Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

The motion was unavailable at the time of publishing

It was three months ago—I think it was between Christmas and new year, if I recall correctly—that news broke that Australian citizens of Cambodian heritage, people who are resident here, I say at the outset, were being charged with fake crimes by the Hun Sen regime in Cambodia. They have been since tried in a Cambodian court. Their trials and the trials of hundreds of others are suspended at the moment due to COVID, in effect. We think they've been charged with incitement. The clock's not going, and we're not really clear. I thought we'd just throw that in, as a helpful tip! We're working as a team here!

We think they've been charged with incitement, but we're not really clear, because they've received no notification of the charges. They heard about them second-hand, third-hand, fourth-hand or in rumours transmitted on the internet, because the charge sheets were all nailed to the door of a banned political party in Phnom Penh. That's the extent of the legal due process and this farce that will ultimately, sadly, unless a political resolution is found, lead to a kangaroo court where they're tried, convicted, fined, banned and so on. They include constituents of mine and friends of mine: Mr Hong Lim, who served for over 20 years as a member of the Victorian state parliament, Hemara In and many other activists. And I know there are also people in New South Wales and elsewhere around Australia. Just be clear: these are Australian citizens. The aim of these charges is not to prosecute for real crimes. It's a tactic out of the authoritarian playbook of gangsters like Hun Sen to silence dissent, this time in diaspora communities.

I asked the Department of Foreign Affairs and other experts if this was a new thing. Is Hun Sen going to go to the international conference of gangster authoritarians and say: 'Look at this new tactic. Here's a PowerPoint slide on how to do it'? The answer was no; it's stuff we've seen before. I think Egypt might have used similar tactics some years ago, so it pops up every now and again. But it's not a tactic that democracies like Australia can or should ever accept. It's foreign interference. In effect, that's what it is; it is foreign interference with the right of our citizens here in Australia to freely express their minds. I ask every member to think about this. If someone like Hong Lim, who has served for 20 years as a representative in the Victorian parliament, can be charged with incitement simply for speaking up for democracy and human rights in Cambodia—Australia was a signatory to the Paris accords almost 30 years ago, where they signed up for democracy and human rights—then any member of this House who speaks up for democracy and human rights could be so charged. I think it's important, but, since that time, three months ago, what response have we had from the foreign minister? Nothing; absolutely nothing. To say I'm disappointed with that is an understatement. I've written to the foreign minister. My constituents have raised it with DFAT. I got a hearing from DFAT and her office. But this is a matter of principle. The precedent cannot be allowed to stand. We expect the foreign minister to speak up for these values and to shape and lead debate, not run away from it. I think the last time she was sighted in public was in the member for Gilmore's electorate, where she was challenged. The member for Gilmore turned up and she literally walked away, got in her car and drove back to Sydney.

When I first raised this matter publicly, Radio Free Asia interviewed one of the Cambodian government ministers and said, 'Well, that member of parliament doesn't represent the government's views. The government supports what we do, because the government just gave us $35 million.' We should have promised $35 million—it's for COVID—but we need the foreign minister to speak up at the same time and defend our values, lest our generosity be used as propaganda against us. To be clear: Australian citizens are subject to these charges. It is serious business. As a kangaroo court or whatever, it's all a bit funny. Well, it's not funny if you have a criminal record all of a sudden that you have to declare for the rest of your life and it's not funny if you want to travel anywhere in South-East Asia, China or much of the world that has extradition treaties with Cambodia. We need the government to take this seriously. They've had months. Go and talk to our friends and neighbours who are also subject to this. It's not a tactic that can be left to slide because the foreign minister is too busy or doesn't care. I believe she's someone who believes in and supports human rights—I'm told that consistently by people—but this is part of a much broader tactic, as the motion explains. There are hundreds of people around the world who have been subject to these charges in Cambodia, with many of them jailed, and around diaspora communities globally in these kangaroo courts. The only way to deal with this is to speak up and to work with like-minded countries.

The European Parliament passed a motion in the last few weeks and I've echoed many aspects of that motion here, on our Notice Paper, for our parliament to think about and debate. The United States government made a statement, but all we've had is silence from the Australian government. That's shameful. They're not our values. I don't believe that the member who will speak next shares authoritarian views on democracy and human rights. All we're asking is that the person who is charged with leading our foreign policy and speaking to the world speaks up and says something in defence of our values and my constituents.

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