Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to welcome this motion from the member for Fremantle which goes to the heart of what we ought to be considering as a parliament in that it addresses the grave humanitarian situation that has developed in Sri Lanka and is a concern that we ought to do something about. While all of us here would seek to reject violence and renounce terror as a means of legitimate political activity to achieve any objective that we are seeking, we ought to take into account that the victims of this terror and violence now require the international community to step in and assist them. I am disturbed and distressed by the reports that some 300,000 people are now displaced within Sri Lanka, who have no home, who have been subject to months of particularly vicious fighting, who are not involved or participants in that fighting but are merely civilians caught up within a complete war zone.

The history of this conflict is a profound one. The member for Lowe made a comparison with the Middle East, which at the time I thought was a little unhelpful and which is always an unhelpful thing to raise in terms of any conflict. A deep, longstanding ethnic conflict has been engaged upon within Sri Lanka. It is not something that we can or should seek to take a side upon. However, we cannot ignore it.

Tonight I want to commend the member for Fremantle because this motion is calling upon us to recommend that the United Nations and humanitarian agencies be allowed full access to this conflict zone. I think that is entirely right and proper. It is something that ought to have occurred throughout this process, which would have provided for a better outcome and perhaps potentially the saving of many lives within this conflict zone.

I want to raise a point that the member for Canning took up. There are many allegations on both sides about the nature of this conflict and about what acts have or have not been committed. I do not think that anybody ought to have anything to fear from an independent international investigation or from the United Nations establishing properly conducted investigations into serious allegations of war crimes. Perhaps the best mechanism for us as an international community to be able to determine what has occurred is to allow the United Nations full access to examine what has and has not occurred. In this way many of the speculations and claims made on both sides could be investigated, no facts would be removed and we would all have a clearer picture perhaps to the betterment of both sides and the ongoing viability of these two communities living together in peace. I think that would be a positive step forward. I have no problem in supporting that part of the motion which says that we would agree to an independent international investigation into war crimes. That is entirely proper. When you examine the nature of the claims made on both sides I think that is something that nobody of any goodwill would have anything to fear from.

There is no doubt that there has been fault on both sides. There have been wrongs committed and things done that all of us would like to have seen not done. I had many members of the Tamil community in my constituency visit me with some very concerning and disturbing stories. They have family members still caught up in the region that they have not heard from and continue to not be able to contact at this time. However, I also saw—as other members here tonight from Sydney would have seen—violence erupt within our own community here in Australia. That is something that all of us would reject and seek to ensure that we prevent.

By supporting this motion here tonight we can assist the process of healing and assist the process of seeing a better resolution to what has occurred there by allowing the United Nations to have full access to this area. In this motion we are talking about aid and we are talking about UN inspectors—a worthwhile and productive endeavour. This motion has my full support, and I look forward to supporting all future motions in this place that will seek a betterment of the situation for the people of Sri Lanka.

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