Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that 10 December 2019 is United Nations Human Rights Day;

(2) acknowledges that the:

(a) United Nations General Assembly's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948 was a milestone moment which formalised mankind's shared aspiration for the equal dignity and worth of every person;

(b) declaration was drafted by representatives of diverse legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world; and

(c) declaration's values and principles of equality, justice and freedom remain as relevant today as they were in 1948;

(3) notes that the promise of the universal declaration is yet to be fully realised and that many people worldwide continue to have their rights threatened, denied or impinged; and

(4) encourages people of all nations to acknowledge Human Rights Day on 10 December 2019 and in their daily lives to stand up for their own rights and the rights of others.

Next Tuesday, 10 December, is Human Rights Day. It is the 70th anniversary of the moment that the United Nations affirmed mankind's belief that, 'All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,' a restatement of and recommitment to those universal values and the inherent rights proclaimed in that document that were desperately needed in 1948. They are just as critical now. I know that colleagues will speak eloquently and in detail about them following this speech.

I'd like to take this opportunity to draw the House's attention to the deeply disturbing infringements, taking place every year, of the human rights of those who form the first defence for others—our fellow parliamentarians worldwide. Madam Deputy Speaker Wicks, as you know, we recently attended the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting in Serbia, where we joined 1,800 other parliamentarians from around the world in discussing many of the important issues which unite us. Throughout, I was impressed by my colleagues' commitment and passion for addressing the many challenges that we face. However, during a session of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, I was shocked by the dreadful stories that we heard.

We heard about five parliamentarians in Uganda who were violently arrested in August 2018 in the district of Arua, after the president's convoy was pelted with stones while passing. Two were tortured, while four sustained injuries during the arrest. We heard about credible reports of attacks, violent intimidation, politically motivated criminal proceedings, arbitrary detention and the confiscation of travel documents in Venezuela targeting 96 parliamentarians from the Democratic Unity Roundtable since 2017.

We heard about the abduction of independent MP Ms Seham Sergiwa from her home in Libya by masked men. They wounded her husband and daubed 'The army is a red line not to be crossed' on her house. Since her abduction in July, no trace of her has been found. We heard about the alleged attempted murder, abduction, arbitrary detention, property destruction and exile faced by 69 members of the Yemeni parliament since 2014. Of course, we also heard about the 600 separate criminal and terrorism charges brought against members of the Peoples' Democratic Party in the Turkish parliament over the last four years. Chillingly, many of these charges are for defamation of the president or the Turkish government. Some 29 Turkish parliamentarians are already in jail. In total, there are 468 cases around the world currently being addressed by the IPU's committee on the human rights of MPs.

I would understand if those outside watching this presentation asked, 'Why are the rights of MPs so important when people of all kinds face oppression?' Where the rights of members of parliament are infringed, the rights of all citizens are at great risk. In most countries, parliamentarians are afforded special privileges and freedoms. We spend a great deal of time in secure institutions. Often we are provided with the protection of police or security services. We are high-profile figures whose lives and work play out very visibly in the public domain. Parliamentarians have greater freedoms than most, they are better protected, and infringements of their rights are harder to conceal. Where parliamentarians are at risk, no-one is safe. We can be sure that their suffering is only the most visible part of a deeper and more widespread problem.

Further, when human rights are at risk, it is the people's elected representatives who form their first line of defence. Our unique privileges, our direct access to government and our national media platforms give parliamentarians worldwide the ability and the duty to stand up for their constituents. Sometimes this advocacy can bring about real change in itself. Other times it can be a powerful symbol and a rallying cry for those who would peacefully resist.

Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion. The 10th of December marks International Human Rights Day. On this day, we come together as part of the concerned global community to recommit to the cause of human rights.

When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was first adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, Australia was among eight nations that played a very key role in its drafting, under the leadership of the Hon. Dr Herbert Vere Evatt. Since then, Australia's commitment to human rights has been enduring. We have advocated for social justice and human rights within our sphere of influence.

