Jason Clare reflects

Speech by the Hon Jason Clare MP

It has been a great honour to serve as the Minister for Home Affairs and the Minister for Justice since December 2011.

I congratulate Scott Morrison on his appointment as Minister for Immigration and Border Protection and Michael Keenan on his appointment as Minister for Justice and wish them well in these important portfolios.

I also thank the professional public servants I have had the privilege of working with during my time as Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Justice.

This includes Roger Wilkins, Secretary of the Attorney General’s Department, Tony Negus, Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, Michael Pezzullo and Michael Carmody, CEOs of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, John Lawler, CEO of the Australian Crime Commission, Philip Moss, Integrity Commissioner and head of the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, John Schmidt, CEO of AUSTRAC, Doug Smith, CEO of CrimTrac and Dr Adam Tomison, CEO of the Australian Institute of Criminology.

All lead teams of dedicated first class public servants and it has been a privilege to work with them.

I am very proud of the major reforms I have driven as Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Justice. These include:
1. The Blueprint for the reform of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service released in July this year.
2. The development and establishment of the Australian Anti-Dumping Commission.
3. Reforms to tackle the illegal firearms market – including the expansion of the Australian Ballistics Identification Network to all Police Forces across the country, the establishment of Customs’ Firearms Intelligence and Targeting Team and the expansion of the Australian Crime Commission’s tracing capability.
4. The establishment of the National Anti-Gang Taskforce to fight gang-related crime across Australia.
5. Major reforms to target organised crime in the cargo system – including the expansion of Taskforce Polaris to Melbourne (Taskforce Trident) and Brisbane (Taskforce Jericho).
6. Doubling the jurisdiction of the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity.
7. The development of a National Border Targeting Centre to target high-risk international passengers and cargo.
8. The establishment of the Five Eyes Ministerial Forum on Homeland Security with the former United States Secretary of Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano.

As Minister for Defence Materiel (September 2010 to December 2011 and March 2012 to February 2013), I worked with Minister for Defence Stephen Smith to implement major reforms to defence procurement, improve the protective equipment provided to our troops and develop the Future Submarine Industry Skills Plan – a plan to prepare Australia’s naval shipbuilding industry for the largest defence acquisition in Australia’s history.

As Parliamentary Secretary for Employment (June 2009 to September 2010), I helped establish three important and successful employment projects during the Global Financial Crisis – Apprentice Kickstart, National Green Jobs Corp and Jobs Expos. I also developed the Fair Entitlements Guarantee policy, which replaced the General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme (GEERS).

Public service is a great honour and I look forward to continuing to serve Australia in the 44th Parliament.

 

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