Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—Over recent weeks and months, the Australian government has consistently stated that its strong view remains that Sri Lanka’s conflict cannot be resolved through military means alone. Australia notes that the Sri Lankan government continues to report battlefield gains, further to the recent capture of Kilinochchi and Elephant Pass. Australia recognises that this is a significant development in Sri Lanka’s decades-long conflict. Australia considers a political solution to be essential for long-term peace in a country which has suffered so long from bitter conflict.

Members on both sides of the House have expressed to me their support for a resolution of the conflict in Sri Lanka and their support for Australia’s approach to this difficult and complex issue. Australia remains gravely concerned at the worsening humanitarian situation in the north of Sri Lanka. Australia has been actively involved in international efforts to assist those adversely affected by the conflict in Sri Lanka. We are especially concerned by reports of civilian casualties, the continued vulnerability of civilians caught in the conflict and the difficulty of delivering aid and humanitarian assistance.

Earlier today I announced that Australia will contribute $5 million in additional humanitarian assistance to those affected in the north of Sri Lanka. This is in addition to the $4 million in food aid Australia recently announced for Sri Lanka through the World Food Program. This new assistance will help ensure that civilians caught up in the conflict have access to basic goods such as medical supplies, shelter, water and sanitation. Australia will deliver this assistance through the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations, and Australian and international non-government organisations. I informed the Sri Lankan High Commissioner of this in a meeting this morning, during which I reiterated Australia’s views on the situation in Sri Lanka.

Australia calls on all those involved in the fighting to make protecting civilians an absolute priority:

• All parties must respect ‘safe areas’ nominated by the Sri Lankan government and not fire into or out of these zones or in the vicinity of the PTK hospital or any other medical facility;
• All parties must ensure medical evacuations are facilitated and life-saving humanitarian aid is delivered frequently and safely;
• All parties must ensure that civilians can leave the conflict zone safely.

Australia calls on the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to declare a temporary no-fire period to allow for the evacuation of civilians. Australia calls on the LTTE to allow civilians caught in the conflict zone to leave. The government also calls on the Sri Lankan community in Australia to add its weight to this call to help ensure that civilian life is protected.

Australia welcomes the call of the so-called Tokyo Co-Chairs—Norway, Japan, the United States and the European Union—for the LTTE to discuss with the government of Sri Lanka how to end hostilities, including:

• the laying down of arms;
• the renunciation of violence;
• acceptance of the government of Sri Lanka’s offer of amnesty; and
• participating as a political party in a process to achieve a just and lasting political solution.

Last night, I spoke to the United Kingdom Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, about a range of matters, including our shared concern about the situation in Sri Lanka. I told Foreign Secretary Miliband that Australia also welcomed his joint statement with Secretary of State Clinton of the United States in support of the Tokyo Co-Chairs. Like its international partners, Australia encourages the Sri Lankan government to take steps to ensure the civilian population has confidence in the government’s commitment to their protection.

The Australian government takes this opportunity to thank the Sri Lankan government for its assistance in helping to ensure that an Australian UN official, who had been trapped with UN staff in the conflict zone in northern Sri Lanka, is now safely away from the fighting. We reiterate our call for a political solution to this conflict. The long-term security and prosperity of Sri Lanka will only be achieved through a political solution that meets the legitimate aspirations of all Sri Lankans.

I ask leave of the House to move a motion to enable the member for Goldstein to speak for 4½ minutes.

Leave granted.

I move:

That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent Mr Robb speaking for a period not exceeding 4½ minutes.

Question agreed to.

Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and COAG and Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader on Emissions Trading Design) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in response to the ministerial statement on the ongoing conflict in Sri Lanka. In my previous role as shadow minister for foreign affairs for the coalition I became acutely aware of this ongoing conflict taking place in Sri Lanka, a civil conflict which has been raging since July 1983 following the most destructive explosion of communal rioting in the history of that island nation—a period in Sri Lanka’s history commonly referred to as ‘Black July’.

This conflict has taken the lives of over 70,000 people and displaced some 400,000 people, who are now living in refugee camps. The coalition welcomes any well-targeted measures that extend humanitarian assistance to those innocent victims of this conflict and helps facilitate both parties following the path of a sustainable peace agreement. Under former Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer, the previous government provided more than $30 million between 2005 and 2007 to experienced and reputable multilateral organisations to provide humanitarian relief across a range of areas to those affected civilians in Sri Lanka.

We also welcome multilateral actions such as the statement by the so-called Tokyo Co-Chairs—Norway, Japan, United States and the European Union—urging the Tamil Tigers to discuss with the government of Sri Lanka ways to end the hostilities, including the laying down of arms and the renunciation of violence and to assist those desperate civilians caught up in the conflict and unable to leave the area. The coalition strongly urges the Tamil Tigers to free civilians currently trapped within the conflict. The lessons of history confirm that a political solution is the only effective way to end the violence, resolve the conflict and provide a durable peace in Sri Lanka. The coalition joins the Australian government in calling for peaceful resolution to this conflict as soon as possible for the sake of all the citizens of Sri Lanka.