekamp, editor of The Ballarat Times. Clara, with her husband, ran a profitable printing and publishing business until Henry was jailed for sedition after the stockade, making Clara Australia's first female newspaper editor. She continued to fire off blistering editorials, prompting one startled Melbourne journalist to fret over 'the dangerous influence of a free petticoat government'.

I am proud to be the member for Lalor, to carry the traditions of the Eureka Stockade in this place and every day to ensure that I am the voice for the people of my electorate. And to ensure that women are never forgotten again in this country's history, to ensure that the fact that the four female members who spoke in this debate today are acknowledged. I recommend to everyone in this chamber a trip to Melbourne, a trip to Ballarat. Standing in the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka, below that Southern Cross flag, is an incredibly moving thing to do—to stand on that spot and remember that multiculturalism and democracy were born that day.

Debate adjourned.

Mr CHRISTENSEN (Dawson—The Nationals Deputy Whip) (10:41): I move:

That this House:

(1) notes the threat of violent extremism to Australian society;

(2) further notes the:

(a) acts of terrorism committed by violent extremists within Australia against Australians;

(b) specific terrorism incidents:

   (i) the attack on police officers at Endeavour Hills Police Station in 2014;

   (ii) the siege at Sydney' Martin Place which resulted in the death of two Australians; and

   (iii) most recently the murder of Mr Curtis Cheng at Parramatta Police Station; and

(c) significant number of ISIL recruits coming from Australia;

(3) commends the Australian police forces for their efforts in countering terrorism;

(4) notes the numerous acts of terror which have been prevented because of police efforts, in particular the:

(a) attempt by the 'Sydney Five' to commit acts of terrorism in the city of Sydney in 2005;

(b) Benbrika Group's planned bombing of various sporting events in 2005 and 2006 as well as a plot to assassinate former Prime Minister the Hon. John Howard; and

(c) 2009 plot to storm the Holsworthy Barracks in Sydney;

(5) praises the Prime Minister for his statement in response to the recent terrorism incident in Parramatta, that it is not compulsory to live in Australia and if one finds Australian values unpalatable then 'there's a big wide world out there and people have got freedom of movement'; and

(6) calls for continued action in countering violent extremism and in particular, radical Islam within Australia in order to prevent further acts of terrorism within our borders.

This motion concerns the threat of violent extremism, particularly in the form of radical Islam, in Australia, a the threat that has been borne out in this country. This is not violence for the sake of violence; it is violence driven by an extreme ideology, a jihadist ideology that does not accept the Australian way of life.

The ideology of Islamism despises our freedom, hates democracy and rejects our values—Australian values—which are very clearly defined. They are no state secret. When someone applies for a provisional, permanent or temporary visa, applicants must sign a statement that they have read and understood about the following Australian values: respect for freedom and dignity of the individual; freedom of religion; commitment to the rule of law, parliamentary democracy, equality of men and women, and the spirit of egalitarianism; and embraces things like mutual respect, tolerance, fair play and compassion for those in need in pursuit of the public good. These are the values that new citizens and new entrants to Australia sign up to, but not all citizens—or, indeed, their children—agree with these values in practice. In practice, some people hate these values. Those people can be found in Paris, they can be found in Europe, they can be found in the Middle East. Sadly, they can be found in Australia.

We would be kidding ourselves to think everyone in this country subscribes to our common set of values, and we would be foolish to think that there are not jihadists in this country who wish to do us harm because of who we are and the values that we hold dear as a nation. We have witnessed the violent extremism inherent in radical Islam in this country. We have witnessed the attack on police officers at the Endeavour Hills police station last year by a person who brandished an Islamic State flag while dressed in military gear in a photo posted to social media, where he also attacked or vilified police and security forces in this country online. We witnessed the siege at Martin Place in Sydney where two Australians were killed by a man who wanted police to bring him an Islamic State flag, a man who was a self-styled imam with thousands of Facebook followers. We witnessed the murder of Curtis Cheng at the Parramatta police station by a man who repeatedly chanted 'Allahu Akbar' after the killing. And we have seen a significant number of Australian citizens recruited by Islamic State—hundreds, in fact—who have left this country to go over and fight for that terrorist organisation.

The Australian police forces and security services have done a magnificent job combating radical Islamic terror plots—not just in their handling of the examples I listed but also in the prevention of others that have not gone ahead. Numerous acts of terror have been prevented through diligent police efforts and the efforts of security services, including the attempt by the 'Sydney Five' to commit acts of terrorism in Sydney in 2005. The Benbrika group's planned bombing of various sporting events in 2005 and 2006 was diverted, as well as the plot to assassinate former Prime Minister John Howard that the Benbrika group came up with. There was also a plot to storm the Holsworthy barracks in Sydney in 2009—again foiled by security and police efforts.

The disturbing thing about these foiled jihadist terrorist plots, and the ones that were actually enacted, is knowing that people walk amongst us who are both willing and able to commit these atrocities. Many of the people who hate Australia, Australian people and Australian values are not forced to live here. Some have dual citizenship and can just as easily go and live in another country. Others have the ability to gain citizenship of another country because their parents came to this country, often under the guise of seeking asylum or something like that. I would acknowledge the message the Prime Minister gave to those people when he said in his response to the terrorism incident in Parramatta:

It is not compulsory to live in Australia. If you find Australian values unpalatable, then there's a big wide world out there and people have got freedom of movement.

They should exercise it.

The government is taking the issue a step further, with a bill stripping citizenship from dual citizens who join with foreign fighters such as Islamic State soon to go to the vote in the Senate. I note that Labor is now talking about opposing that, and that is concerning. I believe the message should go further than that. We should strip citizenship from those who have the ability to become citizens of another country when they join foreign fighters or threaten this country and its people with terrorism. It would be a fair assumption that, if someone truly hated this country and everything it stood for, they would leave if they could—and they should leave. I say: goodbye to them, good riddance, and don't let the Customs gate hit you on the way out.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Irons ): Is the motion seconded?

Mr Matheson: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Mr DANBY (Melbourne Ports) (10:47): I commend the member for Dawson for raising this serious issue. I do not agree with all of the arguments that he makes, but it is a very serious issue. The terrible events that have taken Australian lives in Martin Place, Endeavour Hills and Parramatta are certainly things worth focusing on. The basic chronology of events that he outlines in paragraphs (4)(a), (b) and (c)—the attempts of the 'Sydney Five' and the Benbrika group and the plot to attack Holsworthy barracks—are all very serious incidents which could have gone a lot further.

The opposition wants and has achieved bipartisanship on national security legislation. We have so far supported four tranches of legislation which have been sent the Intelligence and Security Committee for refining and ensuring they strike the right balance between the need for security and the rights of the individual and, above all, the safety and security of the Australian people. Bipartisanship and the need to balance the rights of security and privacy are what we are examining now in the citizenship amendment legislation. We dealt very effectively with it by sending the metadata legislation back.

The entire world faces the threat of violent extremism outlined by the member for Dawson. It is not unique to Australia, to France, to Israel or to the United States. The proliferation on the internet particularly of violent jihadism has enabled some deluded young people to be radicalised in privacy, in their own bedrooms, all around the world—sometimes without even their parents being aware of it.

In response to the Paris attacks, some people said they were caused by the West victimising members of the Islamic faith. I do not accept that, but I would note the words of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the member for Sydney, when she said yesterday:

… it's important for all members of parliament to be leaders and to bring our community together. I think we by our own actions and words need to set an example of unity for Australia. Of course there is today a genuine security threat in Australia and the best way that we can reduce that security threat is to support our intelligence and security agencies but support community building too.

She said the most important partners we have in that fight against violent extremism are among the Muslim community, as was outlined by the former Director-General of ASIO.

I support the comments of the Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, who said he would not have a bar of the notion—he was talking about the violence in Israel—that, if a mother or father is randomly attacked in the street, then, so long as you go back far enough in time, cast your net wide enough of draw your bow long enough, it is somehow the victim's fault. This is a very important point to understand.

Rabbi James Kennard, one of the leading rabbis in Melbourne, in a wonderful article outlining the ethics of this issue, wrote:

Explanations are not justifications. But sometimes they come dangerously close …

In this search for the political motivation behind terrorism, some have crossed the line between explaining and excusing—

arguing that—

… "curtailing freedoms", "duplicitous foreign policies" and "military interventions" are the causes of terrorism …

The danger that flows from legitimating terrorism by acknowledging the justice of the grievances that "provoke" such actions, is that violent actions are then rewarded when those grievances are addressed. The message is clear, terrorism achieves results. Those who tell us that only by understanding terrorism's political causes and alleviating them will we see a more peaceful world could not be more wrong; such "understanding" only encourages more to seek the benefits of violence.

   …   …   …

… portraying terrorism as the inevitable consequence of external factors is not just dangerous and incorrect. It is morally wrong. It denies that the terrorist has his or her own human ability to make choices … Every child knows that killing innocent people is wrong—

whether it is done here in Australia or anywhere else.

We all have to work together. We have to ensure the security of Australia, but we must never say that some cause, this or that cause, justifies people killing people in Australia or anywhere else in the world, whether it is Paris, Melbourne or anywhere else. (Time expired)

Mr MATHESON (Macarthur) (10:52): I commend the member for Dawson for this important motion highlighting the threat of violent extremism to the Australian community. Since the attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001, we have all had to accept that terrorism poses a threat to everyone's safety, no matter where they are in the world. The very term itself captures the intent of these groups to strike fear into our hearts by inflicting death and destruction on the population indiscriminately. Civilians are not collateral damage in these campaigns; they are the target. It does not matter whether you are a Christian or a Muslim, a pacifist or not, young or old, every one of us is a target of this ruthless, opportunistic death cult emanating from the Middle East.

According to expert opinion, violent extremism is becoming more diffuse and harder to tackle. The recent attacks in Paris once again proved that we are dealing with an enemy devoid of compassion or any form of humanity whatsoever. As Janet Daley wrote in the UK Daily Telegraph:

All the things that make an enemy – however evil and malign – predictable, analysable, and intelligible are missing here. The actions make no sense in any terms that are within common understanding.

This is not to say that we give up hope or in any way change how we live our lives. In fact, quite the opposite—defiance is the perfect response to this hideous ideology. Football fans proudly singing the French national anthem as they left the Stade de France in Paris amid the attacks proved in my mind that this barbaric ideology cannot withstand the joy and reason of our way of life. What we are seeing with these attacks on innocent people, as they enjoy dining out with family and friends, watching football or listening to a concert, are the final desperate acts of a group of fanatics with no future or place in the modern world.

I have no doubt that terrorism will be defeated. We will win. However, until that point, we must show solidarity and take every precaution to ensure our citizens and those that who serve to protect them are safe from harm. Last year's attack on police outside Endeavour Hill police station in Melbourne illustrated the threat posed to law enforcement officers in Australia. The attacker, Numan Haider, who had been known to police and counter-terrorism officers but was not considered a significant threat at the time, lashed out at two officers, stabbing one officer in the arm and the other, who was lucky to survive, in the neck, stomach and head. Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said the man had been asked to come to the police station to discuss his behaviour, which had been causing some concern. When the man pulled up at the station, he stabbed the two officers as they went to greet him.

In October, the police community was again under attack: this time by a radicalised 15-year-old teenager, a naturalised Australian of Iraqi-Kurdish background who arrived with his family from Iran. He walked to police headquarters in Charles Street from his home in North Parramatta before opening fire on a civilian police employee.

The victim was Curtis Cheng, a 17-year veteran of the police finance department who had received medals for long service and who was admired and respected by his colleagues. Mr Cheng, a father of two, was shot at point-blank range by the teen as he left work. The day he died he had been working late on the police annual report. He was a dedicated, trusted and loyal employee of the New South Wales Police Force. He had stayed back longer than usual.

At Mr Cheng's funeral, an executive guard of honour was presented by the highest-ranking police officers in Australia, lining both sides of the steps of St Mary's Cathedral, including New South Wales Commissioner Andrew Scipione, along with deputy commissioners Catherine Burn, Nick Kaldas and David Hudson.

St Mary's Cathedral was filled with 1,500 mourners, near capacity for the funeral service, surrounded by tight security throughout. All states were represented, as well as New Zealand, the Australian Federal Police and Fire & Rescue New South Wales and the ambulance service.

Although these terrible attacks highlight the difficult and dangerous environment police are made to operate in, it is important to remember that Australia's law enforcement officers are having a significant impact on terrorism in our communities, foiling a number of planned terrorist attacks in recent times.

As Prime Minister Turnbull said yesterday, while paying tribute to 747 fallen police officers at a service to mark National Police Remembrance Day:

Our democracy depends on many things. But none is more important than the daily heroism and commitment of the police forces of our nation.

On behalf of all my parliamentary colleagues, I would like to thank the police community and their friends and families for your bravery and service to our community, keeping us safe from violent extremists and the threat of

terrorism.

Finally, as a community, we should all heed the words of French President Francois Hollande:

We will not give in either to fear or to hate …

He said France would respond to the attacks with 'more songs, concerts and shows'. 'We will continue to go to stadiums.' Our love of life will defeat our enemies. Thank you.

Mr WATTS (Gellibrand) (10:56): Australians watched with horror as 130 people were murdered in Paris last month by sadistic criminals driven by perverted delusions. It was a tragedy, yes, but it was also an atrocity—a deliberate act of barbarity and cruelty. We know all too well that we are not immune from this kind of barbarity in Australia.

In light of this, this motion calls for:

… continued action in countering violent extremism and in particular, radical Islam within Australia in order to prevent further acts of terrorism within our borders.

This is welcome and timely, yet, today, Australians woke up to a front-page article featuring a picture of an Australian MP in the uniform of his former life as a member of the ADF under the headline 'Islam must change'. The member for Canning is quoted in this article as saying:

Modern Islam needs to cohere with the Australian way of life, our values and institutions. In so far as it doesn’t, it needs reform.

He wants an 'honest debate' about the links between Islam and extremism.

The mover of the motion, the member for Dawson, is also quoted in the article as saying:

It's got everything to do with Islam. The terrorists say as they are doing it that it is in the name of Allah.

A number of other coalition MPs and ministers are quoted in this article. Articles like this are utterly counterproductive to the effort to counter violent extremism in Australia.

The mover of this motion, and others like him, praise the work being done by Australia's excellent and dedicated police forces in combating violent extremism but they do not listen to what our police forces are saying. They are unanimous in their recommendations: the best way to curb religious extremism is through cohesive communities.

Assistant Commissioner Steve Fontana, the leader of Victoria Police's anti-terrorism response, has previously emphasised how reliant we are on information about radicalisation from the Muslim community and how anti-Islamic sentiment makes their job of talking to communities and countering radicalisation harder. He said:

Any sort of groups like that—

like Reclaim Australia, which the member for Dawson has been associated with, and the anti-halal movement—

whatever their intentions are, can create tension and intolerance, and that intolerance can lead to racism, and it can further marginalise young people … it's inappropriate … People really need to think about what cause they're going in for.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin echoed these comments recently, noting:

Both my organisation, Duncan's organisation (ASIO) and state and territory police around the country work very hard to make sure there isn't misrepresentations of those actions by police. Words matter, as does narrative and we work very hard … to make sure the community understand that we are trying to work with them and that we need their cooperation.

There are almost 500,000 Muslims in Australia and a bare handful of perverted fanatics in this country who would seek to hijack this religion to commit criminal acts in its name. The problem here is not a religious text; it is how individuals interpret it. The more we marginalise and vilify the Muslim community in Australia, the harder our job will be to tackle the real problem: the vanishingly small number of perverts who use the text as a justification for barbarity.

Modern Islam is not the fevered dream of bigotry and paranoia that is inside the minds of some conservative MPs; it is the individual life choice of half a million Australians. What is it about the way that Ahmed Fahour, Bachar Houli, Waleed Aly, Fawad Ahmed, Captain Mona Shindy, Usman Khawaja, Ed Husic, Nazeem Hussain and Aamer Rahman live their lives that is a problem for these people? There are 99 per cent of this community who are not choosing terrorism, child marriages or female genital mutilation. Those who do ought to face the full force of the law, but the rest, who do not, should not be tarred with the brush of religious bigotry.

If those opposite believe that 'modern Islam' is the problem, and they want an honest debate, I challenge them to be specific. If Islam is the problem, when was the last time they visited a mosque in their community, and what was it that they heard or saw there that threatened our society? Do they want a religious test in our migration program? What do they propose to do about the largest Islamic nation in the world on our northern border? The Prime Minister ought to show some leadership on this important national security issue and call his ministers and his party room members into line with the strategy of our police forces for dealing with this threat. That is the policy—

Mr Christensen: You are an appeaser!

Mr WATTS: I take the interjection from the member for Dawson that I am an appeaser. I am advocating the policy being pursued by the Premier of New South Wales, Mike Baird; by the Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews; by Steve Fontana, the Victorian police assistant commissioner in charge of counter-terrorism; by Andrew Colvin, the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police—

Mr Christensen: You are an appeaser of radical Islam!

Mr WATTS: I take these interjections. I would like them in Hansard because, while the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, is advocating a bipartisan approach to this issue, an approach of cohesion in our society, this approach is being utterly disregarded by his backbench. These people need to get in touch with what we are trying to do in this nation. It is an important national security issue that is being hijacked by irresponsible, ignorant members of a minority group within the coalition. It is about time it stopped. (Time expired)

Mr CRAIG KELLY (Hughes) (11:01): It is interesting to speak after such an outlandish outburst from the member for Gellibrand. This is a difficult and sensitive debate, but it is a debate that we must have without the type of rabblerousing, accusations of racism and Islamophobic statements we just heard from the member for Gellibrand. As the member for Dawson's motion notes, we have had serious terrorist incidents in this country over recent years. One of those occurred in my electorate, in Holsworthy. In 2009, there was a plan to attack the Holsworthy Barracks with automatic weapons. The perpetrators' plan was to murder as many people as they possibly could until they themselves were shot and killed by security forces. When Justice Betty King sentenced three individuals to 18 years imprisonment, she added that they were all unrepentant radical Muslims who would remain a threat as long as they held those extremist views.

These terror plots that have recently occurred in our country have all had one thread in common: they have been undertaken in the name of a radical interpretation of Islam. If we are going to have this debate—and it is a debate that we must have—we must do it without being bogged down and censored by the tyranny of political correctness. I believe we are slowly turning the corner and overcoming that tyranny of political correctness.

I will give you one example. Earlier this year, there was a T-shirt being sold in Woolworths that had the words, 'If you don't love it, leave.' Somehow, the politically correct found this offensive and carried on a massive song and dance until Woolworths removed those shirts, called them 'the offending T-shirts' and apologised. Several months forward, we can see how things have moved on. Our Prime Minister said only recently:

It is not compulsory to live in Australia, if you find Australian values are … unpalatable, then there's a big … world out there and people have got freedom of movement.

That may be a little bit more verbose, but it is exactly the same as saying, 'If you don't love it, leave.' I wonder if, next Australia Day, Woolworths will be selling T-shirts quoting the words of our Prime Minister.

The other reason that we need to have this debate is that, if we continue on our current path, we know what the future will be. The future will be what we see in the town of Molenbeek in Brussels. I think Mark Steyn summed it up correctly. He said, 'The barbarians are inside, and there are no gates.'

This generation of politicians cannot allow this happen to our country. What do we need to do? We need to tighten our migration policies. We need to admit that we have made mistakes in the past by allowing people who hold values completely contrary to everything that most Australians hold dear to migrate to this country. We need to say that if you want to migrate to this country and if you oppose democracy, if you have some sympathy for Islamic State, if you seek to advance sharia law, if you are against equal rights for women and if you do not share the Western freedoms and values that we enjoy, then Australia is not the country for you to migrate to. As our Prime Minister says, there is a big wide world out there, and people have freedom of movement.

Secondly, we need to tackle this anti-Western ideology that permeates many sections of our society. It is too easy to malign our Australian Defence Force and many people do so. We, every member of parliament, need to be crystal clear: when our Australian Defence Force personnel fight overseas, they are only there to protect innocent civilians from murder and rape. We need to talk up the principles and the liberal values that have created the wonderful society that we enjoy and that people from all around the world try to migrate to. (Time expired)

Mr LAURIE FERGUSON (Werriwa) (11:07): If, like the member for Dawson, you represent an electorate where only three out of every 1,000 people are Muslim, you will have a different level of interaction and, I dare say, knowledge of these issues than a person like me, who lives in an electorate with 22.7 per cent of the population being Muslim and, nationally, represents an electorate which is 9.8 per cent Muslim, where, for the last decade, at least one of your neighbours is a Muslim family or your friends have children who go to the same school that Farhad Jabar, the murderer of that public servant in Parramatta, did. Quite frankly, sloganising and hatred are counterproductive.

Today, the member for Dawson conveniently takes one quote from the Prime Minister of this country to cloak his extremist position. I will quote further comments made by the Prime Minister of this country. As far back as 28 February 2011, he said:

It is important for us that we promote and encourage Islam ... Islamic traditions which are moderate, which support freedom, which support democracy and which support Australian values not in the sense of Aussie values but in the sense of democracy, rule of law, tolerance, freedom. That's what we're talking about and they are universal values.

Further, on 8 July, he said:

Now, just as it's important not to underestimate or be complacent about the national security threat … it is equally important not to overreact to that threat.

In this same speech, he also said:

The Islamic terrorist seeks to provoke the state to overreact because it creates a more receptive environment for the extremists' recruiting efforts …

He further added that the government had the right balance in its national security laws.

On 3 October 2014, the Prime Minister said:

Can I just say again as I have said here before, the terrorists want us to demonise and alienate the Muslim community in Australia. The Muslim community is part of Australia, they are Australians. We have to pull together.

The member for Dawson has tried to be moderate in his motion today in contrast to his own performance. Today, he described the Lindt Cafe murderer as a 'self-styled cleric'. However, on 11 December 2014, he described him as a 'cleric'. He did not reveal to the Australian people that that murderer had been rejected as a preacher at 10 Sydney mosques, including one mosque a kilometre from my home. Today, he has used the term 'extremist Islam'. However, on 19 July 2015, in one his many twitters, he talked about Islam itself 'coping' with Australia.

The situation here today is that we have to make sure that these extremist elements, these psychopaths, these murderers and rapists, these people with a very obscure interpretation of Islam, are not able to recruit people. It is interesting to note a very timely article in The Saturday Paper this weekend, which quotes Dr Joshua Roose, a research fellow at the Institute for Religion Politics and Society at the Australian Catholic University. Dr Roose made this assessment of Australian Muslims:

As best we can assess … only about 30 per cent of Australian Muslims are practising. Seventy per cent are not particularly engaged with their faith. They may have a basic respect for religious leaders, much as many people consider themselves Christian but don’t go to church, or maybe at Christmas.

They are the silent majority, who are just not engaged, not on the political spectrum. They are neither radical extremists nor moderates out there encouraging any particular view of Islam.

He went on to say:

Somewhat ironically, what we are seeing is the generation that has grown up in the post 9/11 context, now in their teens or early 20s, in a quite politically hostile atmosphere, where everything to do with Muslims is scrutinised and suspected …

Similarly, in TheHerald this morning were once again some very timely comments in relation to Mr Christensen's motion. Professor Kevin Dunn—who actually knows a few things about this subject, unlike the member for Dawson; he has actually done research—from Western Sydney University, following a survey of Muslims came up with the following conclusions:

Most Muslims surveyed ranked education and employment as issues most important to them; identified themselves as Australians and felt a sense of belonging to Australia; frequently mixed with non-Muslims; and felt Islam was consistent with Australian norms and society.

Ninety-seven per cent agreed that it was a good thing for a society to be made up of people from different cultures …

In conclusion, I refer to an article in the latest edition of The New York Review of Books where Max Rodenbeck makes this distinct comment:

The very shrillness of today's zealots may reflect an underlying fear that conservative orthodoxies are under threat as never before, facing a growing backlash not so much from the outside world as from within the faith.

What he is essentially saying is that ISIS and Boko Haram are making a desperate, last-minute attempt to enforce their interpretation, their narrow beliefs, on a world in which Islamic belief is changing. We are seeing that in surveys in this country and internationally.

Debate adjourned.

Ms BUTLER (Griffith) (11:12): I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) 1 December marks World AIDS Day, which is held every year to raise awareness about the issues surrounding HIV and AIDS, and is a day for people to show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died; and

(b) the theme for World AIDS Day this year is 'Getting to zero: Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS related deaths';

(2) acknowledges the roles played by people living with HIV and their friends, family, supporters, AIDS activists and researchers, past and present, in making HIV a disease people can live with; and

(3) affirms its commitment to support actions which will reduce stigma, prevent new HIV transmissions, and work towards a cure.

Tomorrow is Word AIDS Day. This year's theme is getting to zero—zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, zero AIDS related deaths. Australia will not get to zero without effort and focus. Our country must continue to strive to stamp out AIDS and HIV, and getting to zero is a task that is part of a much broader project of getting justice for the LGBTI community.

I acknowledge and remember those who have lost their lives to AIDS. I also thank those who have cared for others as they have died. It is the height of love to care for someone who is dying. I remember those HIV and AIDS experts who died when MH117 went down. They were traveling to the International AIDS Conference in Melbourne. Losing them was a tragedy.

I think most people hoped that, by 2015, new HIV cases, discrimination against positive people, and AIDS-related deaths would be a thing of the past here. But, according to the Kirby Institute, there were 1,081 cases of HIV infection newly diagnosed in Australia in 2014. It is estimated that there are now 27,150 people living with HIV in Australia. In addition, there has been an increase in syphilis over the past 10years and a worrying spike in this disease in northern Australian communities this year. These facts go to show that AIDS, HIV and STIs will not just decrease naturally with time. It takes effort, resources and commitment to meet this public health challenge.

So I acknowledge the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations and, from my home state, the Queensland AIDS Council. QuAC runs HIV prevention programs, provides services and support and is a strong voice on HIV and gay issues. For example, when the Newman Liberal-Nationals government closed the Biala Sexual Health Clinic the year before, QuAC opened Clinic 30. It is staffed by two section 100 prescribing doctors. The clinic provides testing and immediate treatment for all STIs.

I also acknowledge my good friend and constituent Phil Carswell, who was this year awarded an Order of Australia for his significant contribution over many decades to the development of the Australian response to HIV. Since the mid-1980s, Phil has championed peer delivered health and ensured that the voices of gay men have been heard nationally. I saw Phil over the weekend and he told me that he had joined the QuAC board. I am not at all surprised to hear that he is continuing his advocacy and his work. I am sure that he and a lot of other Queenslanders will attend QuAC's World AIDS Day Candlelight Vigil at Reddacliff Place tomorrow night from 6.45pm.

I mentioned Clinic 30. The doctors there provide scripts for the importation of pre-exposure prophylaxis, which is known as PrEP. As the name suggests, HIV-negative people can take PrEP to prevent HIV transmission. PrEP has been described as a game changer for HIV and HIV prevention. It gives gay men and other men who have sex with men the ability to take greater control over their own sexual health. PrEP is not yet available domestically. Labor recognises the importance of renewing efforts to reduce the spread of HIV-AIDS, including adopting prophylactic treatments, subject to the approval of independent regulators and any recommendation from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. Like all new prevention measures, PrEP has its limitations. Because it will not protect you from all STIs, taking PrEP is not a reason to stop using condoms. It is important to make sure PrEP use does not lead to complacency about protection from STIs.

As I mentioned, there has been an outbreak of syphilis in Northern Australian communities. In urban communities, syphilis is predominantly transmitted between men who have sex with men. So, although there are a lot more prevention measures coming onto the market and coming into the community for HIV, it remains very important that people take other measures to protect themselves from STIs like syphilis. It is an absolute shame that in 2015 we are seeing babies being born affected by syphilis. It is a tragedy, and it is something that our community needs to continue to work against.

As I said earlier, getting to zero is an important task in the project of justice for LGBTI people. Marriage equality is another important part of that. In the Queensland parliament, LNP members are being given a free vote on civil unions. That should happen here on marriage equality. The Prime Minister should show leadership and deliver a free vote. Though getting to zero in respect of HIV and AIDS and delivering marriage equality are both important, neither is enough. I want Australia to be a country where LGBTI people no longer face discrimination, where your sexuality is not a basis for harassment, where there are no hate crimes, where you have access to the health care you need and where no-one feels like a second-class citizen—a just society. I urge each of my colleagues to recognise World AIDS Day.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Irons ): Is the motion seconded?

