Mr SHORTEN (Maribyrnong—Leader of the Opposition) (11:18): I thank the Prime Minister for updating the House. We welcome the fact that the Commonwealth Counter-Terrorism Coordinator has concluded his report on the recent dreadful overseas attacks and the lessons that we can learn. We hope that the government will brief us very soon on this report. Labor will support the review into the way defence and domestic counterterrorism operations work together. I think there is merit, in particular, in looking at whether the existing processes around the call-out of the Defence Force for domestic terrorist incidents is strong enough in the current threat environment. This parliament works best when leaders on both sides cooperate and communicate on important issues such as this. I would like to briefly acknowledge former Prime Minister Abbott for consistently striving to keep me and Labor informed about national security. The Australian Labor Party fully understands and appreciates the importance of cybersecurity to our national security. While there are many issues that can divide this parliament, often very deeply, all of us in this place, on all sides, share a common determination to keep Australia safe. We are all committed to ensuring our people, our institutions and, indeed, our commercial enterprises are protected by the most up-to-date technology. We are all committed to providing the best possible assistance to the men and women of the Australian Defence Force, who have put themselves in harm's way in our country's name. It is a century since Australians fought and fell on the Western Front, but there can be no question that the face of global conflict has dramatically changed, and changed exponentially, in recent years. But the courage of those who serve our nation endures. Our respect for their bravery, professionalism and skill is at the very heart of who we are as Australians and what we admire about Australians, as is the important regard in which we hold our security agencies and our intelligence community. When they seek our support, when they need our commitment to modernisation, we should be prepared to do what it takes to keep people safe. The ultimate defeat of Daesh is a shared goal of all of those who believe in peace. In the years since this conflict began, we have learned not to underestimate their resilience or their adaptability. In fact, if we have learned anything about Daesh, it is that they will use every tool at their disposal—every weapon in their arsenal—to spread hatred, to encourage violence and to destroy innocent lives. Preventing this, combating terrorism and defeating extremism means meeting Daesh on every front, whether it is providing air support and training in Iraq or disrupting cyber operations—not just defensively, but offensively—ensuring we have, and use, the ability to silence the dreadful extremist propaganda and deprive them of resources and information. Improving our cybersecurity is equally important in protecting Australia's government and non-government agencies and institutions from digital attacks. In the past year alone, we have seen Austrade, the Bureau of Meteorology and the Department of Defence targeted. We have seen large-scale attacks and initiatives carried out around the world; perhaps, most noticeably, in the United States. Increased connectivity with the world through the internet for our businesses and communities is outstanding. It is one of the defining forces of our modern society and economy. But it does let others in. An increase in connections to the internet is matched by an increase in the number of points vulnerable to hacking and cybercrime. The number of potential targets increases, and millions of our small and medium-sized businesses need government to help them stay safe in the digital world. They need it in a way that is simple enough for them to incorporate into their business and that they can afford. This means having the resources to design cyber defences for our products, our processes and our people—Australian-developed cybersecurity capability and standards to protect all Australians. That is why, in government, Labor opened the Cyber Security Operations Centre and adopted Australia's first comprehensive Cyber Security Strategy. But we recognise that the scale and speed of change in this area mean that nothing can stand in stone. In the last two years, there has been more data created than in the entire previous history of the human race. We are living in a time when technology and invention are streaking ahead of traditional security and legal frameworks. Today, almost without thinking, Australians store and share vast amounts of private and personal information online—banking credit-debit records, medical history, tax and income data, intellectual property. It is why The Economist in 2014 estimated the global cost of cybercrime, intellectual property theft and espionage was around $445 billion a year. That is before we consider what we share on social media about ourselves. Like all parents in this place and around Australia, I am conscious that social media has fundamentally reshaped childhood for this generation of Australians. For all of these reasons, we cannot afford to assume that cybersecurity is a niche issue for techxperts, the harmless hobby of a few dedicated followers. We must recognise that there is no such thing as an unhackable system, no such thing as a foolproof platform. Instead, the world's leading cybersecurity experts all say we should begin from the assumption that there are already people inside the system. Our focus should be on finding out what they are doing, tracing their activity and preventing others from using the same entry point. The key words in every cybersecurity conversation are trust and collaboration. No government has