Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

It is shocking to hear from the member for Leichhardt about the lock-out of the whole international community from a country of seven million people. The Tibetan Plateau in particular is one of the most important regions of the world—it contains the third-largest amount of ice after the two poles. Indeed, it is sometimes called 'the third pole' and, of course, it is known to most people around the world as 'the roof of the world'. The plateau is one of the most inhospitable places on earth. It has an average of 4½ thousand metres in height and, bordered by the Himalayas in the south, it is the highest plateau on this planet. The Tibetan Plateau is the world's largest plateau—it is larger than Western Europe. In winter its north-eastern corner can dip to minus 40 degrees and what little precipitation the plateau receives mostly comes in the form of hail, not rain. Parts of the plateau have grassland that has only been enough to support nomadic tribes, not settled crop-growing peoples.

The plateau plays an important role in regulating global temperature. The massive ice loss it has experienced in recent years as a result of climate change will have outsized influence on the planet. Indeed, over the last century the Tibetan Plateau has seen its temperature rise faster than the global average. The main reason for this is that ice reflects heat back into space and if there is a lot of ice then more heat is reflected, making the planet cooler. When there is less ice, less heat is reflected. This means that, in a global warming environment, the lessening amount of ice on the plateau will actually speed up the warming.

That the ice is melting on the plateau is of significant concern. Over 3½ thousand glaciers coming down from the plateau are retreating faster than elsewhere. These glaciers feed the rivers in Asia, including the Yangtze, the Yellow, the Mekong and the Ganges, that feed billions of people. About two billion people—one-third of the planet's population—depend on the rivers fed by the ice of the Tibetan Plateau. That this ice is disappearing speaks to a really significant problem, as some of the world's key rivers are in danger and a few decades hence of drying out. I will repeat that: this is happening with the Yangtze, the Yellow, the Mekong and the Ganges rivers. More importantly, warmer temperatures and overgrazing are destroying the grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau step. This is forcing nomads off the land and into permanent government shelters, with the Chinese government finding it difficult to provide people with even menial work.

As the population booms, China is damming the rivers. It is damming the Mekong, which has spread protests into Vietnam. Now it is threatening to dam rivers to India, a country that already has significant water needs, and there is some conflict between China and India. It is not just China—India and Nepal and Bhutan have plans to dam the water and create hydro-electric plants. Environmentalists are warning of the potential for significant damage to the planet in the Himalayas from these plans. There are also geopolitical considerations. China is on the Tibetan Plateau, where it has most of its strategic rocket force, and it is the ultimate controller of the water of 40 per cent of the world's population. There are fears that, whereas land once plagued China-India relations, control of water could now create tension.

I do echo the member for Fremantle's remarks that the 2,000 Tibetans who live in Australia are excellent citizens. Most of them have had terrible experiences as political prisoners in China. I also echo her views that Kyinzom, their representative, will make a fantastic representative in the Tibetan parliament in exile. But the people of Asia have increasing energy, water and food needs—needs that have to be fulfilled for the decades to come—and they are taken for granted by most of the population, but Asia will be relying on this Tibetan Plateau. It is very important that significant and lasting damage not be caused by policies of the Chinese government, which has control of that area, despite the requests of the local Tibetan people and His Holiness the Dalai Lama for autonomy within a Chinese federation.

I conclude by saying that I was shocked on the weekend to see in Fairfax Media a picture of a former foreign minister of Australia with a sacred Tibetan painting given to him by another country. It is disgraceful—imagine someone taking, or being given, an icon or stolen art from the Second World War! It is an outrage to all people who respect other people's religion and other people's traditions, including the 3,000-year-old Tibetan people.

Debate adjourned.

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