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

Madam Deputy President, in lieu of suspending standing orders, I seek leave to make a one-minute statement.

Leave granted.

This is a straightforward motion that goes to the very heart of democracy in our region. Once again we see the government blocking the will of the Senate in refusing to allow us the chance to vote on this important motion.

Cambodia's democracy is crumbling before our very eyes. Its Prime Minister, Hun Sen, is eliminating opposition and civil society before he faces the next election. If we were to put this in the Australian context, it would be the equivalent of the Prime Minister exiling Bill Shorten and throwing Tanya Plibersek in jail, and then the High Court dissolving the Labor Party and banning every MP from politics. That's what's going on in Cambodia right now and, as their neighbour, Australia must offer Cambodian victims of the crackdown our support. We should implement targeted sanctions against Hun Sen's government and revoke his invitation to Australia next month. I urge the government to stand up for democracy in the region.