Speech: Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing)(Amendment) Bill 2013

I welcome this important legislation, which I have called for on many occasions, and compliment the Minister on bringing it before the House. We have learned from the downturn in the economy that there was a lack of adequate regulation, oversight and accountability in certain areas of society. We know where this has brought us.

The financing of terrorism and criminal activity, two areas that are not entirely unrelated, has been brought to the attention of our European colleagues – hence the need for this legislation. The requirements provided for in the legislation are simple measures and are not rocket science. We have all heard anecdotal evidence about businesses where people are unable to ascertain the basis on which they continue to operate. In the current climate, it is important to establish ground rules and principles that will eliminate this type of activity. The time has come to put a stop to behaviour that has been able to get a foothold in society because it has been possible to circumvent legislation.

I hope the Bill will be effective and will do what it says on the tin, in other words, deal directly and forcefully with the issues of money laundering and terrorist financing. Money laundering is the means of funding activity of a criminal or terrorism nature and it is a sad reflection on society that it can take place on what appears to be a legitimate basis.

There is no need to emphasise the level of criminal activity which obtains at present, the number of shootings which have taken place in very suspicious circumstances, the number of threats issued to juries, judges and others or the number of witnesses who have been intimidated. I accept that many of the issues to which I refer have been the subject of separate legislation. There is no doubt that a huge volume of illegal activity has been financed by means of money laundering. I hope that the provisions contained in the Bill will be adequate to address the means by which money is laundered. Certain people may have become accustomed to living on their ill-gotten gains. If fact, these individuals may be of the view that this has become the norm. That is not the case. We have reached the point where the relevant issues must be tackled.

Those involved in criminal activity cannot operate without massive amounts of funding. Such funding continues to be made available. One area to which I wish to refer in this regard is that which relates to the sale of illegal drugs. There is no doubt that extensive borrowing, banking and money laundering facilities are being made available to those involved in this criminal activity. These people do not all operate with cash in their back pockets and neither do they have just one bank account in a particular jurisdiction. Those to whom I refer have multiple banks accounts. The time has come to deal with these people and their rampant criminal activity. I hope the Bill will be part of a suite of legislative instruments which will allow us to deal with the type of activity to which I refer in a meaningful way.

My final point relates to due diligence. When the DIRT inquiry took place, we spent a great deal of time discussing due diligence in the banking, insurance and regulatory systems. We also identified all of the shortcomings which arose on foot of the lack of adequate observance, oversight and due diligence in the context of these systems. Again, this is not rocket science. If simple procedures are introduced and followed, this will ensure that the activities of those in the financial sector will be based on a solid footing. We must ensure that the activities of companies are also above board and I am glad that this matter will be subject of legislation to come before the House next week. We must learn from past experience and put in place the necessary legislative measures to ensure that we do not allow criminal activity to be funded by and from what appear to be legitimate financial outlets and sources. We cannot afford to allow companies to have within their power the facility to allow them to cater for illegal activity on the part of terrorists or criminals. Such activity completely undermines the credibility of our system and the confidence of the public therein. The type of activity to which I refer does massive damage to our image internationally.

I welcome the Bill and compliment the Minister on its introduction. I hope it will have the desired effect.