Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—The contribution from both the government and the opposition is right off course. There has been objection in the past to motions being voted on here without full debate, calling on overseas governments to do something. But this motion does not do that. It calls on the Minister for Foreign Affairs to get information from China on two matters. The first matter is a statement by the Secretary General of the Tibetan Communist Party, Zhang Qing Li, that, ‘We will certainly be able to totally smash the splittist schemes of the Dalai Lama clique.’ That comment was made when his total sham of the Olympic torch through Lhasa was being staged by the communist government in Beijing last Saturday.

The second thing was to ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs to find out how many Tibetan citizens are still under arrest but have not been brought to trial since March. Senator Faulkner, on behalf of the government, said he could answer both those questions. Senator Payne seemed satisfied that, as the government indicated, we should do anything we can to avoid approaching the communist authorities in Beijing to answer these questions. That is the function of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and it is not only the right but the responsibility of this Senate to, through the government, seek information about matters of great interest to the Australian people. The comments indicating the potential assassination of the Dalai Lama went right around the world. Australians are interested to know whether that is government policy. Senator Faulkner said, ‘Well, it is China’s policy.’ That is an assumption by the Australian government which may well be disputed by the authorities in Beijing. We should have the gumption in government to approach Beijing to get the answer to both those questions. It shows obsequiousness and tremulousness from both the government and the opposition that they have not supported this motion seeking that information from Beijing.