Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on recent developments in Zimbabwe and the government’s response?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. Before I turn to the question of Zimbabwe, I add my words of welcome to those of the Minister for Foreign Affairs to the Indian Minister for External Affairs, the Hon. Pranab Mukherjee, who is present in our chamber. You, Sir, are a welcome guest in our country and we look to the further expansion of our relationship with the world’s largest democracy.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members—Hear, hear!

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the question of Zimbabwe, honourable members will be aware that the President of the Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai, announced that he and his party would not be contesting the presidential run-off election in Zimbabwe due on 27 June. In a statement Mr Tsvangirai said that his party could not ask the people of Zimbabwe to cast their votes on 27 June ‘when that vote could cost them their lives’. This is how desperate and dangerous the situation has become in Zimbabwe, where the leader of the alternative government in Zimbabwe is saying to his supporters that they should not go out and vote because, effectively, there has been a gun put to their head. That is how disgraceful the situation in Zimbabwe has become under Robert Mugabe.

We recognise that Mr Tsvangirai made his decision because a free and fair election in Zimbabwe would not have been possible. The Mugabe regime has recently decided to restrict the monitoring of the 27 June election to a level that would have removed any possibility of effective international scrutiny of this poll, and the regime has been escalating its campaign of violence against the MDC and its supporters. MDC members and supporters have been murdered, detained and tortured. Most recently, President Mugabe said that the MDC would never rule Zimbabwe and he was prepared to go to war to prevent them from doing so. That is of itself an extraordinary statement from a man who pretends to be running a parliamentary democracy. He is not; he has become a dictator.

Let us not forget that Morgan Tsvangirai received the most votes in the first round of the presidential elections held on 29 March, and the MDC won the majority of parliamentary seats that were contested at those same elections. There can be no legitimacy to an election stolen by the Mugabe regime through violence and terror. The Australian government condemns the violence and brutal intimidation by the regime. We call on President Mugabe to stop this violence. The people of Zimbabwe must be given the chance to express their free will. The people of Zimbabwe deserve the free expression of that will so that they can give their great country a chance for the future. They must be given a chance to do so free from fear.

The international community must continue to pressure the Mugabe regime to stop violence. We welcome the UN Security Council debate on Zimbabwe in New York today. We strongly support a full debate on the situation now in Zimbabwe. Regionally, the Southern African Development Community and the African Union have also made statements on this matter. We welcome the statements made by a number of African leaders in recent days expressing their deep concern about recent events in Zimbabwe. Australia will continue to support their efforts. We will also maintain whatever we can by way of bilateral pressure on the regime in Harare. Since 2002 Australia has had a range of restrictions on contact with Zimbabwe: restrictions on visas for travel to Australia by Zimbabwean ministers and certain Zimbabwean officials; freezes on financial assets; suspension of non-humanitarian aid; prohibition of defence links; suspension of bilateral ministerial contact; the downgrading of cultural links; and a ban on adult students of sanctioned individuals from studying in Australia.

We encourage other countries to extend similar levels of sanctions. We are actively considering what further measures may be taken to pressure the Mugabe regime, including revising our list of regime members to whom restrictions apply to ensure that new figures in the regime are covered by that schedule as well. At the same time we continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Zimbabwe. It is not their fault that they have the regime that has been imposed on them. In 2007-08 we will provide more than $13 million to Zimbabwe, most of which is for essential food to be delivered through the World Food Program.

I believe all members of this House are united in their condemnation of the regime in Zimbabwe. The situation in Zimbabwe is grave and it is becoming worse. The Australian government along with the international community condemns the regime’s actions and commits to providing ongoing assistance to the people of Zimbabwe, the victim of their own government’s brutality.

Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on indulgence: I join with the Prime Minister also in welcoming Minister Mukherjee here to the Australian parliament, and the expansion of the relationship with the state of India, which we welcome. I would also strongly endorse on behalf of this side of the parliament the Prime Minister’s comments in relation to Zimbabwe, the discussion of the plans that are being developed in international multinational fora and, further to that, we would also support further action.