Mr GILES (Scullin) (11:17): I second the motion and I reserve my right to speak.

Mrs PRENTICE (Ryan) (11:17): I am wearing a red ribbon today to show my support for people living with HIV and to commemorate those who have died, especially those who have helped change public attitudes and made HIV a disease people can live with. The global World AIDS Day theme for this year continues on from last year's theme: 'Getting to Zero: Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS related deaths'. In order to achieve this, we need a clear plan and strategy. The Seventh National HIV Strategy sets a direction for Australia to reverse the trend of increased HIV diagnoses and to work towards eliminating HIV transmission in this country.

The AIDS 2014 Legacy Statement commits the Australian government and the eight states and territories to taking all necessary action, in partnership with key affected communities and sector partners, to remove barriers to testing, treatment, prevention, care and support across legal, regulatory, policy, social, political and economic domains. In this regard, the coalition has also announced a number of practical measures to support the early testing and treatment of HIV. Restrictions preventing the manufacture and sale of HIV home self-tests were removed and, from 1 July this year, PBS subsidised HIV antiretroviral medicines can be dispensed and accessed through a pharmacy of the patient's choice.

Australia has a strong record of nonpartisan leadership in responding to the HIV epidemic, resulting in one of the lowest prevalence rates in the world. The member for Griffith is no doubt proud that Queensland was the first state in Australia to sign up to a new HIV treatment program which promises to eliminate the transmission of HIV by 2020. The former Newman government last year signed a memorandum of understanding with Canada's British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.

Australia has come a long way since we first heard about HIV and AIDS. The 1980s was a time when we knew so little about HIV and AIDS that, in the absence of scientific knowledge, ignorance, intolerance and fear replaced reason. Who can forget those confronting 1987 grim reaper advertisements? While the grim reaper successfully scared us about the dangers of HIV and AIDS, it also divided and polarised the Australian community. It made the healthy fear the sick and sick-looking. Friends were scared of touching friends. Sick people were traumatised. Australia's gay community were blamed and vilified, sometimes in public acts of aggression and violence. But the public health awareness campaigns did have the desired effect. We have learned a lot since then. Thirty years along that journey and here we are on the eve of World Aids Day 2015, and we are now talking about eliminating new HIV infections within five years in Australia.

Australia is rightly proud of its leadership in the response to HIV and AIDS. We have contributed more than $1 billion to the international HIV response in the past decade. Bilaterally, Australia is supporting HIV-AIDS activities and programs in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. At the global and regional levels, we support UNAIDS so as to ensure global efforts to address the disease capture needs in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as in Africa. However, we cannot be complacent. We must be vigilant in our ongoing action to address the remaining challenges in Australia and our region: weak health systems, stigma and discrimination, laws and policies that inhibit marginalised populations' access to services, and persistent barriers for women and girls to claim their sexual and reproductive health rights.

I acknowledge the significant roles played by people living with HIV, their friends, family, and supporters and activists and researchers—past and present—in making HIV a disease with which people can live. For many Australians and their families, the journey to get to this milestone has been long and painful. Countless men, women and even children have died along the way. Others have suffered long-term incapacity or tenuous health. Today, because of them, we are implementing a plan to virtually eliminate new HIV infections in Australia. I thank the member for Griffith for her motion today.

Ms BRODTMANN (Canberra) (11:22): I rise today in support of World AIDS Day, which falls tomorrow, as the member for Griffith has mentioned. I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this subject, and I thank the member for Griffith for moving this motion.

I have spoken many times before about the story of AIDS and how, through the incredible work of scientists, researchers and medical professionals like my sister, HIV and AIDS can now not only be prevented but be treated. I can recall a time—it seems not so long ago, Mr Deputy Speaker, and you are about the same vintage as me—when the threat and fear of AIDS gripped this nation. I am talking here about the 1980s. It was a great, unknown terror. Nobody knew what it was or what it meant. All it meant, essentially, was certain death. It was an epidemic. In Melbourne, where I was living, it seemed almost every person my age, including me, had lost a friend or loved one to this disease.

The result of this fear, of this trauma, of this lived experience was that people became informed, they became vigilant and they protected themselves. In the eighties my sister, who is a scientist, worked in AIDS research at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. I remember talking to her about her work as we went from being totally in the dark about this disease to knowing it, to gradually getting an understanding of it and, through that, to being able to control it. HIV is now a manageable infection and no longer a gradual progression to AIDS and then death. Treatments not only control the virus; they can reduce its infectiousness. The progress that has been made in tackling this disease in what seems like a relatively short couple of decades is nothing short of remarkable.

However, there seems to have been, unfortunately, an unintended flip side to this progress. As treatment has progressed, fear has subsided and so too, it would seem, has our vigilance. It is alarming that over the past 15 years the number of new HIV diagnoses has gradually increased—from 719 diagnoses in 1999 to 1,081 in 2012. It is estimated that 27,150 Australians are currently living with HIV, and around 350 Canberrans are living with HIV. This reiterates the need for vigilance. Those of us who were there in the 1980s particularly remember and reiterate the need for vigilance.

The theme for World AIDS Day this year is the same as last year: getting to zero—zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS related deaths. The elimination of HIV is something that the UN's Secretary-General's Special Envoy for AIDS believes is achievable in the Asia-Pacific region within the next 15 years. However, it will only be achieved if we are vigilant and avoid complacency. I cannot underscore that enough. We have to be vigilant and we have to avoid complacency.

I believe it is the responsibility of those of us who lived through the birth of the HIV-AIDS epidemic in this country to keep the younger generations informed. I say to them: sit down with those of us who went through that living hell in the eighties, those of us who, like me, lost friends. My husband lost friends. We lost friends who died in only their 20s and went blind and were incredibly traumatised before they died. Anyone who lived through the eighties in their 20s, as I said earlier, knew someone who was touched by this disease, and most of us knew someone who died. So I encourage the younger generation to sit down with those of us who are just a bit older to listen to our experiences and the horror of watching that unfold and the great sadness of losing friends in their 20s who had so much to give and who lost their lives so early and, quite often, in very, very difficult, challenging and painful circumstances, covered in sarcomas. It was tragic.

We must be vigilant. We must avoid complacency. I say to people: always practice safe sex. When travelling overseas, be prepared. Take protection with you as it might not be available where you are going. Do not share syringes and other personal items like razors. Also, get tested regularly.

In closing, I want to congratulate Philippa Moss from the AIDS Action Council of the ACT who was recently awarded the Telstra ACT Business Woman of the Year— (Time expired)

Ms GAMBARO (Brisbane) (11:27): I wish to rise today to also speak on the motion on World Aids Day. I thank the previous speakers for their contributions as well. Tomorrow marks World AIDS Day, held every year to raise awareness about the issues surrounding HIV and AIDS. It is a day to show support and also to commemorate, sadly, those people who have died. The HIV epidemic is one of the largest epidemics our world is facing, and Australia is working bilaterally, regionally and globally to address the threat. Australia remains committed to supporting an effective, equitable and sustainable HIV response in our immediate region, the Indo-Pacific.

We should also acknowledge the substantial progress that has been made in expanding access to HIV prevention, treatment and care services and particularly the focus on achieving epidemic control. We hope to end AIDS as a health threat. With more people receiving treatment now more than ever before, we have seen a decline in new cases globally.

The Australian government pledged $200 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for 2014-2016, supporting its efforts to eliminate the three diseases. The benefit of this commitment can be seen in the statistics: 2.9 million people living with HIV in the Indo-Pacific region have been receiving antiretroviral treatment from global fund support; globally, 423 million people have received HIV counselling and testing through global fund grants; and 5.1 billion condoms have been distributed through the global fund to prevent the spread of HIV. While Australia is stepping up the battle against the worldwide spread of the disease, we must also acknowledge that we have not been completely successful domestically either.

Tomorrow is a great reminder that much more needs to be done in Queensland, which is one of the states that has witnessed a gradual increase in the number of new HIV notifications. Combined with its size and widespread population centres, Queensland faces its own unique problems. My own seat of Brisbane has also seen a growing number of HIV cases, for which I will continue to fight for more funding and resources. We, as the federal government, can and must do more to reverse the spread of this dreadful disease.

Another goal of the day is to affirm the commitment to support actions which reduce the stigma surrounding HIV infection, prevent new HIV transmissions and work towards a cure. I, like the member for Canberra, also saw the terrible stigma in the 1980s—the fear, scaremongering and discrimination. I experienced it every day in my own family's restaurant. It is an episode that I am sure that many of us never ever want to go through again. It really did not need to be that way, but it certainly elicited a great deal of fear in the community at the time.

I want to pay tribute to the many dedicated and committed local organisations and volunteers who provide invaluable and much-needed support, particularly the great work that they do in providing guidance to those affected by HIV and their families. In the electorate of Brisbane, the Queensland AIDS Council does a fantastic job—and I want to particularly acknowledge CEO Joanne Leamy. I also want to acknowledge Queensland Positive People; Rapid; the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland, which reaches out to the many communities that it represents by providing greater education and counselling; the Gay and Lesbian Welfare Association; and, particularly, a new foundation that has only been in existence for a few short years—HIV Foundation Queensland. I also want to pay tribute to the health minister at the time, Lawrence Springborg, who announced free HIV testing and ensured that that was expanded, particularly as part of AIDS Awareness Week back at the end of 2013. That was very much appreciated, particularly the after-hours HIV testing clinic.

Tomorrow is not just about taking stock of what has been achieved and what is yet to be achieved; it is also about the realisation that real lives are at stake. Tomorrow is not just to mark the fighting of a disease; it is also to remember the toll that has been taken, and is still being taken, on those who have that battle.

Ms KING (Ballarat) (11:32): I am proud to join with other members here in the chamber to speak on this motion that not only celebrates how far we have come in the fight against AIDS but also, sadly, highlights how far we still have to go to change attitudes, stop new infections and, above all, put an end to AIDS-related deaths. In the HIV Foundation Queensland video, HIV stigma—I have judged … other people are going to judge me, the mother of a man with HIV says: 'When somebody tells you my sister has got cancer, you go "ohhh" and "I'm very sorry to hear that". They do not react in the same way about HIV-positive people.' It is that stigma which remains the biggest barrier today towards meeting the World Aids Day theme—'Getting to zero. Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths'. It is this stigma that the Hawke government tackled head-on with its landmark Grim Reaper campaign in the 1980s that helped change the mindset here about how best to protect all Australians from AIDS. It was Labor that established Medicare and the PBS which, in tandem, ensure that no-one with HIV-AIDS is denied medical care or the retrovirals that now mean HIV is no longer a death sentence.

Indeed, the vast majority of patients with HIV will no longer go on to develop AIDS and will be able to successfully manage their condition and remain relatively healthy for the rest of their lives. But there is still a huge way to go. Just over a decade ago, when it was hoped we were on the brink of zero new HIV infections, infection rates started to rise again and have now levelled off at just over 1,000 a year. The Kirby Institute's 2015 annual surveillance report found that there are an estimated 27,150 people in Australia who are HIV positive and there were 1,081 new diagnoses of HIV, which is very similar to the 1,028 new cases in 2013 and the 1,064 new cases in 2012.

While there is some relief that the surge in new HIV cases that began around a decade ago appears to have been capped, it is obviously deeply disappointing to see the return of a disease that many had hoped—even predicted—would be eliminated by now. Clearly, complacency has set in, with many Australians obviously believing the great success we had in previous decades in dramatically reducing the numbers of Australians with HIV meant that HIV-AIDS was no longer the threat it had once been and that precautions could be abandoned. All Australians must continue to be made aware that HIV remains a very serious threat and that the transmission of HIV can be halted by safe sex practices and through harm minimisation with intravenous drug users. But we must also ensure that those living with HIV remain free from discrimination.

While absolutely nothing will ever take the place of prevention, in the meantime the PrEP pharmaceuticals do offer the hope of a daily drug that can help prevent the vast majority of new infections. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that daily PrEP can reduce the risk of getting HIV from sex by more than 90 per cent and by more than 70 per cent amongst those who inject drugs. It was this evidence that drove this year's ALP national conference to specifically back the introduction of PrEP in our national platform. In February this year, drug company Gilead began what is expected to be a 12-month process with the TGA to license Truvada for use as a PrEP in Australia. Even then, it could be months—even years—before the drug can be listed on the subsidised PBS, which would make it available for no more than $37.70 per script.

Labor accepts the need for proper processes to ensure Australia's health system is both safe and secure. But we will be closely watching this process to ensure that, should the experts recommend it, the government acts swiftly to ensure that PrEP is made available on Australia's PBS. But, as I said at the outset, our greatest emphasis must be on redoubling our efforts to educate all Australians about the risk of HIV-AIDS and to work together to eradicate this terrible disease, while supporting those who continue to live with HIV. Our aim must remain, absolutely, as it has been in the global World AIDS Day theme for the past five years: zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, zero AIDS-related deaths.

Debate adjourned.

Ms RYAN (Lalor—Opposition Whip) (11:37): I move:

That this House acknowledges the work of:

(1) community legal centres in tackling domestic violence;

(2) the United Nations and its 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign to end domestic violence;

(3) journalist Ms Sarah Ferguson for her ongoing efforts to educate the public on the key driver behind domestic violence—control;

(4) the Leader of the Opposition for appointing a Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Child Safety and Prevention of Family Violence; and

(5) the Victorian Minister for Women and Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence, for her work on Victoria's Royal Commission into Family Violence.

I rise today to talk once again about domestic violence—the national scourge that has attracted our attention so poignantly this last week. As we all know, domestic violence is not restricted to one suburb or one part of our society. It transcends all cultural, class and religious boundaries. It is about control, it is about violence and it is born from gender inequity. The result of domestic violence is the undermining of one's self worth, and it has always been with us. As I said last week on White Ribbon Day, the conversation, however, has changed. We are finally having a serious national conversation. We cannot go back from this point. We must keep shining a light on this epidemic.

To that end, I commend journalist Sarah Ferguson's two-part series Hitting Home. Sarah has spent six months on the front line, documenting the terrible realities for so many families. She followed women as they went through the court process seeking AVO's. The pressure and difficulty of going to court has been highlighted in this documentary series—the formality of the court process and the absolute humiliation of having to attend a court to have that court seek to protect you from someone who purports to love you. I also commend the work of community legal centres and women's refuges in ensuring women are not alone facing their worst day and not alone when making decisions about what to do when they find themselves in these situations. I must stand here today and condemn this government for its cuts to funding these services, and for the cynical way it pays lip-service and makes announcements about new funding which still represents real cuts in real terms.

The statistics are alarming: 650 domestic violence incidents nationally each day; one every two minutes; 240,000 a year. But it is not the statistics that will change behaviour; it is the stories. We could stand here for hours detailing these horrific statistics; we have all heard them before. But the real stories make those statistics more stark—the individual stories that we are seeing on our televisions will, we hope, carry the change in behaviour. To that end, I commend the Victorian state government, led by Daniel Andrews, and Minister Fiona Richardson for the royal commission that is occurring in Victoria and for highlighting those stories and sharing them across our society, because they do merely become a statistic if you take away the individual stories.

Again, the statistics and data are important. To that end, I commend Bill Shorten and the Labor opposition for their announcement that the victims of domestic and family violence will be eligible to take leave as a universal workplace right. This is an important thing to occur in this country. It supports victims and ensures their rights under the law. It shines a light. It names and shames, in workplaces, those perpetrators. It ensures that workplaces will support the victims of domestic violence. It will also do a really important job and that is that it will accumulate the data; it will tell a story about the economic impact of domestic violence in our workplaces. As we all know, we measure those things that are important to us. So in measuring this and putting this domestic violence leave, as we are calling it, into our workplaces, we will, therefore, be collecting important data on the economic impacts of domestic violence.

I also want to commend the Victorian state government for joining the United Nations and its 16 days of activism. It was a proud moment when Spring Street was lit up orange last week. I have followed closely the work of Minister Richardson as every day so far of these 16 days she has made a point about domestic violence and carried it in our mainstream media. I hope that in this place the issue remains constant, that we mark the damage and the actions set to change those underlying factors, and we mark the changing behaviours that we hope come from this. But make no mistake: it is about gender inequity and it is about control. I am proud to be a part of the Labor Party that sets target for equal representation of women in our parliament. I am proud to stand here today with my sisters.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Broadbent ): Is there a seconder for the motion?

Ms Butler: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Ms PRICE (Durack) (11:43): I am indeed very pleased to rise to speak in the House today on this very important issue regarding domestic violence. I start by commending the Prime Minister's comments made in Parliament on White Ribbon Day last week. Like the Prime Minister has said on a number of occasions, violence against women and children is one of Australia's greatest shames. I acknowledge the United Nations 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign which will run until 10 December.

The Turnbull government, I am very pleased to say, is committed to addressing this issue, with the $100 million women's safety package announced in September. This is a comprehensive package and will go a long way in addressing domestic violence in Australia. This package will boost front-line support and services, improve technologies to keep women safe, and provide education resources to help address community attitudes to violence and abuse. The package also includes $20 million for specific measures for Indigenous women, as Indigenous women, as you will know, Deputy Speaker Broadbent, are 34 times more likely to be hospitalised as a result of family violence. Innovation will be at the heart of this government, and domestic violence will be no different. Under the package, there is a pool of $12 million to trial, with the states, the use of innovative technology—such as GPS trackers for perpetrators—with funding matched by state and territory governments.

The e-safety commissioner will develop a resource package regarding online safety for women, under the $5 million set aside for safer technology, which includes working with telecommunication companies to distribute safe phones to women in need. Women will be safer in their homes, as we commit $17 million to expand the Safe at Home program—installing CCTV cameras and other safety equipment—together with a grant to the Salvation Army to work with security experts to conduct risk assessments in victims' homes. It is important to keep victims in their homes where it is safe and possible to do so. The government will expand the national telephone and online counselling service, 1800RESPECT, which will ensure that there is someone there to talk to at the time of need. We have also increased funding to MensLine by $2 million, for tools and resources.

I had the honour of launching the Aboriginal Family Law Services' Sparkle and Grow program in Kununurra, in October. The Sparkle and Grow program builds confidence and self-worth for teenage girls. The program is made up of five two-hour sessions over five months and is designed to raise awareness around family and domestic violence and to develop an understanding of living healthily and building and maintaining respectful relationships, targeting 12- to 16-year-olds. This program will be a great addition to the east Kimberley, and also other regional areas in Western Australia, and I commend the work of the Aboriginal Family Law Services with their creation and tailoring of this program.

Mr Deputy Speaker, it goes without saying that domestic violence is an incredibly serious issue, which is why we are talking about it again here this morning. As you can see, the Turnbull government is committed to tackling one of our national shames. We all have a responsibility to call out domestic violence when we see it, but we also need to make sure our husbands, brothers, friends, neighbours and, especially, sons know that domestic violence, No. 1, is a criminal offence but, No. 2—and more importantly—is never acceptable.

I would like us all to spare a thought for the women and children who live in fear for their lives. Please reach out so that they know that they are not alone—especially at this time of the year, when most of us will be enjoying time with our loved ones, friends and neighbours. When you become aware of an incident of domestic violence, please do not ask, 'What did she do wrong?' or, 'Why does she stay?'; please ask, 'How can I help?'

Ms CLAYDON (Newcastle) (11:48): I thank my good friend the member for Lalor for moving this important motion before the House today. Too many Australian women experience domestic violence every day, and the emotional, physical, social and economic cost of that is just enormous. Ending violence against women is a challenge that belongs to the whole community, not any one individual or group. In meeting that challenge, it is vital that we have adequately funded support services in place, that justice and protection for victims is readily available and that awareness programs are ongoing, monitored and assessed for their effectiveness. We must also insist on quality reporting in the media, to help build awareness of the impacts of gender stereotyping and inequality. We have to demand a whole-of-government approach, across multiple jurisdictions, to really address the structural inequalities in our society. Each of these issues is identified in the terms of the motion that is before the House.

Today, my contribution to the debate will focus on two issues in particular: the work of community legal centres and the activities in my electorate of Newcastle as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. Community legal centres provide much-needed advice to some 200,000 disadvantaged Australians every year, including women who are fleeing domestic violence and abusive relationships, but, because of the actions of this Liberal government, community legal centres are at breaking point. Last week, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the chairperson of the National Association of Community Legal Centres, Ms Rosslyn Monro, acknowledged that, while the shift to raising broad awareness of family violence was happening, without a reversal of funding cuts into their services, increased awareness would mean nothing. She said that community legal centres:

… see first hand on a daily basis the toll Australia's family violence crisis is having on women and children across Australia. However, CLCs face a 30% cut to their funding nationally from 2017 under the new National Partnership Agreement for Legal Assistance Services. Similarly, other frontline family violence services, including the Family Violence Prevention Legal Services, face funding cuts and uncertainty.

To date, the government is in denial about these cuts and refuses to acknowledge or give reason as to why it will not commit to renewing desperately needed funds. Labor's $70 million package to address family violence commits $50 million to frontline legal services—it is time this Liberal government did the same.

It is also noted in the motion that the 16 days of activism for the elimination of violence against women started last Wednesday, on 25 November, and will run through to 10 December. Events and activities are occurring all around the world as part of the 16 days of activism. Today, I would like to recognise some of the activities taking place in my electorate of Newcastle. Last Wednesday, 25 November, the 16 days of activism was launched in Newcastle, with a White Ribbon breakfast and community function hosted by the lord mayor. On Friday, men and boys from Newcastle took part in the Walk a Mile Koori Style—a walk led by Aboriginal male youth—taking the White Ribbon pledge and raising awareness that society must change the beliefs and behaviours that excuse, justify or condone violence and inequality. Also on Friday, the Newcastle community attended the Sista Code White Christmas Party to raise funds to help women start their lives again after escaping domestic violence.

There was also a gathering at St Johns Anglican Church, hosted by the Victims of Crime Assistance League, called the Christmas Tree of Angels, which brought people together to remember those touched by or lost to violence. There was a flash mob held by NOVA for women and children and there will be another next Saturday, in a surprise location in Newcastle. Last Saturday, I was honoured to take part in a ceremony of tying white ribbons to trees to commemorate the lives of the 78 women who have been killed through acts of violence this year alone. That event was hosted by Timeless Textiles, and I commend them for their ongoing activism in this space.

There are many more events happening across Newcastle in coming days, and I congratulate all involved not only for raising awareness but also for their efforts working on the front line, day in and day out, to support women and children in our community.

Question agreed to.

Debate adjourned.

Mr ZAPPIA (Makin) (13:30): Yesterday I joined thousands of South Australians, including the federal member for Port Adelaide, Mark Butler, Labor Senator Anne McEwen, former Member for Hindmarsh and Labor's candidate for Hindmarsh at the next federal election, Steve Georganas, and other SA members of parliament at the climate rally in Adelaide. People, young and old, from all walks of life, including from various faith communities, came out to show their support for meaningful global climate change outcomes at the Paris conference that is now underway.

I did not see, however, any SA Liberal MPs at the rally. I did not see current Member for Hindmarsh nor the Member for Sturt nor the Member for Mayo. For them it seems climate change is just an inconvenient truth for which they are not prepared to make any hard decisions or personal effort in order to respond to the risks posed. Young people, who have followed the science and who expect to be here in 2050, know that climate change will impact on their lives. They also know that it is a global problem in which every country shares responsibility and must respond accordingly. It is their future that is at stake, and their future is in the hands of politicians. Coalition members may find it politically expedient to keep kicking the climate change can down the road to save their political careers, but ultimately they will be judged harshly for their selfishness and their failure to support effective action on climate change.

Mr SIMPKINS (Cowan) (13:31): CCTV is an important element in combating crime. It has value in prevention, deterrence and detection of those involved in criminal activity on our streets and around our suburbs. All the way across Cowan I can see the opportunities for the placement of effective CCTV systems to help fight crime. Soon we will see good outcomes in Ballajura at Kingfisher Park with the CCTV system I got for the people of Ballajura.

I am also pursuing a CCTV system for the Kingsway Sporting Complex and my wife, Councillor Lara Simpkins, is pushing for the City of Wanneroo to apply under our Safer Streets Programme for that proposal. The Kingsway Sporting Complex is a high-use facility, and the users of the complex as well as the sporting clubs located there will benefit through a reduction in break-ins, crime in general and anti-social behaviour.

Over in the east of Cowan CCTV would also be highly beneficial. I have met with the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and CEO of the City of Swan to talk about that need. There is a benefit through the installation of fixed cameras wired into the WA Police CCTV hub, augmented by the city's mobile CCTV trailers to provide coverage in and around Beechboro, Lockridge and Kiara. I recently spoke about the options with the City of Swan and the value of CCTV in the area. Whether it is around Brockman House and the Altone Park Shopping Centre or down around the Alice Davoren Community Centre and the Lockridge Community Garden or even on Benara Road around the Altone Park Leisure Centre, there are benefits for having CCTV in these suburbs. I look forward to supporting the need in Beechboro, Lockridge and Kiara for my constituents.

Mr THISTLETHWAITE (Kingsford Smith) (13:33): Yesterday I joined many members of our community to watch the mighty Randwick Petersham Cricket Club defeat Sydney university in the Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cricket Cup. Batting first, the local boys set a big task for the students by scoring seven for 166, with the standouts being Nathan Price, hitting 45 off 25 balls, Daniel Sams 43 off 33 and Anthony Sams 28 off 27.

Sydney university began their run chase well, reaching 80 runs with a loss of just two wickets, before some excellent bowling, particularly by the captain, Adam Semple, who delivered a beautiful yorker on the first ball of the new spell to take out the stumps of Sydney university captain Nick Larkin, who was on 61 at the time and so halted the momentum of the visitors. In the end the visitors could only manage seven for 140 off the 20 overs.

Randwick Petersham were declared the champions for 2015-16. The competition win was the locals' third in just five years and their 17th victory in the past 18 games. All in all, it was a tremendous display of skill and sportsmanship from two great Sydney cricket clubs, with the legendary Randy Petes adding to the already proud history. Congratulations and thanks to all the players and volunteers of this great club, in particular my good mate, Mike Whitney, the president of the club whose passion and commitment to the club are admirable. Up the Randy Petes!

Mr PASIN (Barker) (13:34): Mr Deputy Speaker, drought has gripped my electorate of Barker—a phenomenon which I know that your own electorate of Maranoa knows much too much about. We are now experiencing a one-in-100-year rainfall deficiency in Barker over the last 24 months. The federal government acknowledges the severity of drought not only in South Australia but across the country and we have implemented drought concessional loans—a scheme that will help farmers in this difficult time. The scheme is, of course, in addition to our obligations under the Intergovernmental Agreement on National Drought Program Reform between the federal government and each state and territory.

Under the agreement the federal government is responsible for providing the funding, while states and territories are responsible for delivering the programs. The guidelines for assessing applications under the scheme were developed by the federal government and are consistent across jurisdictions. Given that, you might ask why authorities in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria have approved 74 per cent, 58 per cent and 61 per cent respectively of applications, while those under the control of Minister Bignell has seen fit to approve a meagre 14 per cent—meaning that, from a total of $180 million being pumped out of the economy to help drought affected farmers, only $1.6 million has made it to South Australia. That is less than one per cent, and it is really disappointing. Mr Bignell was in my community last week playing cheap politics. What he needs to do is to face up to his responsibilities and deal with his department.

Mr STEPHEN JONES (Throsby) (13:36): Today I asking parliament to join with me in congratulating Melissa Abu Gazaleh, the 2016 New South Wales Young Australian of the Year. Melissa is a resident of Kanahooka in my electorate of Throsby and is an inspiring young woman. In 2006, tired of seeing young men painted as drunk and violent no-hopers, Melissa established the Top Blokes Foundation, which is a youth led organisation in Wollongong that empowers young men to positively contribute to their local communities through volunteering and peer led programs. As CEO of Top Blokes, Melissa is helping Australia combat anti-social and risk-taking behaviours among young men and busting many negative stereotypes along the way.

