Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is not the first time I have spoken on matters of human rights in Vietnam and it will not be the last. I put forward this motion to again highlight the lack of freedoms in Vietnam. I have spoken before in the parliament about the repression of democracy, free speech, the internet and freedom of religion. In this motion I will speak of the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, and his sacrifices and struggles for freedom of religion, for freedom of speech and for the sort of liberty that one day will allow Vietnam and the Vietnamese people to reach a great potential.

In January 2008 a European magazine chose the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do as one of the 15 champions of world democracy. This courageous and resilient man was born as Dang Phuc Tue on 27 November 1928 in Thai Binh province. He is the head of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. He is also one of the best known and consequently most prominent dissidents in Vietnam. That prominence has not come cheaply, as freedom does not come cheaply when one opposes authoritarian regimes. Now 81, the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do has been a monk since the age of 14. Originally from the north, at the age of 17 he saw his master summarily executed by a revolutionary people’s tribunal. He was therefore able to see the standards of justice and control that the future Communist government of Vietnam would one day offer the whole of the country.

It should be remembered that Thich Quang Do’s master was not a combatant but a holy man. It has been widely said that by witnessing and being disturbed by that experience, Thich Quang Do’s resolve was strengthened and he was determined to pursue Buddhist teachings of nonviolence, tolerance and compassion. It is important to realise that before 1975 and the fall of the Republic of Vietnam the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam was the largest Buddhist organisation in South Vietnam. It had brought together Buddhists of the two major traditions, Theravada and Mahayana, and it was very active in peace and human rights, with links to international peace organisations. It was because of his profile in those cases that the Communist government of Vietnam saw the Unified Buddhist Church and its leadership as a threat to their absolute control. From 1975 the government planned and implemented persecution of the church and its members, including the seizure of property. This culminated in a forced unification into the government’s Vietnam Buddhist Church.

The Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church at the time, the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, and his deputy, Thich Quang Do, spoke out against the government and its sponsored church. This resulted in their being arrested, internally exiled and even tortured. In 1977 Thich Quang Do was detained for 20 months, all in solitary confinement, for raising the issue of human rights. It was in 1982 that Thich Quang Do was sent to internal exile for 10 years. This punishment was imposed in reality because of the protests about the Communist government’s ban on the independent Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. It was in 1992 that he returned to Saigon, and in 1994 he wrote a confronting 44-page document that detailed the persecution and excesses by the Communist Party of Vietnam against the Unified Buddhist Church. He was arrested in 1994 for writing that document and then jailed for three years for his involvement in organising food relief for flood victims and distributing letters by the then Patriarch, Thich Huyen Quang. He was again released in 1998, whereupon he repeatedly raised human rights abuses in Vietnam. This resulted in him being regularly arrested and interrogated.

He was strongly nominated for the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize. Since June 2001, he has been under house arrest. In July 2008, on the death of the previous patriarch, the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do assumed leadership of the free church. Much of his life has been spent in detention. Twenty-seven years of his life have involved jail or house arrest, all in the course of peaceful advocacy of human rights, democracy and of course religious freedom. Beyond his importance to the Buddhists inside and outside Vietnam, the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do is an inspiration of courage, integrity and honour. He should be released immediately. Freedom of religion and freedom of speech and democracy should not be dreams but realities. We honour and applaud Thich Quang Do as a great human rights leader of our time.

To conclude, this evening I wear the lapel badges of the republic of Vietnam and of Viet Tan, the Vietnam Reform Party. It is a great honour to speak on behalf of Vietnamese Buddhists in my electorate.

Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to speak on the motion moved by the member for Cowan. I have many Vietnamese people in my electorate. I have always taken a particular interest in looking after their domestic interests, looking at issues here and in Vietnam which affect them. It is good to see other people in this place taking up some of these issues, talking about human rights and looking at the circumstances and situations which arise in Vietnam, and at the conditions of Vietnamese people in Australia.

The Venerable Thich Quang Do is no stranger to me. On a number of occasions, I have not only spoken about him but also written to the ambassador and taken it upon myself to talk to my local community about his circumstances in Vietnam. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam has progressed over many years. I believe it has moved forward. The evolutionary process which is taking place in Vietnam is a great one and a good one. It is something that all the people of Vietnam should be congratulated on. They are certainly working hard to gain further freedom of speech, religion, media and a range of other matters.