Despite the ongoing efforts to protect those rights, many across the world continue to live in deprivation of very basic human rights. In Vietnam, the crackdown on dissent continues. The Vietnamese government maintains a monopoly on political power, supported by a law enforcement system that operates at the direction of the government. I take the opportunity to draw attention to the case of an Australian citizen, Mr Van Kham Chau, who earlier this month was found guilty of terrorism pursuant to the Vietnamese Penal Code and sentenced to 12 years prison by a Vietnamese court. Human rights groups have called his trial a sham, a closed court, in which no entry was granted to the free media and family and friends. Mr Chau is a 70-year-old retired baker from Western Sydney. He is a human rights advocate and is known locally for his charitable work. With no evidence presented by the Vietnamese authorities to substantiate the charge of terrorism, it is imperative that the international community continues to place public pressure on Vietnam.

On behalf of many concerned Cambodian Australians, I also lend my voice in support of human rights and true democracy in Cambodia. In Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen has launched a broad crackdown against various critical independent voices. This includes the arrest of the opposition leaders, the dissolution of the main opposition parties and an assault on media organisations and others critical of his government. If this wasn't concerning enough, the influence of Hun Sen is now being played out in Australian universities, businesses and charities, given recent efforts to recruit students and members of the Cambodian diaspora in building a support base here in this country for the Cambodian dictator.

In the Philippines, extrajudicial killings have been the principal human rights concern, an issue which has escalated with President Duterte's war on drugs, which has now claimed the lives of many thousands of people. President Duterte seems to act with confidence of impunity, regardless of the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution for a transparent and independent inquiry.

In respect of both Cambodia and the Philippines, it appears that China is throwing its weight behind those administrations in order to help them avoid accountability. It also seems that China's Belt and Road Initiative is buying silence with respect to the situation currently on foot in Xinjiang province. I've been moved by the touching stories told by my constituent Zulfia Erk, a very passionate advocate for the Uygur community who is personally affected, as she has five brothers in detention camps in Xinjiang at present. Throughout the region, the Turkic Muslim population of 13 million people are being subjected to restrictions of movement, mass surveillance and significant limitations on their religious freedoms. Recent documents leaked from within the Chinese government have highlighted the government's clear and systematic policy of eradicating Muslim teachings in China as part of their detention and re-education camps for these religious minorities.

What is interesting about all these nations is that they seem to share the same flexible view about the rule of law. As members of the international community, we have a moral, if not legal, responsibility to do all we can to encourage countries in our region to adhere to their international obligations. Our international relationships should not just be built on economics, trade and regional stability but must include promoting and encouraging human rights and challenging our partners to honour their international obligations. We cannot and must not remain silent when people's human rights and the rule of law are being undermined so blatantly.

Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the great privileges of being the member for Goldstein is that you're able, every time you mention the name, to honour the legacy of a suffragette, a woman by the name of Vida Goldstein who fought for the right of women to be able to vote, buy property and enter marriages on the same terms as men. She embodies part of Australia's human rights legacy because she is part of the continuing journey of our great country towards a greater perfection of pursuit of justice, freedom and fairness for all.

Of course, this great country has so many legacies that we can be proud of. Everybody thinks about New Zealand as the first country that allowed women the right to vote, but we were the first country in the world to allow women the right to vote and to stand for parliament so that you, Deputy Speaker Wicks, could reign over us at this very moment. We have a proud legacy of confronting our difficult past with regard to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and taking pathways to address those past injustices. Nothing could be clearer than the 1967 referendum which allowed for the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as full citizens of this country to be counted in the census. We have continued on that journey every step of the way in making sure we recognise the fullness of everybody's equal dignity and worth.

That doesn't come by accident. It is because we're a country built on the rule of law and a respect under the common law for people's basic rights. Those were the values that were embodied in the establishment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. If you go back and look at the UDHR and its development—and not many people have done this, but for my sins I have—you will see how it was ultimately the battleground for the great contest of ideas between collective and individual rights. The Soviet Union under Stalin, and many of the other collectivist countries, wanted a very different declaration focused on how to achieve their objectives around collective aspirations at the expense of the individual. But, in the end, Western liberal democracies won, in what was a principal document which paved the way for many peoples' conception of human rights. People forget that one of the big fights in the development of the UDHR in 1948 was over the concept of free speech. You had the Soviet countries that wanted to shut down any form of speech which merely offended some sections of the community. It was Western liberal democracies who stood up, particularly Australia, and we have a notable history of standing up for the importance of free speech as a cornerstone of people's individual dignity, because it is the manifestation of people's freedom of conscience.