Reaching thousands of 14- to 24-year olds each year, the Top Blokes Foundation fosters young men's social inclusion, resilience and mental health, while empowering them to contribute to their community through volunteering. Melissa's Junior Top Blokes Mentoring Program, for example, uses social education to challenge boys to address issues like alcohol, drugs, mental health, anger, masculinity and pornography. Melissa has also been selected in Australia's 100 Brightest Young Minds. Today, Melissa speaks across Australia on how to best address young men's health and well-being. So congratulations Melissa on behalf of the entire Australian parliament .

Mr PITT (Hinkler) (13:37): I table a petition containing 606 signatures which draws to the attention of the House the severe lack of mobile phone coverage in Doolbi, Horton, Abington, Goodwood, North Isis and Redridge in my electorate of Hinkler. The petition has been considered by the Standing Committee on Petitions and certified as being in accordance with the standing orders.

The petition read as follows—

To the Honourable The Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives

This petition of certain citizens: of Doolbi, Horton, Abington, Goodwood, North Isis and Redridge in the Electorate of Hinkler in Queensland, Australia

draws to the attention of the House: A severe lack of mobile phone coverage and black spots in the above mentioned area which we see as potentially dangerous given the large number of elderly with complex health issues and no access to 000/ Emergency assistance. Due to financial constraints these people, many of whom are on age pensions, can only afford a mobile phone.

We therefore ask the House to: Facilitate funding and placing of mobile phone translators onto the existing NBN towers on Knockroe and Goodwood Rds so that lives are not needlessly placed at risk.

from 606 citizens

Petition received.

Mr PITT: In August this year, I met with the principal petitioner, Jennifer Symons, to discuss the fact that areas surrounding Childers do not even have SOS phone coverage. The region is home to many seniors and some of our biggest farms. They are unable to call for help in an emergency and are asking the House for funding to co-locate mobile phone equipment on the recently constructed NBN towers. This is an issue I have raised with my ministerial colleagues on numerous occasions. In April last year, Paul Fletcher, the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications, visited the electorate. We met with residents and businesses to discuss mobile telephone black spots across the region. We encouraged locals to make submissions for round one of the coalition's $20 million Mobile Black Spot Program before 28 February, 2015. On 7 July last year, I formally nominated several Hinkler locations for the program. This included areas near Childers, such as Goodwood. From the public submissions and sites nominated by MPs, the Department of Communications compiled a database of locations that was shared with mobile network operators to help them prepare their proposals for funding. I was deeply disappointed that no Hinkler locations were successful under round one of the program. I look forward to round two opening and I look forward to a much better outcome in securing something for Childers.

Ms McGOWAN (Indi) (13:39): I would like to welcome proudly to the parliament today nine leaders from Indi. To Hannah, Will, Riley, Caleb, Mark, Quin, Brody, Lindsay and Jacqui, as our leaders, I would like to thank you for what you have done and for what you will do. I acknowledge the work that young people do in my electorate and I commit to be your representative in this place. Some of these young people are from Victory Lutheran College and are accompanied by principal John Thompson. I take this opportunity to acknowledge Victory college, and I thank the board, the 80 staff and the people who look after the 670 children who go to this wonderful school and their families.

Victory was established in 1992 by the Wodonga Lutheran parish, and since that time it has gone from strength to strength. It plays a critical part in our community. Over lunch with these young leaders today we had the opportunity to talk about the issues facing young people in Albury-Wodonga. We talked about the role of politics in influencing law, of the importance of turning up and having your voices heard. Today I have committed to return to the school in particular next year to talk to these young people about youth mental health and what I might do in my role, and what together we might do to address the scourge that is hitting our community. I welcome these young people.

Mrs PRENTICE (Ryan) (13:41): I have been a proud member of Zonta for many years and I am an advocate of our Zonta Says No campaign, which aims to combat violence against women on an international scale. Part of this is our 16 Days of Activism, a campaign against gender violence. The campaign runs between 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and 10 December, International Human Rights Day, to reinforce the message that violence against women is a human rights issue. Today is day 6, which focusses on human trafficking. You may wonder why I am talking about human trafficking in Australia in this day and age, in the 21st century, in 2015. It is estimated that between 300 and 1,000 people a year in Australia are trafficked, and 80 per cent of them are women. In fact, just recently there has been a report of a 'slave house' on Brisbane's south side where 27 people were crammed in and forced to work as call centre operators. There is not enough time to go into more detail now, but a quick scan of news articles reports slavery right in our midst in Brisbane.

We all need to work to raise more awareness of these issues and all the issues affecting human rights and gender violence. 16 Days of Activism is an important campaign that does just that and I am proud of Zonta's advocacy for these issues. Zonta says no.

Mrs ELLIOT (Richmond) (13:42): I rise to mention some major successes at the recent New South Wales Tourism Awards held last week in Sydney. I would especially like to congratulate these tourism achievements from my electorate of Richmond, and more specifically from around Byron Bay, which won a number of the awards. Firstly there is Bluesfest, which won in the Major Festivals and Events category. The Cape Byron State Conservation Area won the award in the Tourist Attractions category, and the Arakwal Dolphin Dreaming Cape Byron State Conservation Area won the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Tourism category. Also, Flash Camp won the Specialised Tourism Services award. Congratulations to all of them. Bluesfest director Peter Noble noted that the competition was fierce, and he rightly paid tribute to all the Bluesfest team for this award. Delta Kay, education officer for the Byron Coast National Parks and Wildlife Service, said she believes Dolphin Dreaming did so well because of the large focus on customer satisfaction for locals and tourists alike. Dolphin Dreaming uses story, song and dance to share the culture of the local Arakwal people.

I congratulate all the winners and note that tourism is a vital contributor to and driver of our local economy on the New South Wales North Coast. I acknowledge the hard work and commitment of all the local tourist successes that have so rightly been recognised in the 2015 New South Wales Tourism Awards. Congratulations to all those involved—it is a major achievement for our area, especially Bluesfest, which continues to attract so many international awards. To all the winners, congratulations for your hard work and commitment.

Ms PRICE (Durack) (13:44): I am pleased today to speak about my recent trip to Exmouth a fortnight ago. Over 800 kilometres north of Geraldton, Exmouth is in the heart of the Gascoyne region, and this gorgeous iconic beachside town offers locals and tourists a great fishing, camping and snorkelling experience. Exmouth is home to more than 2,300 people according to the 2011 census, with fishing, tourism, light engineering and building and construction among the key local industries. In my two-day trip, as well as talking with constituents I attended the Gascoyne Country Zone meeting with representatives from the shires of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay, Upper Gascoyne, Wiluna and Meekatharra. Amongst the vast range of issues each council faces, the councils and I all agree that a deepwater wharf in Exmouth will be a game changer for these six shires. The wharf would then create pressure to improve transport links in the region to benefit the cattle and tourism industries, to name but a few, but it would also create more pressure to increase the Defence presence in Exmouth.

It is well known that great things do take time, and projects such as the deepwater wharf cannot be achieved by one person or one body alone; they can only be achieved through groups such as local councils working together to improve their towns and regions, together with the state and federal governments. I commend the Shire of Exmouth for this fabulous initiative and wish them all the best in raising the funds.

Ms RYAN (Lalor—Opposition Whip) (13:45): I rise to share with the House an experience I had on Friday evening, when I proudly joined members of the Western Region Environment Centre and members of the Labor Party on the People's Climate March. It was a wonderful event in Melbourne, with 60,000 people coming from all walks of life to put on the record their support for action around climate change. Of course, I was also there proudly wearing red, because Labor is very proud of its announcements around tackling climate change. Fifty per cent renewables by 2030 is one of our targets; the other is zero net carbon pollution by 2050. On this side of the House we are serious about climate change, we accept the science and we intend to act. We are a party with a track record of consultation and negotiation, and we have a leader in Bill Shorten who has a proven record in bringing business, unions, workers and the public together in positive action. He will come up with win-win solutions. We can trust a Shorten Labor government to deliver. On the opposite side, we have the Prime Minister out there today calling our targets 'heroic'—but, without aspirational targets, talk of innovation is empty rhetoric. We want action and we want to reduce the impact of climate change in this country.

Ms HENDERSON (Corangamite) (13:47): As Geelong and south-west Victoria continue to grow, the duplication of the rail track between South Geelong and Waurn Ponds is becoming a greater priority for our region. The current single track between Geelong and Waurn Ponds, which is approximately 15 kilometres, is a choke point as trains running in the opposite direction cannot pass each other. Residents who use the Marshall, Waurn Ponds and South Geelong stations deserve better passenger rail. A duplicated track and additional platforms will deliver more frequent train services, which are so important during peak hour. The Victorian Labor government concedes this is a priority project but has done nothing to put this on the priority list.

Over the weekend, I was delighted to go doorknocking with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, spreading the word on our NBN rollout, which is starting at the beginning of 2017, across Grovedale, Highton, Belmont, Wandana Heights and Marshall and right through the southern part of Geelong. We were also urging residents to sign my petition for a duplicated rail track. We have seen Labor turn its back on the people of Colac by not agreeing to further train services. We have seen Labor abandon the East West Link project, which has cost our state nearly $1 billion and badly hurt the people of Geelong and Corangamite. The federal government has a strong role to play in passenger rail, but the Victorian government must prioritise this project.

Ms CLAYDON (Newcastle) (13:48): The Hunter Medical Research Foundation recently held their awards night to celebrate some of the remarkable work that their scientists do every day. The 2015 Researcher of the Year Award went to Professor Julie Byles for her work on optimising planning and service delivery for an ageing global population. Professor Byles was instrumental in establishing the Australian longitudinal study on women's health in 1995 and continues to lead it today, as some of the original study participants advance into their 90s. Her expert advice has been sought by successive federal governments and she is a highly valued adviser to the World Health Organization on a range of important public health policies.

The Director's Award for Mid-Career Research was presented to Professor Philip Morgan. This prestigious award adds to a list of 30 major research and teaching accolades that he has won since completing his PhD in 2003. His obesity prevention programs have been delivered with unprecedented success. Global adaptations of the Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids program are now underway in the UK and US—nations that are facing an epidemic of obesity. I also pay tribute to the local CFMEU mining and energy division for their donation of $100,000 towards improved treatment and testing for prostate cancer.

HMRI is a remarkable facility with a brilliant team that continues to make a truly significant contribution to science here in Australia and globally.

Ms SCOTT (Lindsay) (13:50): The north and the southern wings of my electorate are home to many of the metropolitan thoroughbred racing breeding stables, including Darley's Osborne Park and Princes Farm, owned by the late Bart Cummings. Last week, the Planning Assessment Commission, for the third time, rejected the bid by Anglo American to expand its Drayton South project. This decision will help give certainty to the 5,633 racing employees that work in Western Sydney. Had Drayton South been given the green light, there is little doubt that much of the industry would have relocated to Victoria. Had Darley relocated their stud, it would have cost some 90 racing jobs in the electorate of Lindsay, not to mention the extensive small business support that they also need to maintain their operations. Henry Plumptre of Darley said:

The Planning Assessment Commission has considered the Drayton South proposal on three occasions. They have used the strongest language yet regarding the need for the thoroughbred industry to be recognised as a viable one. As a result they have called for protections and buffer zones to be put in place. Remaining viable is good news for jobs, both in the Hunter and Western Sydney.

Henry went on to say that key points of the terms are the renewed investment, the growth of the industry and the certainty that the protection zones and the buffer zones for the thoroughbred industry will bring. I call on the New South Wales government to pick up the Planning Assessment Commission's recommendations and implement clearer planning guidelines so important decisions can be made for the future.

Ms BRODTMANN (Canberra) (13:51): As so many of my colleagues have done, I rise today to speak about the People's Climate March that took place in Canberra yesterday but also at other locations right across the world. More than 6,000 people turned out for the march in Canberra yesterday, with a great showing from ACT Labor and from LEAN . They joined more than 120,000 people around the nation. Around the world, more than 600,000 people took to the streets. That is an enormous amount of people, who are all calling for better outcomes at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change which starts in Paris today. They were calling for real action on climate change.

That is why I am so proud Labor has committed to net zero emissions by 2050 in an effort to limit global warming to less than two degrees Celsius. To achieve this 2050 target, Labor will consult on the Climate Change Authority's 2030 baseline target of a 45 per cent reduction in carbon pollution on 2005 levels.

Australia goes to the Paris climate change conference as the only nation that has actually gone backwards on climate action in the past two years. Now is the time for the government to listen to what those 6,000 Canberrans were demanding yesterday; now is the time for the Prime Minister to listen to what those 120,000 Australians were demanding yesterday: we are calling for real action on climate change, and we want it now.

Dr STONE (Murray) (13:53): The electorate of Murray is well known for its highly successful horse breeding. We have some of the best thoroughbred stables in Victoria, and Nagambie is the home of champion Black Caviar. Black Caviar was born in 2006 at Nagambie, on the great Goulburn River. We have great young and mature-age people involved at all levels in the industry, as well as with horse eventing and pony clubs.

I want to congratulate 22-year-old Anna Parry, from Powlett Plains in the south-west of my electorate, who was part of the successful three-rider team that won a silver medal at the Pony Club Australia National Championships held recently in Murray Bridge, South Australia. Anna Parry has been riding since she was four and competing at show events since she was nine.

Victoria was crowned overall champion for its performance across all disciplines. This is particularly commendable since there were only three riders from Victoria and they had to be placegetters in every event.

All sports require dedicated volunteers, and I want to congratulate Frances Corry from Nathalia, who has given years of voluntary service to pony clubbing in Nathalia and across the whole state. Frances has been secretary-treasurer of the northern zone pony club region since 1967. This region stretches from Mildura to Cobram and is the largest zone in the state. Frances has also served at all levels of the Pony Club Association of Victoria. As well as working in administration, Frances is a rider herself and has been an instructor since 1961—a truly amazing effort. She has made a significant contribution, and I commend Frances and all of those who enjoy horse riding in my part of the world.

Ms O'NEIL (Hotham) (13:54): Mr Deputy Speaker:

Girls of today are bombarded with images of unattainable beauty. Through all these provocative and sexualised pictures it's difficult to find depictions of positive body image and to find strong, confident female role models. For some girls, just fitting in is a struggle, for girls that are athletically motivated it can be even worse.

These words are not mine, though I do wish I had written them. They are the words of Bria Raso, of Heatherton Christian College, and I would like the House to join me in congratulating Bria, who is the senior winner of the Hotham Writing Prize.

I launched the Hotham Writing Prize earlier this year because I wanted primary and secondary school students to understand that, even though many of them do not vote yet, I am their voice in the federal parliament and I am really interested in understanding the issues that affect them and raising them with you, my colleagues in this House.

Bria wrote me an incredibly passionate, well-argued essay about gender equality in sport. Bria is a very talented soccer player. She plays most days. But she is very frustrated that she sees more attention, resources and focus given to boys, even when they are playing at the same standard as girls. She thinks we need to encourage the participation of girls in sport, and I could not agree more—not only so that we see equal treatment on the sporting field but also to make sure that girls around this country have plenty of attainable, healthy role models for body image, something that women struggle with a great deal. We need to do more to make sure that girls and women are treated equally and sport.

Bria, congratulations. It was a really important issue that you raised with me, and it is an honour to be your voice in the House of Representatives.

Mrs SUDMALIS (Gilmore) (13:56): You have to be curious when you see an email from a group called Project Bucephalus asking you to support a MINDSTORMS event. Under the guidance of Lyndell and Andrew Clark, a number of my students in Gilmore have competed in a LEGO robotics competition at our local university campus.

Last Saturday was the regional championship, where there were about 20 teams, from Moruya to Sutherland, participating in a robot-building tournament. The competition is fundamentally a robotics joust, with LEGO construction robots. For two years now, I have been sponsoring students from Gilmore to attend these robotics camps because it is an unusual opportunity for them. Last year, the four students I put through were Dominic Ivanovski, Estelle Hancox, Madilyne Pride and Joel Mion. I am so proud of them.

The atmosphere at the competition on Saturday at the site was exhilarating, exciting and inspiring. The member for Cunningham, Sharon Bird, and I presented certificates and LEGO-constructed trophy cups to the winning teams for activities such as collaboration, creativity, effectiveness and overall points. Then the teams going forward from the regional tournament were announced. The state tournament will be held at Macquarie University. The actual announcement was made in an atmosphere that was absolutely electric.

I am very proud to note that the young people from the robotics players with Project Bucephalus are one of the teams that will be taking their talents forward in the robotics competition, and I wish them all the very best.

Mr DREYFUS (Isaacs—Deputy Manager of Opposition Business) (13:57): Japan's announcement over the weekend that it will this summer resume the slaughter of whales in the Antarctic is an outrage that must be condemned.

Less than two years ago, Australia won a resounding victory against Japan in the International Court of Justice. The court agreed with Australia that Japan's so-called scientific whaling program in the Southern Ocean was nothing more than commercial whaling dressed in the lab coat of science, and was in breach of Japan's obligations under international law. The Japanese government said during the litigation that it would abide by the ruling of the highest court in the world.

Japan's announcement is an affront to Australia, which for 20 years sought to bring Japanese whaling to end through diplomacy and, when that failed, took the matter to be decided by the International Court of Justice. Japan's announcement is an affront to the international rule of law and undermines over half a century of exemplary international citizenship by Japan since it joined the United Nations in 1956. Japan's announcement is also an affront to the environment, which we now know beyond any shadow of doubt requires international co-operation to protect.

Labor calls on the Turnbull government to bring all pressure to bear on Japan to renounce this irresponsible and illegal course of action and to honour the moratorium on commercial whaling in the Southern Ocean.

The SPEAKER: It being almost 2 pm, in accordance with standing order 43, the time for members' statements has concluded.

Mr McCORMACK ( Riverina — Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister ) ( 16:2 4 ): Like many Riverina people and others who were watching from around the globe, I was deeply touched, saddened and shocked when I saw the pictures coming out of Paris and Beirut, following the terrorist attacks on Friday 13 November. It was indeed a black Friday. I was heartened by the response of many of the local people in my electorate to Australia's role in condemning these evil and despicable acts and by the solidarity that we have shown towards the people, communities, families and friends of those who have lost their lives, their loved ones, in such a needless and callous way. I was heartened to see the world, including Parliament House, turn shades of red, white and blue, just as France did following the events of 11 September 2001. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, expressed Australia's anger, justifiably, at these attacks and its support for those whom this reckless terrorism has touched. I know the opposition leader and all those opposite concur.

We will as a government, we will as a parliament and we will as a nation be resolute in fighting the perpetrators of these insidious acts. We will do our best to bring about the destruction of IS and Daesh. I am reluctant to call IS by its full title. Its acronym stands for Islamic state. As I have said before, a state builds things. A state protects people. A state promotes confidence and looks to the future. IS does nothing of the sort. IS does nothing but impose its will upon the world. IS wants to impose its destruction, its acts of evil, upon an innocent world.

I have not been to Paris. I have been to Calais in France but I have not been to the French capital, although my wife, Catherine, has. She says it is beautiful. Many people will feel an affinity with Paris, whether they have been there or not. It is so constant an image and idea in our travel, our culture and our conception of the world that we would have all felt something to see those horrible scenes coming through our televisions and through our social media on that Saturday morning, following those dreadful and despicable acts.

The focus of the international meetings attended by the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister has rightly turned to how we can best counter insurgency and extremism as it grows online. It is dreadful to think that so many young Australians—more than 110 and many of them young people—have been radicalised by the false and fake hopes and ideologies that are coming from the leadership of the IS movement. Australia has role to play in bringing the spread of IS to an end—hopefully, an abrupt end.

I represent Kapooka, the Army Recruit Training Centre at Wagga Wagga. I represent the Royal Australian Air Force base at Forest Hill, just east of Wagga Wagga. I also represent an important strategic naval base, which is housed along with the RAAF base at Wagga Wagga. The men and women who train at these bases give of themselves. They want a better future not just for our nation, not just for our future generations but for others as well. They would sacrifice their lives if need be for that ideal. They would sacrifice their lives so that others may live free. The price of peace is eternal vigilance—we know that. We know how important it is to have an able and well-prepared defence force. I am so very proud and privileged to represent an electorate in which much of the training of our army is done. Indeed, every young recruit—and some not so young—do their basic training at Blamey Barracks, just south-west of Wagga Wagga. When I go to the march out parades I am always amazed to see the resilient determination and the patriotism in their eyes. I should not be amazed, because I have been there many times before.

Mr Deputy Speaker Mitchell, I know you have been with me to see the wonderful work that our troops do in overseas postings, particularly in Afghanistan. We went there together last year, along with the member for Batman and Senator Sean Edwards, and we saw the great work that they do there. We know that many of those people that we saw in Kandahar and Kabul would possibly now be on joint operations in the Middle East risking their life and limb over Syria or in northern Iraq. We pay homage to them. We certainly respect the efforts that they put in. I am joined in the chamber by the shadow parliamentary secretary who understands just how important is the role that these people play in protecting and safeguarding the future of our nation. These people whom we train and who wear our uniform proudly do not deserve to come up against other Australians—other citizens of this nation—when they are fighting IS, when they are fighting Daesh, when they are tackling terrorism. They do not deserve to have to fight those radicalised people who leave this country to go to fight for IS.

As a former journalist and a former newspaper editor, I think it is a shame to see how IS is sometimes portrayed in the wider media. We see them driving around in the newest cars, brandishing the newest rifles, waving that dreadful black flag. We see those images. What we should be seeing of IS is the depravity that they inflict upon the world—or the aftermath thereof. What we should be seeing is the squalor in which they live. What we should be seeing is the false hope that they provide. That is the image that should always be coming out in our media. But the trouble is we see them brandishing their arms, driving along in their new cars, and this offers some sort of sick hope to young people whom they coerce online to join their sick, depraved ideology.

Terrorist activity increased by 80 per cent in 2014 to be at its highest recorded level. The attack on Paris killed 130, at least 43 died in the accompanying suicide bombings in Beirut, the Bamako attacks killed at least 19 victims and an attack on the presidential guard force in Tunis killed at least 12—and that is just this month. The terrorist activity high recorded in 2014 was according to the Global Terrorism Index. What a sad state of affairs it is when we have people who spend their whole lives recording global terrorism. The largest ever year-on-year increase in deaths from terrorism was recorded in 2014. It rose that year to 32,685 from 18,111 the previous year—and I dare say that figure is even higher now. The number of people who have died from terrorist activity has increased ninefold since 2000. Terrorist activity is highly concentrated. Five countries account for more than 75 per cent—more than three-quarters—of deaths. Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria account for more than three-quarters of terrorism related deaths. How sad is that? Private citizens are increasingly the targets of terror attacks, and that is disturbing. That is very, very worrying. According to this GTI, or Global Terrorism Index—and how sad it is that we have to even have one—deaths of private citizens increased by 172 per cent between 2013 and 2014, compared to the total number of deaths, which rose by 80 per cent. Terrorist attacks on religious targets decreased by 11 per cent in 2014. So the mood is swinging from religious groups to private citizens. In Australia we have seen the dreadful death of a young man working for the New South Wales Police Force—an absolutely dreadful incident—and we hope and we pray that these sorts of attacks do not continue.

We hope and we pray for our brave soldiers, our sailors and our Air Force personnel who are going into harm's way. We hope and we pray that ISIL can be negated and wiped out. The damage that that movement is doing in Syria to many of humankind's most ancient cities which hold some of the most treasured artefacts, possessions and temples is beyond belief. Some of the artefacts, precious urns and other symbols of mankind which had been destroyed had lasted hundreds if not thousands of years and had been lovingly recovered and preserved by archaeologists and put on display. With no more than a cursory thought, they have been smashed by members of ISIS with sledgehammers. How dreadful is that?

But it is the deaths of people that is, of course, of far graver concern. It is the numbers of journalists and other freedom fighters who have had their throats slit and have had their lives taken—snuffed out just like that—by these people. And for what? People do not deserve to be treated in this way.

Australia stands united in solidarity with the people of Paris, as we should. IS has to be eradicated. I am pleased that the parliament and the nation recognise this. I am pleased that my electorate is doing its bit in prayers and support for those affected and by way of training our people who will go and fight this scourge. As I said, our thoughts and our prayers are with those people affected. Paris did not deserve this. The world does not deserve to have IS continue its deadly regime. The sooner IS can be snuffed out the better.

Ms BRODTMANN (Canberra) (16:38): I rise today with my colleagues on this side and those on the other side to condemn terrorism. I also speak on behalf of all Canberrans in condemning terrorism. It gives me great sadness to reflect on the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Mali, Beirut and Istanbul and the one late last year in Sydney. Before that, there were the attacks in New York, Bali, Nigeria, Yemen, Cameroon and many, many other places around the world. It is heartbreaking to think of the families who have lost loved ones at the hands of a terrorist.

The only thing that gives me hope is the way that horrific events such as in Paris, Istanbul and Mali and horrific situations such as we have seen in Sydney have exposed the worst of human nature but also exposed the best. The outpouring of support and love, care and compassion that we have seen flow after these attacks in Paris, Beirut, Istanbul and Sydney has been remarkable, deeply moving and incredibly powerful. People have rallied around those countries and communities and the people who live there, sending messages of support and prayers from every part of the world.

This is what needs to happen. In these challenging times that we face at the moment we must focus on what unites us and not on what divides us. Now, more than ever, is the time to support one another and stare down this hate. We must do everything we can to defeat ISIS and other terrorist groups like Boko Haram and al-Qaeda offshoots. It is promising to see world leaders uniting on this. It was the focus of everyone's attention at the G20, at APEC and at the East Asia Summit. It is promising to see world leaders coming together with a strong determination to come up with coordinated strategies to defeat ISIS. This gives me hope that we will defeat ISIS—because we must.

Terrorism is an affront to all humanity. There is no question just how little regard ISIS has for human life. We have seen public murders, slavery and systematic sexual abuse. We have seen the most unspeakable acts of sexual violence, where rape and sexual abuse are not just a by-product of war but used as a deliberate military strategy to degrade the enemy.

Horrifyingly, we have learned that girls from Iraq and Syria have been stripped, sold and, in many cases, made to undergo over a dozen virginity reparation surgeries. There are of course countless reasons to destroy, degrade or contain terrorism in all its forms, but the sorts of horrific stories we are hearing about those women and what they have to endure are reason enough. What I find most deplorable is the fact that, as I said, sexual slavery and the degradation of women and girls has become not just a by-product of war but a deliberate strategy.

We were all horrified to hear just recently about the mass grave that was dug up and the 100 Yazidi women found there who were aged between 40 and 80. That story did not just speak about the fact that these women had been killed—and I hate to think about how they were killed—but also spoke about the other women. What happened to the girls? What happened to the other girls in that community who were in their teens, 20s and 30s? What happened to all the women who were aged under 40? Where are they? That is what I worry about. That is the thing that really keeps me driven on this issue. This is the reason I want to see this hateful organisation overcome. What happened to those young girls? They are probably sex slaves. God knows where they are now. They are probably scattered throughout the region. It reminds us again about what happened to those schoolgirls that Boko Haram took more than 12 months ago. I think we are getting up to 18 months. What happened to them? Where are they? And where are the Yazidi girls? What are they enduring each day at the hands of these barbarians?

As I said, there are countless reasons to destroy, degrade or contain terrorism in all its forms and bring down ISIS and Boko Haram and all those evil offshoots of al-Qaeda. But, for me, the use of sexual violence as an act of terror is one of the worst possible crimes against humanity and the most compelling reason to defeat this evil. We absolutely must fight this evil in every way we can.

According to the United Nations, sexual violence in conflict is one of the greatest moral issues of our time. It is a moral issue we face now, and it has been a moral issue for time immemorial. Historically, rape was characterised as a private crime and not a matter of universal human rights. It was considered a crime against a woman's honour rather than an act of gross physical violence. To date, the focus on sexual violence has been on state actors. However, the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, as an orchestrated, institutionalised, industrialised terror tactic and as a combat tool is a more recent phenomenon—and a horrifying and unimaginable one at that. What we are seeing with ISIS is a non-state actor engaging in the most unspeakable acts of sexual violence. It is different to other uses of sexual violence in conflict because women's bodies have now become part of the terrain of conflict, according to a report by Amnesty International. As I said, rape and sexual abuse are not just a by-product of war; they are used as a deliberate military strategy.

