April 19, 2023
Victorian Liberal senator James Paterson will become the opposition’s new spokesman for home affairs.
Senator Paterson said he was honoured to be promoted to the frontbench, after Queensland MP Karen Andrews announced she would step down from the key portfolio and would not contest the next election.
He will retain his role as cyber security spokesman, and said there was “no more sacred duty of government than to keep Australians safe and secure”.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said Senator Paterson, who served on the parliament’s powerful joint security and intelligence committee, had been at the forefront of debates about the future of Australia for many years.
“He’s done an outstanding job in holding the government to account for cyber security failures,” he said.
Senator Paterson took aim at the federal government for “dismantling” the portfolio established under the Coalition, which brought together domestic national security policy expertise and operational agencies.
“We have already seen a significant blowout in the time taken to list a terrorist organisation now that it is being double handled by two ministers,” he said.
“Confusion over who is responsible for cyber crime ... is another example of how vital national security issues risk falling through the cracks thanks to Labor’s illogical changes to the portfolio.
“In the dangerous and uncertain strategic environment we find ourselves in, we cannot afford confusion about which minister is responsible for our domestic national security settings.” Snator Paterson also paid tribute to Ms Andrews’ service in the portfolio.
“Australia is safer and more secure thanks to difficult decisions she took as minister, including the listing of Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organisations for the first time, and world-leading critical infrastructure protection reforms,” he said.
