Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Poland is one of those countries which, over the years, has been an enigma to many of us. On the one hand, it is a country which was for many years firmly under the control of the Soviet bloc. On the other hand, it is a country which has an incredible history of independence, culture, development, innovation and democracy. I think it is appropriate in the Australian parliament, particularly given the fact that we have so many Australians of Polish origin living in our country, for us to pause for a moment on this 20th anniversary and give thanks to God, to Solidarity and to the collective democratic will of the Polish people for their capacity to throw off the yoke of communism and adopt a democratic system which for us in Australia is something which comes as second nature.

We often take democracy for granted in this country, and yet in many parts of the world it is an aspiration which, in many cases, has been extraordinarily difficult to implement. I think that the late Pope John Paul II, as a Polish pope, was a role model and he assisted, along with the Solidarity forces, in bringing about democracy in Poland.

Poland is a wonderful country. It has the capacity to make an incredible contribution to making the world an even better place. The fact that the people of Poland now have the democratic rights that we take for granted is something that we all ought to give thanks for, but the whole world benefits from the fact that we do now have a democratic Poland, able to take its place as an equal partner in the world community. In Australia, we have a Polish embassy that is highly respected and interacts well with the Polish community and the Australian community at large. Polish Australians have told me that during the dark days of communism, the embassy of the so-called People’s Republic of Poland was seen as a place of repression. It was seen as a place that spied on Australians of Polish origin. Under successive ambassadors in Australia, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland has interacted with the Polish community but, more importantly, has interacted with ordinary Australians who are very keen to foster the wonderful relationship that now exists between the Republic of Poland and Australia.

Australia is often referred to as ‘the lucky country’, and we are in many respects. We might differ in our politics but then, of course, we will have a cup of coffee or a drink or something like that and politics tends to be a contest of ideas. We all accept that every three years we have an election and the people of Australia or the state, as the case may be, determine the government that they are going to have. In Poland, for approximately half a century, the people did not have that right. They had more religious freedom than some other parts of Europe but less than we have. I believe it is appropriate on this 20th anniversary that we salute the government and the people of Poland and we ought to wish them well for the future. (Time expired)

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