Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Only last month the Independent Republic of South Sudan came into existence as the culmination of a comprehensive peace agreement creating two Sudanese nations. It is a momentous threshold to be crossed in a part of Africa that has been ripped through with conflict and suffering for nearly half a century. It offers the prospect of greater peace and stability and of less violence, displacement and suffering for the Sudanese, but in all reality this prospect is still distant and uncertain.

In human history, whenever conflict is sought to be resolved by separation, by the creation of separate geographical and sovereign regions and through the distillation of separate political, ethnic or religious populations, the fracture is never achieved without difficulty and pain and inevitably the point of separation represents a period of heightened danger, dislocation and violence. That is true in the Sudan.

The comprehensive peace agreement between north and south may have brought a formal end to a civil conflict that has been more or less continuous for 50 years, but the violence has not ended. It is estimated that 1.4 million Sudanese are currently affected by conflict in South Kordofan, one of three key protocol areas, and at least 200,000 are internally displaced. Some of the preconditions for independence set out in the comprehensive peace agreement have not yet been met, including notably the determination processes that were required to be held in critical border zones. The promised referendum on the status of Abyei has not been held and nor have the popular consultations in southern Kordofan and Blue Nile state. In recent weeks there have been reports of the targeted intensive slaughter of the marginalised Nuba ethnic group in South Kordofan and there is a desperate need for an enforceable ceasefire in that region.

The border region of Abyei encapsulates much of what is difficult in bringing peace to Sudan. Abyei is an oil producing region in a country where oil production and oil wealth are the most valuable prize. Eighty per cent of Sudan's oil reserves are located in South Sudan, but the only pipelines run to the north where the refineries are also located. Under the CPA Abyei is supposed to have been subject to its own referendum in order to determine whether it will belong to the north or the south. Like Kashmir, it is a fragment that has bound within it a number of the root causes that define the Sudanese dilemma.

To people in Australia this will be a blur of regional names and acronyms that in the end are likely to be reduced to the general sense that the Sudan and its people are trapped in a state of unfathomable, intractable, internecine conflict, but we have to move beyond that barrier of incomprehension if we are, in Australia and in the international community as a whole, committed to supporting the achievement of peace and security for our fellow human beings and greater global stability and prosperity.

In addition to reflecting on what is a pressing international and humanitarian crisis—and I want to thank the member for Chifley for seconding this motion and to thank all members who have chosen to contribute to this discussion today—I hope the motion will have a further constructive value in identifying the steps Australia can take to continue our role as a contributor to the future peace and stability of South and North Sudan.

As part of its expansion and reorientation of Australian development assistance, this government has recognised the need to direct aid not only to our region but also to those parts of the world that need it most, and of course this includes Africa. The Sudan is already the second-largest recipient in Africa of Australia's humanitarian assistance, including the provision of $136 million since 2004, but there is more that we can consider doing at this critical juncture. Perhaps the highest priority is the protection of Sudanese civilians, whose safety depends on the observance of the current Status of Forces Agreement and it would be significantly aided if the peacekeeping capacity in areas like South Kordofan were strengthened, which could occur through the expansion of the UN interim security force for Abyei, or UNISFA mandate. Australia should continue to engage with the troika countries, the US, UK and Norway, to support the urgent creation of effective constitutions for North and South Sudan and to make representations to the government of Sudan to improve humanitarian access.

As an example of how difficult and frustrating the peacekeeping task in Sudan is for peace keepers, four UNISFA staff were killed when their vehicle hit a land mine two weeks ago, with the tragedy made worse by the fact that three of the four survived the initial blast, but died before medical help could arrive when the Sudanese government refused to allow the airlift, saying any unauthorised helicopter in the vicinity would be shot down. As I have done in this place a number of times, I pay tribute to all those who make the sacrifices necessary to give the best of themselves as peacekeepers and, in doing so, demonstrate the best of human nature.

