Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Hansard source

Today I join the member for Hotham, Clare O'Neil; the member for Bruce, Julian Hill; the member for Gellibrand, Tim Watts; and the member for Fowler, Chris Hayes, to meet with community leaders from the Cambodian-Australian community, including members of the Cambodian Buddhist Association of Victoria who are with us now in the House.

Melbourne's south-east is home to a large Cambodian-Australia community which has contributed so much to our country over the past decades. Australia's vibrant Cambodian community includes thousands of refugees who fled the Khmer Rouge regime and settled in Melbourne, Sydney and elsewhere. The Cambodian community in Australia has lobbied hard for action on human rights around the world, including in their homeland.

Human rights abuses and acts of political intimidation and violence in Cambodia have rightly received worldwide condemnation. I add my name to that condemnation. Human rights abuses in Cambodia have been well documented: suppression of free media, the imprisonment of thousands of Cambodians without trial and the torture and murder of Cambodian democracy activists are too common in Cambodia. The recent murder of Dr Kem Ley, an icon of the pro-democracy movement in Cambodia has, like many murders in that country, passed without any one of influence being held accountable.

As a regional power, and as a force for good in our region, the Australian government must take it upon itself to encourage the Hun Sen regime to commit to democratic reform and human rights. And I can assure the Cambodian-Australian community that Labor is committed to taking such action. (Time expired)

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