Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

As the member for Fowler has said, we have spoken on this matter in the past in this house, and we had thought that, perhaps, the situation would improve. Far from having improved, the situation in Cambodia has very much gone backwards. We now have the remarkable situation that the leader of the opposition has been arrested and charged with treason by the Cambodian government. It is right and proper that this house say that is completely unacceptable. We have a key interest in this country for a number of reasons: Cambodia is an important part of our region, we have a strong and vibrant Cambodian-Australian population and, importantly, Australia played a key role at the Paris peace accords. It is also that legacy which this house should protect.

On 16 November, the country's supreme court dissolved the opposition party, the Cambodian National Rescue Party, eliminating any real challenge to the government and any parliamentary scrutiny. Its seats in parliament were simply allocated to other political parties. Of course, as a part of that, 118 of the party's senior officials will be banned from politics for five years. The party's 489 commune chiefs, elected at the June 2017 local elections, have also lost their positions. As the member for Fowler also said, The Cambodian Daily newspaper has been closed down, issued a very large tax notice and given days to pay in a completely transparent and successful attempt to shut it down. This is no longer a democracy. There can be no suggestion made that this is, in any way, a functioning democracy. Authoritarianism is no longer creeping in Cambodia. It is here, existing, and it cannot be allowed to continue in this way. It's a fact that we need a viable opposition in Cambodia and a viable free press for the people of Cambodia to express their will in parliamentary elections. Any elections held in the current environment will be nothing less than a farce.

Next week, Sam Rainsy, one of the leaders of the opposition, will be in Australia and will address the National Press Club. With the agreement of the chief whip, I hope to attend that address. I'm sure the chief whip would like to attend as well, if we can manage to leave the parliament. Mr Rainsy's counterpart, as leader and co-founder of the opposition, sits in prison. Mr Rainsy, while not in prison, is exiled. This is a very important meeting that Sam Rainsy is undertaking this week. He's also attending a function in our local community on Sunday, which I also will be attending with the local Cambodian community, in order to thank the local Cambodian community for their steadfast support and to spread his thoughts on the best way forward. He has been exiled on trumped-up charges while leader of the CNRP.

An affront to democracy anywhere is an attack on democracy everywhere. The Paris peace accords were one of the great foreign-policy breakthroughs of the late 20th century. They have been a success story. But that success is no longer. The Paris peace accords are no longer in effect. Hun Sen has taken power—not through peaceful means and not through democratic means. He has simply taken power. The people of Cambodia deserve better than that. They may or may not want Hun Sen to continue as Prime Minister—that's a matter for them—but they should be able to express that will at the ballot box. Newspapers and other media should be able to express their concerns. We must continue to place pressure on the Cambodian government to act in accordance with international law and with the Paris peace accords.

The Australian government has a range of options and methods available to it. It's a matter for the government of the day as to how it takes those up. These are always difficult matters. But we do urge the government, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs in particular, to meet with the Cambodian community, to hear their concerns and to listen to their proposals—to not ignore the status of Cambodia. We must be active in the tradition of Australia in the Paris peace negotiations, in the tradition of Australia as a good international citizen and in the tradition of Australia as a country which stands up for democracy wherever it may be, particularly in our region.

We have a role to play. We have an obligation, as Australians, as does the Australian government, to stand up for those good people of Cambodia who are being sent to prison for no crime other than expressing their political will. It cannot be allowed to stand.

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