Sadly, in subsequent treaties—in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which became the foundation for many laws that continue to this day—Stalin won the argument, and liberal democracies didn't. If you go back and compare the histories of the two documents, you can read that. Critically, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights understood that one of the most foundational principles of liberalism and liberal democratic rights itself was property rights—and how important that was. Again, when it got to the ICCPR, it was eradicated from that discussion. When you eradicate that legacy of liberal democratic values and what it means for a free people—about the idea of equal dignity and worth in the pursuit of happiness—you erase so much of the dignity that people enjoy. That's how we end up in modern day human rights abuses as much as the atrocities of the past.

I heard the previous speaker, rightly, talk about what is being done to the Uygurs in China, and he deserves commendation for doing so. Of course, it doesn't sit in isolation. The idea of dignity and individual empowerment sits at the heart of the rights of people to self-determine—whether it be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders here or the people of Hong Kong—or to live out the full expression of their individual worth. We see that under threat in any government on earth that imposes religious fundamentalism that prioritises collective religious aspirations over peoples' individual dignity, and the people who suffer are often those most marginalised or disempowered, whether it is women, homosexuals or other religious minorities who equally have a right to be able to live out their life with dignity and purpose.

On Human Rights Day we celebrate our achievements as a country, as one that continues towards a greater sense of perfection for human rights. But we should never allow ourselves to turn a blind eye to the challenges we face today and to call on aspiration from others around the world.

Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sunday is Human Rights Day. The 10th of December marks 71 years since the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This was a milestone that articulated the rights and freedoms to which every human being is equally and inalienably entitled. Australia, as a leader in the framing of the UN declaration and one of the world's oldest democracies, prides itself on its commitment to democracy and human rights.

We constantly see in the media that many people around the world continue to have their rights threatened, denied or impinged. As members of parliament, we all on both sides, being part of such a great democracy, believe it is part of our duty to stand up for human rights and speak up when we see those rights diminished or abused here or abroad. It is something I've tried to do since I was elected in 2016, whether it is speaking up about human rights with respect to the Uygur or religious persecution of the Baha'i or the Rohingya, who have been forced into IDP camps or across the border into Bangladesh, or the Kurdish community in northern Syria, or, of course, here at home with respect to upholding the rights of Australians. Many of us across the political spectrum have made those speeches and done that advocacy for so many people who have their human rights impinged upon. It is important we try and do this as part of a democracy that we enjoy, and we shouldn't take that for granted. It is part of our job in this place.

People in my electorate also raised with me a range of human rights issues around the world. They care, and I want to thank them for their passion and commitment on these issues and for taking the time to speak to me about them. Last week, I attended a rally in support of Chilean Australians and their brothers and sisters in Chile, and the right to protest. We have seen some of the images from what is going on in Santiago and other parts of that country.

Peaceful protest and freedom of association are among the founding elements of any decent democracy. If you start to impinge on those rights, you start to pull away at the threads that hold our democracies together. Some of us might take this for granted, as well as other rights such as the right to a good education, the right to good medical care and the right to freedom to practice our religion or to have no religion. They are not all equally available to people in other parts of the world. That is something that we enjoy here in Australia. The UN declaration has become a yardstick. It provides a foundation for a just future for all and has solidified standards for which we should aim. It is, I think, a powerful tool in the fight against oppression and repression around the world, because equality, justice and freedom are principles that remain just as relevant today as they were back in 1948.

