Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) strongly condemns the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for:

(a) ongoing development and testing of illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programs including intercontinental ballistic missile tests in June and July 2017;

(b) destabilising the Korean peninsula and Asia-Pacific region more widely through aggressive acts and rhetoric particularly against South Korea, Japan, the United States and Australia; and

(c) significant and ongoing human rights abuses committed against the people of North Korea;

(2) acknowledges the actions of the Australian Government in maintaining diplomatic and economic pressure on the DPRK including through:

(a) co-sponsoring United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2321, placing additional United Nations sanctions on the DPRK;

(b) co-sponsoring UNSC Resolution 2270, condemning North Korea's nuclear test and long-range ballistic missile launch in 2016; and

(c) imposing financial sanctions and travel bans on five North Korean individuals for their association with North Korean weapons of mass destruction or missile program in June 2017;

(3) calls upon the DPRK to:

(a) abandon its missile and nuclear program;

(b) use the resources spent on its nuclear and missile programs to improve the livelihood of its citizens and implement policies for economic development to better the situation for the North Korean people;

(c) adhere to multiple UNSC resolutions; and

(d) re-join the international community and contribute to peace and stability in the region, rather than deepening tensions and the insecurity of other states; and

(4) acknowledges China's position of influence in relation to the DPRK and encourages China to:

(a) pressure the DPRK to adhere to international agreements;

(b) continue to engage with the international community to decrease tensions on the Korean peninsula; and

(c) begin constructive talks to permanently dismantle the DPRK's nuclear capabilities.

The government of North Korea stands condemned for repeatedly flouting the UN Security Council resolutions since the 1990s, which called on North Korea to stop developing and testing illegal ballistic and nuclear weapons. Since its establishment in the 1940s, North Korea has proved itself to be a bad international citizen, more content to be a rogue state than a participant in the rules based international order. In June and July, North Korea tested intercontinental ballistic missiles that appear capable of hitting a number of countries, including South Korea, Japan, the United States and Australia. Last week, there were reports that North Korea had developed a miniaturised nuclear device which could be placed on such a missile, and, in recent days, North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, threatened Guam. As a potential target of direct nuclear missile attack, and as a country with a substantial and successful Korean diaspora, including in my electorate, these concerning actions of North Korea are of vital interest to Australia.

On 5 August, the UN Security Council passed resolution 2371, a unanimous resolution comprising the toughest and most comprehensive package of sanctions against North Korea. Among other things, this resolution provides the toughest economic sanctions on North Korea and implements a full ban on North Korea's export of coal, iron, lead and seafood. All nations must defend the resolutions of the UN Security Council. China is close to North Korea and is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a nation with growing economic, diplomatic, and military capability. China has an important role to play by demonstrating to North Korea that there are serious consequences of repeatedly flouting UN Security Council resolutions.

I'm proud of the key role that Australia has repeatedly played in maintaining diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea, with the aim of encouraging North Korea to cease its weapons program. While a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Australia cosponsored resolutions proposing sanctions and condemning North Korea's long-range ballistic missile testing. In addition, Australia imposed its own sanctions on individuals associated with the North Korean weapons program. As the foreign minister told the House last week:

Australia is constantly reviewing and extending our autonomous sanctions regime to complement and augment Security Council sanctions and has so far designated 37 people and 31 entities.

Australia plays a leadership role on global policy towards North Korea. North Korea is one of the world's worst human rights abusers. It was a distinguished Australian jurist, Michael Kirby, who headed up a Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which reported in 2014. That commission found widespread and systemic discrimination against women, against Christians—who once made up a quarter of the population and now make up less than one per cent, against the children of mixed race couples and against political dissidents. The North Korean regime practices mind control and the suppression of thought, speech and religion. People are labelled at their birth in a caste system, in accordance with their support for the regime as 'core', 'wavering' or 'hostile'. On this basis, they're allocated food, housing, education, employment and other political opportunities. Eighty thousand to 120,000 people are imprisoned without trial in prison camps in North Korea, where torture is a standard practice. Twenty-seven per cent of babies born in North Korea are seriously stunted as a result of malnourishment of their mothers during gestation. Under North Korea notions of racial purity, the commission heard the story of a mixed-race baby born to a Chinese father and a North Korean mother, where the mother was required to drown her child in a bucket. The commission heard from a witness who worked in a political prison who was required to dispose of emaciated bodies of political prisoners by burning them in a vat and using the ashes and the body parts as fertilizer.

The commission found that, while North Korea can find the funds to maintain the fourth largest army on the planet, it struggles to feed its population. In the great famine in the 1990s, when military spending was increasing, in a population of 23 million, more than one million people died from starvation. North Korea's belligerent response to the commission of inquiry was to describe the report as a pack of lies, based on the testimony of human scum.

In conclusion, North Korea must immediately abandon its missile and nuclear programs. It must use the resources spent on its nuclear and missile programs to improve the livelihood of its citizens. It must respect the human rights of its people. It must adhere to UN Security Council resolutions, rejoin the international community and contribute to peace and stability in the region, rather than deepening tensions and insecurity in other states. 'Han Ban Do Pyung Hwa Rel Ki wan Hap Ni Da'—I wish for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. I commend the motion to the House.

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