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

The reason I put this motion before the House in those terms is to seize the moment on the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi after many years of house arrest—the last period of which having been about seven years—and seize this opportunity to look at how the country and the people can move forward. As a matter of public record, I hold views and have made comments about Burma, its people and the ruling military regime; over a long period of time I have made many comments about this issue. But, at this point in time, there is a feeling, and a willingness and a wish, particularly on behalf of the people, to say: ‘Let us all try and work together. Let us see how we can make the changes necessary in Burma. We have the international community, and friends like those in Australia, to work with us to give us that support.’

When Suu Kyi was released she came out to her house, and then the next day she spoke at the National League for Democracy headquarters and said a number of things. They were not surprising to me. They were consistent with her conciliatory approach. She, like others, knows that national reconciliation is needed in Burma, particularly to try and restore some sort of political peace and peace in other areas. She said that she wanted to speak directly and honestly with the generals who jailed her so that they could work for the betterment of the country. She has always said that, in fact. That is what she has always said.

There is lots of speculation: ‘Why did they let her out at this time? What are they thinking?’ People are speculating and saying, ‘Maybe it is because the elections are over, they think that that’s gone and she’ll have no influence and no power.’ I think that everyone knows better than that. She has enormous influence and enormous authority in her country. In Burma, she is simply referred to as ‘the Lady.’ That is how people talk about her. When they drive past her place on University Avenue, without her knowing people will often show absolute respect and make a gesture of respect as they drive or go past. People do not have all their hopes and aspirations in one person, but she embodies a peaceful Burma, a prosperous Burma, a Burma that is truly united. That was the Burma that her father, General Aung San, envisaged as well. I have said before that, when she went back to Burma in 1988 and spoke—for the first time very publicly—at Shwedagon Pagoda, she went there as her father’s daughter and left there as a leader in her own right. Everyone was curious and excited to see the daughter of the national hero come to speak.

She means it when she says:

I think we all have to work together. We will have to find a way of helping each other.

She says further:

I don’t believe in one person’s influence and authority to move a country forward. One person alone cannot do something as important as bringing democracy to a country.

If my people are not free, how can you say I am free? We are none of us free.

That brings me to the political prisoners. I note that the military regime said that there were no political prisoners in Burma, but there are political prisoners in Burma. There are over 2,000 of them. One of them who got jailed for about 93 years, Khun Htun Oo, is a leader of the Shan people’s ethnic nationalities party, the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy. He received 93 years, which just seems extraordinary, because he was a political operative too. He is in jail. There are political prisoners and we have to work to ensure that we advocate that there are no political prisoners and that they come out of jail.

One other thing that Suu Kyi said is:

I have been listening to the radio for six years. I think I’d like to listen to some real human voices.

That is a very human and a very telling comment. That was one of the first comments she made when she came out. That brings me to Radio Australia. Radio Australia has a Burmese broadcast program. That was introduced by our government and it is something that I know gets listened to very well in Burma. In fact, it is on first thing in the morning. There are other radio programs that are broadcast into Burma, but it is early in the morning and I know that a lot of people listen to it. It is really important, particularly in countries where there are not a lot of media for them to engage in, and people do love the radio. So that is a good thing.

One of the things that I would say if I could have a conversation with General Than Shwe, which is pretty hard to do, is: ‘Now is the perfect opportunity. Now is the time. You have had the elections, even though they were not free and fair. We know all about that and it is a matter of public record. They are out of the road, Aung San Suu Kyi is free and she has made it very clear that she wants to talk and work for the betterment of the country. The time is right to seize that opportunity.’ That is very difficult, particularly because military dictatorships by their very nature can become quite secretive, paranoid and fearful and can operate in a military model of command and control. That can change. He can actually change that. Am I being naive about it? No, because I have seen it in other countries. I have seen people change. I have seen dictators change. I have seen military regimes transition. We have all seen it in our lifetime in many places. It can happen as well in Burma. There has been conflict there for a long time. There are a large number of ethnic nationality leaders and we need those changes to happen.

I was really pleased with the response of everyone and I want to thank the people who are speaking in support of this tonight, because it is something that we all agree on. It is something where the House comes together and says, ‘This is a statement that we agree with.’ We can operate in that truly bipartisan way. I was really pleased to see that our foreign minister spoke with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and hopefully there will be a visit to Burma in the near future. Also, the Prime Minister sent a letter directly to her through our ambassador in Burma, stating that people in Australia support her. The motion tonight is clearly about recognising that now is the time to work smart and work well with all the leaders in Burma and work in such a way that they can give voice to their aspirations. As Aung San Suu Kyi says: ‘Please use your liberty to help us achieve ours.’ That is what we continue to do. (Time expired)

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