The United Nations estimates that ISIS has forced some 1,500 women, teenage girls and boys into sexual slavery, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the true figure is far greater. I have seen reports of between 1,500 and 6,000, but, after the mass graves of Yazidi women and girls were found recently—which makes you wonder what happened to them—I am sure the figure is far greater than that 6,000. The UN envoy on sexual violence in conflict found that girls from Iraq and Syria were made to engage in the most unspeakable acts of sexual violence. What these women, young girls and boys have had to endure is just unspeakable. The intense shame that accompanies these acts is too much for many women to bear, with a number later committing suicide.

As I said earlier, it is a great moral issue of our time, as described by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Bangura. As I also said earlier, there are countless reasons to destroy, degrade or contain terrorism in all its forms, but for me it is especially for the women and children, who often suffer the most during and after conflict. In order to protect these women and children and all of those living in the Middle East region, as well as those who have been forced to flee, we must defeat ISIS. The situation we face is complex, with many elements, so the solution must include military, political, diplomatic and humanitarian strategies and assistance for refugees.

I am proud of Labor's bipartisan approach to national security. So far Labor has supported and enhanced four rounds of national security legislation and the government's decision to deploy our ADF personnel to the Middle East to protect civilians and build the capacity of Iraq's security forces. We can and must provide Iraqi armed forces with the skills and training needed to defeat ISIS. Labor also welcomed the government's commitment—after we had called on the government to increase our existing refugee intake—to take in an additional 12,000 refugees.

While Labor has consistently sought to provide bipartisanship on national security, we have also called for greater transparency. We have been calling on the government to develop and make public a long-term, inclusive and coherent strategy to end the conflict and to make Australia's objective as transparent as possible. Australians have the right to know what the strategy involves and, most importantly, what our exit strategy would look like, so we will continue to call for greater transparency.

After the most recent terrorist attacks in Paris, the world has united as never before to defeat those who would wish us harm—to defeat ISIS. This has involved our ADF personnel, who have played a vital role in that strategy. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the men and women of our Defence Force for their courage, dedication and bravery. It is these qualities that make our Defence Force what it is—a world-class Defence Force.

There are 780 Australian Defence Force personnel currently deployed in the Middle East region, including Iraq, and another 1,461 deployed elsewhere overseas. These men and women spend months—sometimes years—away from their home and loved ones. They often put their lives on the line in order to protect Australia and our national interests. We owe them so much. We also owe their families, who make a great sacrifice, so much. I would like to extend my thanks to our ADF personnel and their families, and to Australia's security agencies, who are working around the clock to keep Australians safe.

I would like to offer my deepest condolences to those who have lost someone they love as a result of terrorism. ISIS, Boko Haram and the al-Qaeda offshoots are a scourge on our nation and the world, and we must do all we can to defeat them. They are evil. We must do everything we can in a military, diplomatic and political sense. There has to be a holistic, coherent and cohesive approach. We have to have a military response; we have to have a political response; we have to have to have a diplomatic response; and, as I said before, we have to have a humanitarian response. The best way for us to respond is by standing together in solidarity—united, not divided—and joining together in love, not dividing in hate.

I want to conclude with the words of the French ambassador. The foreign minister and I were at a function with French industry at his residence last week. He made a very powerful and compelling speech that was deeply moving for everyone who was there. I encourage all Australians to follow his words, which were, in a way, an act of defiance. He sent a very positive message to all Australians and to the world: we are alive and we are not afraid.

Debate interrupted.

Mr ROBERT (Fadden—Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Minister for Human Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC) (17:34): by leave—It is with great pleasure that I rise to deliver this ministerial statement—my first as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC—to apprise the House of the government's continued commitment to commemorating the Centenary of Anzac. This significant period in Australia's history commemorates the centenary of the First World War and, indeed, a century of service. It provides an unprecedented opportunity to honour the service and sacrifice of past and present generations of Australian service men and women, who have defended our freedoms and values since Australia's Federation. It is also an opportunity to acknowledge the role of those on the home front. Its objective is to leave an improved understanding of Australia's military experience, its impacts and lessons for current and future generations so that the sacrifices made by our young nation and her people is never forgotten.

Though there was understandably a significant focus in 2015 on the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings on Anzac Day, this does not mark the end of the Centenary of Anzac national program that will continue until the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day on 11 November 2018. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to reflect not only on the program's great many achievements to date, but also to outline a number of the key future components of the program, particularly the commemorative events planned for the coming year.

2015 Events

The government recognises the significant community wish to participate in domestic commemorative events and I am in no doubt that the Anzac Centenary period is a time when Australians will want to engage in commemorative activity in substantially greater numbers at home. This year there have been a number of events to commence the Centenary of Anzac, with the highlight, of course, being the amazing service at Gallipoli. Millions more Australians gathered at local services right across the country in what was an extraordinary display of commemorative spirit.

I personally spent Anzac Day with the men and women of the special forces task group in Iraq before joining our ambassador in Baghdad for a service that included the diplomatic corps. I finished the day with an Anzac evening service with our air task force component and commemorated the start of the Mesopotamia campaign in the Middle East 100 years earlier that saw the start of the Australian air arm—what is now the Royal Australian Air Force.

Domestic commemorative events in 2016

The program for 2016 reflects this growing need and enables solemn, dignified and respectful commemoration of more than a century of service and sacrifice by the men and women who have served and continue to serve Australia during war and on peacekeeping and humanitarian operations. In addition to services that will be held at memorials on Anzac Parade in Canberra, some of the key domestic activities in 2016 will include:

events to recognise the 25th anniversary of the Gulf War, on 28 February 2016;

a reception at the Captain Reg Saunders Gallery at the Australian War Memorial, for veterans and their families for the 75th anniversary of the Siege of Tobruk, on 10 April 2016;

an event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the battle of Greece and Crete, on 15 April 2016; and

a government hosted reception at Parliament House's Great Hall, for veterans and official guests on 17 August 2016 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan and Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War.

International commemorative events in 2016

Gallipoli

The dawn service held on Anzac Day in Turkey this year at the Anzac commemorative site, and the Lone Pine service later that morning, were significant milestones in the Centenary of Anzac national program. They poignantly commemorated the centenary of the Gallipoli landings and the extraordinary bravery of troops from both sides. Following the successful conduct of these services, this is an appropriate time to reconsider the approach to Gallipoli commemorations.

On reflection, as there are risks to Australians and New Zealanders in attending multiple services, often over two days with little sleep, with the Lone Pine service held in an exposed and isolated location, a review of the continuation of the Lone Pine service is appropriate. The government takes its duty of care to attendees to all services very seriously. The review of the Lone Pine service will be made in consultation with Turkish agencies.

The Anzac Day dawn service at Gallipoli will remain one of Australia's most significant commemorative events each year, and plans are well underway for the 2016 service. Our commitment to maintaining a very close and productive working relationship with the Turkish government in providing a solemn and dignified dawn commemorative service at Gallipoli will continue.

France

Despite the special place that Gallipoli holds in our nation's story, Australia's greatest achievements and greatest losses of the First World War were on the Western Front, in France and Belgium. Between 1916 and 1918, more than 290,000 Australians served on the Western Front. Of these, some 47,000 died and more than 130,000 were wounded. They shaped the course of history in a way that Australians had not before, and have not done since. This story deserves to be better known both in Australia and in Europe.

When complete in April 2018, the Sir John Monash Centre will commemorate the extraordinary achievements of the 1st Australian Imperial Force in France and Belgium. It will provide a focal point for visitors of all nationalities to the Somme battlefields, and educate a new audience about the costs and outcomes of Australia's early involvement in that conflict.

During a recent visit to France, I had the opportunity to meet with my counterpart, Minister Todeschini, in Paris, as well as with local officials in the Somme region. I thanked them for the strong support national, regional and local French authorities have given and continue to provide to the centre. As a result, construction of the Sir John Monash Centre will commence in late January 2016, with a sod-turning ceremony planned for 20 January 2016.

When it is completed, the centre will anchor the 12 sites of the existing Australian Remembrance Trail. Comprising museums, interpretive walks and memorials, the trail has built on the efforts of local communities over many years to commemorate the service and sacrifice of the 1st Australian Imperial Force. I thank the people of France and Belgium for their unflagging effort to ensure the legacy of Australian achievements and losses on the Western Front is not forgotten.

To further recognise the service of those on the Western Front, two commemorative events will take place in France in 2016 to mark the 100th anniversaries of the Battle of Fromelles and the Battle of Pozieres. The services will be held on 19 and 23 July 2016 respectively, with Australia also likely to be involved in the 14 July Bastille Day celebrations in Paris. All of this is in the planning stage.

Given the significant public interest in attending the Fromelles and Pozieres events, a registration system to attend one or both of these services will soon be launched. National advertising will commence in December to inform Australian citizens and permanent residents on how they can apply to attend the commemorative services. Those wishing to participate in one or both of the commemorative services will require an attendance pass to gain entry to the commemorative sites. The system will allocate passes on a first-in basis until all passes have been allocated. Once all passes have been allocated, anyone registering will be placed on a waiting list. If passes are returned, then they will be allocated to the next person on the waiting list. There are 3,200 places available for the public at the Fromelles commemorative service and 3,500 places available at the Pozieres commemorative service. For those who do not receive an attendance pass, there will be an alternative site close by where the commemorative service can be viewed on large video screens.

Vietnam War commemorations

18 August 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan, Australia's single most costly engagement of the Vietnam War, with the loss of 18 Australian soldiers. I am pleased to announce a number of commemorative activities planned to honour the service and sacrifice of our veterans of the Vietnam War, in 2016. These include:

a reception at Parliament House, Canberra on 17 August;

a national commemorative service, with a broad focus to commemorate Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, which will be held on the morning of 18 August, at the Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial on Anzac Parade in Canberra; and

a commemorative service to specifically commemorate the Battle of Long Tan, to be held on the afternoon of 18 August, at Gallipoli Barracks, Enoggera military base, Brisbane.

The Department of Veterans' Affairs is working closely with representatives of the Vietnam veterans community on the arrangements for these events, and to ensure that Vietnam veterans who wish to attend the reception and the services receive appropriate support to do so.

Discussions are currently underway with the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on a small and most appropriate way to mark the shared sacrifice of both our nations on the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan service at the Long Tan cross site in Vietnam. It is envisaged that the Vietnamese government will permit Australia to run a small commemorative service at the Long Tan Cross site with access to those Australians and Vietnamese who may wish to attend. Discussions are ongoing between both governments.

Korean war commemorations

2016 will mark the 65th anniversaries of two significant Australian military campaigns of the Korean War—the Battle of Kapyong on 23 to 25 April 1951 and the Battle of Maryang San on 3 to 8 October 1951. To commemorate these anniversaries, and more broadly, the service and sacrifice of Australians in the Korean War, the government is planning for a veterans' commemorative mission to the Republic of Korea in October 2016, with a particular focus being the commemorative service at Busan at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea on United Nations Day on 24 October.

This commemorative mission will conclude an era of commemorative missions, dating back to their commencement in the 1990s. It will be the last mission run from Australia by the government. The veterans' commemorative mission to Papua New Guinea in September 2015 to commemorate Victory in the Pacific, was the final commemorative mission for the Second World War. The magnificent men and women who are the surviving veterans of the Second World War and Korean War are now mostly in their 90s and the rigours of an overseas mission, with its demanding schedule and often testing locations, are no longer the most suitable way for acknowledging their service and the sacrifice of their comrades.

It is essential, however, that their service and sacrifice continue to be acknowledged by a grateful nation. Commencing in 2016, the government will conduct commemorative services at memorials on Anzac Parade in Canberra, and other relevant military memorials of national significance, to mark significant anniversaries from the Second World War and the Korean War. The first of these will be commemorative services at the Rats of Tobruk Memorial, Anzac Parade, on 10 April 2016 to mark the 75th anniversary of the siege of Tobruk.

Commemorative events in 2017-18

As I noted early, the Centenary of Anzac commemorative period extends through to Armistice Day on 11 November 2018. Planning for commemorative events in 2017 and 2018 to recognise a number of significant battles has commenced and will include services at the following locations:

Polygon Wood in Belgium on 26 September 2017;

Beersheba in Israel on 31 October 2017;

Jerusalem in Israel on 8 December 2017; and

Le Hamel in France on 4 July 2018.

An event will also be held in France on 11 November 2018 to commemorate the end of the First World War. There are also plans to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the fall of Singapore on 28 February 2017 at the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial in Ballarat.

Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience

On 4 September this year, the Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience was officially opened in Albury-Wodonga by the then Prime Minister, the Hon. Tony Abbott MP. Created to be the flagship community event of the Anzac Centenary national program, this travelling exhibition will visit cities and regional centres across Australia until April 2017. The exhibition utilises a mix of visuals, over 200 artefacts usually housed at the Australian War Memorial, audio and film to provide visitors with an interactive experience that guides them through the chronological Century of Service time line spanning from pre-First World War Australia to the present day.

In the short time since its launch, in excess of 50,000 people have visited the exhibition in Albury-Wodonga, Launceston, Hobart, Ballarat and Bendigo. A community zone is created in each location in close collaboration with the communities being visited to tell the stories of local servicemen and women. I would like to acknowledge the significant contributions made by the Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience's corporate supporters, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Telstra, which have allowed this exhibition to be brought to life.

I believe the Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience will leave a legacy of increased understanding of Australia's wartime history and, through this, help carry forward the Anzac spirit and values. I encourage all those who have the opportunity to attend to do so.

Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program

I turn now to the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program. The government is committed to ensuring that the Anzac Centenary was not just about large-scale commemorative services at iconic international and national locations, such as Gallipoli and the Australian War Memorial, but also leaving a legacy in communities right across Australia. The Australian Centenary Local Grants Program was instrumental in enabling this local engagement, as many members from all sides have already attested when reporting the scope and resonance of community commemorative activities and projects that have occurred in their electorates. I remind members that of the over 1,800 applications received, 1,651 grants totaling $16.8 million (ex GST) across 150 electorates have been approved for projects demonstrating high levels of community engagement, innovation and educative value.

I thank once again the members of the many communities who have collaborated to devise these varied and ingenious projects, who joined local electorate committees, hosted by members of this parliament, to assist in the assessment of projects, and who, once the funding had been provided, volunteered their time and energy to ensure their delivery. It was the involvement of ordinary Australians, with extraordinary vision and commitment, who have made the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program the outstanding success it has been.

Anzac Centenary Public Fund

The Anzac Centenary Public Fund was established to collect donations from the public and the business sector to pursue a range of Anzac Centenary initiatives. I am pleased to report that, to date, the fund has received approximately $35.7 million in donations. This result would not have been achieved without the assistance of the fund's private fundraiser, Mr Lindsay Fox, and I would like to thank him for his efforts. He is an extraordinary Australian and has done a great job. I would also like to thank several of the corporate donors who have made significant contributions to the fund, including: ANZ, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the National Australia Bank, Telstra, Woodside, BHP and Rio Tinto.

The Anzac Centenary Public Fund Board, which is chaired by Mr Gary Humphries, provides advice to the government on the merits of proposed projects seeking funding, and I thank them for their work. Based on the recommendations of the board, some of the projects that have received funding include:

the Northern Territory's The Borella Ride, which received $1.7 million;

the Queensland Remembers Gallery and Exhibition—a new permanent exhibition gallery—which has received $350,000 of a total commitment of $6.9 million;

the Victorian Shrine of Remembrance Galleries, which has received $8.3 million of a total commitment of $22.5 million;

the New South Wales Hyde Park Memorial, which has received $3 million of a total commitment of $19.6 million;

the Adelaide Memorial Garden Walk, which has received $5.5 million;

the Hobart Pedestrian Bridge, which has received $3 million of a total commitment of $8 million; and

the Sir John Monash Anzac Centenary Scholarship, which has received $4 million to provide for one new three-year scholarship to be granted annually in perpetuity.

Australian War Memorial World War I Gallery

Australia in the Great War is the Australian War Memorial's new permanent exhibition on display in the First World War galleries, created in recognition of the centenary of the First World War and as part of the memorial's key contribution to the Anzac Centenary.

The exhibition presents the story of Australia in the First World War chronologically, covering all major theatres of operations, including Gallipoli; the Western Front; Sinai and Palestine; and the war at sea. The events taking place on the home front and the immediate and enduring legacy of the war are also included.

The First World War galleries integrate a wide variety of items, including dioramas and other works of art; uniforms; medals; technology such as artillery and firearms; photographs, film and personal items such as letters and diaries. Since the opening of the memorial in 1941, the First World War galleries have undergone several major alterations and many smaller updates.

The new state-of-the-art galleries now occupy the entire west wing of the memorial's ground level and contain ready-made content for the media to draw upon for the centenary years from general overarching themes down to individual stories from Australia's service men and women.

The $32.5 million redevelopment of the galleries received $28.7 million from the federal government, $3.82 million from the memorial's existing capital reserves and an additional $1 million donation from BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities. It provides a world-class display and presents the story of the First World War in a unique, memorable and relevant way for all Australians.

Conclusion

The delivery of the Anzac Centenary Program constitutes a major national effort involving all facets of the Australian community, and I would like to acknowledge the effort of all those who have contributed. I am confident that the initiatives that have already been delivered by the program, and those that are planned, will ensure that the Centenary of Anzac period will leave a legacy of reinvigorated national awareness and increased knowledge of Australian's military history and the service and sacrifice of all those who have served.

Mr FEENEY (Batman) (17:55): I rise to respond to the ministerial statement by the Minister for Veterans Affairs, the Hon. Stuart Robert, and I take this opportunity to formally congratulate him on his appointment to that important role. The opposition, the government and all other members of parliament recognise the significance of the centenary for the nation, and we continue to offer our bipartisan support for the Centenary of Anzac national program. In my capacity as shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs I had the very great honour of attending the Anzac Day commemorations in Turkey this year with the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten; the former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott; the former Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Senator the Hon. Michael Ronaldson; and many thousands of Australians and New Zealanders, including 10 widows of Australian First World War veterans. All the commemorative events were remarkably moving and powerful, all of them were brilliantly organised and all of them kept faith with our nation's resolve to commemorate those events 100 years ago in a way that does service to the men who went ashore a century ago and the resonance that that moment has had for contemporary Australia and our identity as a modern Australia. I thank all of those who worked so hard to commemorate the centenary of the Gallipoli landings.

Although the dawn service in Gallipoli in April this year was central to the significant commemorative events, there will of course be many important dates to commemorate over the four-year period of the centenary, including Armistice Day in 2018. For Australia, the Great War was tragic, profound and transformational. From a nation of some four to five million people at the time, over 400,000 Australians volunteered for that war and more than 330,000 served overseas. Of those, more than 60,000 never came home. Alongside the carnage and the suffering, we were witness to courage, tenacity, resilience and mateship—values that helped shape a young nation. Indeed, echoing the point made by the Minister for Veterans, Affairs, one of the most redeeming qualities of our commemoration of Gallipoli in particular is the tribute we paid to the bravery of troops who fought on both sides of that struggle, and it is of course a Gallipoli that we find the birth certificate of not just Australia but also the modern republic of Turkey.

During the Anzac Centenary, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to honour the service and sacrifice of those Australians who permanently linked these values and qualities with the name 'Anzac'. The Centenary of Anzac national program to date has achieved just that. We have commemorated more than a century of service and sacrifice by Australian service men and women in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations in which Australia has participated and continues to participate. The program honours generations of Australia's service men and women, past and present, and shows the continuity and strength of the Anzac inheritance.

Planning for the Anzac Centenary was begun by the former Labor government on Anzac Day 2010 with the establishment of the National Commission on the Commemoration of the Anzac Centenary. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the vital contribution made by two former ministers for Veterans Affairs—Warren Snowdon and Alan Griffin. The commission, led by former prime ministers the Rt Hon. Malcolm Fraser and the Hon. Bob Hawke, reported to government in March 2011 and recommended the establishment of the Anzac Centenary Advisory Board to carry the baton forward by developing a blueprint for a program of Anzac Centenary initiatives.

Since its establishment in October 2011, the board has provided regular advice to the government on the development of a blueprint for the Anzac Centenary Program. The board has also undertaken extensive consultation with the states and territories and local communities. On 21 April 2013 the former Labor government released the board's report on a program of initiatives to commemorate the Anzac Centenary. The board report put forward 25 recommendations, all of which we were accepted. I would like to thank the board and its chair, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston AC, AFC (Ret'd), for their excellent, well-considered document—and I know that he continued to work with the former minister, Senator Ronaldson, in setting up and implementing the architecture for the commemorations.

The desire of Australians to participate in commemorations marking the centenary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli is great and we welcome the minister's commitment to a program of domestic events in 2016 that will establish solemn, dignified and respectful commemoration. We also appreciate the update of international commemorative events for 2016. It should never be forgotten that we Australians are invited to Gallipoli, each year, to commemorate Anzac Day thanks to the government and the people of Turkey. It is by the goodwill of the government and the people of Turkey that so many Australians are welcomed so warmly each year.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank, on behalf of the Australian people, the Turkish authorities and people who help us stage Anzac Day services. I also congratulate the Australian embassy in Turkey and our consulate in Istanbul. Their work is extensive and vitally important to the success of these occasions. I extend our appreciation to the government and the people of Turkey for the ongoing cooperation, support and even enthusiasm for allowing us to hold commemorations, on a yearly basis, on Turkish soil. Our longstanding relationship and combined dedication to preserving and protecting the Gallipoli battlefields is paramount to the commemoration of the service of our forebears.

In France and Belgium we find the sites of some of the most significant Australian battles fought during the First World War, the battles of the Western Front. In April 2013, the former Minister for Veterans' Affairs, the Hon. Warren Snowdon MP, signed a memorandum of understanding with French minister Kader Arif that laid the groundwork for Australia's participation in commemorations in France. I welcome the minister's update to the House, today, regarding the commemorative events scheduled to mark the 100th anniversaries of the Battle of Fromelles and the Battle of Pozieres as well as the 14 July Bastille Day celebrations in Paris.

I also welcome the government's update on commemorations planned for both the Vietnam War and the Korean War. On 18 August 1966 the Battle of Long Tan was fought primarily between Delta Company of the 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, supported by other Australian task force elements, and a force of up to 2,500 men from the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army. Starting in the afternoon, the Battle of Long Tan was fought in a rubber plantation and lasted until the early morning of 19 August. The Australian Forces—remarkably—were able to repel the enemy assaults and inflict very heavy losses on the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army.

It was, arguably, the most significant action of the Vietnam War for Australian forces. It is certainly a battle that has captured and held the imagination of the Australian people and become one of the emblematic moments of that war for our nation. Eighteen Australian soldiers died and 24 were wounded. The Vietnam War took a heavy toll on our nation. As ever, the Australian soldiers serving in Vietnam upheld the very high standards of the ANZAC tradition and remained faithful to one another and their duty to the nation.

I also congratulate the minister for speaking to the Korean War. I know if former Prime Minister Julia Gillard were here she, too, would be delighted to see the Australian contribution to the Korean War given the substance and significance it deserves. In April 2011 Julia Gillard travelled to South Korea to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the very significant Battle of Kapyong. Fought in 1951, the Battle of Kapyong witnessed the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, side by side with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, withstand an advance of many thousands of People's Liberation Army soldiers, enabling our allies to withdraw to Seoul. It was a desperately fought action. Many lives were lost. So extraordinary was the Australian effort in that action that 3RAR was secured a US presidential citation. Perhaps in contrast to Long Tan, this is not an action that is well known in Australia but it deserves to be. That is why I am so pleased to hear it spoken of, today, by the minister.

We see greater and greater attendances at our commemorative events. While there is the occasional commentary about the appropriateness and place of these in our national life, Australians are voting with their feet. We see the crowds, gathering with dignity and solemnity at these events, grow year on year at local events and, centrally, at the major events here at the Australian War Memorial and elsewhere. Community participation is the way to ensure the Anzac legacy is passed to our next generation.

This is one of the main aims of the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program, which was an initiative introduced by the former Labor government to offer every Australian electorate the opportunity to commemorate the immense sacrifice our Anzacs made at the local level. The program provided grants to each of Australia's 150 federal electorates to support communities commemorating the centenary in ways of their own choosing. I congratulate the government on overseeing 1,800 applications, with 1,651 approved grants totalling $16.8 million, and I thank honourable members—on all sides of this House—for working with their communities to generate the ideas and make the most of this initiative.

In my home electorate of Batman, the program has made it possible for a wide range of local organisations and schools to pay tribute as we commemorate the centenary of World War I. Like every community, the community of Batman has its own unique Anzac story to tell, and this program ensured it was heard. The very first Australian casualty of World War I, Able Seaman Billy Williams, was a son of Northcote in my electorate. He was killed in the Battle of Bita Paka as a member of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force that successfully expelled the Germans from, what was then, German New Guinea. It is a deep privilege to have been able to work with so many members of my community to ensure that we have honoured our Anzacs, and I know that has been replicated in 150 efforts around the country.

Although the government made a number of significant funding commitments to the Anzac Centenary, to supplement this funding the former Labor government established an Anzac Centenary public fund to collect corporate donations. The minister has paid proper tribute to that today. I join with him in commending the significant role played by Mr Lindsay Fox, who has left no stone or high-wealth individual untouched in his effort to encouraging corporate donations and private philanthropy. I thank him for his remarkable efforts. I also join with the minister in acknowledging those Australian companies that have made very significant contributions to this fund: ANZ, the Commonwealth Bank, the National Bank of Australia, Telstra, Woodside, BHP and Rio Tinto.

I would just like to touch on the recent attacks on World War I graves that we were saddened to learn of just last week. Labor condemns the mindless vandalism of the Australian war graves in West London at St Mary's Churchyard Cemetery in Harefield. A quarter of the 112 graves of Australian soldiers killed in World War I and laid to rest there were targeted by vandals for the second time this year. This deliberate attack on Australian war graves is disturbing. Australian war graves are sacred places for all Australians, and attacking these graves is a cowardly and obscene act deplored by us all. These soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, and their graves are honoured by every Australian and, indeed, by thousands of Australians every year visiting Europe and visiting those places.

I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission not only for their swift work in restoring these graves and ensuring they are returned to their original condition but also for the work they do every day of the year. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission does an outstanding job, caring for and maintaining Australian war graves right around the world, and one cannot help but be affected by the sight of these carefully nurtured places in various places around the world, and by knowing that this fine and upstanding organisation, backed by Australians, does the job it does.

I also acknowledge the many other organisations that partner with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission which do an outstanding job. I was pleased to host, on 13 November, a visit to Australia by Warrant Officer Didier Pontzeele, head of the Belgian war graves service, who gave a wonderful series of speeches around the country and in my own electorate of Batman about the work he and his colleagues do, tending Australian graves in his country. It was a deeply affecting contribution but also very heartfelt, and it is a fine thing to know that people of his calibre look after these places right around the world, including of course, in his case, in Belgium.

In conclusion, the centenary is one of the most significant periods of commemoration in our nation's history. It is a time to reflect on the Anzac values of mateship, courage, sacrifice, loyalty and resilience, and on how these values are upheld by Australia's service men and women today. It is a time to reflect upon the impact that these struggles and fights, these failures and successes, have had in shaping modern Australia.

I thank the minister for his update and I thank all those who have ensured, and will continue to ensure, that our Centenary of Anzac national program achieves a series of commemorative events that allow us to reflect on our history as well as our future as a nation and to thank all those who have served and sacrificed for their country. I thank the House.

Mr IRONS (Swan) (18:09): I rise to speak on the terrorist attacks around the world and to support the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. I thank the member for Batman for his contribution just now, following the ministerial statement, and for reminding us all about the duty of our soldiers and other members of the armed services and of the work they do on the battlefields around the world and about how Anzac commemorations have paid tribute to them, going back through many years.

