It shouldn't be forgotten, however, that the Morrison Government has also made significant strides over the last 12 months to keep Australians safe from dangerous criminal activity. This includes passing new legislation cracking down on the worst kinds of criminals - terrorists and child sex offenders.

The passage of the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sexual Crimes Against Children and Community Protection Measures) Bill 2019 through the Senate in June is a hugely important step in the fight against abhorrent abuse of children. This important bill cracked down on paedophiles in a number of ways, including the imposition of guaranteed jail time for federal child sex offences.

Many Australians may not be aware that the number of reports of child exploitation to the Australian Federal Police doubled last year to almost 18,000 reports involving Australian children or Australian paedophiles. This level of child abuse calls for a drastic recalibration of the way courts deal with child sex offenders. Courts and Parliaments must recognise that the only time children are safe from these vile and evil offenders is when they are behind bars.

Sadly, Tasmania's Labor and Green Senators, along with Senator Lambie, all voted to remove mandatory sentencing provisions from the government's bill. This doesn't bode well for the Tasmanian Government's attempts to implement mandatory sentencing for paedophiles under Tasmanian law.

Late last year the Morrison Government also passed the Counter Terrorism Legislation Amendment (2019 Measures No. 1) Bill which creates a presumption against parole and extends the presumption against bail for terrorists and their supporters.

We've seen in the UK numerous examples of convicted terrorists being released back into the community and subsequently killing innocent civilians. Unfortunately, this is another area in which Australian courts have been way too lenient and failed to prioritise community safety.

Eleven convicted terrorists have been or are due to be released from Australian prisons this year after serving sentences nowhere near the maximum life imprisonment for their attempts to kill innocent Australians. The legislation passed by the Australian Parliament in December closes loopholes which allow terrorists out way sooner than they should be.

In my view there is still more to be done to ensure courts sentence terrorists and child sex offenders - the worst of the worst - to very long jail terms.