Tuesday, 30 August 2022

Legal and Social Issues Committee

Inquiry into Extremism in Victoria

Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:32): Pursuant to standing order 23.29, I lay on the table a report from the Legal and Social Issues Committee on the inquiry into extremism in Victoria, including appendices and a minority report. I further present transcripts of evidence, and I move:

That the transcripts of evidence lie on the table and the report be published.

Motion agreed to.

Ms PATTEN: I move:

That the Council take note of the report.

I would just really like to start by acknowledging the extraordinary team that has guided the Legal and Social Issues Committee not just through this inquiry and this report but also through the other 11 that we have done. This is the 12th report of the Legal and Social Issues Committee and our 11th inquiry. I would also just like to recognise Dr Ratnam in bringing this inquiry to the committee and also her dedicated work on this inquiry, as well as all of the other committee members who took part in this inquiry.

You would not normally expect a state Parliament to be looking at an issue such as extremism—and we certainly followed on from our federal counterparts, who had begun an investigation into extremism in Australia. I think what I took from this is that to address and stop extremism in our community requires a whole-of-government approach, and it requires whole levels of approaches. Some of that is around security and legislation, but a lot of it is around community building. It is around addressing social exclusion. It is about addressing so many of the issues that some of our multicultural community, our First Nations people and many people are experiencing—that sense of isolation that can lead them down some very dark and sometimes dangerous paths.

This is certainly what we heard from—sometimes very brave—witnesses who gave evidence to this committee. They did that at personal risk and at risk not just to themselves but to their families. Many of them have actually been attacked since giving evidence to this committee. So we are enormously grateful for that. But as I say, this is not the end of this conversation. I do not think it is the end of this conversation in this state Parliament, and certainly it is not the end of this conversation nationally. I feel that this report actually started the conversation about what we can do to address extremism in our community and what we can do to not only address it but prevent it. In doing that we really need to look at community building and other social cohesion measures.

Aside from that but as part of that—and certainly it is something that has been in conversations in the last 24 hours in the media but also in the last few months—is the responsibility that members of Parliament have to their community to support them and to not incite or help perpetrate social isolation or even extremism. To that end we recommended an integrity charter, which will again help build the public trust in our Parliament. We know that that public trust is at a pretty low ebb at the moment, and this committee recommended that we introduce an integrity charter as part of a whole bunch of other measures that we have heard about from IBAC and the Ombudsman in a whole range of areas.

I do encourage members to read this report. I think it covers off on a lot of areas. It does not pretend to provide the answers. What it does do is start opening the conversation. There are some very sensible measures that we have recommended in this report, and I commend it to the house.

Dr KIEU (South Eastern Metropolitan) (12:36): I rise to speak on the report on the inquiry into extremism in Victoria. Extremist movements are a serious matter and have been identified as a significant and growing issue in Australia by ASIO. It is a global issue, particularly regarding anti-immigration and anti-democratic ideas, and particularly in Victoria it has been growing since 2015–16. Young people have been radicalised and recruited by online means. The extremist movement has been disseminating misinformation and conspiracy theories online and also spreading extremist ideology.

The committee have made a multitude of findings and also recommendations. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the committee members for their work on this inquiry and all the witnesses for their submissions to this very important inquiry. I particularly thank the secretariat for their hard work, not only on this inquiry but on all 11 reports. The number of reports is perhaps more than the number of own-motion committee reports from the Legislative Council, so thank you very much.

Dr BACH (Eastern Metropolitan) (12:38): I also want to make a brief contribution on this important report. Far-right extremism is odious and to be condemned. Indeed extremism in all its forms is odious and to be condemned. Victoria has a proud multicultural heritage, and so much of what we heard in this committee was immensely useful, and thus many of the findings and recommendations of this report are incredibly useful.

However, I am incredibly disappointed, and I know my colleague Ms Burnett-Wake is also very disappointed, that our repeated calls to expand the terms of reference to cover extremism rather than one narrow form of extremism went unheard. It is interesting that the former speaker referred to ASIO and the findings of ASIO. Well, ASIO does not use this definition of ‘extremism’. Indeed I am not aware of any expert body that talks about far-right extremism or far-left extremism. We heard so much wonderful evidence from expert witnesses that the complex causes of extremism are the same no matter which particular ideological bent an extremist takes. So not expanding the terms of reference, as the Liberals and Nationals argued for in this chamber a long time ago and as we argued for throughout the period of the committee hearings, was a significant missed opportunity. Ms Burnett-Wake and I took the opportunity to write a minority report of our own, not finding fault—certainly not with the excellent witnesses, nor with the findings, quite frankly—but simply arguing again that in reading this report we should read the recommendations, many of which are very sound, as pertaining not to just one narrow form of extremism but indeed to extremism in all its manifestations. Like Dr Kieu, I would like to thank the chair. I would also like to thank the excellent secretariat for all the work they did.

Dr RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (12:40): I too rise to commend this really excellent report before us on the rise of far-right extremism in Victoria. I want to acknowledge the commitment of particularly the Legal and Social Issues Committee membership to conduct this inquiry, the support of the government and particularly the staff and secretariat for their deep research and thinking on this very important area of focus. In fact it is the only report of its kind in Australia, after the federal inquiry was effectively shelved. This report and inquiry found that there has been a re-emergence of far-right extremism in Victoria and that it is a threat to our social cohesion, our democracy and our safety.

There are features of these movements, including anti-democratic sentiments, anti-immigration sentiments, misogyny and racism. There are social and economic conditions that exacerbate the growth of these movements—namely, inequality and social isolation. The growing threat is fuelled and fanned by the decline in trust in politicians and institutions and normalised by the mainstreaming of right-wing populism. When our political, economic and social systems fail to support people, society leaves people behind, and it creates more distrust and disengagement.

This report issues a challenge to our governments to act, because we can act to prevent and counter far-right extremism and keep our communities safe. In fact the inquiry found that there are effective ways that all levels of government could embrace to counter this growing threat immediately, and that means more social cohesion and community building, improving integrity measures to build trust in our political systems, our social institutions and our civic institutions. It means supporting anti-racism education, supporting research, building collaboration and supporting youth work and our youth workers, and it issues a challenge to all leaders to take this threat seriously and to act urgently.

Ms BURNETT-WAKE (Eastern Victoria) (12:42): I rise today as a member of the Legal and Social Issues Committee to speak on our recent inquiry into extremism in Victoria. As Dr Bach said, the committee examined the rise of far-right extremism and the associated risk that these groups pose to functioning society. The inquiry was, however, limited in scope, in the sense that we only examined far-right extremism, when in fact all methods of extremism pose threats to our way of life.

Dr Bach and I have included a minority report to make clear our view that this inquiry should have focused on all forms of extremism. We firmly resolve that extremism of any kind is abhorrent, whether it is right wing, left wing or something else entirely. All kinds of extremism should be condemned, and it is wrong to single out one form and label it worse than another. For this reason the Liberals were deeply disappointed that this inquiry only sought to examine far-right extremism. We did try to have the inquiry’s scope broadened multiple times but were not successful.

Many witnesses deviated unknowingly from the terms of reference when speaking freely and broadly on extremism and its causes. There were many similarities between the causes of extremism, no matter the ideology. The Liberals therefore recommend that the contents, findings and recommendations of the report be read to concern all forms of extremism. I commend the report to the house and recommend that all findings and recommendations be read considering all forms of extremism.

Motion agreed to.