I do also want to mention the bill that just went through, the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill 2015. This is part of the total suite of packages that the government is putting together to help make Australians safer from terrorist attacks. I just wanted to mention my displeasure at the speech by the member from Melbourne, who was not supportive of the amendments or of the fact that this government, along with the opposition, in a bipartisan manner is trying to improve the safety of all Australians. His speech was an absolute disgrace. But I will move on from that and try to talk positively to the motion the Prime Minister and the opposition leader brought forward.

We are well aware of the vicious and cowardly terrorist attacks that locked down Paris on 13 November. Many of us watched it unfold on our TVs, and our thoughts turned to the victims of these cowardly attacks and to their families. Our thoughts are also with those in Australia who have family in France, who, I am sure, would have tried to contact them and establish their status as soon as they possibly could. Those attacks stole the lives of at least 129 people and injured hundreds more. Those organised attacks, which ISIL has taken responsibility for, saw eight killers—or, as we should call them, eight cowards—attack seven locations across the city. No country should ever have to endure what Paris did that night, and I join with the Prime Minister to extend my deepest condolences to the people of Paris.

Australia and many other countries around the world grieve with Paris. They do not stand alone in these attacks. Here in Australia we have experienced the Lindt cafe siege and the shooting of a Parramatta police worker, and they are still at the front of Australians' memories. Those wounds are still fresh. We mourn with Paris. We mourn for our loved ones lost, and for their loved ones lost as well.

According to local Middle East media, on Friday, 20 November, a bomb killed nine people just south of Baghdad, for which, again, ISIL is suspected. ISIL is not resting; they will not rest—but neither will we in our fight against them.

The 2014 Global Terrorism Index tells us that the world experienced a 61 per cent increase in the terrorist attacks in just that year and, in that same year, our national terrorism public alert level was raised to the status of 'High'. Since then, there have been 26 people charged, resulting from 10 counter-terrorism operations. There are currently more than 400 high-priority counter-terrorism ongoing investigations being managed by our security agencies. That means that there is an average of 2.6 high-priority counter-terrorism cases across each Australian electorate, which has doubled from what it was only a year ago. In a recent newspaper article we also noted that last year there were more than 1,000 people killed in terrorist attacks around the world. So, as the French President said, we are at war.

At the current time, there are 110 Australians known by our security agencies to be either fighting with or engaged with terrorist groups in Syria or Iraq. The number of Australians joining extremist groups is rising. The reality of home-grown terrorism is on the rise. Despite our best efforts, the risk of a terrorist attack on home soil is rising. The Parramatta shooting and Lindt cafe siege, as I mentioned before, were just the start. Now is the time to make sure we are doing all we can to preserve the safety of our citizens. We have to respond to this worsening threat picture.

I note that this morning the member for Dawson brought to the House a motion on the violent extremism in Australian society. I note also that the member for Macarthur and the member for Hughes—you, Mr Deputy Speaker Kelly—spoke on that particular motion. I would like to quote some passages from that motion because I think it is very relevant to the terrorism that we see rising across the world.

The member for Dawson stated:

This motion concerns the threat of violent extremism, particularly in the form of radical Islam, in Australia, a the threat that has been borne out in this country. This is not violence for the sake of violence; it is violence driven by an extreme ideology, a jihadist ideology that does not accept the Australian way of life.

The ideology of Islamism despises our freedom, hates democracy and rejects our values—Australian values—which are very clearly defined. They are no state secret. When someone applies for a provisional, permanent or temporary visa, applicants must sign a statement that they have read and understood about the following Australian values: respect for freedom and dignity of the individual; freedom of religion; commitment to the rule of law, parliamentary democracy, equality of men and women, and the spirit of egalitarianism; and embraces things like mutual respect, tolerance, fair play and compassion for those in need in pursuit of the public good. These are the values that new citizens and new entrants to Australia sign up to, but not all citizens—or, indeed, their children—agree with these values in practice. In practice, some people hate these values. Those people can be found in Paris, they can be found in Europe, they can be found in the Middle East. Sadly, they can be found in Australia.

We would be kidding ourselves to think everyone in this country subscribes to our common set of values, and we would be foolish to think that there are not jihadists in this country who wish to do us harm because of who we are and the values that we hold dear as a nation.

That was from the member for Dawson's speech. I also acknowledge the speech that the member for Hughes made and also the member for Macarthur. It reminds me of a comment that was made by the previous Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, the honourable Scott Morrison, who is now the Treasurer. When he was immigration minister he said that those who come to this country should come to 'join us', not 'change us'. I think that resonates well amongst most of the people in Australia. We are a welcoming community. We are a community that is built on multiculturalism and immigration. One of the aspects of the Australian nature is to be very generous and welcoming to new citizens in this country. I think that the minister's comment is very relevant.

Early this year, a review was conducted into our counter-terrorism capacity. The report stated that our recent years have been shaped by the rising of terrorist and extremist groups and that these groups have had unprecedented appeal and reach into Australian communities. As a government, we are committed to countering home-grown terrorism by investing in counter-terrorism capabilities and updating national security legislation like the legislation before us today. On 30 October 2014, we introduced the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2014 into the parliament, meaning that Australian telecommunications companies keep a limited set of metadata—information about the circumstances of a communication—for two years. On 3 November 2014, the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fighters) Act 2014 received royal assent, amending 22 acts to respond to the threat posed by Australians engaging in, and returning from, conflicts in foreign states. The legislation strengthened our ability to arrest, monitor, investigate and prosecute returning foreign fighters and onshore extremists. On 2 December 2014 we passed the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1), which responds to urgent operational requirements identified by law enforcement, intelligence and defence agencies.

I will also speak about the rising tide of terrorism in Australia and why it has become harder to combat. There are an increasing number of potential terrorists, supporters and sympathisers in our country. There is also the trend of lone-actor attacks. The Lindt cafe siege and the Parramatta shooting were both lone-actor attacks. It means there may be no visibility of planning and no time delay between intent and action. Terrorists are using sophisticated technologies and methodologies to stay under the radar and they are now adept at exploiting social media to distribute propaganda products. We need to counter the extreme corrupting messages of ISIL, and violent extremists, in schools, mosques and online and through social media. We cannot let them brainwash our children, our neighbours or our future leaders. We are well aware ISIL will get through to us by spreading fear. We will not be scared by this group. They have no power over us.

I would like to quote some passages from the Prime Minister's speech on his motion:

This was a coordinated attack involving eight killers and six locations. It was more than a lone-wolf attack, but it was not an elaborately sophisticated one. It reminds us that a few fanatics with automatic weapons and explosives can do great damage and strike at the heart of free, open and democratic societies. This was not just an assault on French lives and French freedoms. It was an attack on all humanity, on all our freedoms—the freedom to gather and to celebrate, the freedom to share time with our family and friends, the freedom to walk our streets without fear. That is why, when I spoke with both President Francois Hollande and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, I conveyed not just the heartfelt sympathy but the unwavering solidarity of all Australians with the people of France.

The Prime Minister went on to say:

The Paris attacks—all of these attacks—highlight just how critical it is that the international community cooperates to defeat ISIL in the field, in its space, in Syria and Iraq. They highlight how important it is for us more effectively to counter the corrupting messaging of ISIL and other violent extremists in schools, in mosques and, above all, online.

We have been undermining and will continue to undermine terrorist support and activity. Our efforts to detect and undermine terrorist support have been effective despite their increasing volume and significance. We must continue to stop the flow of terrorist support.

In 2013, a Sydney based man was arrested in Sydney and charged with facilitating the recruitment of Australians to train and/or fight with terrorist groups in Syria, including Jabhat al-Nusra. Since 2011, the number of passport cancellations has been increasing exponentially, reducing the flow of Australian fighters supporting terrorist groups.

Last Monday, I asked the Prime Minister to outline the collective response of global leaders to this crisis. The Prime Minister told the House that the international response to the terrorist attacks, not only in Paris but in other countries too, was at the forefront of the discussions of recent international summits and that all leaders agreed that the fight against terrorism was the major priority in national security. He said that ISIL must be defeated in the field and that Australia has the second largest foreign military contribution of coalition partners in the battle. I endorse and echo his points.

I also heard the member for Canberra speak about the treatment by ISIL of women in Iraq and Syria and the strategy of rape and abuse of women—how that should be abhorrent to all Australians and that we should keep that at the forefront of our minds when we think about what these ISIL people do and what they are about. They are about fear; they are about striking at the heart of what our society is about. Who can forget the Yazidi woman who entered the Iraqi parliament and was pleading for help from everyone, for all nations, in the fear that ISIL was going to wipe out the Yazidi race? Here in Australia we might think we have had some experiences in our nation such that we need our armed forces, the AFP and our border force to protect us. But to actually live in that environment and to know that you are going to be subject to persecution by ISIL must create absolute fear for the people of those nations, particularly the Yazidi race.

We are working with our allies and we will defeat ISIL. We have a fight on our hands, one that will bring Australia and other global leaders together. We will band together to achieve a lasting defeat of ISIL. I think all Australians should take into consideration supporting these amendments and related legislation. I congratulate the opposition and thank them for their bipartisan support of the legislation that we are bringing in as a suite to secure the safety of all Australians and to protect other nations from people who leave Australia to go and fight with the ISIL terrorists and extremists. So, again, I support the motion, and I thank the House for the opportunity to speak on it.

Mr BROUGH (Fisher—Minister for Defence Materiel and Science and Special Minister of State) (18:24): In speaking on this motion regarding terrorist attacks around the world I would first of all like to acknowledge and pass on my condolences to not only the people of France and those who have lost loved ones—family and friends—but also the people of Ankara, who lost over 200 of their brethren in the Russian plane that was shot down. The one thing we have all come to recognise is that terrorism knows no international boundaries. It touches lives equally no matter your language, your creed or your colour, and sadly here in Australia as well—in Parramatta, in Melbourne and in Sydney. So I think it is poignant at the start of my statement here tonight to acknowledge the pain and suffering that is so real for these individual families as they live with the horror of their lives being shattered in a moment of madness.

Back on 3 September last year I gave a speech in the Federation Chamber in which I reflected on Iraq and Syria, as we pretty much are doing today, and the circumstances around terrorism. I said then, unequivocally, that as much as we may wish that there were alternatives, the reality is that the world has no choice but to destroy ISIS and everything it stands for at its core, because, like moths attracted to a flame, people from all over the world—through social media, through the brilliance of the internet—are able to be reached, encouraged and drawn. So it does not take many people to make a massive impact on the world—sadly. I guess that is one of the things that has changed so much in recent times. Instead of conflicts being very much isolated to a region, through technology they can reach out their tentacles and reach literally anyone, anywhere, at any time. That creates challenges for the world. It creates social challenges as well as security challenges, and world leaders are dealing with this in different ways.

The terrorist attacks in Paris have been a moment in time when now we finally see the sort of language we need from world leaders. That language is considered, but you can also see that it is robust, and it is determined. Until all of us, with differing belief systems and different political systems, when the initial pain subsides, recognise that we are all equally at risk, that it is our people whom we need to protect, that we need to maintain the resolve we are now seeing from international leaders, that unless we remain resolute and that unless we continue in a single, focused manner to destroy—and I use that word very deliberately—ISIS at its heart, then this menace will continue to come back time and time again, wreaking havoc and pain and suffering on innocent people all around the world.

I and many of my colleagues who have spoken on this motion reflect upon some of the attitudes and concerns that we hear in our own electorates. People have every right to be fearful. That is what terrorism does: it strikes fear in people's hearts. That is what it is designed to do. We all remember back in the seventies when it seemed that there were hijackings all the time; it was always on the news. They was designed to make people fearful.

We as a nation can fight back as individuals by our very actions, just as the French people are doing by going to public places and not being intimidated. One of the ways in which I sense that we can lose the battle on an individual basis, in our communities, is when we isolate groups because of their religion and then persecute them as a whole. What we must persecute and prosecute are people who speak against Australia and its laws and speak for terror and tyranny. Those are the people whom we need to home in on, in a laser like fashion, with our attitudes, our comments and all our energies. We need to embrace the broader community.

I want to reflect on a sad indictment of a small number of people. It is probably best to be positive, but we need to highlight some of the underbelly that is there as well. Recently, on Facebook, I put up a photograph of an Australian female Navy captain who had won the Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year award. You would think everyone would applaud that. But, because she was wearing her Muslim headdress in formal attire, some of the vitriol was un-Australian and downright disgraceful. Those people are dancing to the tune of the terrorists, because this brave Australian woman has fought in the battles that we have had in the Middle East on operations for Australia, for our values and for our freedoms. We still have a small minority of people who wish to denigrate this woman because of her religion. I find that behaviour not just abhorrent but dangerous because it is dancing to the tune of the terrorists.

Every time we isolate someone, we actually assist the terrorists' activities. So it behoves us all to understand our fellow citizens better, to understand the differences and to embrace the differences, but we must never, ever tolerate intolerance and the calls for anarchy, for terrorism or for anything that is un-Australian, because, after all, we all exist in this country under one law. I do not care what political persuasion a person in this place has. There are some as Far Left as the Greens, there are some on the Far Right, as some of my colleagues here are, and there is everyone in between—and I never pointed out the National Party, I say to my colleague sitting here! But all jokes aside, it is a serious issue. We have a broad range of views, but we are all as one in saying that Australia will be governed by one law for all. The distortion being put that somehow this parliament would allow people to have different laws, and using that as an excuse to denigrate a particular section of our community, again plays into the hands of the terrorists. It weakens us as a people and it does us no good.

Each and every one of us in this community can, every day, play a small role in protecting our values and protecting our society, from a security perspective, by the way in which we deal with each other, the way in which we understand each other and the way in which we tolerate those differences and embrace those differences. At the same time, we must be absolutely steadfast in maintaining our national law, a unified one law, and, at all times, treat those who would do us harm with total disdain and the full force of the law.

In my final comments here today, I want to particularly pay due respect, as the Minister for Defence Materiel and Science, to the men and women who are currently giving their all for us in this battle. People forget this. They see these images, but there is somehow a disconnect. Australia is actually at war; we have troops in harm's way. Some of those troops are the Australian Special Operations Task Group—about 80 personnel. They are providing advice and assistance to the Iraqi counter-terrorism service. You can only imagine how important that work is. We have the best in the world and they are imparting their knowledge, their expertise, their professionalism and their esprit de corps to the Iraqis. I am sure they value it, and we value the work of the Australian Special Operations Task Group. There is also the combined Australian-New Zealand Task Group, which is training the regular Iraqi army forces as part of the US-led Building Partner Capacity mission. These 300 Australian and 110 New Zealand personnel are working together, as our countries have done for over 100 years, in another part of the world but in the interests of our protection here. I say to those who keep missing the connection: if we do not take them on at their base, their light remains lit, the flame grows and, by using the internet and social media, moths are attracted to that flame, and the destruction can be very real. There are also 400 personnel in our Air Task Group operating as part of the broader coalition. They continue to strike at the heart of ISIS, Daesh or whatever you want to call them, in Iraq and Syria, taking the fight directly to the militants who wish to destroy us. The Australian Air Task Group is there, with its F18s, its multirole tanker transport and its E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft. We owe a great deal of gratitude to all of the men and women of our Air Force and the personnel from the Navy and Army. Many of them will not get to do what we will do in a couple of weeks, which is to spend time with our family over Christmas. Their children may, at best, get a Skype or a video, but they will be over there doing their duty as professionals as part of the coalition, trying to make the world a safer place.

At this time, I conclude my remarks by saying to all Australians: please, spare a few moments of thought and compassion for those who do not just talk about it but have actually put their lives on the line and are leading with experience and with dedication, but also with passion to ensure that we have a safer world. If we act together, we can do it, and we can do it in our lifetime.

Mrs PRENTICE (Ryan) (18:36): We refer to ourselves as the lucky country, and indeed we are. But there is another well-known saying: you make your own luck. Just as we make our own luck, we earn our own freedoms. In our country, there is a statistically small number of men and women who earn our freedoms, who keep us lucky and who, if you will, protect us in times of trouble, both at home and abroad. They are the ones who run towards a fire, not away from it. They are the ones who are willing to be covered with blood or mud, or wade through freezing, fast water, or stand in the blazing sun for hours, or dangle from a rope over a cliff or out of a helicopter. They are our emergency services and our military personnel and, lucky for us, they are the best in the world.

Many of my colleagues have spoken about the current spate of terrorism around the world. I have no intention of mentioning the name of any terrorist organisation today. I choose not to give them the satisfaction of being the focus of my contribution to this debate. Instead, I choose to highlight how the attacks in the last month in Bangladesh, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Somalia, Lebanon and, of course, France, bring to the forefront of our minds those members of our community who must experience firsthand the aftermath of such atrocities—our front line of emergency services, security agencies and military forces. To use the words of Winston Churchill: they are the few.

I choose to place on the record in this place my support and admiration for the more than 7,000 men and women of the Australian Defence Force who live in the electorate of Ryan. I choose to send my best wishes to their families and their friends—those who are waiting for their loved ones to come home from deployment, where they are serving on our behalf and are working to eradicate those who would harm others to further their tangled ideologies and agendas. I thank the volunteers and staff of humanitarian organisations who live and work in refugee camps, helping the dispossessed, the victims of war and/or oppression—often from their own people. I thank the overseas post and embassy staff who live in countries where they themselves may become targets while assisting their fellow citizens, just because they are Australians.

I choose to thank the men and women of Border Force, along with our Navy and Airforce, who work at our ports and airports and around our expansive coastline, keeping a vigilant eye on our safety and on who and what comes to our country. I also thank the hundreds of staff at ASIO, ASIS, AFP, Special Forces and DFAT, who, day in and day out, analyse threats and make potentially life or death decisions to counteract schemes that we will never know existed, hopefully. I thank our fire and rescue services, who, of course, douse fires but who are also ready to prise someone out of a car or a building, to lift a train carriage or to clear a tunnel that has collapsed. I choose to recognise the ambulance officers who, as well as saving lives, live with the possibility of becoming secondary targets themselves when attending to the injured in a violent situation of any kind—domestic or terrorism related. And, finally, I thank the police—the people we call first and just assume they will come, and they do. Their families live daily with the knowledge that every day they go to work is a day that they may not come home in one piece.

These are the dedicated, highly trained and motivated members of our community who reinforce my belief in our lucky country and, indeed, make it a reality. These are the people who, should the worst happen, choose to be the first on the scene. Every day we should give thanks for their diligence and dedication, which ensures that we can continue to enjoy our way of life. May we never need to test their resolve.

Mr BALDWIN (Paterson) (18:41): I start by offering my sincere condolences to those who have lost loved ones due to the senseless, extremist terrorist attacks, both abroad and at home, in recent times. It sickens me; it sickens my peace-loving community. These cowardly, extremist Daesh cult attacks are designed to attack the innocent and to instil fear across the community. There is no room in the world for Daesh death cults, no room for those extremists who, in reality, betray their own religious teachings.

I am neither a hawk nor a dove when it comes to military matters, but I firmly, without reservation, believe that when action needs to be taken, when all other avenues have been exhausted, it needs to be hard, swift and with the full might of all militaries involved to stop this senseless murder as soon as possible. While we have all been shocked by the Paris massacre, there have been more—too many more. All this radicalisation and terrorism is done in the name of a Daesh Muslim extremist cult's desire to rid the world of the infidels, yet many of the Muslims I know are not extremist. They abhor the actions that have been taken by these extremists.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL, has executed more than 3,000 people in Syria in the year to 29 June 2015, since it declared itself a caliphate. They include 1,787 civilians, of whom 74 were children, according to a media report in the Observatory. To label all Muslims as extremists is unjust, unfair. As I said, the ISIL Daesh cult are murdering their own Muslim people—they do not discriminate. A recent partial history of attacks includes: 23 September 2014 in Melbourne, when 18-year-old Numan Haider stabbed two counter-terrorism officers in Endeavour Hills, a suburb of Melbourne, in Victoria. He was then shot dead. Then, on the 15 December 2014, a self-proclaimed Muslim sheikh, Man Haron Monis, took 17 people hostage inside the Lindt chocolate cafe in Sydney. He forced hostages to hold up a jihadist black flag against a window of the cafe. In the early hours of 16 December, following the escape of several of the hostages, police breached the cafe and fatally shot Monis. Sadly, two hostages, Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson, also died, while another four people, including a police officer, were injured in the incident. Then, on 7 January 2015 in Paris, two heavily armed gunmen entered the Paris offices of satirical news magazine Charlie Hebdo and killed 12 people, including two police officers, and injured 10, all for a satirical cartoon. Where is the mutual tolerance preached by some? And then five days later, on 12 January 2015, in another massacre linked to the Charlie Hebdo massacre, another five people were gunned down at a Jewish supermarket.

Australian terrorist Willie Brigitte was in contact with the perpetrators Cherif and Said Kouchi and Amedy Coulibaly whilst in Fleury-Merogis prison, where Brigitte is held. He is alleged to have been involved in the plotting of both of those attacks. Willie Brigitte and his wife were arrested in 2003 in Australia and deported to France for being part of a terrorist group planning attacks at Holsworthy Army Barracks and the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor.

Plotting and planning can cross borders with modern communication means, but it can also lead to the revealing of a plot. The planned Anzac Day 2015 terror plot was foiled. A teenage girl, Sevdet Besim, was romantically linked to a 14-year-old British boy planning an Anzac Day terror plot in Melbourne. The boy was sentenced to a life sentence with a minimum five-year term in jail by a UK court earlier this month for masterminding the plot to carry out the suicide attacks on police officers at the Melbourne Anzac Day parade. The girl exchanged thousands of messages over eight days with the teenage boy who planned the foiled attack. The court heard that Sevdet Besim became obsessed with the idea of suicide bombing and martyrdom. Both Sevdet Besim and her co-plotter Harun Causevic have been charged with conspiracy to commit acts done in preparation for, or planning of, terrorists acts and held without bail—and rightly so.

Then, on 26 June at the Tunisian tourist resort at Port El Kantaoui, north of Sousse, 38 people were mercilessly gunned down. Three months before that, at the Bardo National Museum, another 22 had been killed. Then, on the 2 October 2015, a radicalised 15-year-old Iranian-born, Iraqi-Kurdish boy, Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar, shot dead an innocent 58-year-old accountant, Curtis Cheng, who worked for the New South Wales Police Force, outside the Parramatta police headquarters. The boy then shot at special constables guarding the building. He was shot dead. NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said:

We believe that his actions were politically motivated and therefore linked to terrorism.

On 31 October in Egypt, ISIL affiliated Wilayah Sayna militants claimed destruction of Metrojet flight 9268. It has been confirmed that the aircraft had been bombed. Two hundred and twenty four innocent people were killed. Then, on 12 November 2015 in Beirut, an ISIL suicide bomber detonated a bike loaded with explosives and, when onlookers gathered, another suicide bomber detonated himself on them, bringing the casualties to 43 dead and 240 wounded.

The next day, on 13 November in Paris, 130 innocent people were killed, plus the perpetrators, and 368 were injured, including 19-year-old Emma Parkinson, who was shot in the buttocks. A series of coordinated attacks began over about 35 minutes at six locations in central Paris. The first shooting occurred in a restaurant and a bar in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. There were more shootings and bombs detonated at Bataclan theatre in the 11th arrondissement during a rock concert. Approximately 100 hostages were taken and, sadly, 89 were killed. Other bombings took place outside the Stade de France in the suburb of Saint-Denis during a football match between France and Germany.

Also on 13 November, there were attacks targeting Shiites in Baghdad, including suicide bombers. The blasts killed 19 and left 33 wounded. ISIL has claimed responsibility for these attacks. Last week on 24 November in Tunisia, a bomb exploded on a bus packed with Tunisian presidential guards in the capital Tunis, killing 12 and injuring 17 people in an attack one source said was probably the work of a suicide bomber. Then, just days ago on 27 November, 21 people were killed after a suicide bomber blew himself up in the crowds at a Shia Muslim procession near the northern Nigerian city of Kano.

In Australia we expect those who choose to live here to support the freedoms of the Australian way of life. It is of concern that some choose not to, and I believe that there is no place for them here in Australia. To preach hatred and to insight people to acts of violence and terrorism is not Australian and it should not occur on our soil.

I, like many, was concerned following the Paris attacks when the Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, dismissed antiterror strategies as ineffective, while saying the focus should be on racism, Islamophobia, foreign policies and military intervention. How wrong he is! He later corrected his statement when he told media he has always consistently and unequivocally condemned all forms of terrorist violence. Many other Australian Islamic organisations were quick to condemn the ISIL attacks and distance moderate Muslims from being responsible. They condemned the attacks—and I would point out that many of those who were victims in Paris were also Muslims.

We as a nation are a tolerant, welcoming people. When we accept people into Australia, we expect them to live by our country's laws and respect fellow Australians. There is no room in Australia for sharia law. The displays of terrorism related activities and the incitement of others is not acceptable by any means. Race riots are unforgivable. There is no place in Australia for that.

I can accept the preachings by many Muslim religious leaders crying out for tolerance. But tolerance is a two-way street. I, like many of my constituents, am rightly offended by the demand by some Muslim clerics that any religious festival or prayer is un-Australian because it may offend them. It is offensive to me that I would have to sacrifice what I believe in through my faith just to appease others. I have no issue with Muslims celebrating their festivals and their religious days, but to exclude what I and many believe in because it offends them is not tolerance. Stopping the celebration of Christmas and Easter, the two most holy days of our Christian calendar, is not tolerance. It is discrimination.

As I said, tolerance is a two-way street. There is room in Australia for all. This is Australia and, as others have often quoted, if you do not like Australia and all it has to offer, then do not come, do not stay, go back to where you came from. Do not bring your battles to my homeland. If you want to participate in religious wars and vendettas from where you came, then go back to where you came from.

I was proud the speak on the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill 2015, which will strip the citizenship of dual nationals who fight against Australia in the name of terrorism. In my eyes, it is a treason against my nation. If you want to abide by our laws and partake in all the freedoms and the benefits of our great democracy, then you are welcome. But do not come to Australia to change it to what you have escaped. Do not use Australia as your safe haven whilst fighting for terrorism overseas.

At the weekend I was at Nelson Bay. I was approached by a young man asking whether he will need to join the army and go to war to fight terrorism to protect his Australia. This is typical of how Australians are viewing the current situation. Community concern is rising and rightly so with the increasing spate of terrorism attacks and number of people—over 400—currently being investigated in Australia for involvement in terrorism activities.

I also personally and firmly believe that if my home, Australia, was being attacked and taken over by some Islamic State terrorist group I would stay to fight, not flee. I would expect the same of my sons, as indeed most Australians would of theirs. What I have noticed, as have many of my constituents, is that a large number of the refugees fleeing Syria, Iraq and other war-torn countries seem to be predominantly males between 18 and 45. I have to ask the question on behalf of my constituents: why are they not staying and training to defend their land, their lifestyle and their rights? I have no problem with and totally support women, children and the elderly being removed from danger, but it is a bit rich to expect others from foreign countries to lay down their lives for you if you are not prepared to stand and fight.

One of my concerns is also the proper vetting of those fleeing and seeking refuge to make sure that they are not sleepers seeking to infiltrate and plan and plot terrorism activities in Australia as is alleged to have happened in Paris. There is still inconclusive evidence that the passport of a terrorist found at the site of the Paris massacre was fake alleging the cowardly assassin was a fleeing refugee. The media report in RTsaid:

The mastermind of the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris was planning more attacks targeting Jews, schools and transport system, media reports say. He also mocked EU's open border policy that allowed him to enter as a refugee.

Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian citizen of Moroccan origin and Islamic State extremist who was behind the massacre in a concert hall and near the stadium in Paris, told his cousin, Hasna Ait Boulahcen, "they would do worse (damage) in districts close to the Jews and would disrupt transport and schools," according to a witness statement cited by the French Valeurs Actuelles weekly magazine.

Abaaoud approached his cousin two days after the attacks and asked to hide him, while he was planning new terrorist acts. He also promised to give Boulahcen €5,000 … so that she could buy two suits and two pairs of shoes for him and his accomplice, who has not been identified yet.

The terrorists planned to use the suits to blend into the crowd and "look the part" during a planned attack on Paris' commercial district La Defense, French media reports.

