Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

This motion relates to the third Papuan National Congress in Jayapura in West Papua. This was a congress of the West Papuan people, with 3,000 or so people—perhaps more—gathering peacefully in an attempt to discuss their future, a future that has been denied to them by the Indonesian government. There are some important lessons from Australia's reaction to the situation in East Timor and what resulted there that can be applied here. If we are to learn anything from history, we need to learn that when human rights abuses are committed it is our duty and our obligation as good neighbours to the Indonesian people to take a very strong, principled and direct stand against those abuses. This motion does nothing more than suggest that the violent crackdown that occurred in West Papua—

Honourable senators interjecting—