Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

I move the motion relating to the blockade of Artsakh in the terms in which it appears on the Notice Paper:

That this House:

(1) notes that following a ten-month blockade of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in defiance of the orders of the International Court of Justice, on 19 September 2023, Azerbaijan conducted an unprovoked 24-hour military assault against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh);

(2) unequivocally condemns the lightning military assault which resulted in the forcible displacement of an estimated 100,000 indigenous Armenians from their ancestral homeland;

(3) acknowledges the:

(a) Government's condemnation of the 24-hour military assault and the allocation of $500,000 in humanitarian aid to the UNHCR, complementing contributions from the City of Ryde and Willoughby City Council; and

(b) bipartisan parliamentary support for emergency funding and expertise to the International Committee of the Red Cross to assist the indigenous Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh;

(4) calls on Azerbaijan to abide by the International Court of Justice's provisional measures handed down on 17 November 2023, calling for the right of return for Armenians displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh under enforceable international guarantees of their security and rights;

(5) further notes the ongoing tension in the region and calls on Azerbaijan to withdraw from the internationally recognised borders of the Republic of Armenia; and

(6) further calls on Azerbaijan to release all illegally detained Armenian political prisoners, including civilians and calls on Azerbaijan to take steps to ensure the protection of ancient cultural and historical sites in Nagorno-Karabakh.

I rise to express my support for the right to self-determination of the Armenian people in Nagorno-Karabakh and the republic of Artsakh. I condemn the unconscionable attack by Azerbaijan in September 2023, which has caused untold misery and has driven almost all Armenians who formerly lived in Nagorno-Karabakh from their homes.

Azerbaijan's military actions in September 2023 were devastating for the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, who had already endured a 10-month blockade of the Lachin corridor. Civilians living in Nagorno-Karabakh were forced to endure violence as well as desperate shortages of food, power and medical supplies. The toll on Australians of Armenian heritage, including many in my electorate of Bradfield, and on those concerned for family members and other loved ones in Nagorno-Karabakh was enormous and remains ongoing to this day.

The International Court of Justice found that the disruption on the Lachin corridor has:

… impeded the transfer of persons of Armenian national or ethnic origin hospitalized in Nagorno-Karabakh to medical facilities in Armenia for urgent medical care. There have also been hindrances to the importation into Nagorno-Karabakh of essential goods, causing shortages of food, medicine and other life-saving medical supplies.

The US government publicly stated that the checkpoint at Lachin corridor undermined efforts to establish confidence in the peace process.

The coalition has consistently called for Azerbaijan to reopen the corridor, for the International Court of Justice orders to be honoured, and for the disputes to be resolved peacefully and in ways that protect the civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Despite this, the Albanese Labor government disappointingly, very disappointingly, failed to join with allies in publicly stating Australia's opposition to the blockade.

Azerbaijan's attack of September 2023 drove more than 100,000 of the 120,000 Armenian inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh out of their homes and communities. At the time of the attack, the coalition called for Azerbaijan to cease hostilities as well as to protect the rights and culture of residents of Armenian heritage. We called for Azerbaijan to allow an independent international observer mission.

The coalition welcomed the Australian government's commitment of $500,000 to the United Nations's refugee agency, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, to alleviate the suffering of Armenians who fled Nagorno-Karabakh. Coalition parliamentarians, or their officers, spoke directly with representatives of the Australian Armenian community who were on the ground assisting refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh who were arriving in Armenia, seeking food, shelter and medical supplies. These Australians, members of the Armenian National Committee of Australia and other volunteers, reinforced to us the urgent need for humanitarian support for the civilians who had been displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh and the role the International Committee of the Red Cross played as one of the very few international aid agencies on the ground in Armenia.

Based on that direct feedback, the coalition called on the Albanese Labor government to make an urgent financial commitment from Australia to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Armenia to support the wellbeing of those fleeing from Nagorno-Karabakh. We also offered our bipartisan support for the Australian government to publicly state its support for the proposed international observer mission and to provide such expertise as Australia is able to offer based upon our nation's experience in supporting responses to international humanitarian emergencies. We welcome the fact that Australia joined the joint statement on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh at the United Nations Human Rights Council in October last year.

The coalition supports the ongoing efforts by the international community to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the territorial disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Australia's major parties are bipartisan in our support for Armenia and Azerbaijan reaching agreement that guarantees the rights and security of the peoples in Nagorno-Karabakh and in recognising the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both Armenia and Azerbaijan. I therefore very much commend this motion to the House. I call upon the Australian government to take a clear and firm stance to call for the removal of Azerbaijani troops from the sovereign borders of Armenia, for the right of return of Armenians to Artsakh and for the release of all Armenian prisoners, and for Azerbaijan to cease its erasure of the Armenian presence in the region.

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