Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

My visit to Myanmar from 5 to 8 June provided me with an excellent appreciation of the reform effort underway in that country.

During the visit I met with figures from the government and with figures from the opposition, including representatives of the 'Generation 88' movement, who had served 22 years in prison; with Aung San Suu Kyi; with representatives of civil society, including journalists, NGO workers, doctors and teachers; as well as with the president, government ministers and the lower house speaker, Shwe Mann. All of these meetings provided me with greater firsthand appreciation of the challenges the country faces in implementing its reform agenda.

I announced in Myanmar that Australia will lift its remaining targeted travel and financial sanctions. We plan to double our aid to the country from $48.8 million this year to $100 million by 2015, including a new package of support for education. This is very important in a country where something like 50 per cent of students will not complete primary school. We will help around one million children to gain better access to education. We will provide life-saving vaccines for over one million men, women and children. We will support new initiatives to build peace in regions affected by ethnic conflicts, to help conflict-torn communities recover and to build confidence in the peace process. This part of our aid package will assist the resettlement of ethnic minorities returning in the wake of peace agreements to their regions. And we will support new initiatives to strengthen the country's respect for human rights, including a package of assistance to be delivered in partnership with UNICEF to strengthen the rights of children.

I invited both President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to visit Australia. They were appreciative of the invitation. (Time expired)