There is no doubt that the commitment of predictable and long-term assistance funding is of great value in the circumstances that apply in Sudan. Australia is recognised for its substantial contributions to UN operations in Sudan, including generous contributions to the central emergency fund and the UN Sudan common humanitarian fund. A number of NGOs have identified the importance of Australia's long-term commitment to this kind of funding, especially where it is directed at the safe return of North and South Sudanese, the humanitarian effort in Darfur, where the terrible conflict is now in its eighth year, and ongoing, predictable funding to the UN and other non-government agencies.

I would like to share the experience of an extraordinary young Sudanese Australian women, Nyadol Nyuon, who has been in the parliament yesterday and today as part of a Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Forum for 10 young Australian women to consider ways to increase the number of women in parliament. Nyadol, who is 23 years old, is the Commonwealth nominee for this event. Her family originates from South Sudan, but she was born and raised in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, until her family was accepted for resettlement through the Australian humanitarian program in 2005. Nyadol became an Australian citizen on 11 November 2010. Since her arrival Nyadol has worked within the social services sector to raise awareness of the impact of settlement on young people and how emerging communities might be better assisted in their settlement process. She has completed a bachelor of arts and is currently studying a law degree at the University of Melbourne. This incredible young woman sits on the board of the Ethnic Community Council of Victoria, the Federal Ethnic Community Council of Australia and the Australian Youth Forum among other things. She has published articles for the Australasian Review of African Studies. Nyadol was in South Sudan for the independence celebrations on 9 July. She shared with me these thoughts about her new nation:

Six years ago I sat in a classroom of over 90 students. I was a stateless refugee. Now I am attending a forum at Parliament House and a citizen not only of Australia, but now also South Sudan. Australia has given me so much that I cannot give back. My greatest hope is that others, such as those I left behind in refugee camps, can go back to an independent South Sudan and be able to achieve and live meaningful and dignified lives, but I know from my own experience and visits to that country last year to vote in the historic referendum and a month ago to witness the declaration of independence, that such an achievement will be hard to attain.

Nyadol identified three main areas where Australia can assist South Sudan: governance, agriculture and women's empowerment. She said:

Good governance, the greatest challenge of all, and the enforcement of the rule of law are essential to South Sudan's stability. The complex mixture of tribal and ethnic tension, poverty and a history of war pose great risks to development instability.

South Sudan is blessed with fertile soil in the River Nile. Some have called it the bread basket of the East African region. South Sudan has the possibility of not only feeding its own people, but the whole region. Development of the agricultural sector would reduce dependency on oil, reducing tensions between the south and the north, but also lead to food security. The potential of South Sudan land has been realised and exploited so far by the gulf countries, India, China and even South Korea. These countries are buying or negotiating to buy huge areas of land to feed their own population needs, while South Sudan continues to be one of the countries heavily dependent on aid with over a million citizens currently receiving food aid. She goes on to say:

Poverty is a catalyst for war. For example, tribal conflict arising from raiding cattle of neighbouring tribes is currently one of the challenges facing the South Sudan administration. As of yesterday, 300 people died in conflict resulting from cattle raiding. Australia can contribute great knowledge and skill in the agricultural sector.

She continued:

In Sudan a girl is more likely to die in child birth than complete primary school. Education in Sudan is desperately needed to break the cycle of poverty. Eighty-six per cent of girls have no formal education, 96.5 per cent cannot read or write more than their name, 99 per cent have no electricity, 98.5 per cent have no access to running water, 93 per cent have lost at least one family member, 68 per cent of married women live in a polygamist marriage.

She says:

These statistics mean that women cannot sufficiently contribute to the political and economic life of the country and this can only disadvantage a country like Sudan, which really needs all hands on board.

Nyadol concludes by noting that 'investing in women, particularly in developing countries, is one of the most effective ways of aiding the development process'.

I pay tribute to this remarkable young woman, Nyadol Nyuon, who has already endured and achieved so much on behalf of both of her beloved countries, Australia and South Sudan. I also note the enthusiasm of the Sudanese Australian community in general to contribute not only to Australia but also to the harmonious development of the new state of South Sudan. I am confident that Australia will do all it can to assist the 193rd member state of the United Nations to achieve its full potential.

See this speech in context