Louise Markus (Greenway, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the motion put forward by the member for Cook. The police violence, systematic harassment and intimidation that took place on 8 May in Zimbabwe is absolutely unacceptable. It is alleged that protesters were beaten on the streets in front of the High Court, loaded into a truck and then moved to open grassland where they were beaten and assaulted further, all simply because they were expressing their public view and protest over the behaviour of the government—something that we in Australia take for granted.

Over 20 per cent of Zimbabwe’s 30 million people have contracted HIV. The average life expectancy is just a little over 37 years of age. The country has an annual GDP growth going backwards by 6.5 per cent and, as has already been mentioned, an inflation rate of over 3,714 per cent. More than three million people rely on international food distribution programs to survive and there are over 1.3 million orphans. They do indeed deserve better. They deserve better than an inflation rate that is spiralling out of control; they deserve better than an unemployment rate of over 80 per cent; they deserve better than having access to only four hours of power supply between 5 pm and 9 pm. It is absolutely unacceptable that a nation that was previously prosperous with food now imports food for its own people, and the cost of this food is then doubled not once but twice to cover the cost of importing in the following month. Meanwhile, Mugabe lives in the lap of luxury and his people around him experience extreme poverty, violence and corruption. The people of Zimbabwe do indeed deserve better.

I support the member for Cook’s call to demand an immediate independent investigation into the alleged misconduct of police officers from the Criminal Investigations Department’s law and order section. The members for Cook and Moreton, government members and I remain deeply concerned about ongoing attacks on opposition members and civil society leaders. It is not only time to condemn the Zimbabwe regime for threats made against church leaders, but the people of Zimbabwe are entitled to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, the freedom to not fear religious persecution and the opportunity to, indeed, reach their potential. I congratulate the Australian government on its steps to place pressure on the government of Zimbabwe to respect human rights, democracy and the rule of law and for the $6.7 million committed in aid to help those who are most vulnerable.

It is important to note the recommendations following the 2002 fact-finding mission of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The report highlights, firstly, that Zimbabwe is a divided society in need of assistance to withdraw from its potentially dangerous situation. I will note some of the mission’s recommendations. Firstly, on national dialogue and reconciliation it recommends that religious organisations are best placed to play the lead role in reconciling and mediating in dialogue between the different groups in Zimbabwe’s divided society. On creating an environment conducive to democracy and human rights it recommends that sections of the AIPPA that prohibit free expression of public opinion should be repealed and that sections of the POSA are reviewed. On independent national institutions it recommends that human rights violations and corruption could be prevented by putting in place independent national institutions to guard against them, such as an independent office to receive and investigate complaints against police. It also recommends that the judiciary needs to be independent and that the independence of the judiciary could be ensured by refraining from political attacks on its members and obeying judicial orders. On a professional police service, it recommends that efforts should be made to avoid any further politicisation of the police service and that the police service should never be at the service of any political party. There are a couple of other points, but the last one is that the reporting obligations to the African Commission should be met.

The Zimbabwe government must take urgent steps to submit its overdue periodic reports to the commission. This is indeed a sad state of affairs in Zimbabwe and we ought to do everything possible to put pressure on the government of Zimbabwe. It is also time for the international community to speak up. (Time expired)

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