Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On indulgence, Mr Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to make some statements about the release of Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma. I am sure many Australians, with a tear in their eye and a lump in their throat, have watched the remarkable vision of Aung San Suu Kyi being greeted by her supporters now that she has been finally freed in Burma. Our thoughts are with this remarkable and courageous woman at this time. She has been an amazing and resilient fighter for democracy in Burma, and I am sure every member of the House would want her to feel the sense of congratulation for her achievements, for her resilience, that I believe is shared by the Australian people. Ernest Hemingway famously said that courage was best defined as grace under pressure. If those words are true, then there is no better example of courage than Aung San Suu Kyi.

I take the opportunity to inform the House that I have had our ambassador in Burma give to Aung San Suu Kyi a message from me on behalf of the Australian people. I would like to take the opportunity to read that message:

The Australian people and government share a deep and abiding admiration for you.

Your steadfast commitment to democracy and to the welfare of the Burmese people is a source of inspiration for Australians.

Many here will be happy at the news of your release from house arrest but we are fully conscious that the struggle for true democracy in Burma is not at an end.

The Australian people and government fervently hope that you and the Burmese people will one day see realised the democracy and justice for which you have fought so hard.

As that message records, this is a time of celebration for Aung San Suu Kyi but it is also a moment to note that so much more needs to be done to achieve freedom and democracy in Burma. There are estimated to be around 2,000 other political prisoners who, like Aung San Suu Kyi, should be returned to freedom and particularly freedom of expression including political expression. We call again on the government of Burma to have free and fair elections to allow the Burmese people the simple right to select their representatives and government, and we call on them to engage in a genuine reconciliation process in Burma.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, also on indulgence, I echo the comments of the Prime Minister. Obviously this is a great day for Aung San Suu Kyi, but it is a great day for everyone who believes in democracy anywhere in our world. She has been a symbol of the struggle for democracy in her own country and right around the world. Her party won the 1990 elections in Burma but, instead of allowing her party to form a government, the military junta cancelled the elections and imprisoned her. She has remained imprisoned for the best part of the last two decades. In that time she has not seen her children, and she has never seen her grandchildren. Her husband died without the chance of being with his wife. It was an utterly unjustified, completely outrageous act by the Burmese junta which has been rightly condemned all around the world.

Again, I join with the Prime Minister. I echo her words. I express the hope on behalf of the coalition that the release of Aung San Suu Kyi is not just a cynical PR exercise but might be the beginning of wider liberalisation and democratisation in Burma.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I have been approached by a number of members who would like to participate in this debate, and I am sure that would be the case on both sides of the House. For their benefit, I suggest it would be appropriate for the Selection Committee to consider allocating some private members business time next Monday, either in the House or in the Main Committee, for consideration of this matter.