Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Both complimented! I agree that it is good to see bipartisanship on this bill, the Civil Nuclear Transfers to India Bill 2016. Of course, the agreement between India and Australia in relation to this particular energy source was something that was instigated by the Labor government when we were last in government. It is something that has been continued by the coalition government, and we are seeing some of the consequences of that in this bill today.

Australia greatly benefits from our relationship with India, which is the world's most populous democracy. Australia and India have a lot in common, going well beyond our love of cricket. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed this chamber he talked a lot about cricket but he also talked a lot about our shared values as democracies, as people with a mutual commitment to the rule of law, freedom and openness. It was a really wonderful day for this parliament to have the benefit of hearing from the Prime Minister of India in 2014.

In my own state of Queensland we are fortunate to have a big and diverse Indian community. I am very grateful to have been welcomed to a number of events conducted by the Federation of Indian Communities Queensland, under the leadership of Mr Palani Thevar, who is very well regarded and well respected. It has been a tough time for the Indian community in Queensland recently, with the tragic murder of a bus driver of Punjab descent when he was just going about his business; he was at work in Moorooka in Queensland. It was felt very keenly by the Indian community and it was felt very keenly by the community at large. There was a great outpouring of sympathy and condolence for the family and friends of that young man. But there are a lot more happy times than there are sad times when it comes to our relationship with the Indian community in my state of Queensland—and I know that to be the case across this country. That is because of the benefits that Australia gets from our engagement with India and with the Indian peoples. It enriches us culturally and on a very human level of friendship and understanding. Of course, it is also important economically. Trade with India is very important to our economy and must continue to increase. Two-way trade in goods and services between Australia and India totalled only around $18 billion in 2014-15. We can do better through continued work to strengthen the relationship between our two countries.

It has been around two years since the Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy Agreement between the government of Australia and the government of India. In November 2015 the Australian government issued a response to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties report in relation to that agreement. The report had urged the Australian government to commit significant diplomatic resources to encouraging India to become a party to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and to negotiate the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty. The Australian government responded to that recommendation saying it has consistently supported diplomatic and other practical efforts to promote entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and negotiation of the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty and will continue to do so.

I want to place on record my encouragement for both our nation and India to continue to work towards both of these aims. The world would very much welcome India becoming a signatory to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Doing so would be a further act of leadership by India in relation to nonproliferation, building on India's existing record of leadership in relation to nonproliferation. It was the Prime Minister of India who in 1954 called for a standstill agreement on nuclear testing, and India has had its own unilateral moratorium on tests in place for almost 20 years. If India were to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, it would be an important step towards having that treaty come into force. That would be of great benefit to the entire world.

In speaking to this bill I also want to acknowledge that the treaties committee report in relation to the agreement between Australia and India contained additional comments from Labor members. Those comments included a range of concerns. The work of the committee was very important. It was because of concerns raised both in the additional comments from Labor members and in the majority part of the report that the governments of Australia and India exchanged correspondence setting out their mutual understanding of the 'consent to enrichment' provisions of the agreement.

Another concern that Labor members raised was about tracking. The tracking arrangements are contained in the administrative arrangement to the nuclear cooperation agreement. That arrangement is said by the government to be confidential. I want to place on record the importance of the government ensuring that the tracking of nuclear materials occurs properly and reporting is rigorous. The Labor members of the committee also raised concerns about how Australia could be assured that international atomic energy safeguards would apply to nuclear material in India. This bill, if passed, will apply only where officials are satisfied that those safeguards will apply.

The explanatory memorandum to the bill notes that the preamble to the Australia-India agreement recalls commitments made by India to separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities and programs and to place its civilian programs under IAEA safeguards. It also notes that in paragraph 2 of article 7 of the agreement it is provided that IAEA safeguards shall apply to India's civilian facilities in accordance with the India IAEA agreement. I urge the Australian government to continue to ensure that those safeguards apply.

Officials engaged in the uranium trade should seek to be genuinely and properly satisfied that strong safeguards are continuously in place. Australia should continue to work within the international community and continue to press for non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament globally. I thank the many Australian officials and the many Australian members and senators from both sides of this parliament for all of their work that they have done in relation to non-proliferation and disarmament and I thank you for the opportunity to speak to this bill.

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