Magnitsky-styled sanctions will deter human rights abusers: Patterson

Plans to legislate Magnitsky-styled sanctions on foreign officials will deter “human rights-abusing” officials from threatening Australia’s national security, says Liberal Senator James Patterson. “Australia’s existing autonomous sanctions regime is inadequate; it’s clunky, it’s out of date and it needs to be updated,” he told Sky News host Chris Smith. “What that will allow us to do is to individually sanction and target for personal, financial consequences, visa bans and other tools, corrupt officials, human rights-abusing officials. “Crucially, in the Australian context, also people who threaten our national security, for example by cyber-attacks. “So, wherever they are in the world, whether it’s China or Russia or Belarus, or Saudi Arabia or anywhere, we’ll be able to use these powers to target and sanction them and make sure there’s a personal cost for the officials involved in this and it might deter them from what they’re about to do.”