Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As the chamber may be aware, I'm the chair of Parliamentary Friends of Cambodia. I took on this responsibility because I know how important and longstanding the relationship between our two nations is. Australia and Cambodia have well-established links, with diplomatic ties spanning 66 years. At a personal level, around 60,000 citizens of Cambodian descent call Australia their home, and a growing cohort of self-funded Cambodians are choosing Australia as their study-abroad destination. Since 1994 there have been 700 Cambodians studying in Australia under the federal government's scholarships program.

Diplomatically, Australia played a leading role in the Cambodian peace process during the mid to late 1980s as Cambodia recovered from the Khmer Rouge period. It was the Australian government that developed a plan for the UN to have a role in peacekeeping and electoral monitoring and to take a major role in the administration of Cambodia to ensure a neutral political environment ahead of those elections. In 1992 that plan came together when the UN transitional authority in Cambodia, UNTAC, entered the country to monitor the ceasefire and cessation of external military assistance. UNTAC organised and conducted elections and worked with the various parties to administer Cambodia until the elections were complete. It was Australia's Lieutenant General John Sanderson who led the multinational UNTAC peacekeeping force. Australia also contributed large numbers of troops, civilian police officers, electoral officials and administrators to this effort.

Diplomatic exchanges continue today. Just last year, in March, the Minister for International Development and the Pacific visited Cambodia, while Vice Chief of the Defence Force Admiral Griggs visited in July. The current Minister for Home Affairs and the Minister for Foreign Affairs also recently visited the country, whilst senior Cambodian ministers, including the Deputy Prime Minister, recently visited Australia. As part of this ongoing relationship, Australia has a steadfast commitment to Cambodia's development as a democracy. The Australian government has shown that it is deeply concerned by Cambodia's political situation, particularly actions to restrict free media, constrain civil society and repress political opposition ahead of the 2018 national election. The government indeed made a strong early statement expressing concern about these political developments in Cambodia. Reflecting this, Foreign Minister Bishop issued a media release on 17 November 2017 in which she stated:

Australia is deeply concerned by the dissolution of Cambodia’s main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), and the banning of CNRP parliamentarians and officials from engaging in politics for five years.

This development has serious implications for democracy in Cambodia. It is the culmination of a series of troubling actions, including reduced access to free media, restrictions on civil society and intimidation of the opposition, specifically the detention of CNRP Leader Kem Sokha.

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As a friend of Cambodia, Australia urges the Cambodian Government to allow all its citizens to exercise their democratic rights, particularly ahead of the 2018 national election.

This came in addition to more than a year of active, ongoing efforts to support the development of Cambodia as a democracy.

The Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh issued a statement on 27 February 2017 specifically expressing the government's concerns about amendments to Cambodia's law on political parties. The government made further direct representations, including at ambassador level, at senior levels of government both before and after the law was passed. Senator Fierravanti-Wells also raised our concerns in her meeting with the Cambodian foreign minister during her visit in 2017. I understand that the Australian government continues to urge the Cambodian government to allow all its citizens to exercise their democratic rights, particularly ahead of the 29 July 2018 national election.

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