Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

In moving this motion I want to focus on Australia's strong record of supporting human rights and ensuring justice, equity, accountability and reconciliation. I would like to acknowledge the work of the shadow foreign minister, the member for Sydney, for her support of this motion and the commitment to human rights around the world and indeed of Australian governments of all political persuasions who have played their part in that process over the decades.

Three weeks ago I was joined by members of this parliament from all sides of politics—Labor, Liberal, the Greens, minor parties and independents—to discuss human rights in Sri Lanka with visiting Tamil National Alliance MP Mr MA Sumanthiran. I was extremely pleased to see such broad representation from Australia's parliament so present, something which highlights that this is an issue which indeed crosses political boundaries, and I note the advocacy of many members of the government on this issue, particularly the member for Reid.

This is a motion I have particularly pursued because my electorate of Greenway is home to a large Sri Lankan population. Many have fled persecution, had family members flee during the civil war or still have family living in an unreconciled homeland. Ultimate reconciliation of Sri Lanka and active accountability processes to acknowledge the injustices that were, and still are, occurring are therefore major concerns.

For some time now I have been on the record supporting the cause of human rights in Sri Lanka and accountability for atrocities committed by all sides in that conflict. I wish to stress, Deputy Speaker, that this is about reconciliation in terms of the acts of all sides of the conflict. I made this point to former foreign minister Bob Carr and expressed my preference for Australia to reconsider its involvement in the recent CHOGM event, but I was told of Australia's preference for engagement over isolation—a perfectly valid preference, which I can respect. I made similar representations to the current foreign minister and I noted publicly that, while this was a decision consistent with Labor in office, my hope was that human rights would continue to be on Australia's agenda. So, this is now a process of engagement and, as such, I urge the Australian government to maintain Australia's strong record for the support of human rights in Sri Lanka at the upcoming 25th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

I also want to bring to the attention of the parliament that today a letter has gone to the Prime Minister from a number of eminent Australians across the political divide, including the Hon. John Dowd AO, QC, former New South Wales Attorney-General; the Hon. Gareth Evans; Malcolm Fraser; Owen Harries, the former Australian Ambassador to UNESCO; Geoffrey Robertson QC; and Gordon Weiss, the Adjunct Professor at Griffith University and founding adviser and consultant expert to the International Crimes Evidence Project. I quote one of the paragraphs in their letter:

The 2012 UN General Assembly Human Rights Council resolution called upon the government of Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of its Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission and to take credible and independent actions to ensure justice, equity, accountability and reconciliation is achieved for all Sri Lankans. Similarly, the 2013 UN General Assembly Human Rights Council resolution expressed concern over the continuing reports of violations of human rights in Sri Lanka. It called upon the government to implement the commission's recommendations for 2012 and to fulfil its commitment to investigate all allegations of violations of human rights law. I note that Australia was, rightly, a co-sponsor for both the 2012 and 2013 resolutions.

This motion calls upon the Australian government to honour our strong and proud record of support for human rights at the upcoming 25th session of the Human Rights Council. I note that the resolution entitled 'Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka' does recognise that some progress has been made in this respect. It calls upon the Sri Lankan government to continue to do this. It also reiterates that it take all necessary steps to fulfil its obligations under the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.

I believe that accountability and transparency are crucial for reconciliation to be achieved in Sri Lanka. An important step towards this is an investigation into the atrocities performed by all sides during the civil war. The harrowing reports of further violence and violation of rights must be dealt with in a transparent and in-depth manner in order for genuine reconciliation to take place. I represent, as I said, a large population of people from a Sri Lankan homeland and they want nothing more than reconciliation in their homeland. I believe the Australian government should use this as a platform to promote it.

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