Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Leichhardt for his motion. As a member of the Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet, I welcome the opportunity to speak on the importance of preserving the health of this globally significant water source, the Tibetan Plateau.

Situated between the two emerging regional and global powers, China and India, Tibet has traditionally acted as a peaceful buffer. Tibet is the source of Asia's major rivers, upon which an estimated 1.4 billion people across 11 large downstream nations depend. The Tibetan Plateau, the world's largest and highest, has a significant impact on the region's climate. The plateau is known as the 'the third pole', but Tibet's glaciers are melting, with dire implications for global climate change. Known in China as 'the western treasure house', Tibet is rich in 132 different mineral resources which are presently being exploited by a resource-hungry China. Unfortunately, the benefits are not flowing to Tibetans, whose traditional livelihoods have been taken from them and whose civil liberties have been suppressed and abused.

Historically, the Tibetan Plateau has served as an important refuge from Chinese control for that country's nomadic herdsman. It has provided these indigenous people with a livelihood, allowed them to maintain their traditional culture and, in turn, these nomadic people have been central in maintaining the health of the plateau grasslands. I often meet with representatives of the Australia Tibet Council here in Canberra and with the Tibet Action Group for WA when back home. I note that these groups are often prominent in the increasingly frequent climate change rallies being held around our nation. The lack of sustainable and transboundary water management, the overextraction of minerals and the forced resettlement of more than two million nomadic Tibetans from grasslands are already having a significant impact on the environment and on local communities and their culture.

Australia is home to close to 2,000 Tibetans, many of whom are former political prisoners from Tibet and have moved here as part of the government's humanitarian program. Though their number may be relatively small, they are active in highlighting the cultural, environmental and geostrategic significance of the Tibetan region.

In the lead up to the UN climate summit late last year, the Australia Tibet Council released its report Tibet—an environmental challenge, which highlights the cultural and geostrategic significance of Tibet to Asia and offers tangible solutions and recommendations to address the serious environmental threats that will have significant global and regional implications. The report observes that a peaceful resolution to the Tibetan situation is essential to address concerns around food and water security and acting on climate change.

The human rights situation in Tibet remains dire. Amnesty International's latest report The state of the world's human rights, released last week, noted the UN Committee against Torture's regret that previous recommendations had not been implemented by China, with ethnic Tibetans continuing to face severe discrimination, restrictions on their rights to freedoms of religious belief, expression, association and peaceful assembly, and reports of excessive force used by police during protests.

The Chinese government maintains controls over Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and a number of Tibetan monks, writers, protesters and activists have been detained, with charges and location of their detention unknown. Human Rights Watch reported earlier this month that Chinese authorities have indefinitely extended an intensive surveillance program in villages across Tibet, reflecting the authority's fear, and consequently suppression, of criticism and dissent. In September the Chinese government denounced the 'middle-way' approach advocated for by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in a white paper issued to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, vowing to fight against separatism.

I would like to particularly acknowledge the tireless work of Kyinzom Dhongdue, campaigns manager for the Australia Tibet Council, in keeping this issue in the public domain. She is a candidate in the Tibetan elections this year. This is the first time there has been a seat in the Tibetan parliament in exile for a representative from the Tibetan communities in Australia, New Zealand and East Asia. Kyinzom would be a fantastic parliamentarian and she has my full support.

As the member for Leichhardt has already done, I encourage everyone in this place to join us at 4 pm this Tuesday for the Tibet Advocacy Day reception in 1R1 where you will meet Tibetan delegates who will share their personal stories about the issues facing Tibet. If you are unable to make it, I encourage you arrange a time to meet with them.

As we witness greater international cooperation to achieve the recently agreed sustainable development goals and to address climate change, all nations, including Australia, should be concerned about the situation in Tibet and must work towards finding a peaceful resolution of the Tibetan situation. I call on the government to continue to advocate for improved human rights, including the release of the more than 2,000 political prisoners, and to continue to seek access for Australian parliamentarians to Tibet.

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