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins confirmed that the extremists indeed plotted an attack on La Defense.

According to a confidential police witness statement leaked to Valeurs Actuelles this week, Abaaoud also mocked the European open-border Schengen system by boasting about freely and easily slipping into Europe with refugees and living for two months in France unnoticed.

Abaaoud claimed he exploited the ongoing migrant crisis and entered Europe from Syria through Greece disguised as a refugee. He also described France as "zero," apparently referring to the authorities' inability to detect him, Valeurs Actuelles reports citing the witness statement.

It concerns me that people are taking advantage of nations' generosity, seeking to destroy and disrupt the way of life of the innocent. All that can be done must be done. We need to stamp out these extreme terrorism acts now, before it is too late.

Mr HUTCHINSON (Lyons) (18:56): This is beyond comprehension. This is the challenge that we face. The senselessness of the recent attacks that occurred in Paris have left us, I think, quite numb. My reaction on hearing the news was just disbelief and numbness. It was not anger. It was not a want for retribution. It was just a complete and utter void. It seemed so senseless as news came out of the 130 people who were tragically killed as a result of these senseless and evil people who have perpetrated this act on one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is beyond comprehension. It is so foreign to everything that I think this country stands for and that ultimately I think humanity stands for. More than anything else, this evil attack was an attack on humanity itself.

I note the comments of the previous speaker, the member for Paterson, that as Australians we have the greatest privilege of any people on Earth perhaps. All of us came here one way or another as immigrants, ultimately. With the privileges that citizenship in this country give us, the responsibilities that equally come with those privileges are something that we should contemplate every day. These people are challenging the things that we do not think about day to day because they are inherently within us, because we are, as the member for Paterson said, a tolerant people. We are people who have welcomed people from around the world. We have supported them in their time of need. We have been a generous country from day one. The questions that we are all being asked at the moment are so inherently un-Australian.

In speaking on this motion, I would like to pass on my condolences to the families and friends of all of those people who were tragically killed and injured most recently. In recent days, many have mentioned Tasmanian Emma Parkinson. I do not know her; I have never met Emma. Her response, having been in that place, was quite inspiring—that this was an attack on humanity and is something that we must all stand up and fight. I do not suppose that the families of those people killed in Paris will ever hear the speeches that have been made in this place, recognising our sorrow at the loss of those innocent lives. I know that the sympathy of Australians, including the people of my electorate, go out to all of those people. It was an attack on humanity.

As the Prime Minister said, we should grieve and it is right that we should be angry. But we cannot let our judgement be blindsided. We must remain cool and logical in how we respond. This is what I want to work through now. Despite the confusion and concerns that I think we all have, it is a time to take stock. This has shone a light, if it were needed, on another act by these evil people who are part of the IS scourge around the world. Our country's response to this terror threat has been equal to any in the world. It is a global problem that will ultimately require a global response. Regardless of your faith, the colour of your skin or the language that you speak, ISIS absolutely must be defeated.

I want to reassure this country about border protection and Australia's safety. I note the important role that the member for Wannon plays in this place as the chair of the committee that oversees security within our nation. Australia has the very best security agencies in the world that talk and communicate with the very best security agencies all around the world. As I speak, I am sure that somewhere in the ASIO, Department of Defence, ASIS and other buildings there are men and women working to protect our nation right now. They certainly will not be listening to what I am saying! But, on behalf all of the people of my electorate, I thank them for the work that they do. It is difficult work. I cannot even appreciate how difficult it is, but I thank them for the work that they do every day to ensure that our nation remains safe.

I am very proud of the security and intelligence agencies that are working extremely hard to ensure our safety. These are very complicated situations. We are dealing with new technologies and criminals who are increasingly using new methods to recruit people to their cause. It is very important that our security services remain resolute in stopping those who would wish to do our country harm, and that they are supported in every way.

Since winning the election in 2013, nobody could criticise or question the commitment that this government has shown to national security and respecting our borders. In relation to Australia's border protection policies, there are some, even in this place, who, only a matter of weeks ago, criticised decisions that the government was making with the ultimate objective of keeping our country and its people safe. They were considered too harsh—for example, the security screening that is required of people who want to come to this country. This is not something that can be comprised. I suspect that the events of recent weeks may have quietened some of those voices.

In respect of the religious aspects, it is vital that, in our response, we remember not to persecute Islam or Muslims in general, but we must hunt down the individuals who are attacking the religion of Islam as much as they are attacking humanity. We must not generalise, but we also must not insulate specific groups. We must unite and work together to defeat ISIS. They want us to hate each other. They are using hatred as a tool. By showing intolerance, we will assist the terrorists.

In our own country, we have seen the attack on the Lindt cafe, attacks on people going about their business to work and young men attacking police officers. This is not the Australian way. Many people have contacted my office. I understand that there are people in my electorate who are scared, angry and concerned about what has happened in recent times. They are concerned that the government is doing enough to protect the country from the atrocities that recently occurred in Paris. I reassure all those people that this government is doing everything it can; it is the first priority of this government to protect our people, but we must stand together as one nation. The terrorists of today take aim at people regardless of their race or religion. ISIS has killed en masse many Muslims in this process. We will defeat these groups, but not by going—a race or a culture—it alone. We must work as humans, as people of good humanity, in a united way. We need the support, absolutely, of our community leaders from all religions and all ethnic groups to be involved in this process.

IS is attacking Islam and the Muslim faith as much as it is attacking humanity in general. But the Muslim leaders in our country must continue to campaign within their respective communities, and that goes to the very top of the tree. I know that people in my electorate were, frankly, confused and disgusted by some of the responses of Muslim leaders in our country to these attacks. So it is a time for them to show leadership in this space. We will support them but only if they stand up and support what it means to be Australian.

Australia is doing more than its share to fight this scourge of terrorism. Australia has troops on the ground. Australia has Air Force troops putting their lives at risk over Iraq. Unlike 70 per cent of all the money that was pledged to support those countries in the region that are bearing the brunt, Australia has pledged and paid that money. In Jordan and Lebanon, only 30 per cent, or thereabouts, of the money that has been pledged from around the world has been received to go to their efforts to deal with this torrent of humanity that is flowing across the border from Syria and Iraq. Australia is doing its bit.

We have agreed to take 12,000 refugees from Syria, and I know that there is some concern within my community about who they are. I reassure the people in my electorate and more broadly around Australia that we will have the appropriate security checks, the appropriate character checks and the appropriate health checks on these people to make sure that they are the sort of people that can start a new life in Australia and add to our country to make it a better place. Our laws in Australia are not negotiable. When you come to this country, you live by Australian laws. That is not negotiable. It is not something that we talk about, because it is instinctive in all of us.

Mr Frydenberg: A mutual obligation.

Mr HUTCHINSON: It is a mutual obligation, as the Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia at the table has suggested, and I applaud the comments that he has made in recent days. The government are doing that, but we absolutely need the leaders of the communities where these young men, primarily, are getting into huge trouble to stand up and condemn this without any doubt, so that Australians, who are tolerant people, will understand.

Mr COLEMAN (Banks) (19:11): I rise this evening to convey my outrage at the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and other places, and to express my deepest condolences to the families of all of the victims. I would also like to reflect on the overall battle with terrorism in which we are engaged. Our response to these events should be threefold: to express solidarity with the affected nations, to unambiguously express our revulsion at the evil people who have committed these deeds, and to redouble our efforts to stamp out ISIL and its sympathisers.

Evil has lurked in every era in history. The great paradox of humanity is that, while the world always improves over time, that improvement is frequently punctuated by barbaric events. This has always been true, and will continue to be true while darkness exists in humanity. In most of the world, it is much better to be alive now than it was 100 years ago or 500 years ago. Over the centuries, we have found better ways to govern ourselves, to respect one another and to resolve disputes through debate rather than war. Of course, this progress has been marked by horrendous evil events. In the past century, we experienced not only the Nazi atrocities of World War II but genocides perpetrated by governments all over the world against their own people.

In every age, civilised people have had to stand up against those who would seek to destroy us. The manner in which we stand against evil varies according to the circumstances, but stand up we have and we must. We should not forget that, until the very recent past, the threat of global nuclear war was real. We are fortunate that that threat, in recent years, has largely passed. This happened not through luck but through a mixture of successful military, diplomatic and economic policies that brought the communist world to its knees.

Today, our enemy is the evil of terrorism, practised in its most barbaric forms by ISIL. We must defeat ISIL by denying it territory, denying it funds and denying it supporters. Military action is essential to success in this battle. Controlling territory enables ISIL the physical space it requires in order to organise its activities and train terrorists. This territory must be taken away from it. Central to this is cooperation amongst all of the international powers who are acting in Iraq and Syria against this evil group. All of the international community's efforts should be pointed at ISIL in this theatre of war. Coordination, too, with local resistance must occur in order for ISIL to be eliminated. We should work closely with those on the ground who are risking their lives to defeat this evil organisation. Most of these groups are not admirable, and many of them will have been involved in activities that we find deplorable, but we must embrace a practical policy with the paramount goal of destroying ISIL. Necessarily, this will involve working with groups that we would not otherwise support.

For hundreds of years, the politics of the Middle East have been troubled, and we cannot pretend that peace and prosperity are likely to reign in that region anytime soon. All governance options in Iraq and Syria are imperfect, but we have to confront the cold, practical reality that ISIL threatens the world in ways that other actors in that region do not. ISIL must be eliminated. It may be too ambitious to expect a lasting peace in that region, but a future without ISIL is infinitely superior to one with it. In concert with its military efforts, the international community needs to engage in negotiations that lead to a post-ISIL environment in which all racial and religious parts of Syrian and Iraqi societies are represented in their government. This will take years to achieve and will be extraordinarily complex, but it must be done if that region is to live with at least some level of peace.

We must deny ISIL territory and we must deny it any part of a political solution in Iraq and Syria. We must destroy it where it is based, but we must also deny it followers—many of whom come from places far away from Iraq and Syria, including our own nation. ISIL's propaganda activities are sophisticated, and we must acknowledge that it has been successful in spreading its evil message to the world. We have to be the equal of it in countering its message online and, importantly, we have to work closely with the local Muslim community in seeking to identify potentially vulnerable targets for ISIL. It is the family and surrounding community who are best placed to identify at-risk individuals. We need to redouble our efforts to work with community groups to stop the radicalisation process before it begins.

The murderous acts of terrorism in Paris and elsewhere are abhorrent to civilised people everywhere. They are the modern manifestation of the darkest capacities of mankind. We must completely defeat those who were responsible for them by destroying them militarily and supporting a political process in Iraq and Syria that leaves no place for ISIL and its sympathisers. Throughout history, peaceful people have confronted those who prosecute evil and they have won. We must win this modern battle against terrorism, and we will.

Mr BROADBENT (McMillan) (19:18): The terrorist attacks on Paris were designed with maximum human, economic and social impact in mind. More than just an assault on France's people, this was a strategic assault on her economy—to undermine her tourism industry, an essential part of the French nation's prosperity. France was visited by 84.7 million foreign tourists in 2013, making it the most popular tourist destination in the world. In 2012, travel and tourism directly contributed 77.7 billion euros to the French GDP, 30 per cent of which comes from international visitors. The total contribution of travel and tourism represents 9.7 per cent of GDP and supports 2.9 million jobs—10.9 per cent of employment in the country.

Paris is the third most visited city in the world and the most visited by Australians. For Australians, the love affair with France has continued to grow over the past decade. According to statistics from the French embassy, in 2012 more than one million Australians visited France. Additionally, in 2014 Australians applied for a total of 1,716 long-stay visas, with around 3,000 Australians living in France. No wonder so many of us have a story connected to this outrage. Australians will not be deterred from their love affair with Paris by this attack. We know of the horrendous death toll in Paris, along with the scores of injured, many critically. These killings were brutal; they were without mercy and without compassion. They leave nothing in their wake except death, unfulfilled dreams and ambitions and a nation of mourners who will never understand why—for how could any rational person really understand this insanity?

But for the bloody-minded fanatics of ISIL, the Paris attacks made perfect strategic sense. It is vital we do not become victims of that strategy, giving up hope or control of our destinies or allowing people to lose their sense of belonging in their own countries. We cannot jump at shadows or make those refugees we have sworn to welcome from Syria scapegoats for those who would tell you there are terrorists hiding around every street corner. Yes, our world has changed, but we are the ultimate controllers of its destiny. We have the power to push it in the right direction or allow it to slide in the wrong direction. ISIL, despite its destructive objectives, is not in charge; we are.

The Paris attacks were an all-too-familiar modern tale of people being murdered en masse to satisfy the blood lust and warped ideologies of a crazed few. The French, to their credit, will mourn their dead but will remain unbowed, continuing to cherish liberty, egalitarianism and fraternity. Many Australians feel somewhat French in this attitude. We too have a country that promotes a fair go for all, equality for all and egalitarianism. I think this is part of the reason we feel such deep empathy for our French countrymen. More than just an attack on people, the events of 13 November were an assault on what we all hold sacred. The evidence was there for everyone to see, as people across the world took to the streets in support of France's people and the French themselves defiantly sang La Marseillaise, embracing liberty, cherished liberty.

As consuming as the events in Paris have become, we must look past them to the broader picture. We must be mindful of what ISIL is trying to achieve and not fall victim to it. These attacks were designed to kill France and her allies from inside and out. They were designed, in ISIL's rhetoric, to further divide the world into two camps: 'one for the people of faith, the other for the people of disbelief—all in preparation for the final great war'. I am a man of faith, but I cannot profess to embrace anything ISIL stands for.

If we live in fear and decide to give up international travel to beautiful countries like France, so much the better for ISIL. If we decide to deride our own Muslim people as traitors, so much the better for ISIL. If we become insular and cannot embrace the future, so much the better for ISIL. As writer and social commentator Waleed Aly said in the wake of the Paris attacks:

They want to start World War III—a global war between Muslims and everyone else—that's what they want to create. They want societies like France and Australia to turn on each other.

They want countries like ours to reject their Muslims and vilify them … because this evil organisation has it in their heads that if they can make Muslims the enemy of the West, then Muslims in France and England and America and here in Australia will have nowhere to turn but to ISIL.

The idea of ISIL leading us to World War III is fanciful. The group has an overblown idea of its own importance. And yet it does have the ability—especially in a globalised world, where the media is everywhere—to shake the confidence of people, whether citizens or international travellers. It does have the ability to make people turn on each other, but only if we give in to that.

We embrace the future. We make the future. The future is ours, not theirs. We must embrace liberte, egalite and fraternite, now and forever more. To all our first responders: thank you for all that you do. God bless you and keep you safe.

Mr CHESTER (Gippsland—Assistant Minister for Defence) (19:24): I appreciate the opportunity to speak on behalf of Gippslanders in relation to the terror attacks in Paris and to follow my good friend the member for McMillan in this place. Much has already been said and written about these barbaric attacks, but perhaps most importantly much has already been done to bring the perpetrators to justice and to help prevent further atrocities.

On behalf of Gippslanders, I offer my sincerest condolences to the people of France and extend the hand of friendship and solidarity. Throughout history, our nation's finest have stood shoulder to shoulder with our French compatriots through war and bloody conflict, and it seems we may have to do so again for many years to come, because I fear that terrorism and violent extremism in various forms are the challenge for this generation.

As we have heard the Prime Minister and many others say, maintaining the safety and security of our people is the government's highest responsibility. The security and the wellbeing of Australians, both at home and abroad, is the primary responsibility of any government. Australians understand too well the pain being experienced by the people of France because of the pain that we know ourselves through the Bali bombings, which forever changed our nation. And no decent person is immune from the pain and suffering we witnessed not only in Paris and Bali but in other indiscriminate, murderous attacks in places like Mumbai, Madrid, London and many other European capitals, and also on the African continent in recent weeks.

This violent extremism, clothed in a misguided and fanatical religious fervour, is a challenge for the world to face in the 21st century. It is simply not a problem for any single government alone. We need to keep collaborating with our allies and working with them as closely as possible. We need to share information, intelligence resources, deradicalisation strategies and counter-terrorism techniques, and we need to share the load if and when open conflict is justified.

I am pleased to say that, in my role as assistant minister, I have had the opportunity to witness directly how Australia is doing its share in relation to this issue, both internationally and on the home front. Our defence forces are deployed in the Middle East to train Iraqi forces, to take the fight to Daesh and the terrorists who seek to impose their rule over that country. Our Air Force personnel are also deployed, helping to degrade and disrupt forces in Iraq.

Particularly at this time of year, Deputy Speaker—and I know that you, as a member who represents an electorate with a significant defence presence, will understand this well—our thoughts and prayers are with the Australian Defence Force personnel involved in their dangerous missions throughout the world, but particularly at this time in Afghanistan and the Middle East. They will be away from their loved ones over the Christmas period. They are doing a dangerous job but they are doing it well. There is no greater service they could give than to put on our nation's uniform and go out there and help people who cannot necessarily help themselves. It was a great privilege for me personally and many other members in this place this year to have the opportunity, as part of the ADF Parliamentary Program, to spend some time with the Australian men and women deployed overseas. We had just a small insight into the challenges they face, and we wish them well over the Christmas period.

On the home front, the government has taken decisive action to protect Australians from the threat of violent extremism. As the Prime Minister informed the House last week, the alert level in our nation was raised to high and has remained there for many months. The government has introduced new legislation and has invested heavily in counter-terrorism activities and programs to combat violent extremism. But, just as this is not a task for one government, this is not a task for governments alone. Our police and our intelligence agencies cannot keep us safe by themselves. The challenges we face of the home front require partnerships with our community, with parents of young people, with schools and, most importantly, with churches and leaders of all faiths.

I support the comments of several of my colleagues that the Islamic community itself has a critical role in countering violent extremism. The messages that came after the terrorist attacks in Paris denouncing those attacks were very important. All of us in this place have the great honour to represent diverse communities. But our communities right now are on edge, and the language we use as elected members in this place and in public is critically important—as important as the actions that we take in our electorates. The Muslim community itself should be expected to do its share of the heavy lifting to counter radicalisation, but it should not be unfairly targeted or maligned in the process.

We all know that social media can be a force for good or a force for evil. Some of the items I have seen in recent weeks are irresponsible, to say the least, in seeking to blame all Muslims for the acts of a relative few. I refer to the Prime Minister's speech on this topic when he said:

Within Australia our counter-terrorism strategy calls for partnership between all levels of government, community and the private sector. The root cause of the current threat we face is a perverted strain of Islamist extremist ideology.

And further that:

The strongest weapons we bring to this battle are ourselves, our values and our way of life. Our unity mocks their attempts to divide us. Our freedom under law mocks their cruel tyranny. Our mutual respect mocks their bitter intolerance.

I appeal for calm and reasoned debate—not sensationalist and divisive ridicule.

Associating all Muslims with terrorism is simplistic and it is about as illogical as associating all Catholic priests with paedophilia. Just because some Catholic priests have systematically abused children, it does not mean by definition that all Catholic priests are evil. Likewise, just because some Muslims have killed in the name of religion, it does not mean that they are all terrorists. I hasten to add a crucial point: admitting there is a problem is the first step to solving it. It was only when the senior ranks of the Catholic Church acknowledged there was a problem with child abuse, stopped transferring the problem to other congregations and stopped covering up the abuse that decisive steps were taken to protect children throughout the world. Up to that point, paedophile priests hid behind the decency of the church until the brightest light was shone in the darkest corners and they were uncovered. It was those who are closest to the criminals who are best placed to uncover them.

I think it is the same situation facing our Muslim community today. A small minority of criminals who indulge in terrorism and violent extremism are like a cancer eating at the heart and soul of the Islamic community. It will take extraordinary leadership from Australian Muslims to shine the brightest light on the darkest corners of that part of our society. Again, we need to be partners in this piece, as we develop our strategies and our techniques to counter this extremism.

I have said it already tonight and I will say it many times in the future—governments cannot do this alone. It is not up to our police or our intelligence agencies or our Defence Force in isolation; we need to accept that there is a problem and work together to overcome this challenge in partnership with the Muslim community. This partnership will need to be based on our mutual trust, on our respect and our determination to uphold the values and the way of life which has made Australia such an extraordinarily successful and harmonious nation. This is a time for cool heads, for research and for reasoned and detailed analysis—not raw emotion or guesswork.

I have told this story about my own electorate previously, and it is worth repeating in the context of today's discussion. It relates to my local surf lifesaving club in Lakes Entrance, and I have been a member of the surf lifesaving club there for about 10 years. One of the local policemen once said to me, 'You know, I've never had to arrest anyone—not one person, not one young member—of your surf lifesaving club.' I asked him why. Part of it is probably that they are too tired after a day at the beach, but he said, 'What the older members of your club teach them is respect. You teach them about the spirit of volunteerism; you teach them about being part of something that is bigger than yourself.' I fear that there is a large section of the Australian community, particularly young people, who are not being given that opportunity at the moment. Our nation's great institutions, like the surf lifesaving movement, have helped to build communities and our nation. They have helped to build a bridge for disengaged youth to be given the opportunity to achieve their full potential—to make a meaningful contribution to our community.

It is not just about surf lifesaving clubs; we have other organisations and institutions in Australia—the Australian Defence Force Cadets where 25,000 young men and women get to participate in teamwork building exercises and learn about leadership—learn again about something that is bigger than themselves. All of our sporting clubs build teamwork and a spirit of camaraderie that give young people the chance to participate in an event that is bigger than themselves. The range of community groups like the Lions Clubs, Apex Clubs, Rotary, the Country Fire Authority, the SES—all of these great institutions have served our nation well and have been the glue that is held our communities together.

I believe we need to make sure that such groups are accessible to all sections of our community. At the moment a lot of our surf lifesaving clubs and our sporting clubs, even our ADF cadets program, are fairly poor representatives of the broader multicultural Australia in the 21st century. I was greatly pleased to see the Australian Defence Force Cadets has established a Navy cadet program in Western Sydney, TS Australia, which I have spoken about before and which is dominated by members of the Islamic community. I strongly believe that some of these national institutions are going to be critical in building that bridge from disengaged youth to a sense of something bigger than themselves and of what it means to be an Australian in the 21st century.

The former foreign affairs minister, Gareth Evans, wrote in today's newspapers along reasonably similar lines about the interventions that may take many different forms as we deal with and try to counter violent extremism. He said:

What is already clear is that the most successful programs are those that are least visibly associated with government and law-enforcement authorities; those developed in close consultation with local communities; and, above all, those that are most practical and specific, relying primarily on individual interventions.

Those young men (and occasionally women) who are susceptible to extremism's appeal respond best to those they trust — people who can help them step back from violence in a way that does not cause them to lose face.

I think there is great national institutions are going to be critical as we deal with the challenge of our generation.

I would like to conclude my comments tonight on a more positive note. I invited people in my electorate to make some comments in relation to tonight's speech—I indicated that I have the opportunity to speak about Paris—and I invited them to post some positive remarks. I would like to share a few of the comments from people in my electorate today.

My name is French, we loved French wine so much that we had to grow our own, we fantasize about holidaying in Tuscany or Paris and my Dad always wished that he had a hot French Teacher … where would we be without the French! Vive la France!

From Bronwyn:

The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the people of France to the people of New York. Those two cities are deeply connected by their commitment to freedom, and terrorism will never destroy that. We stand with you NYC and Paris, and anywhere else in the world that has suffered at the hands of terrorists.

Finally, from Cindy:

My husband and I flew into Paris as the horrific event was unfolding. Hearing the continuous sirens throughout Friday night and walking around a very solemn Paris the next day has had a lasting impact. Simply eating lunch at a cafe made you realise the absolute callousness of the attack. We may live half way around the world but our thoughts remain with the people of Paris—for what they have been through and the journey ahead.

As I indicated, we are being challenged—possibly as never before—but I remain incredibly optimistic and confident that we can unite against a common foe and win. To quote the great Martin Luther King, I have decided to stick with love—hate is too great a burden to bear.

Mrs McNAMARA (Dobell) (19:38): Unfortunately, we live in troubling times. The recent terror attacks in Paris were a halting reminder that the threat of terror remains very real and present and that the decision to lift the national terrorist threat level to high in September was not an overreaction. Australians were heartbroken and shocked as news of the sieges that occurred in Paris filtered through. Millions took to social media in solidarity with hashtags like 'pray for Paris', 'je suis Paris' and 'peace for Paris' and filtered their profile pictures with the tricolours of the French flag. In Sydney the Opera House was lit with the blue, white and red of the French flag. In Brisbane it was the Story Bridge; in Melbourne the MCG and the arts centre spire, in Perth the Council House and in South Australia the Riverbank Bridge. Across the world the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro was bathed in the French tricolours and in London Tower Bridge and the London Eye were lit. In America, the One World Trade Centre and San Francisco City Hall and the Empire State Building were lit in the tricolours. In Las Vegas, the replica of the Eiffel Tower went dark.

Vigils were held around Australia and around the world. More than 200 people gathered in Sydney's Martin Place for a candlelight vigil to remember the victims of the Paris attacks. Those who gathered in Martin Place felt a special kind of solidarity for the Parisians as they held vigil at the scene of the Sydney siege. Perhaps we all felt a kinship in some way to Parisians because we have experienced events of terror in our own homeland. Almost a year ago, on 15 and 16 December, a single man wielding a gun took control of the Lindt cafe in Martin Place. There were ten customers and eight employees—all ordinary people going about their day. It was a shocking and confronting event that reminded all Australians that we are not immune to acts of terror and that we must remain ever vigilant to keep Australian people safe. With 130 deceased and 368 injured, victims of the Paris attacks were just like those who were held during the Martin Place siege—ordinary people dining in a restaurant, ordinary people attending a concert. They were ordinary people going about their day but their lives were taken in a cowardly, callous and brutal attack in the name of invoking terror and fear. We stood with many other nations in solidarity with the French in the wake of the attacks.

We must, and we do, also acknowledge the massive loss of lives at the hands of ISIL, otherwise referred to as Daesh. The day before the attacks in Paris, on 12 November, a suicide bombing in Beirut took 40 innocent lives. We mourn with the innocent, the displaced the grieving and the lost. Violent extremism as a very real and present threat to the liberties and freedoms we enjoy in Australia. The Prime Minister last week delivered a statement in relation to our national security. He said:

When innocent people are dying at the hands of violent extremists, no matter where in the world this is happening, hard questions are asked of societies like our own—hard questions for which there are no easy answers. For all freedom-loving nations, the message could not be clearer: if we want to preserve the values that underpin our open, democratic societies, we will have to work resolutely with each other to defend and protect the freedoms we hold dear.

The Australian people can be confident that we as a government led by Prime Minister Turnbull are working and will continue to work diligently and closely with our security agencies to prevent terrorist incidents from occurring. Security agencies such as ASIO, the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Defence Force are continuing to work methodically and strategically to ensure public safety is maintained. Since September last year the terror alert level has been high and the government has been formulating and presenting five branches of national security laws which will assist the relevant agencies to have the tools they need to operate effectively in combating terror. The difficult task is that ISIL reflects a perversion of Islamist extreme ideology. As the Prime Minister put it:

Not all extremism ends in violence but all politically motivated violence begins with extremist ideology.

When ISIL emerged as an extremist terrorist group out of al-Qaeda in Iraq and Syria their territorial gains in Syria and Iraq fed into their own narrative of conquest. It is known that, by most measures ISIL is in a fundamentally weak position. As a country, we must not be fooled by ISIL's hype. While the ideologies it holds are archaic, the use of the internet to manipulate and extort our community is modern. The Prime Minister spoke about Australia's contribution to the coalition forces, saying:

Australia’s contribution to coalition forces on the ground in Iraq is second only to that of the United States and large relative to our population and proximity to the conflict. It is larger, for example, than that of any European nation, larger than Canada's or any of the neighbouring Arab states. We have six FA18s involved in missions in that theatre, with 240 personnel in the air task group, 90 Special Forces advisers, and around 300 soldiers training the Iraqi army at Taji.

Last April I was privileged to participate in the ADF parliamentary program and witness first hand the outstanding work being undertaken by our military men and women in the Middle East. Being able to participate in this program and meet with the ADF personnel deployed in the Middle East and Afghanistan was a huge honour and experience that I will treasure forever. I am in awe of the professionalism, attitude and dedication of our defence personnel and thank them for their commitment to protecting our nation.

