MARK DREYFUS MP

The safety of our community and the security of our nation must always be paramount considerations for every member of this parliament.

Labor support this bill. We support this bill because we recognise the need to modernise the legislative framework that governs the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, ASIS, to reflect the changing operational realities in the global environment and the nature of the national security challenges that Australia now faces.

Labor supports this bill as this is an extension of our support for the original bill. We supported the original Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act 2018 and the National Security Legislation Amendment (Espionage and Foreign Interference) Act 2018 on the basis that foreign interference in our political system, if it is malign, is unacceptable and, even if it is benign, should nevertheless be transparent.

Members of the judiciary are easy targets considering they cannot defend themselves publicly. And it is not new that they are picked on by politicians and some elements of the press. But there has been a notable worsening lately, and it is making both our justice system, and the people in it, ill. It's time for it to stop.

These two bills will implement a number of the recommendations of the 2017 Independent Intelligence Review, conducted by Michael L'Estrange and Stephen Merchant, by establishing the Office of National Intelligence, or ONI, which is to be led by the Director-General of National Intelligence.

The Australian Labor Party stands for integrity, accountability and transparency in government. We do not tolerate corruption, whether in government, in business or in not for profits such as unions and charities. In keeping with this guiding principle we in Labor are committed to fostering a culture of integrity at the federal level.

I'm regularly contacted by people in my electorate, asking why their application to be a citizen of our great country the country that they love and they want to serve has been so delayed. People who want nothing more than to contribute to their adopted country, as citizens, are being kept waiting by this Liberal government, with no reasonable explanation.

What happened, were entitled to ask, to support for multiculturalism in this country? What happened to the rejection of racism?

We know that Mr Dutton is a beneficiary of a family trust, and we know that the corporate trustee of that family trust operates two childcare centres, at least one of which is operated on behalf of Mr Dutton and the other beneficiaries of the family trust. We also understand that those two childcare centres have received over $5.5 million in Commonwealth childcare subsidies since 2014.

This week we've seen the allegations against the Minister for Home Affairs, which have not been denied, that he used the power of his office to help others gain employment with the Australian Border Force.