While congratulating all the members who are speaking on this motion tonight, I also take the opportunity to say that the circumstances of the Venerable Thich Quang Do are not unique. There are many other such people in Vietnam and in other parts of the world—these are not isolated circumstances. In fact, all countries, I believe, should take a much closer look at their own human rights right across the board. It is important to acknowledge these things and to continue a particular dialogue.

Tonight I want to make note of the fact that countries such as Australia, through diplomatic channels, through people-to-people channels and through government-to-government channels, continue to have a dialogue, a working conversation, about human rights, about individuals and about progressive involvement. That happens on a number of levels. I am quite proud of the work Australia has done over many years. I congratulate the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Stephen Smith, for his continuing work with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. That work has been done over a period of years, by consecutive governments. Through foreign aid, grants and exchanges we have contributed to continuing development, particularly in human rights. I also note that today we had in the Senate a delegation from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. We have many delegations from Vietnam. There seems to be a very healthy exchange and the more the better. The more we can expose officials from Vietnam the more they will gain an appreciation for the benefits of opening up their own economy, their own systems and their people to freedoms of religion, speech and media, all the things we take for granted in this country which are not so easily attained in other places.

I also want to mention the great work of the Vietnamese people here in Australia. I know firsthand, through the Vietnamese community in my electorate, that they are a hardworking, highly spirited, adventurous community who are prepared to take risks. They are prepared to open up small businesses. They are prepared to work hard. They are very much committed to their children and to education. They are very much committed to their church and their faith. And it is a broad faith, whether it is Buddhism, as was mentioned by the member for Cowan, or Cao Dai, Taoism or Catholicism. Whatever faith they have, I think that is one of the strengths of the Vietnamese people. While the majority may be Buddhist, there are many other religions in Vietnam. From time to time, there are issues, particularly for people from the north of Vietnam. So I take note of the motion and continue to speak on behalf of Vietnamese Australians and also those in Vietnam, particularly people like Thich Quang Do, who I think is a great representative of his people and his faith. I commend the motion to the House.

Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also rise to support the motion that has been brought to this House by my good friend the member for Cowan. I congratulate him for doing so. The member for Cowan and I would share probably the vast majority of the Vietnamese community in Perth—perhaps along with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, who also has a large number of Vietnamese in his electorate. The member for Cowan and I have large Catholic and Buddhist communities in our electorates. Both of those communities take a very keen interest in what is happening in their homeland, particularly with regard to freedom of religion and the persecution that happens in Vietnam against people who just want to practise their religion in peace. The Venerable Thich Quang Do is a great example of that as head of the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam.

I often reflect on Vietnamese migration to Australia. When I was growing up, in the late seventies and early eighties, there were large waves of Vietnamese migrants settling in Perth and there was some community resistance to and trepidation about those new arrivals. They were different from arrivals we had had in the past. I reflect on just how incredibly successful the Vietnamese people have been as Australian migrants. They are incredibly entrepreneurial people. A lot of them started small businesses when they arrived in Perth. Subsequently, the second generation have gone on to become professionals. They are really incredibly successful migrants who have contributed a lot to Australia. It is always worth reflecting on that, I think, when we reflect on new waves of migrants coming to Australia who might be struggling at times and who might meet some community resistance. We can look at the plight of the Vietnamese and think about how successful their migration has been for them and for Australia.

To return to the motion, Thich Quang Do has seen a lot of repression in his life, firstly under the French occupation and subsequently under the current communist regime. The motion moved by the member for Cowan highlights the work of a man who is determined to see an open and more transparent world for the people of Vietnam—a world where people have the right to choose how they worship and the right to choose many of the freedoms that we here in Australia take for granted. Thich Quang Do is the head of the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam. He has dedicated his whole life to the plight of his people and the search for religious freedom and democracy in Vietnam. This cause has rendered him very well known throughout the world. He has been celebrated in many instances internationally for his very brave work on human rights in Vietnam. Under the communist regime, Thich Quang Do has been a fierce critic and has subsequently been persecuted for his stance on religious freedom. He was arrested for the first time in 1977, along with other members of his church, because they were deemed to be an obstruction to the work of the government in religious matters. He was tortured and imprisoned and was later charged with disturbing the peace and spreading misinformation.

The communist government, in order to control its people, created their own version of the Buddhist church, something we have seen in other communist regimes, and declared the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam illegal. The state tried to assume control over the church, but they were unable to do so, as Thich Quang Do and other Buddhist leaders stood up for their rights to freedom of worship. Thich Quang Do was subsequently exiled to the place of his birth for 10 years, whilst other members of the church were sent to other parts of the country. This did not deter this very brave man, who continues to take the opportunity to show the rest of the world what is happening in Vietnam and to highlight what happens to people when their basic human rights are taken away.

