James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this condolence motion on the shocking death by assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. I start by noting that one of his excellent legacies is that we appropriately refer to him as Abe Shinzo rather than, according to the previous Western custom, Shinzo Abe. It was under his prime ministership that Japanese custom changed when it came to referring to their names in the Latin alphabet. It had been the case going back more than a century—I think to the 1870s—that in the Latin alphabet and when interacting with Westerners, whether that be through diplomatic or commercial ties, the Japanese felt it would be easier for us to understand the concoction of their names if they expressed them the way we do. But, of course, it is the case in many East Asian cultures, and it's certainly the case in Japan, that the family name, the surname, is expressed first, and it was Mr Abe's government that made that change. It might not seem significant to us, but it's a very important one within Japanese culture. So I commend the wording of the motion, which appropriately expresses his name as Abe Shinzo, which is the correct Japanese expression of the name.

I grew up in a family very significantly influenced by the Second World War and, particularly, our conflict with Japan. My father's father served firstly in North Africa and then in the Pacific as an officer in the Royal Engineers. My mother's mother was a nurse in the Australian Army, and she served at the Heidelberg hospital caring for many returning Australian prisoners of war who had been subjected to enormous horrors through South-East Asia, particularly at the hands of Japanese forces, during the Second World War. Also, my father's uncle—my grandmother's brother—served in Papua New Guinea and received the Military Cross at Gona in the battle soon after the Kokoda Trail campaign in late 1942. It is fair to say that the attitude of that generation towards Japanese people was a very difficult one, and I did grow up in an environment—particularly as I started to engage with Japanese culture and Japanese people—with the shadow of those attitudes. I think many Australians had those shared experiences with that generation. Equally, that generation—particularly Weary Dunlop—was significant in leading a process of making Australians understand the need for us to forgive. It's very important to forgive, even where great evil has occurred.

Our relationship with Japan now in 2022 is unbelievable, and it would be unbelievable to some of those who served in the Second World War, when we were engaged against the Imperial Japanese forces. The life of Abe Shinzo has transcended the great maturity and depth of the relationship we now have today with the nation of Japan and the Japanese people. Previous speakers have talked about Abe Shinzo's grandfather and the very significant role he played with Sir Robert Menzies in first establishing economic ties through the commerce agreement between Japan and Australia. That agreement—and the economic trade relationship that we've had with Japan since then—has underpinned an enormous part of Australia's modern prosperity.

We have come to understand, going way back to the 1950s, how critical the Japanese market has been to us, but in more recent times we've also come to understand the significance of the security relationship. Abe Shinzo was absolutely central to the modern security relationship we have with Japan, to the status and the place that Japan has within the Indo-Pacific region and to many alliances—not just the relationship with Australia but those with many other fellow minded nations in the Indo-Pacific region. Of course, the Quad—the quadrilateral dialogue—is one of the greatest parts of his legacy, where our country, Japan, the United States and India have a process to cooperate on security issues to ensure that we are keeping our region safe and we are living in a free, open Indo-Pacific. I don't think we would have that process if it were not for Abe Shinzo and his leadership.

He was also a very significant economic leader within Japan. His approach to economics—Abenomics, as it is colloquially referred to—has made an enormous impact in shaking off what the Japanese people refer to as the 'lost decade' there. Before my career in politics, I spent almost a decade in the wool industry. I travelled to Japan very regularly in that capacity. I was involved in a joint venture with a Japanese company in Malaysia. They were an enormous market—they still are an enormous market—for Australian merino wool and textiles, and they were excellent partners in commerce. That was in the era of Abe Shinzo prior. In the early years of his time as Prime Minister, his impact on trade was very significant.

We've talked about the TPP and the direct free trade agreement. Free trade is a very fraught topic in any nation. Even in this country, where we have a lot of pride in our embracing of free trade, it's always much more straightforward in principle, but when it gets down to specifics and particular industries et cetera, it can be a challenge. In Japan, even to this day, they have been very deeply scarred from the blockade that was put in place prior to the two nuclear detonations and the peace in 1945, where the Japanese people were, in all respects, starved of key resources. It's been in the culture of Japan in the decades since to be self-sufficient in so many of those products that were denied to them during that blockade. Japanese farmers are no different to Australian farmers, or farmers anywhere on the planet, and they tend to have a lot of political influence and to like a fair bit of protection from their government.

The things that Abe Shinzo did in trade, which have presented opportunities for our country, were indeed courageous within his domestic politics. As a South Australian, I can say that Japan is a very significant market for us, as it is for the entire country, not just in resources but obviously in the seafood industry. Many other products from South Australia find a happy export home in Japan, and we're very lucky to have that market and that deep relationship.

I'll conclude by making a point about the tragic circumstances of Abe Shinzo's death by assassination. I think it is something that, for all of us who are representatives in a democratic process, shakes us to the core. Previous speakers have talked about the fact that political assassination is something we hope never to see occur. In Japan in particular, much like in this country, it is something extremely out of the ordinary. Coming on the back of similar incidents in the United Kingdom in recent years, it is a very concerning and surprising development that Abe Shinzo, as a former Prime Minister in Japan who was out campaigning for his democratic briefs in an election, was approached in the street and fatally shot.

It's something we need to remember as democratic representatives: that we've got to take that risk seriously but also ensure that we don't let it infringe on our democracy. I was with my good friend Senator Simon Birmingham when we heard the news of the shooting. At that stage we heard the fact that he'd been shot, not that he had succumbed to the wounds of that attack. Senator Birmingham had met Prime Minister Abe and been very engaged with his government on trade matters. We were reflecting on the fact that it is particularly shocking when someone you've met has been assassinated in this profession we have.

There will be many members in this House who served in the parliament when Prime Minister Abe gave that very famous address to a joint sitting of parliament and who would have met Prime Minister Abe. It is truly shocking that someone who has the same vocation as us has been shot dead in the street because he's engaged in the same profession that we are. That is something that, unfortunately, we have no choice but to come to terms with. Equally, it's something to be utterly condemned as part of our process of reflecting on his life and his contribution.

With that, I thank the Prime Minister and others who have provided the opportunity for us to pay tribute to such a great man, the longest-serving Prime Minister of Japan, who provided unbelievable leadership to his country. Equally important for us as Australians, he transformed our relationship with Japan, our place in the Indo-Pacific and Japan's place in the Indo-Pacific for the better.

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