Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too would like to start by thanking the member for Mackellar for bringing this motion to the House. Last Thursday I joined some very excited year 12 students—along with some very proud parents, some incredibly relieved teachers and other members of the Mount Lawley Senior High School community—for their school graduation. On stage with me was Arthur Leggett OAM. Arthur is 101 years old. He was a prisoner of war in Germany in World War II. He was forced to work in a coalmine for a number of years. He served for some 25 years as President of the Ex-Prisoners of War Association of WA. Now, at 101 years old, he still has the energy and drive to share his story, his experience and his insights with students at Mount Lawley and across Western Australia. In fact, it was because of his generosity of spirit and his sharing of stories that the Mount Lawley high school community named their library in his honour last year.

The Geneva convention was to ensure that we treat prisoners of war more humanely than Arthur Leggett was treated. It was the Menzies government that first enacted the Geneva conventions in Australia. Like the member for Mackellar, I commend that government for that action. The conventions are as fundamental and relevant as they ever were. When we enacted them into law some 60 years ago, we didn't know the sort of warfare that we would see today, nor the sorts of circumstances or horror that might come on us with terrorism and other things. But that these conventions have stood the test of time is a credit to those parliamentarians and all who were involved in the drafting of the conventions.

Australia does have an important role in advocating for these conventions and the system of international humanitarian law which they underpin, both at home and abroad. We can't take a small view of Australia's role in the world. We are a founding member of the United Nations. We are a voice of reason across the world. We should embrace that role; we shouldn't shy away from it.

The first Geneva convention was written in 1864, some 155 years ago, and today in this place we are commemorating the 70 anniversary of the Geneva conventions as we know them today. Following the atrocities of World War II, the international community collectively decided that we should limit the barbarity of war. Some 75 million people were killed in the Second World War. Of those, 40 million of them were civilians—some three per cent of the global population at that time. For Australia, some 30,000 Australians became prisoners of war. Of those captured in the Pacific more than a third were killed. Slaughter like this should never be allowed to happen again.

The establishment of the United Nations and the Geneva conventions did create the framework which we now know for our modern international humanitarian law system. It gave us the tools, it gave us the drive and it gave us a stronger sense of moral obligation to make sure that such horrors are never repeated. The fundamental principle, which is a principle that should go through all moments of our life, is the humane treatment of other human beings, and, most importantly, of those who are not involved in combat.

The conventions have been ratified by every member of the United Nations, reaching what we know as universal acceptance. Australia has accepted the full scope and obligations of the Geneva conventions and we are a party to the two other treaties adopted in 1977.

The history of building international institutions to ensure global peace is something which Australia is proud of and something which Australia must continue to do. We can never take peace for granted and we can never assume that other nations will automatically share our values or see things the same way that Australia sees them. We don't live in a perfect international system. There are many injustices have not been addressed, but the international system we have has, on the whole, made the world a kinder and fairer place and it's a system we should embrace, as we do when we pass motions such as this.

I'll finish by noting that last Wednesday was World Children's Day. I'd like to endorse the campaign that UNICEF is currently running to ensure that we do not use schools or educational facilities in the pursuit of war and that we see them as particularly important places in providing safety for all peoples.

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