Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

International human rights has always been an issue for Australia, which is why we have played an active role in advocating for social justice and human rights, particularly within our sphere of influence. In 1948, Australia was one of the key architects in defining and drafting the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and I pay regard to the great work of Dr Herbert Vere Evatt in the development of this declaration.

Significantly, this year also marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. As the House is aware, I have spoken on many occasions about the issue of human rights in our region, drawing attention to human rights abuses, particularly as they occur in Vietnam. The majority of Vietnamese families in my electorate came to Australia as refugees following the fall of Saigon in 1975. They are model citizens in their adopted country, playing an active role in all areas of community life including charitable works. But what they have never done is turn their backs on their culture, their traditions and, importantly, their care for the wellbeing of the people of Vietnam. This is why the reported instances of human rights abuses in Vietnam so painfully impact on Vietnamese Australians. Clearly the people of Vietnam deserve better.

I make no apology for being critical of Vietnam over what I see to be a very poor record in respect of human rights. My position has never been based on malice or prejudice but, rather, has been born out of a sense of frustration given Vietnam's extraordinary potential for substantial economic development as well as its ability to play a significant role in world affairs. However, these potentials cannot be properly attained without Vietnam first recognising the dignity of its own people.

As of 12 November this year, Vietnam realised one of its long-held ambitions when it gained a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council. Being a member of the council should not be viewed as just a position of prestige but rather as a position which requires a country to make a significant contribution to the betterment of human rights across the globe. A government occupying such a position and not making adequate provision to ensure the adequate protection of human rights of its own people would be hypocritical in the extreme. In this motion I mention three cases: the arrest of the 14 Vietnamese Catholics, the incarceration of Nguyen Phuong Uyen and Dinh Nguyen Kha and the mistreatment of three trade union officials. All these people were treated unjustly. These activists did nothing wrong; they courageously stood up for the rights and liberties of Vietnamese people.

More recently, the enactment of decree 72 demonstrates the extreme lengths to which the regime is prepared to go to suppress freedom of speech. These cases are indicative of the approach of the Vietnamese government to human rights. They are indicative of the approach of a government more concerned about criticism than about advancing the true welfare of its own people. I consider the last Australian-Vietnamese human rights dialogue—which a friend, the federal member for Werriwa, who is present in the chamber now, attended and which was held in Canberra earlier this year—to be a positive advance in addressing the issue of human rights in Vietnam. It is just another step on a long road that we must commit to staying on for the long haul.

In moving this motion I call on the Australian government to continue pressing the Vietnamese regime to honour the international commitments which it so freely entered into when it became a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and a member of the United Nations. I also encourage the government to continue its bilateral and multilateral discussions with Vietnam, particularly on our concerns about human rights. In considering funding under Australia's overseas development aid program I honestly believe we should ensure that our assistance to Vietnam is directed to promoting human rights and advancing the rule of law. Our aid should have clear and measurable outcomes because, after all, we need to see progress. We owe it to the people of Vietnam to stay on the course of human rights reform.

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