Judi Moylan (Pearce, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Would the minister update the House on the current political situation in Zimbabwe and plans for the Australian cricket team to tour there?

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

Can I firstly thank the member for Pearce for her question and for her interest. I know that, over in Western Australia particularly, a lot of people are interested in this issue, as are people elsewhere. Firstly, there is no doubt that President Mugabe is trashing democracy in Zimbabwe—the savage crackdown on opposition figures and the systematic oppression of the media clearly mean that democracy is coming to an end in Zimbabwe. Secondly, the economy has been completely crippled. Eighty per cent of Zimbabweans now have no job; life expectancy has fallen, since 1990, from 61 years to just 33 years; and inflation is now at 2,200 per cent. It is a great tragedy when you think of the hopes for Zimbabwe’s independence and the faith that was placed by Malcolm Fraser and others in Robert Mugabe as the new leader of that country and then see what has subsequently been delivered.

Our cricket team are scheduled to visit Zimbabwe in a few months time to play three one-day games. It is the view of the government that it would be better if they did not go. It is a common argument, and one I am largely sympathetic with, that you should try to separate sport from politics, but the fact is the Australian cricket team are caught in a political situation through no fault of their own—that is, if they were to go to Zimbabwe they would create great political controversy. Back here in Australia there is no doubt that, on the one hand, President Mugabe and his regime in Zimbabwe would make propaganda capital out of such a visit. On the other hand, of course, if the Australian cricket team do not go to Zimbabwe there will be a suggestion that they did not go for political reasons. But either way they are in a political situation which is not of their own making. It is certainly the view of the government that we do not want the world’s greatest cricket team to be caught up in a propaganda exercise for a wretched regime like President Mugabe’s.

The Prime Minister and I have made our views clear on this. I have spoken with the CEO of Cricket Australia and I will be meeting with them more generally towards the end of this week in Melbourne. We will have to work through the details. If the Australian cricket team do not visit Zimbabwe then a penalty will have to be paid, as there is a contract with the International Cricket Council, of at least $US2 million—$A2.4 million. That money would go to the Zimbabwe Cricket Union by way of compensation for loss of gate earnings, television and radio earnings and so on. Of course, some people will say, ‘It’s pretty unfortunate if Cricket Australia have to pay out that sort of money,’ but the government would certainly cover the costs of that for Cricket Australia. Others will say, ‘That money shouldn’t go to Zimbabwe at all. Won’t President Mugabe’s regime get hold of some of that money? Won’t they be able to use it?’ However, if the cricket team go to Zimbabwe the money will be earned in any case. So the fact that the contract exists means that, almost certainly, there will be some transfer of money to the Zimbabwe Cricket Union. We obviously hope in those circumstances that the money would be spent on cricket development, not on anything else.

The point is that it would be much better if the Australian cricket team were not allowed to go to Zimbabwe—so not enabling the Zimbabwean government to exploit a visit of that kind—and if the greats of Australian cricket were not put in a difficult, if not embarrassing, situation with the likes of President Mugabe. I hope we can find a satisfactory way through this to persuade Cricket Australia that this tour should be cancelled.