Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

to move:

That the House:

(1)

notes that:

(a)

the Burmese regime last week announced the election law package for the election they have decreed will occur this year based on their 2008 constitution—a constitution that the Australian Government has already called a ‘sham’;

(b)

the election laws:

(i)

introduce a number of restrictions which will limit the participation of opposition parties, including the National League for Democracy (NLD);

(ii)

prevent the NLD, headed by Aung San Suu Kyi and winners of the country’s last election, from registering if Ms Suu Kyi remains a party member, due to, inter alia, her ‘criminal convictions and sentences’;

(iii)

formally void the election results of 1990, which saw the NLD win over 80 per cent of the vote; and

(iv)

do not provide any guarantee of freedom to campaign, or access, the media;

(c)

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has stated that without the unconditional release of all 2100 political prisoners in Burma, the 2010 election cannot be credible;

(d)

last year the NLD released the Shwegondaing Declaration, which set out four benchmarks for the election process to be considered credible or legitimate: the immediate unconditional release of all political prisoners, including Ms Suu Kyi; an inclusive review of the 2008 constitution; the elections to be carried out in a free, fair open and inclusive manner under international supervision; and some form of recognition of the 1990 election result; and

(e)

in a report to the Human Rights Council, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar (Burma), Tomas Ojea Quintana, has called for a United Nations Committee of Inquiry to investigate allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the military regime in Burma;

(2)

expresses grave concerned that the forthcoming election in Burma, based on the ‘sham’ 2008 constitution and the announced election laws, cannot be free or fair; and

(3)

condemns the Burmese regime unreservedly for its continued suppression of the democratic aspirations of the Burmese people.

to move:

That the House:

(1)

notes:

(a)

that the Commonwealth is the primary regulator of animal welfare;

(b)

the national and international concerns about the welfare of animals transported under the live animal export trade, both during transportation and their treatment at their destination raised in campaigns by organisations and individuals including the World Society for the Protection of Animals, Princess Ali of Jordan, the RSPCA, the Barristers Animal Welfare Panel, and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore;

(c)

that Australia is one of the few countries to consistently treat animals humanely during slaughter and its meat has gained wide acceptance in the Middle East as meeting halal standards;

(2)

acknowledges the opposition of the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union and the local meat processors, including Casino Northern Cooperative Meat Company, to the live export trade on the grounds that it has a detrimental effect on the local meat processing industry, affecting jobs and the Australian economy; and

(3)

supports moves towards the expansion of the frozen and chilled meat export industry using Australian halal stunned meat exports.

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