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

Mr Speaker, on indulgence: I have two matters that I know will be of interest to the House. Firstly, I draw to members’ attention very gravely concerning reports that Aung San Suu Kyi has been taken from her house by Burmese police authorities. I know that all members of the House will share this grave concern. It is Australia’s longstanding position, shared by governments of both political persuasions, that she should be released immediately and unconditionally, and I repeat that today and I know all members will support it.

Secondly, on Tuesday I delivered a ministerial statement on the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka, and I think that it is true to say that the sentiments on that issue are shared by both the government and the opposition. I draw to members’ attention the United Nations Security Council’s statement overnight, which very substantially underpins the sentiments expressed by the House on Tuesday, and I know that the concern about that difficult situation is shared by all members of the House. I thank the House for its indulgence.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence: I join with the Minister for Foreign Affairs on behalf of the opposition in supporting his comments in relation to Aung San Suu Kyi. The freedom and democracy campaigner and Nobel prize winner has been under house detention for some 13 of the last 19 years. Members will recall that in 1990 the party led by Aung San Suu Kyi won a majority of about 80 per cent of the votes in a parliamentary election. Yet the military regime ignored that vote and has continued to ignore the will of the majority of the Burmese people. As I said, over the last 19 years Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house detention, essentially, for 13 of those years. She is currently serving a period of house arrest of six consecutive years.

Back in 1995 I travelled to Burma. I met with Aung San Suu Kyi. She had at that time just been released from her first period of home detention of six consecutive years. I recall that at the time she said she was a prisoner in her own country, and it seems that today the Burmese regime is determined to make that a reality. This regime is unparalleled for its human rights abuses against the Burmese people, and I join with the government in calling on the military junta in Burma to release Suu Kyi not only from house arrest but also from these charges which, we understand, arise from an unauthorised access to her home. The world stands by and watches as Aung San Suu Kyi suffers in her non-violent struggle for freedom and democracy. The world must engage in greater levels of diplomacy and other actions to ensure that Aung San Suu Kyi is free and that freedom and democracy are returned to the people of Burma.

In relation to the matter of Sri Lanka, again, on behalf of the opposition, I join with the foreign minister in supporting the statement issued overnight by the United Nations Security Council. The bloodshed, the killing of civilians, the conflict in northern Sri Lanka is at a dire level. We join with other nations in calling on the Sri Lankan government to ensure a ceasefire between the Sri Lankan forces and the LTTE. Civilian lives are being lost and this must not be allowed to continue.