The most important priority for any government is to keep their nation safe and secure. When it comes to national security, there can be no shortcuts. Currently we are experiencing testing times and this government is committed to ensuring the safety of all law-abiding citizens. We should never underestimate the threat of terrorism present in modern day Australia. Since the Bali bombings in 2002, which claimed the lives of 88 innocent Australians, we have been alert to the dangers of those who disagree with our freedoms and way of life. The government is working diligently to do all within its power to halt terrorism at its source or point of origin.

Australian counter-terrorism agencies must be able to share information in a secure manner with traditional allies and regional partners to prevent potential terrorist attacks. In May this year we were aware of 30 Australians who travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan between 1990 and 2010 to train at extremist camps and/or fight with extremists. Of these, 25 individuals returned to Australia and 19 engaged in activities of security concern following their return. Eight were subsequently convicted of terrorism related offences, with five still serving prison sentences. The number of Australians with hands-on terrorist experiences in Syria and Iraq is now several times what it was in Afghanistan and the challenge is much greater.

The government has already strengthened Australia's national security laws and provided law enforcement agencies with increased powers to address the threat from foreign fighters, including the ability to arrest or place control orders on those who return. In addition to these measures, I supported the government's moves to remove Australian citizenship status from dual citizens who are involved in terrorism at home or abroad. These are indeed harsh measures, but they are entirely fitting of the crime. Let's not for one minute forget that these extremists are fighting against the brave men and women of the Australian Defence Force—men and women who are placing their lives on the line to protect Australia's values and freedoms.

Recently foiled terrorist plots on Australian soil demonstrate the need to maintain and support both the Australian Defence Force and other government agencies at the very forefront of counter-terrorism actions. While the urgency to address the national security threat has intensified over the past 12 months, this government has been committed to enhancing the safety of Australians since its election. This is why the 2015 budget included $1.2 billion in new funding for national security, building upon the $1 billion announced last year. In total, the government is spending over $35 billion on defence, national security and law enforcement. This includes: investing in our own security—including protecting our borders from terrorism and crime—preventing Australians from joining or supporting terrorist organisations, and improving collaboration in our community and with our region to address the uncertainties we all face, including terrorism.

However, support and action from the community with regard to the acknowledgement of their own safety is also required. Only last week, I issued a media release strongly advising Central Coast residents heading overseas to ensure they have updated their travel plans with the government. The smartraveller website is the best source of information for those heading overseas to find out the latest advice for travellers and for consulate staff to utilise in case of an emergency. The recent attacks in France have highlighted the need to ensure that when travelling overseas details are kept up to date. It was only due to the vigilance of travellers who provided their journey plans at smartraveller that Australian consulate officials were able to quickly locate and gain an understanding of the status of Australians in France. While there is a continuing and a longstanding threat of terrorist attacks across the world, Australians are viewed by ISIL and other terrorist groups as a target. This fact is unfortunate—scary but true. Even in cases where attacks may not specifically target Australian interests, Australians can and have been harmed in indiscriminate attacks or attacks aimed at others. As Australian citizens, we need to make sure that we are all vigilant in our planning, and it is important we all do what we can to make sure our travel overseas is as safe as possible.

As a government, we are steadfast in our resolution to uphold and defend democracy, and the rights and freedoms of the democratic world. We must remember that well over one million Iraqis and Syrians have been driven from their homes by an extremist death cult determined to eliminate a particular group of people from our world. The shocking images of beheadings, crucifixions and mass executions will haunt our memories for the remainder of time. Australia is certainly a lucky country. Our democracy was not born from bloodshed, civil uprising or war, and to this end the concept of people wanting to do harm to our people remains a foreign one. Matters of national security should rise above the political divide. Not all sympathisers of the ISIL death cult will leave our shores to physically lift a gun and fire a bullet; some have a terrifying role to conduct from the comfort of the Australian suburbs. This includes supporting and facilitating terrorism through the provision of funds and equipment or by recruiting vulnerable young people to champion their cause, and even to die for it and, more alarmingly, conduct acts of barbaric terrorism here on Australian shores.

As a government and as a nation, failure is simply not an option. We must continue to demonstrate our resolve and defend our freedom. This government's determination to defeat the evils that wish to do us harm knows no bounds. We owe it to our Defence Force personnel who are currently abroad resolutely carrying out their duties to keep us safe. We owe it to the Australians who have lost their lives as a result of the senseless and barbaric acts of terrorist organisations. And we owe it to current and future Australians, who deserve to enjoy a safe and prosperous Australia free from the threat and danger of ideological extremists. Simply put, this is the greatest challenge a government can have. History will remember how we rose to the challenge.

There is no single measure to address the terrorism threat. The government has identified a suite of measures that, together, will best equip us in this fight, both at home and abroad. Australians of all races and religions unite to illustrate the power of what bonds us. Our unity will always prevail over those who seek to divide us. Instantaneously, we reach out to one another and are bound by common values. The various paths that make our nation great become converged into one. United people are always defiant in the face of adversity and tragedy. We are the envy of the world and, sadly, those who disagree with our democratic freedom pose a constant threat to everything that makes us unique.

However, it is becoming increasingly clear that Australia is losing its innocence to those who hate our freedoms and values. Many people have never imagined a terrorist event transpiring on our soil, but it has happened and, tragically, no doubt it may happen again. We are all too familiar with images each night on the news depicting intolerance abroad but never in our own backyard. Like those in Paris who marched in the aftermath of their tragedy, the people of Australia stand tall and defiant in the face of terrorism. We speak as one in that we will not tolerate hatred in our community. We will not tolerate those who sympathise with terrorist organisations or those willing to put Australians in harm due to their own reckless actions. We are stronger than ever before in our defiance of those who hate us and seek to do us harm. Australia is a beacon of hope and liberty throughout the world. Our values will never be compromised by those who want to suppress the freedoms of innocent men, women and children. We must not and we will not waiver from our obligation to Australia and its people.

Mr SUKKAR (Deakin) (19:52): I want to associate myself with all of the excellent remarks from members of both sides of the chamber in relation to the recent terrorist attacks around the world, not only those in Paris. I think it is very appropriate that this debate is cast in wider terms because, whilst the atrocities in Paris have brought this matter front and centre, there have been a range of attacks around the world that basically were carried out with the same motivation.

The attacks in Paris were devastating, though. We know that 130 people were killed at the hands of Islamic terrorists. In addition, there were 368 people injured, including what appears to be one very brave Australian. Obviously, this really resonates for Australians because, as the Prime Minister has said, Paris is a destination that many of us have visited—and even for those who have not visited, given that Paris is a beacon of art and culture, history, architecture, you name it. We all know it as the City of Light. Being an economic powerhouse and a city of around 10 million people, it really is a centre of Western history and civilisation; there is no doubt about it. So an attack on Paris really sticks with us all.

Notwithstanding the greatness of Paris as a city, at the hands of just a few Islamic terrorists it was brought to its knees in a way that has not happened since World War II. It is a city that, as we all know, has experienced its fair share of turmoil over the centuries and in recent history. While the French people and other Europeans have been grappling with terrorism for a number of years now, the rest of the world has not experienced it in the full force and fury of just some weeks ago. They are the worst attacks since the Madrid bombings in 2004 and they again highlight the seriousness of the threat that all Western liberal democratic nations face.

In the early 2000s, terror attacks such as those in Madrid and, most notably, of September 11 were carefully planned by remote operatives based in Afghanistan and loosely referred to at the time as al-Qaeda. The threat we now face in the West, as is evident from these recent attacks, originates from a far more sophisticated set of jihadists and is based around the ISIS death cult, and unfortunately the tentacles of influence of ISIS spread far beyond its geographic sphere of control in Syria and northern Iraq.

It is quite sobering to note that it is estimated that more than 20,000 people from across the world have travelled to Syria to participate in the conflict in that region since fighting broke out in 2007, and it is clear that a large number of them would have been motivated to be and would have ultimately become combatants for ISIS. Of the many thousands from Europe who have travelled to Syria to join the conflict, people from France, lamentably, are among the highest numbers.

This becomes, as it has become for the French, a national security concern when those citizens return to their home countries. In nearly all cases, I would say, we can assume they return home with very clear instructions from Islamic State, with additional training and an additional understanding of the ways and means to achieve their objectives. They are there to carry on that jihadist movement in the Western liberal democratic nation to which they have returned. It is clear that some of the attackers who carried out the atrocities on 13 November were people who travelled from Syria—taking advantage of weak borders along the way to get to Paris—as well as French citizens.

This is a very alarming set of facts and, in some respects, an inconvenient set of facts for all of us to grapple with. What is most alarming, quite frankly, is that these attacks could have happened anywhere: London, Berlin, Rome, Washington or even, heaven forbid, an Australian city—but for the grace of God. It has not occurred on Australian soil. Because of our amazing security services and others, it has not. But we must look at this template that Islamic State have used in Europe and ensure it is not a template that can be utilised here in Australia.

We have suffered our share of terrorist attacks. The Bali bombings and the Marriot Hotel bombings were directly targeted at Australian interests and at Australians.

As a thriving Western democracy we are not immune from hate groups like Islamic State. Unfortunately, we know that Australia, similar to France, has its fair share of recruits to the ISIS cause. This is why it is so important that we as a government have acted categorically to strip Australian citizenship from dual nationals whose allegiance is shown to be to a perverted, barbaric creed, cause or ideology rather than to Australia.

Clearly, it is the view of this government, it is the view of this House and it is the view of Australians that those who participate in acts of war for Islamic State, raping and pillaging with a medieval barbarity that we have not seen for centuries, do not deserve the privilege of calling Australia home. I am very glad to have seen strident moves in this House to ensure that that legislation comes into full force as soon as possible. Of course, the events in Paris also show the importance of maintaining strong border controls because governments must be able to appropriately vet every person who either is seeking asylum or wants to become a citizen of our country. We should never, ever cede that sovereignty. We have an obligation to all Australian people to guarantee, as best we can, that every person who wants to make Australia home is somebody who does not share in the world view of bloodthirsty death cults.

It is sad that a number of Australians have joined to initially fight with extremist groups such as ISIS. They are participating in conflicts in places such as Syria and northern Iraq. It is clearly a failure that we have people who, in many cases, were born and grew up here do not feel an allegiance to Australia. In many cases, they are people who have been able to revel in the freedoms and the relative prosperity that we have in this country but who, somehow, are drawn into or are instructed in believing this barbaric ideology. It is quite disappointing, and it is something that we must always remember when framing policies in this place. Our security agencies have publicly said that they are managing 400 high-priority counter-terrorism investigations—a number which has doubled, I might add, since the start of this year. This is an alarming statistic. I think that, if we spoke to most people in the street and said that that was the case, they would find it very hard to believe. As I said earlier, I have no doubt that much of the reason we have not faced similar attacks to the ones that we are discussing tonight is due to the outstanding work of our security agencies, including the AFP and ASIO. We really do owe them a debt of gratitude. The way that we can show them that gratitude in this place is to continue the modus operandi of this government—that is, when the security agencies ask us for any legislative or regulatory assistance in doing their job, we give it to them unhesitatingly. We, as a parliament, must always balance competing rights. There are the rights to privacy, the rights to freedom of movement and the rights to free speech. But, in my view, all of those rights are trumped by the right to life and the right of an Australian citizen to go about their daily life unhindered and without fear that they might be in a building, in a theatre or at a concert that is targeted by one of these barbarians who proclaim the creed of Islamic State.

We cannot pretend that, without constant review and constant change, it will be always be okay. As many around the globe have said publicly, Islamic extremism is a problem that we must confront honestly and respectfully but, ultimately, with a view to keeping our citizens safe. We must be prepared to have an open dialogue about why a small but, quite frankly, growing number of Muslims continue to be attracted to this extremist ideology that wishes to do harm to, in many cases, their fellow countrymen. I completely respect and understand the view of my Muslim friends and constituents who say, 'People like that aren't practising Islam. They are not practising my religion,' but the reality is there is something that they are using to justify their actions. There is a perverse reading of the relevant religious texts that is giving them, in their mind, the pretext that they need to do abhorrent things in the name of religion. We have to make sure that we confront these issues together. Often, confronting these things is uncomfortable. The truth can be uncomfortable. But what is our obligation in this House? Our obligation here is to do everything that we can to make sure that our citizens are safe and that our children and our grandchildren can grow up in the kind of safe society that we have all benefited from ourselves.

I will not be one of those people who allow a misguided view of political correctness to get in the way of calling things out and calling it as I see it. Clearly, Islamic leaders in our communities must continue to do more in condemning acts of violence from their own communities. These messages are much better coming from leaders within the community than coming from those without. There can be absolutely no excuse for the barbaric behaviour that ISIS espouses. I never want to again see any tacit excuses provided by an Islamic leader, because that, ultimately, is misguided and will give fuel to those who seek to perversely interpret Islamic texts. We in this parliament, and particularly in this government, are keenly aware that our first duty is to ensure the safety of our citizens. Our duty is to ensure that our Western, democratic, liberal values are upheld and they must take primacy over everything else. In my view, that obligation absolutely trumps any kind of political correctness that has enveloped our media and our political lexicon. I can assure you that I will continue to make sure that, to the greatest extent possible, the terrorist attacks that we have seen around the world are stopped from ever occurring in Australia.

Mr PASIN (Barker) (20:07): Before I begin my statement on terrorist attacks, I congratulate the member for Deakin for his contribution. He has become a good friend. He is clearly a solid citizen—someone who in this chamber is in pursuit of the national interest and someone I am proud to call a colleague.

Terrorism could not be more antithetical to democracy. The use of force against civilians in order to promote political aims is abhorrent and immoral. As the elected member for Barker, it is trite to say that my job is to represent the views and interests of the people of my electorate in this place. So, with regard to that, I take this opportunity to convey and share the deep sorrow felt by people across my electorate when they heard of the atrocities in Paris—a city which has been visited by terrorists several times this year alone. It is the same sorrow we felt when we lost 88 Australians in the Bali bombings and when we heard the news of attacks in Martin Place and Parramatta. It is the same despondency we all felt when we saw the exploded remains of an iconic double-decker bus and watched as commuters, covered in soot, crawled out of tube stations in London in the wake of the 7/7 bombings. Indeed, the attacks in Paris delivered the same horror that transfixed the world when domestic airliners were flown into the World Trade Centre in the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and New York was consumed by a cloud of dust and ash.

Terrorist attacks rupture the very fabric of our everyday lives. Often our transport networks or places of leisure are targeted by terrorist groups as they attempt to shatter our perception of the safety that civil society facilitates. In Paris, London, Bali, Sydney and New York, terrorists mobilised their forces to attack each and every citizen, because their target was our perception not our reality. Our hearts go out to the families of the dead and the injured and to those others who have been affected by these events for their realities have been irreparably warped by the actions of these criminals.

Each nation has in its time faced a terrorist attack. In the modern world, we all feel the threat posed by terrorists as they rail against modernity while spreading their medieval exploits over modern technologies and socialised media platforms. Across this world, we have seen many groups mobilise terror tactics to instil fear into communities. That feeling of fear is the ultimate weapon in the arsenal of the terrorists, yet their greatest weapon is one which is fundamentally contingent on dislocating our resolve. It is a gamble which will fail. We have seen a rapidly changing world deliver an increasing flow of people, culture and ideas. We live in an increasingly connected world. The internet and mass media have spread information at an unprecedented rate. It is this increasingly globalised and networked world in which we live that lends itself to acts of terror, as terrorists seek to bring their wicked exploits into our homes through our televisions, computers, tablets and phones. It is their intention to fill us with a fear such that we change our way of life and yield them our values. It is an endeavour, as I said, which will ultimately fail. Those merchants of fear have a fundamental weakness: their strategy relies on our capitulation. They will not prevail because we will not bow to their demands.

I stand here in this place today reminded of the strength of such values as freedom and democracy. This building is a symbol of the civil, peaceful and cohesive civilization we have hewn from this wide, brown land we call home. Today we have a free, open and safe society, which fosters equality of opportunity, regardless of race, gender or creed. This country was built on those foundations, as was the republic of France. In many ways, the attacks in Paris have had a profound impact on us here in Australia because we have inherited so much from the French. We share their values of equality and freedom. The French are a passionate and cultured people. They care deeply, love fiercely and enjoy a freedom that they themselves fought for. Their national anthem rejoices in seizing freedom from their tyrannical oppressors. The French have always remained as committed to the ideals of freedom and democracy as the Australian people have. Not only do we share such values; we also share much history.

While Australians have enjoyed freedom for well over a century, we too have fought to keep our society liberated from domination. The fields of France hold many young Australians who fought during two world wars to liberate France from the clutches of tyranny and to keep the evils of fascism at bay. In the town of Villers-Bretonneux there is a sign in their local school which reads: 'Never Forget Australia'. Young Australians helped liberate that town from the Germans during the First World War and the people of that town continue to remember that contribution, notwithstanding that some 100 years have passed since that time. Now we face a great tyranny. We face a religious tyranny in the form of Islamic extremism. This religious tyranny is seeking to subjugate our free society through casting a haze of fear over our nations in the same perverted way that it has destabilised Islamic communities across the Middle East. As in the 20th century, when the democratic nations came together to defeat fascism and communism, we must now rally together once more and cast this religious extremism back into the abyss.

Australia stands with all those around this world who seek to live a free and peaceful life. We support their right to freedom and will continue to do our bit to destroy the spectre of terrorism. Democracy is, indeed, a great project, the product of thousands of years of social progress. It is in the face of that project that we see agents of darkness seeking to pull us back toward their medieval world view. We cannot afford to take a backward step as we face their barbarity.

Ultimately, they are cowards. They attack everyday people going about their everyday business, because they are devoid of the capacity to take their fight to our security forces. They take fear-reducing drugs to suppress their anxieties; such is the weakness of their commitment to their cause. Indeed, these terrorists fear our capable security services who stand eternally vigilant, ready to dispatch their duty. Whilst we may not be able to stop all acts of terrorism, it is imperative that we mitigate terrorism's effects through a resolute and unshakable commitment to our way of life, to our values and to our Australian culture. We must always remember how terrorism, as a manipulative tool, works and understand that if we redouble our commitment to building a stronger and more prosperous Australia and put freedom at its heart we simply cannot be defeated.

I am amazed to realise that there have been some 298 terrorist attacks across the world thus far this year in France, Nigeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, China, Ukraine, Israel, the Philippines, Denmark, Japan, India, Russia and, indeed, here in Australia. We have seen beheadings, suicide bombings, shootings, arsons, immolations, crucifixions, eviscerations and stabbings. We have even seen rocket and vehicle attacks. Just yesterday, a bus filled with presidential guards was bombed in Tunisia, killing 12. In 2015 there has been much violence in the name of religious tyranny, and yet I stand unafraid. I remain resolute in my undying commitment to the values of freedom and democracy, as do my constituents in Barker and, indeed, the people of this great nation.

I stand in our cathedral of democracy in which we can, and often do, disagree with each another, but we do not resort to violence. I am part of a liberal tradition which has long fought to conserve the right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, defending freedom of speech and freedom of association. This nation is one which stands against violence against civilians in all its forms. I stand with all those people around the world that refuse to bow down and submit to this new tyranny. Australia stands with the people of Paris. We stand with the people of London, the people of the United States of America, the people of Iraq, the people of Syria, the people of Israel, the people of the Philippines, the people of Denmark and the people of the Ukraine in the face of these acts of terror. Those agents of darkness cannot shake our fundamental belief in freedom. They cannot alter the course of democracy nor our desire to build a better world.

I again would like to take this opportunity to convey my deepest sorrow to all those across our world who have felt the effects of the acts of these terrorists. The Paris attacks sent shock waves around the world, and yet the response has bound us together. The collective grief of the world has been triggered, yet so too has a recommitment to the project of freedom. I am reminded of the words of Billy Bragg in his revision of the English translation of The Internationale, and I will quote it in fear that those opposite will always refer to me as 'comrade'; I will take the risk:

Freedom is merely privilege extended

Unless enjoyed by one and all

We remain a tolerant, multiracial society with a strong Australian culture. I am proud to be part of that democratic society and know that those wicked people who resort to mobilising terrorism to fight freedom will ultimately fail. Our resolve is concrete, our values firm, our actions decisive and, ultimately, our retribution will be swift.

Dr GILLESPIE (Lyne) (20:19): Terrorism by any name is hard to understand. Terror, in itself, is irrational except to the perpetrator of the terror. Anyone who has a clear perspective on what is right and wrong cannot justify acts of terror. Whether it be a jet that is shot down as it is leaving a holiday resort in Egypt, a Mounty on duty at a monument in Canada, people attacking a parliament, people arriving on a boat and turning up at an exclusive hotel with machine guns, or whether it be what we have just recently seen in Paris or what we saw at Parramatta, it does not make sense to the rational mind. What is it that, at the moment, drives people to this terrorism?

Historically, we have seen terror applied, with the bombing of pubs and bars in the UK during the Troubles. That was terrorism. We saw the Red Brigades. That was terrorism too. We saw people attacking the Olympic village. All that is terror in its barest essence. But what we are seeing now is terrorism justified by a religious belief, and that is what I think the world needs to admit to. Depending on which suras of the Koran you read, you can get a different interpretation. But, in essence, whether it was in the Lindt cafe, Parramatta, Paris, Belgium—you name it—there were frequent cries of religious allegiance, there was a banner. You only have to see what is happening in Syria and Iraq. The whole region is a site of terrorism. The whole of the Middle East is fracturing before our very eyes.

It brings up how valuable society, the rule of law and our institutions are in this country. We value freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of religion and the principle of tolerance, and we have to defend those rights. We have to call out terrorism for what it is when it happens. Using euphemisms and soft terminology will not fix the problem. To combat terrorism we have to call it what it is and call out what generates it.

There have been misdeeds across history done in the name of various religions since history began. But, generally, in the Western world and in the areas where we are seeing terrorism raise its ugly head we are the beneficiaries of movements and adjustments that have happened over centuries that have not yet occurred in parts of the Islamic world. I am referring to the Enlightenment, the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation and the universal reassessment of what is involved in Christian principles. Theoretically you can find in the Bible justification to stone a woman to death. You could find justification in the thinking of the kings and queens of England for burning so-called witches and nonbelievers or Protestants at the stake. But Christianity got over that. We worked through it. We reinterpreted things in light of modern-day sentiment. There needs to be that process in Islam.

I know hundreds of Muslims in this country who are very fine, upstanding Australian citizens. They are model citizens—99.9 per cent of them are wonderful assets to the nation. But there are a percentage inside our borders who justify this sort of weird thinking by quoting the Koran. But that does not justify it, just as me stoning someone to death for adultery does not make sense in this day and age. Christianity realised that that is the Old Testament, and sacred texts in the Old Testament have been reinterpreted in view of the New Testament.

I do not think we are going to see the end of this scourge of terrorism soon. How do we defeat it? We defeat it not just by confronting violence with violence. Sometimes you need to point to your argument at the end of the barrel of a gun, but that will not solve the problem. As the President of Egypt himself said, Egypt needs to have its own Reformation. The changes have to come from within the various Islamic mosques around the world. The imams themselves and the prominent teachers and thinkers in chorus around the world need to point out that violence cannot be justified by selecting bits of the Koran. I do not know how soon this is going to happen, but there are signs around the world. There are publications and prominent Islamic thinkers and speakers who are saying that. I am encouraged by that. I am encouraged by the recent pronouncements by Islamic leaders in our country condemning the violence and also saying more than just passing on condolences.

All of our thoughts are with the victims of terror. We revile in shock and horror at terrorism, but we must continue to call it what it is. We must defend the principles on which our liberal democracy has been founded. That includes all the institutions and laws that we have inherited from 800 to 900 years of British history. That includes tolerance and respect for difference, but you can only respect and tolerate other religions and actions up to a certain red line. No matter what the religion—whether it is Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity or whatever—some actions are not justifiable.

It is a sad day that we have to be standing in this House passing on condolences for events that have recently become a scar on the world. It is going to be a long and tortuous period in human history in front of us, because there are many people who still think it is justifiable to do what we have seen recently. Syria and Iraq are at the epicentre of this battle, but it is being waged on a smaller scale across Africa. Even in Asia there are outposts of this weird and extreme Islamic ideology. I call on those who know that it is unjust and not justifiable to publicly repudiate it because, until there are masses of people within Islam who are publicly repudiating it, things will not be resolved.

We in the West seem to be the focus of their anger. But, from a true global perspective, the people who have the greatest fears and concerns about this Islamic extreme terrorism are other Islamic nations, which we see being turned into ungovernable, post-apocalyptic wastelands of shattered buildings and societies with masses of refugees. We are getting a snapshot of it, but it is going to be a much greater risk to Islamic society than Western society. Nevertheless, we have principles that we are all the beneficiaries of: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the ability to disagree with religion, the separation of state and religion, and a secular, liberal democracy.

My condolences go to all those victims—the hundreds, thousands and millions of people from the Middle East who are suffering from it, as well as those in Paris, Australia and across the world. I encourage all members to remain resolute in defending the freedoms that make our society what it is.

Mr CHRISTENSEN (Dawson—The Nationals Deputy Whip) (20:31): The speaker before me likened the terrorist incidents that have recently occurred as 'a scar on the world'. I have to say that I concur with the view put forward by the honourable member. The incidents that we saw in Paris were shocking to say the least. It is horrific to think of all those young people trapped in the concert hall, who were basically popped off one by one, and the people who had to cower under bodies for fear that they too would be gunned down. They could not have known what was about to unfold that night. You can only imagine the horror in the cafes and the sporting ground while the soccer game was going on. In all of those places across Paris, at roughly the same time, the forces of hell were unleashed. Those forces of hell, as we know now, were Islamic State.

We have seen many such atrocities across the Western world in recent times, going back over the past decade or so. We have certainly seen—and it has become almost commonplace, sadly—those sorts of atrocities happening in the Middle East, but, when they breach into a Western democracy and places where we, otherwise, have a peaceful existence and like to think we can all coexist with each other, it really is scarring. I could refer to 7/7 in London, where buses were torn apart by fanatical madmen, or the Bali bombings where, again, a bunch of young people, including lots of Australians, were torn to shreds because a jihadist put a bomb in a place knowing that it would kill as many Westerners—or infidels—as possible. I could go right back to 2001, when we saw those planes fly into the twin towers, a plane fly into the Pentagon and another plane, which might, perhaps, have been heading to the White House, fly into a field in Pennsylvania.

We see these images again and again and again around the world. They have even touched Australian soil. We saw Man Monis, a self-styled imam. He might have been self-styled, but so are many imams across this country, because there is no prerequisite for setting up your own Islamic centre and acting in a religious leadership role. He had thousands of followers on Facebook—tens of thousands of followers, I am led to believe—a lot of whom were in Australia. That is concerning. He walked into the Lindt cafe in Martin Place in Sydney and took that place hostage. As a result, two Australians ended up dead. We recently saw the slaughter of Curtis Cheng, where the guy ran out and started screaming, 'God is great'—'Allahu Akbar'—repeatedly, only to be gunned down by police, who were probably wondering what that hell was going on and why this madness had descended upon the police station.

We are starting to see the incursion into this country of the violent extremism that is coming out of radical Islam. It concerns me, and it concerns me greatly. What concerns me even more than that is the refusal of people in positions of leadership to call it out. It might be politically incorrect to do so; it might be jarring; it might be confronting and offensive to some people here. But it is also reality. In the wake of a terrorist atrocity that was committed by a group calling itself Islamic State, or when someone yelled out 'Allahu Akbar' before they detonated a bomb or shot someone, I get so distraught seeing someone in leadership saying that this had nothing to do with Islam. They are wrong. They are dead wrong. It has everything to do with Islam.

I am not saying that all Muslims—not even the majority of Muslims—would be capable of, or would even think of, committing such an atrocity, but the people who do do so in the belief that they are acting completely in accord with the tenets of Islam, under the guidance of the Koran and the Hadiths and in accordance with the supreme will of their god. They fundamentally believe that.