the reach or resources to act in this field alone. We must collaborate with the private sector, sharing information and strategies, learning from each other's successes and failures. That is true as well for cooperation with our international peers. We need to seek a new layer of engagement with our old allies and partners, recognising that frameworks and treaties written for a Cold War world need to be updated for an age where people can google bomb-making instructions and 3D-print guns. This is particularly important in our region. As Daesh is driven closer to defeat in the field, there is a very real risk of former extremists demobilising in our region—trained in the Middle East, better trained in combat, more radicalised than when they left. Managing this threat, keeping not only Australia but South-East Asia safe, will require our leadership and multilateral institutions and our example as a democratic, peaceful, prosperous and secure nation. It is vital we continue to enhance the reach and flexibility of our cybersecurity capabilities, but I also have to add that all of the good work, all of the unreplaceable investment in technological safety, can count for nothing unless we continue to invest in the very human element of countering extremism. There are not enough walls, weapons and technology to guarantee safety alone, unless we deploy our citizens in the pursuit of combating extremism. Of course, when I talk about our citizens, I am mindful that one of the most powerful assets in the fight against terrorism does not wear a uniform or wield a weapon; it is our united, harmonious, inclusive nation. As the Prime Minister said so well in parliament only last month: The terrorists want the wider Australian community to turn against Australian Muslims. Their message to Australian Muslims is, 'You're not wanted here. You will never be accepted here. You cannot be Australian.' So in this place we have a solemn responsibility to counter that argument of the extremists, of the extreme right and the extremists in the Middle East who say that being a Muslim citizen of this democracy is incompatible with their faith. We need to counter that argument, not amplify it. It is our job, our duty, to foster a more inclusive, a more respectful, a more egalitarian Australia. We do not just tolerate diversity; we embrace diversity. We do not just acknowledge multiculturalism; we embrace multiculturalism—as a bipartisan achievement and as a shared priority. And no individual in this place did more to shape the modern diverse nation that we cherish today than Malcolm Fraser. As the Prime Minister generously said in condolences about the former Liberal Prime Minister, he was so far ahead of his time. The Prime Minister said: When you look at what he did in respect of shaping the nature of Australia today, it is really quite remarkable. As the Prime Minister reminded us in his most recent statement, just minutes ago, there is no bliss in ignorance. All of these are reasons why the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection's recent comments were so profoundly wrong. Suggesting it was a mistake to allow a generation of migrants to come to Australia more than three decades ago, because of the crimes of a tiny handful of their grandchildren, is not just ignorant and insulting; it is not just a denigration of people who have worked so hard and given so much to this country. The comments were not just a repudiation of the success of Australia, a nation made great by migration and multiculturalism. The minister's ignorant comments contradict, undermine and fly in the face of every briefing I have ever received from our security agencies who explain to us how best to counter radicalisation, about defeating extremism. Loud, lazy disrespect, wholesale labelling of entire communities for the actions of a tiny minority, aid and abet the isolation and resentment that the extremists prey upon. In this place we are leaders. We do not just cater for majorities; we respect minorities. We do expect anyone who comes here to adhere to our laws and our values, but we must take the responsibility of leadership most seriously with how we act, with what we say. It is time for some leadership from the Prime Minister. It is time that the minister for immigration was brought into line. As the remarkable member for Cowan—who was involved in driving WA Labor's Cyber Security Strategy seven years ago—said this morning, and I agree, 'I am fearful that the minister for immigration's comments will be used by an extreme few who would seek to harm the fabric of our society.' Second and third generation migrants are teachers. They are police officers. They are entrepreneurs. They are members of this parliament on both sides of the House. They serve in our hospitals and they serve in the uniform of our country. They raise children. They pay taxes. They build communities. They coach local sporting teams. They create small businesses. They volunteer. They do, as I say, sit on both sides of this chamber. And we, in the Labor Party, do not start by calling them 'second and third generation migrants'; we call them 'Australians'. And, in an age of rapidly evolving threats, of shifting battlegrounds and whole new forms of crime, we must continue to adapt our processes, our technologies and our capabilities. Our country requires it. The effort of our ADF personnel who put their lives on the line require us to do here the very best we can do. But we must also never lose sight of old truths in the search for new security. All of the machines and all of the walls and all of the guards are insufficient if we do not reach out and include all of those in our own society. We are always and every time a stronger nation and a safer place when we stand together. Now and always, let that guide us.