In 1992, he returned to Saigon to continue his fight for religious freedom. He was again arrested, for the crime of preparing a 44-page document promoting freedom in Vietnam. He was accused of sabotaging government policies and damaging the interests of the state. He was tried in court although the evidence provided by the prosecution was very feeble. He was given a five-year sentence which has rightly been condemned by human rights agencies and by other governments worldwide. In the few seconds I have left, I would like to say that Thich Quang Do has been recognised by world leaders and nominated for the Nobel peace prize—(Time expired)

Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently we were all saddened by the actions of the Burmese regime in sentencing the democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to a further 18 months in detention—and I am very pleased that the member for Wills has a motion on that important issue immediately after this one has finished. Aung San Suu Kyi is a great and admirable leader, but tonight I want to talk about another great leader in Asia, one who is far less known in this country, although I hope that is about to change. I refer to the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, Patriarch and Secretary-General of the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam.

Thich Quang Do is an 80-year-old Buddhist monk. He has been one of the senior leaders of the Vietnamese Buddhist church since the 1960s and, last year, he succeeded the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang as the church’s patriarch. He has been either in prison or under house arrest almost continuously since 1982. He is an outstanding advocate of religious freedom, democracy, nonviolence and peace who is often mentioned in the same category as Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Corazon Aquino and Megawati Sukarnoputri—all great champions of freedom and democracy for their countries.

Thich Quang Do has been nominated for the 2009 Nobel peace prize. It is the second time he has been nominated. The winner will be announced in October. I would like to quote the comments of Scott A Hunt, the author of The Future of Peace, in 2007, when Thich Quang Do was nominated the first time. He said:

If I had to pick who will win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, I’d go with Vietnamese monk Thich Quang Do … He’s the real deal—a courageous, steadfast, peacemaker who, against seemingly insurmountable odds, has spent decades advocating for peace, justice, and religious freedom. He’s been imprisoned, interrogated, threatened, denounced, banished, and placed under house arrest, and still he has continued his struggle.

I will also quote a recent letter to the Nobel committee from four members of the US congress—Ed Royce, Loretta Sanchez, Anh Joseph Cao and Zoe Lofgren:

Thich Quang Do’s selfless actions in pursuit of human rights in Vietnam have brought him great personal hardship. His advocacy for liberty is of historic proportions and deserves to be recognized by members of your Committee—

That is, the Nobel committee. Finally, I quote Thich Quang Do himself, to give you some idea of why the Vietnamese communist regime fear this man so much and why they want him silenced. Thich Quang Do says:

As long as the Communists remain in power, the UBCV has no hope of enjoying religious freedom … Never, it’s impossible. The only way we can regain our right to existence is by accepting to become the Communist Party’s stooges. If we grovel on our knees, bow our heads, do whatever they tell us, that’s fine. The authorities would be delighted to recognize the UBCV under these conditions.

But we will never do this. And for this reason, we must be prepared for continuing repression.

Thich Quang Do is of course not the only religious leader to suffer persecution in Vietnam. I would also like to mention the courageous Catholic priest Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, who has been in prison on and off for almost 15 years; he has been an Amnesty International ‘prisoner of conscience’ since 1983. In March 2007 he was sentenced to a further eight years in prison, which gives you are some indication of the nature of the Vietnamese regime. I am sure that honourable members will join me in calling on the Vietnamese government to release both of these admirable religious leaders and to stop persecuting both Vietnamese Buddhists and Catholics who speak up for religious freedom and democracy.

I do not speak on this resolution because I have a very large Vietnamese community in my electorate. I commend the member for Cowan for raising this resolution. I speak on it because, coming from a minority myself, I think it is important to defend the religious rights of all minorities around the world, particularly people who are non-violent, whether they are Tibetan Buddhists, Vietnamese Catholics or Buddhists or the Baha’i in Iran, and I think we need to be very consistent about this.

One of the ways that I think we could have a bigger influence on these kinds of issues around the world is with our human rights dialogues. The one with Iran has nearly passed into history, but we still have them with Vietnam and China. Rather than letting them be run by officials, I think if the human rights dialogues were placed under the powers of the foreign affairs committee, which has the ability to investigate and to speak to foreign affairs officials from both countries, there would be a much more powerful drilling down by members of this House of Representatives and the Senate into human rights in these countries. Thich Quang Do should be freed unconditionally. It is a shame that he is a prisoner of conscience.

Alby Schultz (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.