Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The minister has presumably pointed out the two aspects of the motion that the government does disagree with. I would note for the record that, after receiving support from the government and from the opposition on a number of motions—some of them quite controversial—relating to foreign policy, it seems that the minister will only stand up and read one of those statements if it is an issue that the government disagrees with or does not like. I would ask that if this is not the time to debate these sorts of issues, then when is it time?

Much of the motion that is before us relates to the Senate simply noting the facts on the ground. I do not think the government disputed them, and I did not hear the minister disputing them. But what he did stand up and say was that we will not be able to proceed with the United Nations commission of inquiry without the support of the Burmese regime—which is factually not true—and that the sanctions regime is appropriate and working well as is.

The point that I am trying to make by way of this motion is that neither of those contentions is true. It is absolutely unconscionable that Australian investors are able to work in Burma, as we speak. There is drilling equipment moving from South-East Asia into gas fields off the coast of Burma right now, with Australian investors based in Western Australia in partnership with a regime that the minister just stood up and roundly condemned. I do not understand what complex or delicate foreign policy matter exists in simply reversing the government’s longstanding position of maintaining weak and inadequate sanctions that are at odds with many of our partners in the region and other countries that we would consider our peers. It is absolutely time that the government stood up strongly and made our sanctions bite, particularly in this all-important election year. As for the matter of the UN commission of inquiry, this is a boat that is going to leave without Australia. We need to lend our weight to moves within the United Nations for a commission of inquiry to lay the grounds for crimes against humanity, which we know are occurring, and it is time that Australia got on board.