Labor's foreign shadow minister, Penny Wong, often speaks about the need to put Australian values like respect for human rights at the centre of our foreign policies—a core element of how we do our foreign affairs. I think most would agree that the world we live in today shows that it is more necessary than ever. We are in a period that is more volatile, that is more problematic with respect to human rights than I can remember it ever being. Numerous demonstrations are occurring in countries around the world, with people rallying for basic political rights—the freedom to just protest without being repressed for better conditions, for economic justice, for economic equality. You are seeing this happen not just in Chile but in Hong Kong, Lebanon, Peru, Indonesia, Iraq and so many other countries. This is happening right now. And it does not really matter where in the world human rights breaches are occurring; it is still our responsibility and our duty as leaders—and we are leaders, to an extent, in our democracy—to speak out against these human rights abuses and to advocate for people who are suffering. I think it is of critical importance for us that we champion human rights whenever and wherever we can—to stand with people fighting for their freedoms, to make those human rights a living reality for everyone.

They know that we are speaking. I have had feedback from so many people who have said, 'Thank you for doing that 30-second or 90-second speech in parliament in support of us.' It does make a difference. In us celebrating this occasion, it is important for us to remember all of the wonderful things that we have in this country and to speak up for those who do not have them.

Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ten December is the United Nations' Human Rights Day. I would like to thank my colleague the member for Fisher for bringing forward this motion. As fellow members of the Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, we have heard countless stories of inadequate treatment of people with disabilities in Australia that tell us that human rights in this country certainly are not guaranteed. We must continue to fight for the rights of Australians with disability to live a life of choice and control. Tomorrow we will continue to do that, on International Day of People with Disability. We must continue to fight for the rights of our older Australians in aged care. We must continue to fight for the rights of our First Nations peoples, whose land was never ceded and who continue to live with the trauma and suffering inflicted by colonisers. With the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women just last week, we must work harder to make sure our women and girls can live lives free of violence.

In Australia, we have a system of governance that holds our leaders to account—a system where the power of the vote and the right to protest are upheld, despite efforts from our Prime Minister and home affairs minister. Yet these incredible privileges are not a given, and many people around the world simply do not enjoy them. Since the end of the First World War and the creation of the League of Nations, Australia has shown many impressive examples of human rights leadership. There is no doubt in my mind and in the minds of my constituents that our recent treatment of refugees and their ongoing detention in Nauru and Manus Island have damaged this reputation as a human rights leader. I hope that the Australian parliament can find a way to show more compassion to those refugees and treat them better. Nevertheless, Australia must continue to hold its international partners to account when it comes to human rights, including our valued international partners China and Indonesia.

The test of friendship is the ability to hold one another to account, and this Human Rights Day I want to take the opportunity to do so. A few weeks ago I met with a delegation from the Tibetan Parliament in Exile. For nearly 70 years China has consistently violated Tibetans' right to self-determination, their human rights and their liberties. I want to thank the delegation that came and visited me, and I hope that one day the Parliament in Exile can return to Tibet to take up governing once again.

The Chinese government's treatment of the Uygurs continues to be revealed to the international community. Australians have been shocked to read reports of the mass incarceration of Muslim Uygurs and the suppression of their religion and culture, and Australians have been shocked by the suppression of the rights and freedoms that the residents of Hong Kong have come to value so highly since the end of British rule. We urge Hong Kong authorities to engage in a genuine dialogue with the public that addresses widespread concerns, including police conduct, and builds trust between all parties. Labor will continue to call on the government to use its position as a member of the UN Human Rights Council to pursue these issues with Chinese government officials, and I commend the work of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Marise Payne, who has called on the Chinese government to observe the human rights of its people.

The treatment of West Papuans continues to raise concern, and I call on the Indonesian government to do more to ensure the safety of its citizens in the Papuan provinces. Last week I attended a briefing on the situation in West Papua on invitation by the member for Cooper, and it is clear, despite calls from the Australian government and Labor, that the rights of West Papuans continue to be violated. Access by media and human rights organisations continues to be controlled. The democratic rights of the people of West Papua, citizens of one of the world's largest democracies, continue to be suppressed, and the security and safety of West Papuans continues to be violated by government and non-government actors.

Finally, this Human Rights Day I call on the government of Israel to respect the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people to also live in peace and security within their own state. An enduring and just two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the only answer, and we call on both Israeli and Palestinian authorities to again work together to achieve such a solution for the sake of your citizens and their safety and prosperity.

Human rights continue to be violated around the world. This Human Rights Day we must remind ourselves that this is the case and continue to push for governments and leaders here in Australia and around the world to uphold the rights of humanity.

Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.