Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Would the minister inform the House of the reaction to cartoons published in the international media which have caused offence to some Muslims.

Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Boothby for his question and for his interest. Let me first say that I do condemn—and the government condemns—the violent protests that we have seen in Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and, indeed, a number of other countries. This violence has been directed mainly at Danish and Norwegian interests, simply because these were the countries in which these cartoons were published. There has been some backlash to New Zealand as well.

But let me make this clear: we regard the backlash as indefensible and urge people to desist and remain calm. In this country, of course, we believe in the right to protest, but we only believe in the right to protest peacefully—not violently: not to burn down buildings and not to threaten people. If people do take offence at anything—and this happens from time to time in any society—if they are exercised about anything, they have a right to protest, but they should not resort to violence.

We hear reports that up to five people have been killed in these protests. There is no doubt that the cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad have caused offence to many Muslims, and that is unfortunate. But the decision about whether to publish such material is in the end a matter for the media. Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of a democratic society, not just in this country but in democratic societies all around the world.

Suffice it to say that with all freedoms, with all rights, come responsibilities, and any media organisation which publishes this material will obviously have given consideration to what the consequences of doing so might be. But, having said that, at the end of the day, in a free society, people have a right to express their views. If others disagree with those views or are offended by those views, they have absolutely the right to protest, to object, but only in peaceful ways.

While I will not go into the details of the security provisions at Australian missions overseas, let me just say that our mission in Ramallah in the Palestinian territories has been closed temporarily because it shares a building with the Danish mission. Of course, the Danish mission has been particularly subjected to protests. We are liaising to ensure the security of Danish consulates here in Australia. There is not a Danish embassy, but there are consulates. We are obviously focused on the security of those missions.

Today my department is reissuing its travel advisories for Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Iran, noting that large demonstrations related to this issue have taken place in those countries and advising Australians to avoid any further such protests and to exercise good personal security awareness.