Islamic State has been behind many of the latest atrocities, even here in Australia. If we look to the Man Monis case, he wanted an Islamic State flag brought to him by the police. He might have been what they call a lone wolf, but Islamic State is encouraging lone wolves to act in its name. That is part of this new battle that we face in this world. If we look at the 18-year-old who stabbed a number of police officers at the police station in Endeavour Hills, he posed on Facebook with a photograph of the Islamic State flag. Islamic State has a lot to do with what is going on at the moment. It is just the latest in radical Islamic organisations that have come to the fore. We had al-Qaeda at one stage. Elements of that have left and now morphed into Islamic State. In this region, we had Jemaah Islamiah at one stage, which was acting in accordance with al-Qaeda. All of them have the common philosophy of Islamism, of the world view that there are two houses on planet Earth: the house of Islam and the house of war. The house of Islam is where countries and the people are subjugated to the will of Islam, under sharia. The house of war is those countries which have not yet accepted sharia and have not had Islam imposed upon them. It is called the house of war because the belief is that they will continue waging war, or jihad, until those places that are called the house of war become the house of Islam as well.

That is the world view that Islamic State holds, and it is no use to say that it has nothing to do with Islam. Actually, it is very Islamic; it is fundamental Islam, in fact. They take the texts of the Koran and the Hadith literally. They look at the later texts of the Koran and say that, because they were written later, they supersede the earlier, more peaceful sections of the Koran, which is why they can justify what they do. We should not be afraid to call that out and to say that there is a problem there—that there is a problem that obviously exists within a religion, which needs to be sorted out. I believe that it can only be sorted out, ultimately, by those within that religious faith.

The problem is even deeper than that. I could walk out of this place to the front of parliament, have all the cameras in front of me and burn a Bible, and I would probably get a press release from the Australian Christian Lobby condemning me. But if I were to walk out the front of parliament and burn a Koran, I think that everyone in this place would know that there would be a very, very different reaction. We have to ask ourselves, in this day and age, why would there be such a different reaction? What is it that is inherent there amongst a certain particular strand of the Islamic faith that causes that reaction? Those are the questions that need to be asked.

We do not need statements put out by the Grand Mufti the day after the attacks on Paris saying that the reasons behind this were the actions of the West and that the reasons behind it were, 'You are bringing in national security legislation that we don't like,' or something like that. It is justification for the actions of madmen. These actions have been going on long before any of the stuff that Grand Mufti complained about were enacted and were in place. We have had celebrity television presenters telling us that, in the face of this, all we need is to hold hands and have love for our fellow man. There is some truth in that; yes, we do. But it also is a bit cute, and it keeps us from dealing with the real issues and asking the hard questions that do need to be answered.

I, for one, think that as a government we should be doing more to empower those people within Islam to actually speak out and to tell people within their faith why those sections of the Koran and those sections of the Hadith that are twisted around by the murderous fanatics we see in Islamic State are not to be interpreted the way those people interpret them. I could point to someone who is very well-versed in Islamic scholarship—Professor Abdullah Saeed, at the University of Melbourne. I do not know Dr Saeed, but I certainly read a very thought-provoking article from him on the Islamic case for religious liberty. He is a Muslim and a scholar of Islam who believes that there can be a true Islamic separation of the religious from the political. That is something that would be an affront to Islamic State. Unfortunately, a lot, perhaps, of moderate Muslims believe that there is an intertwining of the religious and the political as well. I say that because I have seen data put out by the Pew study on religious views, which suggested that a lot of Muslims—right around the world and not purely in Australia; they burrowed it down to the United States, another western nation—did believe that sharia law to them was of higher value than the law of the land and that they would adhere to it more, even if it were in conflict. That is concerning. So we need people out there within Islam that are willing to say, with authority, that there can be a separation between the political and the religious.

When I hear other people in this place talking about a reformation, I suppose that that is what I think should happen too. There is one very brave woman, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who is a former Muslim that has been calling for this for a long time. She has been calling for it for a long time and, as a result, has been subjected to repeated death threats. She now has to have security 24/7 wherever she goes. That is sad. So when those leaders in the Muslim community come out and advocate for this—something that we want to see happen so that we do not have more atrocities in this country or around the world—we need to ensure not only that their voice is amplified and heard in the Muslim community and in the wider community but that they are afforded our protection for being brave enough and bold enough to get out there and say that.

Mr RUDDOCK (Berowra) (20:45): With much anxiety and lament, I participate in a debate of very considerable moment. The Prime Minister, on 24 November, made a national security statement. It has now been debated over some time, with many of my colleagues participating in the debate from this side of the House. Interestingly, it was only a little while ago that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition was arguing that there should be a debate on these issues, and, in that context, I note that this particular debate is being conducted largely by members of the government.

My colleagues wanted to make it very, very clear that the recent mass killings of so many innocent civilians in Paris, France; in Turkey; in Iraq; in Mali; in Bangladesh and in Afghanistan have no place in the world in which we live. This is terrorism, conducted for reasons that are sometimes, for us, very difficult to understand. We have certain values; we are open, democratic societies. We want to function with people from all over the world—to be able to live together and share each other's culture, ethnicity and faith. I think the world has changed very significantly, but, by some, that is not readily recognised.

We have seen a problem emerge in the Middle East which has led to efforts to overthrow existing governments in Muslim societies, and to provide a place from which terrorist activity can be conducted and can pose a risk to us. They are about, as the Prime Minister said, fomenting resentment between Muslim and non-Muslim populations. They have been about creating an environment in which extremist groups are able to pursue objectives. But the Prime Minister noted that this organisation, as we see it, is essentially weak—and it is weak, in part, because we have allowed a situation to develop that has been extraordinarily difficult to resolve and where there are differences of view, even amongst our friends, about the way forward.

We have seen a situation where enormous numbers of people have been dislocated, and I have witnessed, personally, in the areas surrounding Iraq and Syria, the devastating impact that this situation of hostility has produced. People have fled into Jordan in their hundreds of thousands, into Lebanon in several millions and into Turkey in much the same way. In Syria, some seven million people are, additionally, displaced.

It is an extraordinarily difficult issue to deal with because the participants, and those that surround them, have different views about how this situation should be resolved. It is not hard to understand, when you look at the Assad regime, which has maintained itself in power by dividing and, inevitably, conquering. It remains there, in part, because it has been able to put together alliances involving the different populations of its own country—the Alawi, the Christian, the Druze, the Shiah and some of the Sunni Muslims—against what is often seen to be a Sunni Muslim majority. You have countries surrounding Syria, like Turkey and Saudi Arabia, who want to produce change. You have other countries surrounding Syria, like Iran and Lebanon, where the Hezbollah want to maintain the Syrian regime in power. Similarly, you get the United States supporting, ostensibly, its allies in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and Russia focusing on how it can build linkages into Syria to maintain places for its own presence in the Mediterranean.

This is a situation which is extraordinarily difficult to resolve. In my view, it is not going to be resolved through countries like Australia seeking simply, with other allies, to bomb some parties into submission. ISIL have, over a period of time, been able to obtain a degree of power in areas of Syria and Iraq. They have done so through very considerable use of money and military capacity and they have been the most objectionable regime that you could imagine, in terms of what we understand as civilised society—accepting people with different views and different perspectives.

There is a 60-nation-strong coalition, as the Prime Minister says, whose objective is to disrupt, degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL. The Prime Minister argues that a full strategy, not just military but financial, diplomatic and political, is required. He recognised in his statement that Australia is a very significant contributor to the air strikes but that that is doing little more than disrupting the regime. What is needed is a political solution. We are endeavouring to support Iraq and to give it advice as to how it might be able to use its own forces to help resolve this issue.

But it is quite clear that, while some might regard a Western troop arrangement that could produce, in their view, a secure outcome, the problem we have with the way in which events have unfolded in the Middle East is that this can sometimes be enormously counterproductive. It is in that context that I think it is important to recognise that the air campaign has had limited success. It has halted ISIL's momentum. The capacity of ISIL has been degraded. Kurdish and Iraqi forces have won back some territory. But we have a long way to go.

It is from this genesis that we are seeing risks even to ourselves. With electronic communications, with the way in which these people are pursuing their objectives, we are in an extraordinarily difficult position. It is important to note, in the context of what we are experiencing with those people reaching out to people within our own community, that we have to have a very significant strategy to counter violent extremism here in Australia. The government has committed very considerable funds to doing that. We have been debating other laws, including the laws in relation to citizenship deprivation, that are part of an overall strategy. But I think it is very important to understand the importance of that strategy in the context of the nature of the society that we are here in Australia. As the Prime Minister notes, we are a community that has been supported by the government's four-tier approach, supporting our strong and multicultural society; helping institutions and sectors in our community to combat violent extremism and its ideology, wherever it emerges; challenging and undermining the appeal of terrorist propaganda, especially as we see it online; and intervening to divert individuals away from their violent extremist views.

Over a period of time, I have been very close to our culturally diverse communities. I think it is tremendously important to recognise that we have people of different faiths, different ethnicities, different cultures. It is never perfect, but I think it works better here than it does anywhere else in the world. It is very important, in the way in which we respond to these issues, that we do not undermine that cohesion. I mention that because, at times, we focus so much on the people who are seeking to undermine us that we think it reflects a much broader view in our society than it in fact does.

We have been extraordinarily well serviced by our policing organisations and by our security organisations, which I know have used intelligence in a way that can contain this threat to our society. We ought to be enormously grateful for the way in which they have identified those risks that can potentially harm us. That is not to say that we might not see some further extremist acts here in our community, but we need to be very careful that we do not divide ourselves or allow ourselves to be divided. I think these interests want us to overreact. In that context, I continue to take, to all the communities I meet with, a very strong view about the way in which this government is supportive of our cultural diversity, acknowledges the different streams, focuses on correctly identifying the real risks we face and seeks to address those rather than create more difficult situations for us in the future.

In the context of the Prime Minister's speech, I think it is very important that this battle in which we are involved has had a very significant impact in countries that surround us. It has had a significant impact on populations in countries that we see as our friends and allies. The events that took place in France, in Iraq, in Turkey, in Mali, in Bangladesh and in Afghanistan have troubled me enormously. This should not be seen as just a matter that has impacted upon our friends; this is an issue that has impacted upon the world community. Our approach to dealing with it needs to be clearly strategic and well framed. In the Prime Minister's address to the parliament you see very clearly that the government is about protecting Australia and its interests first and foremost. The government has a clear counter-terrorism strategy which calls for effective leadership in the Australian community and emphasises the importance of maintaining our cultural diversity but also identifying the risks that are there.

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate and I am grateful that the government has seen fit to give the parliament an opportunity to put this matter clearly before the Australian people.

Debate interrupted.

Mr BURKE (Watson—Manager of Opposition Business) (21:00): The Prime Minister has changed the tone of the government's language about Muslim Australians, and that is a good thing. Yesterday there was a return to the old rhetoric from the Minister for Resources, which was needlessly aggressive in its tone, illogical in its substance and self-defeating in its impact. His comments were an attempt, more than a week on, to relaunch an attack against the Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed. The language of a minority of other members of parliament looks like a coordinated attempt to ignite a sectarian debate.

When people want to claim that Muslim leaders are not being sufficiently resolute in condemning terrorism, they frequently refer to my friend, Dr Jamal Rifi, as someone who makes statements they support. I hope it sounded a note of caution then when those same people saw in the paper today Dr Rifi referring to Dr Mohamed as someone who 'always denouncing acts of terror'.

Following the horrific attacks in Paris and Beirut, Dr Mohamed made three public statements, on his Facebook page, by media release and by further clarification. The first clearly condemned the attacks; the second was terribly worded, but it was an attempt to call for community cohesion; and the third clarified the condemnation of the attacks.

The minister's comments yesterday questioned the sincerity of Dr Mohamed's condemnation claiming 'his first reaction was his instinctive reaction'. Why, oh why, would anyone think it was clever to claim that a religious and community leader who is condemning terrorism does not really mean it? Whose interests could possibly be advanced by that? The minister also forgot the first reaction was not the media statement, but the Facebook post which said the following:

Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, families and people of Paris and Beirut at this time of unspeakable horror. We will continually stand united in peace with them against such heinous attacks of cowardice. There are no words to truly describe the devastation of these acts but we will continue in solidarity and pray for peace.

If the first reaction is the one that counts, that was the first statement put out. The media statement on its own did send the wrong message, and that is why the third statement went out.

But why try to undermine a Muslim leader who has been known throughout the community from the time he was appointed as someone who has consistently denounced and condemned terrorism? It is self-defeating. I do not doubt for one minute the sincere commitment of every member of this parliament to defeating the scourge of terrorism. That is why I urge all members to stop attacking our allies. Community leaders who have such a history of condemning terrorism are essential allies in this battle. If you attack and demean these allies, there is only one cause which is strengthened, and it is the reprehensible one we all oppose. When goodwill is on offer, we should welcome the goodwill and return it.

The old rhetoric offered by the minister should be viewed as a clumsy statement which one day will be clarified. It has been devastating over the last few days to see members of this place make statements which are clearly calculated to cause division. If an appeal to decency does not register with some MPs, then maybe an appeal to national security will. The heads of our security agencies and police forces all say that this community is our strongest ally in defeating the influence of these horrific groups. Surely, that is enough.

To the half million Australians who hold Islam as their faith, I say: just as the extremists do not represent you, in the same way the politicians stoking division do not represent the majority of members on either side in this place. To the rest of Australia, let's welcome friendship when it is offered and not try to demonise Australians who in fact stand together with us. To those who have made comments which have reverberated around the country and stoked division in the last few days, please stop. This helps no-one. It tells people who are doing the right thing that you do not trust them. It hurts and assassinates the character of people who are our allies in the community.

I will disagree with the Prime Minister on many issues, but when he calls for calm, could every member of this parliament—like the speaker before me, the member for Berowra—heed that call, whether they are backbench or frontbench.

Mr LAMING (Bowman) (21:04): South-East Queensland is responsible for one fifth of Australia's economic and employment activity; and currently one in seven Australians resides there. Its population is expected to grow from 3,000,000 to over 4,000,000 by 2031 and to nearly 5,000,000 by 2041 and so it will take just one generation before one in five Australians resides in South-East Queensland. Of course, that part of Australia offers affordable housing, a high standard of living, and an idyllic climate, and all of that desirability attracts new business and residents. They come predominantly for those assets of this region.

It is very important that we talk about planning and infrastructure for that part of Australia that is growing so fast. It is inadequate to apportion infrastructure resources according to the current population. We need to be looking at the overwhelming economic and employment growth that is happening in that part of Australia, together with the projections through to 2041 and 2051. Running consecutive budget deficits and having jurisdictions in deep structural debt have taken away the opportunity for planners and governments to build infrastructure for the future or even to build infrastructure for the present. So we are in this invidious situation where we pay as we go, building just the infrastructure we can afford in the areas that are most desperate. That takes away the element of advantage in planning for the future.

The Council of Mayors from South-East Queensland are regular visitors to this place, and their only plea is that all jurisdictions work together. The stakes are no greater anywhere in Australia than in South-East Queensland. As I pointed out, for this economically significant region it is absolutely vital that we get value for money and strategic thinking for that part of Australia before it is too late. The region is referred to as the 200-kilometre city, stretching from Noosa to the border, and there are very few opportunities to get things wrong over the next generation. If we divide up the infrastructure money from the last Labor budget and the first coalition budget, it is pretty clear that South-East Queensland did not do too badly—when you throw in the Toowoomba Range Crossing, which is fundamentally infrastructure for the nation.

Connecting to Brisbane to Melbourne more efficiently is as much a public good for Melbourne as it is for Brisbane, so when I look at what is happening in Brisbane I am deeply concerned that the prime investment is the Bracken Ridge to Nudgee triple-laning of the Gateway Motorway, which has a very specific benefit but we have a far greater challenge around what is still a hub and spoke city that has failed to decentralise itself. It is still utterly reliant on its CBD and it continues, sadly, to move major infrastructure, federal and state, into its heart, including the Australian Taxation Office—right into within 50 metres of the Queen Street Mall. There is no need for federal government infrastructure to be clustered around the Queen Street Mall. There is every reason to have a multifocal city, as Sydney has attempted to do, but we are hampered by the range of Brisbane City Council and its boundaries.

The sheer reality is that this council cannot on its own make these calls. It ultimately falls to the Queensland government to direct, and Queenslanders, where they intended to or not, have elected a zero infrastructure state Labor government that will offer very little because they have nothing left to give. This is a state Labor government that simply inherited the credit rating and the budget debt that was created by the former Labor administration. We see three more years, potentially, of paralysis when tough decisions have to be made. Labor has proven itself incapable of developing substantial and effective PPPs. The one that was attempted in 2011 led to $240 million worth of schools being constructed in Brisbane, with the overall bill rising to nearly $1.1 billion—paid by Queenslanders, and they got only seven schools in return. This was a state Labor government that had run out of money. It was a state Labor government that had corroded its financial position to the point where spending an extra dollar would probably further reduce their credit rating. They had no alternative but to go to the market in the middle of the GST to do something as fundamental as build a school. When the offer came in, it was $1.1 billion to get $240 million worth of schools.

Now is the time, while we have a Queensland government almost incapable of arriving at significant deals with the Commonwealth, to ask ourselves what is the future for this part of Queensland. I commend the mayors for their courage and I call on Canberra to do everything they can to help this part of Australia.

Mr MITCHELL (McEwen—Second Deputy Speaker) (21:09): Once again I find myself speaking on the mobile phone black spot issue, this time on behalf of the community of St Andrews—just near your electorate, Mr Speaker. Through the Mobile Black Spot Program, my electorate of McEwen—which covers 4,592 square kilometres, is a recognised growth area in the north of Melbourne, is prone to natural disasters and submitted over 30 black spot locations for consideration by the program—received funding for two towers in the recent announcement made by this government. To put this in context, of the 500 mobile towers announced in the July 2015 release, 417 went to Liberal and National held seats. Only 81 towers went to other electorates—including 30 in lndi, seven in Fairfax and 18 in Kennedy. And a paltry two towers were allocated to McEwen, an area that has experienced some of the worst disasters of modern times.

When this outcome was realised, we asked questions. We asked how one of the most bush-fire prone areas of Australia, that met and went beyond each and every single criterion set by the government, received such a paltry outcome? The answer we have received is that the decision was essentially a commercial one made within the rules laid down by this government. Decisions on locations were driven by economic consideration rather than operational effectiveness. Were there existing towers in the area that could be upgraded? Or, would new ones need to be built which would increase the cost? Pragmatism ultimately prevailed—for the benefit of the shareholders, not for the benefit of communities. The focus has been on picking the low-hanging fruit—that is, where existing towers could be recommissioned or upgraded. I do not blame the telcos for playing by the rules set out by the government for this program. I do blame the government, and the Prime Minister when he was Minister for Communications, for establishing a program that puts dollars before lives. I have been saying for a long time now: this program is broken and the Prime Minister must now recognise that and fix it.

This is the case for the community of St Andrews, one of the two locations selected in my black spot, natural disaster prone electorate. The town of St Andrews has existing coverage. It lies in a gully surrounded by hills that are about 190m above sea level. The outlying areas around those hills are black spots. Under the Turnbull Black Spot Program it was decided to recommission an existing tower—which has not been in use for years!—that is located inside the gully to provide a service to a town that already has coverage. The locals reckon the tower has been there, switched off and doing nothing, for more than 20 years. Looking at the tower's licensing history, they are pretty close to the money on that. The key point is that recommissioning this tower will not extend coverage far enough to include the black spot areas, and that is what the locals need.

At a community meeting last week, St Andrews locals told Telstra they wanted coverage extended to the black spot areas. These were the areas of greatest risk and threat to life. They were satisfied with the existing coverage in the town. Locals explained the community's needs and made a reasonable request—to please address the real black spot problem. The local residents asked the right question—is this the best location for the tower to address the black spots on the outskirts of the town? What we have here is a failure to communicate. Instead of addressing the community's concerns, we are told that the recommissioning of an existing tower will go ahead. This is despite the fact that local residents, with local knowledge, explained that the service would not reach where it was needed most because of the terrain. This was despite mapping evidence showing that the residents are right.

What does this inflexibility achieve? It is all about acquitting the program implementation plan, regardless of the real outcome? Big tick, save money, so-called black spot problem solved. Only it isn't. I am left scratching my head because there is no logic here. Does recommissioning this particular tower give the government and the community it is supposed to serve the biggest bang for its buck? The Turnbull government should have shown more rigour in the approval process and tested the communications companies' claims to make sure the proposals were the solutions the community where seeking.

St Andrews and other black spot areas of McEwen were not talking about the need for additional towers to cope with seasonal demand, like ski-field selfies. The black spots are not going to go away by themselves. The solution to this problem requires real dedication and commitment. It is only when we have a real conversation, when all parties are able to identify the problem, offer alternatives and agree on a solution, that any progress is going to be made. The approach taken in St Andrews to stubbornly recommission a defunct tower, which had obviously been switched off for a reason, is not a good outcome. I stand with the St Andrews community and call on the government to declare this consultation process over. I call on the government to show some rigour and start a new consultation process with the community—one without a predetermined outcome. We need towers in locations that will actually do something.

Mr EWEN JONES (Herbert—Government Whip) (21:14): As 2015 heads toward an inevitable close, Townsville's 3rd Brigade at Lavarack Barracks embarks on a new phase. The last couple of years have seen a remarkable transition from an infantry base to a base which has embraced cavalry as a fully mobile, fully integrated, digitised, modern Australian Army unit. Under the stewardship of Brigadier Roger Noble, 2nd Cavalry Regiment now calls Townsville home. The black berets and their wedge-tailed eagle mascot fit right in with our city and we welcome them. Brigadier Noble also oversaw the digitisation of the command and control, C2, system, which was 'a massive jump, taking our Australian Army from the 20th century into a 21st century modern, efficient army unit'.

Brigadier Noble, like all good leaders, deflects all credit to his team of officers, the NCOs, his soldiers and the civilians who make up the dedicated workforce at Lavarack Barracks. As Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says, our best assets are our people, and so it is with the Army and ADF. Leaders such as Roger Noble recognise this, with a management style which promotes the core behaviours that define them as Australian soldiers of courage, initiative, teamwork and respect, and allows their people to express these values to their fullest extent. Brigadier Noble has been transferred to Sydney's Victoria Barracks. He joins a long list of brilliant soldiers who have commanded 3rd Brigade. The incoming brigadier is Brigadier Christopher Field, an infantry man through and through with a brilliant service record. He will continue to ensure that the 3rd Brigade remains Australia's premier Army base and the premier soldier transfer in our modern Australian Army.

The relationship between the city of Townsville and the ADF, and I include the RAAF and Navy in this, is very tight. Successive mayors, brigadiers and wing commanders have worked together to ensure the smooth relationship we currently enjoy remains just that way. It is not just the 1RAR band which plays at just about every charity event in the city and region, it is not the 2RAR pipe band which turns up everywhere, it is not the way that the entire ADF turn up post-cyclone and move hundreds of tonnes of debris from our communities at a moment's notice, and it is not the way that they do every doorknock for the Salvos or the surf-lifesavers and the like. To me, it is the way that they are the other mums and dads at schools, sport and dance on the weekends, struggling with the same things we all do. They are simply part of our community. There is no 'us and them'.

To all at Lavarack Barracks, to all at Ross Island and to all at RAAF Base Townsville, including 5 Aviation, and whether or not you wear a uniform, we say thank you for being a big part of our city. We wish you all the very best for a safe and happy Christmas and a brilliant, busy and productive 2016. To Brigadier Roger Noble and his wife and right hand, Danielle, and those two little balls of energy, we say thank you for your love of our city. We say thank you for your friendship and your generous nature. We say thank you for your professionalism and dedication. We wish you all the very best and hope that you will return to Townsville frequently. On a personal note, I also thank Brigadier Noble, who, along with Stuart Smith and Shane Caughey, were so patient with me as the member for Herbert. I thank you all for your love of history and of the brigade. To incoming Brigade Chris Field: lots of pictures, please, mate.

When you add in those who have served and called Townsville home, you get the real picture of just how big Defence is in my city. In Townsville, it is not six degrees of separation; it is one degree of separation. Townsville people are proud of all aspects of our city and all aspects of our community. Defence is a large part of that and when you add in the RSLs, the veterans and ex-service organisations, and you total up what they bring to our city, you get a picture of just what Defence and the men and women of our ADF mean to us, as a city and as a community. We will never, ever take that for granted.

Mr DREYFUS (Isaacs—Deputy Manager of Opposition Business) (21:19): There has been a welcome change of tone in our national conversation about terrorism and national security since the new Prime Minister deposed the member for Warringah. Gone is the worst of the member for Warringah's needless chest beating, his divisive language and his lecturing of Australian Muslims and declared lack of trust in them. It was divisive language which made us less safe. None of it was helpful, none of it contributed to our fight against terror and none of it helped make this a more cohesive, more resilient community. That is why the change in language matters—and it is a positive change. As the Prime Minister said the other day in this place:

This is not a time for gestures or machismo. Calm, clinical, professional, effective—that is how we defeat this menace.

But it seems that some members of the coalition parties cannot abide this positive development. They want to undermine their own Prime Minister on national security, the most important responsibility of any government. A number of coalition figures broke ranks this morning. Australians awoke to read in the Herald Sun some quite incredible contributions from, among others, the members for Canning, Deakin, Hughes and Dawson. The member for Canning appeared on page 1, depicted in this country's military uniform next to a headline screaming: 'Islam must change.' The member for Canning said:

Modern Islam needs to cohere with the Australian way of life, our values and institutions.

He went on to demand that the religion be 'reformed'. This is divisive. It gives licence to those who would stir up unrest in our multicultural, tolerant society. It is completely unhelpful in the fight against terror, a fight in which Muslim Australians play a very great part. What arrogance from the member for Canning to lecture hundreds of thousands of Muslim Australians about their faith. What hypocrisy from a politician who has, quite rightly, insisted that his private faith had little to do with his contribution to public life.

Incredibly, his colleague the member for Deakin weighed in with a theological opinion, suggesting that Islam needed a kind of 'reformation', an extraordinary thing for a political leader to say about a religion followed by many of his fellow Australians, and a strange suggestion, too, given the centuries of sectarian blood-letting which attended Christianity's Reformation.

The many hundreds of thousands of Australians who practise Islam deserve better than this from those who are meant to be representing them in this place. The Australian Muslim community has a long and proud history stretching back into the middle of last century, certainly well before the arrival of many millions of migrants of Christian faith, for example.

Perhaps these conservative members should actually go out into their electorates and speak with their Muslim constituents rather than lecture them from the front pages of the tabloids. Maybe they would learn something. Maybe they would hear about the hard work Muslim communities do—work that has been praised by our police and our security agencies—to combat violent, extremist ideologies which threaten their young people. Maybe they would come to understand what it feels like to have your faith and your community questioned by political leaders who ought to know better—to fear the hatred that this might stir up against you.

The Prime Minister had it right the other day when he said:

Strategically, ISIL wants to create division by fomenting resentment between Muslims and non-Muslim populations.

While he is out of the country, it seems that members of his own party are set on doing just that: irresponsibly stirring up division and distrust between Muslim and non-Muslim Australians. We should not tolerate it. The Prime Minister's welcome change of rhetoric will prove very hollow indeed if it is defied by members of his own party. It is time they were pulled into line.

Mr BUCHHOLZ (Wright) (21:24): Today we were joined in the parliament by the Council of Mayors of South-East Queensland. I take this opportunity to acknowledge Paul Antonio, Mayor of Toowoomba; Paul Pisasale, Mayor of Ipswich; Graham Quirk, Lord Mayor of Brisbane; Mark Jamieson, Sunshine Coast mayor, from the north coast; and Janet Holstein, representing Steve Jones, Mayor of Lockyer Valley.

In particular, I acknowledge John Brent, mayor of Scenic Rim, who held the Scenic Rim Business Excellence Awards at The Centre in Beaudesert the other day. There were a number of nominations received. We had 22 finalists in eight different categories, and the winners were declared on the night. The awards highlighted innovation, business excellence and good corporate citizenship.