Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to commend the important research and reporting being undertaken by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. ASPI's team conduct research on foreign affairs, defence, cyber and national security issues to produce work that keeps Australians better informed. Their latest report, Uyghurs for sale, led by Vicky Xiuzhong Xu, is an important contribution to our national debate. This report investigates how the Chinese government has facilitated the mass transfer of Uighur and other ethnic minorities to factories across China. I quote from the report:

Under conditions that strongly suggest forced labour, Uyghurs are working in factories that are in the supply chains of at least 83 well-known global brands in the technology, clothing and automotive sectors, including Apple, BMW, Gap, Huawei, Nike, Samsung, Sony and Volkswagen.

This report estimates that more than 80,000 Uyghurs were transferred out of Xinjiang to work in factories across China between 2017 and 2019—

This report exposes a new phase in China’s social re-engineering campaign targeting minority citizens, revealing new evidence that some factories across China are using forced Uyghur labour under a state-sponsored labour transfer scheme that is tainting the global supply chain.

The companies listed should conduct immediate and thorough investigations of their factories and supply chains in China and enforce changes where they find problems. Australians can be grateful for this sort of public interest investigative journalism and reporting, and I commend ASPI to the House.

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