Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

to move:

That the House:

(1)

notes that 4 June 2009 is the 20th anniversary of the free elections in Poland, elections which were the beginning of the end of communist party rule not only in Poland but in all the countries of central and eastern Europe, and eventually also in the republics of the Soviet Union;

(2)

congratulates the people of Poland for their courageous struggle over more than 40 years to reclaim their independence and to restore democracy and freedom, and on the increasing security, prosperity and freedom which Poland has enjoyed since 1989;

(3)

recalls that it was the Solidarity free trade union which led the successful struggle of the Polish people to achieve independence and democracy in Poland;

(4)

notes that:

(a)

4 June 2009 is also the 20^th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, in which an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 peaceful protesters were killed by the Chinese armed forces under the direction of the Chinese Communist Party leaders;

(b)

in the 20 years since Tiananmen Square the Chinese Communist Party has continued to deny the Chinese people a voice in their own government, and has continued to repress arbitrarily those calling for greater openness, democracy and freedom in China; and

(c)

China continues to deny Chinese workers the right to form free and independent trade unions, resulting in the continuing exploitation of Chinese workers and an unacceptably high rate of workplace deaths and injuries; and

(5)

calls on the Chinese Government to cease repression against political and religious dissidents and its citizens generally, and to announce a timetable for a transition to democratic government in China.

See this speech in context