Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Like my colleagues who have spoken before me, can I congratulate the member for Fowler for bringing this matter forward. Unlike the member for Fowler, I have few Vietnamese living in my electorate and have, over a long period of time, taken a personal interest in these issues—only contained from the time I fulfilled ministerial responsibilities and was not free to speak beyond my portfolio responsibilities. But I must say that I was very impressed with the member for Cowan's comments about his activist role in relation to Vietnam. It reminded me of the time in which I visited Vietnam myself as a backbencher seeking the release of Vho Dey Thong, who was held in what was euphemistically known as the Hanoi Hilton. We were, I might say, able to secure his release. I do not know that it was all my efforts; it may have had something to do with someone well known to the member for Fremantle, the former foreign minister, Senator Evans, who I know took the matter up forcibly as well.

I command the member for Fremantle in relation to her comments tonight because they enabled us to focus on one area of the parliament—that is, the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and its Human Rights Subcommittee, which has had an opportunity to hear recently from a number of Vietnamese representatives about what was happening in Vietnam and inviting us to play a more active role. I might say that I particularly asked them after those hearings to obtain some information about what the international bodies are doing in relation to this matter—organisations like the United Nations Human Rights Council, who often opine on matters even relevant here in Australia. I wondered how active they were as part of the broader international community in taking these matters forward.

For my own part, I was for a long time associated with the Australian committee for a free Vietnam. I played a part in many debates about this matter of human rights in Vietnam since 1976, when the Communist Party came to power. I, like many, hoped in 1986, when they started to embark upon certain economic reforms, that we would see some change in their modus operandi. It is the case that the government has fostered economic growth and there has been some increase in standard of living. But it has also been accompanied by allegations of corruption and disputes over access to resources, particularly land, and we have seen a situation where the oppressive banning of political parties as well as trade unions and human rights organisations continues. The fact is that Vietnamese law has discriminated very significantly against religious groups, which are required to register. The adherents and some unregistered groups have been subjected to harassment and house arrest and detention. We have heard mention of that in relation to Protestant religious groups, the Roman Catholic Church and the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, of which my friend Thich Quang Do in Canberra is very much associated.

I too read with great alarm the reports of what has happened to the seven people who have recently been convicted in a closed one-day trial. That is obviously what prompted this motion. I hope that the parliament will continue to take an interest in these matters. I would like to see the government play an active role in these matters, although I suspect that the member may not get what he seeks from the government. But I am sure, in the bilateral dialogues and in the human rights dialogues which the former government initiated, this would be a matter that people would want to see raised. I hope, through the monitoring of the Human Rights Subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, we can play a part in ensuring that those matters are addressed very positively when that dialogue occurs. I thank the honourable member for raising the matter. I am sure his constituents will very much appreciate the effort that he has put in. (Time expired)

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