Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak on this motion and commend my good friend the member for Adelaide for moving it. The 24th of February marked a year since Russia launched its illegal invasion of Ukraine. This is a sombre occasion for the people of Ukraine. We mourn the incalculable losses that this country has endured. It is a scale of war we have not seen in Europe since 1945, and we're deeply saddened by the human suffering and the global crisis in food and energy security that is affecting Europe and Africa, as the previous speaker said, caused by Russia's action. We honour the unwavering resolve and strength of the Ukrainian people as they stand up to Russia's continual aggression. We're proud to stand with Ukraine as it defends its people, its territory and its sovereignty.

At its core, this is an unwillingness of the Putin regime in Russia to accept the independence of Ukraine. Russia's attack on Ukraine was an attack on all countries and on the fundamental norm of territorial integrity and sovereignty. It's not new. Just under a decade ago, the aggression in Crimea was on full display and, sadly, without significant international condemnation or response.

The Russian President, in an act of real doublespeak that George Orwell would have been proud of, signed the treaty of accession on 18 March 2014. That act of accession actually was an act of annexation—illegally taking Crimea into the Russian orbit. It's got nothing to do with de-Nazification, it's got nothing to do with Christianity and it's got everything to do with what Simon Sebag Montefiore, in his brilliant books The Romanovs and Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar, talks about. The act of Putin could be anything that Peter the Great or Catherine the Great did during the Romanov era, which lasted from 1613 to 1917, or indeed the affliction and oppression perpetrated by Joseph Stalin on the people of Ukraine in the 1930s, when he forced the dispossession, dislocation and starvation of millions in Ukraine.

This has got zero, nothing, to do with democracy. It's got everything to do with a dictatorial regime that cannot understand, and cannot accept, international rules or liberal democracy. The attacks on the family and religion—this so-called defence—by Vladimir Putin offends me and offends people who call Christianity their faith and who believe in family values. This has got nothing to do with that. The international community must take, and has taken, collective action in relation to this. For our part, as an Australian government, we've imposed costs on Russia. We're proud of being partners in contributing to the defence, and to economic and humanitarian assistance.

Recently, when I was in Belgium and France, meeting with politicians and people in the EU, it was quite clear they recognise Australia's contribution to the support—humanitarian as well as military. In addition to the Bushmasters, we have provided additional military assistance. We have provided, for example, uncrewed aerial systems to the Ukrainian government. This support has provided battlefield intelligence and surveillance and reconnaissance capability to the Ukrainian armed forces as they continue to fight against Russia. The announcement coincides with the first graduation of about 200 Australian-trained Ukrainian soldiers, as part of the UK-led multinational training effort to the Ukrainian armed forces. They leave with skills and knowledge that will save lives.

Just think of the damage done to the economy. We've seen an assault. The number of bombs being dropped on the Ukrainian people is like Verdun or the Somme. They're suffering is as if they're having the battle of Kursk or Stalingrad inflicted upon them.

We've joined 140 other nations to support a resolution calling for a just peace in Ukraine. A just peace involves Russia leaving Ukraine and, I think, paying reparations to the Ukrainian people for what the Russians have inflicted upon them. It's an utter disgrace. What they've done is not only unethical but also immoral. Children are being taken from their families. There are sexual assaults and the rape of women and children, and it is utterly offensive for those people who claim that they're doing it in the face of what they think is a country that's opposing them. It's not about faith; it's about war.

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