Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

to move:

That the House:

(1)

notes the grave and ongoing humanitarian and political crisis in Zimbabwe;

(2)

expresses its concern at the unacceptable delay in the release of official results from the 29 March 2008 presidential election in that country, and records its concern that this delay was part of a ploy by the incumbent Mugabe Government to fraudulently retain power;

(3)

asserts that the democratic choice of the people of Zimbabwe must be respected, and that the second, run-off presidential election, to be held by 31 July 2008, must be free, fair and without intimidation;

(4)

calls on the Zimbabwe Election Commission to invite international election observers to monitor the election including observers from the African Union and the United Nations;

(5)

confirms its commitment to the fundamental democratic requirement of a free and open media, and urges the Zimbabwe Government to allow international media full access to Zimbabwe to report on and properly scrutinise the run-off election;

(6)

condemns the use of violence and other kinds of intimidation or manipulation by election participants in Zimbabwe, including by associates of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front party, in attempts to pervert the democratic process;

(7)

expresses its hope that the election process can be resolved in order that a properly constituted government of Zimbabwe can turn its full attention to addressing the serious problems afflicting its people, including severe food shortages, a spiralling rate of HIV/AIDS infection, high level unemployment, raging inflation and the lack of basic health services;

(8)

welcomes the Australian Government’s humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe which provides humanitarian relief and human rights support for ordinary Zimbabweans; and

(9)

supports the Minister for Foreign Affairs in his efforts on Australia’s behalf in seeking to cooperate with the United Nations, other nations, and relevant non-government organisations to bring a rapid and peaceful resolution to the political impasse in Zimbabwe, and to address the humanitarian crisis in that country.