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

In March, Australia will host an ASEAN summit. That is a very good thing. It is a very important meeting for Australia. It's a very important meeting for ASEAN. We all hope it's a great success. As part of that ASEAN summit, the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen, will visit Australia. Hun Sen has recently cracked down on free speech. He has closed down newspapers which are critical of him. He has jailed members of the opposition. Members of the opposition in parliament have been thrown into prison. What's even more concerning than all of that, as concerning as all of that is, is a speech Hun Sen recently gave. I've watched it. It's on YouTube, and I'd encourage honourable members to watch it. In that speech he says that, when he comes to Australia, if there are protests against him or effigies burnt of him he will have people followed to their homes and beaten and seized.

The Cambodian community is rightly outraged and they are, frankly, scared. They need to know that this parliament will not put up with that sort of language from anybody, even if they are head of another government, even if they are head of a member of ASEAN. We will stand with the Cambodian-Australian community and their right to engage in peaceful protest. We will not see them intimidated. We will not see them harassed. We will not see them bullied. They have people in this House who will stand up for them against all others, including Hun Sen. Even if he is a prime minister, he will not come to our country and behave like that.

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