Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australians for generations have been willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice in the cause of the virtues of freedoms and the benefits freedoms bring to individuals, families and communities and, indeed, to the wellbeing of our nation. It's not by accident or coincidence that those countries that honour freedom are the envy of the world and the sought-after go-to destinations. One of our great freedoms is that if you don't like us you can leave us. That foundational freedom is denied to many. Senator McKim chuckles in the background. Do people have that freedom in Cuba? Do they have that freedom in North Korea? It is a most fundamental freedom, yet whenever it comes to a discussion of freedoms the Australian Greens can never bring themselves to criticise communist dictatorships. But I'm distracted. Let me repeat this: it's not by accident or coincidence that those countries that honour freedom are the envy of the world and the sought-after go-to destinations.

Not many people leave Australia and, if so, it's for reasons other than our body politic and it's not to live permanently in places such as North Korea or Cuba. It is, therefore, the duty of all of us in this place to honour, defend and advocate for the freedoms for which our forebears so selflessly sacrificed. I detect that this is in fact the motivation behind the bill brought to us by Senator Bernardi. It is a worthy, noble and much-needed commitment, to which this bill seeks to give expression—something to which we've got to recommit ourselves day after day to ensure that these freedoms are protected. So, in principle, I commend the bill and its intended purpose.

The party of which I have the privilege of being a member resolutely commits itself to what are described as the 'great human freedoms' in article 13 of our foundational document, which we believe Robert Menzies wrote. The document states:

WE BELIEVE IN THE GREAT HUMAN FREEDOMS: to worship, to think, to speak, to choose, to be ambitious, to be independent, to be industrious, to acquire skill, to seek and earn reward.

These are fundamental freedoms that were expressed some 75 years ago. In this, the 75th, anniversary of the formation of the Liberal Party of Australia, it is a statement which has withstood the test of time because it is so fundamentally important to our wellbeing. It is, indeed, in our every fibre as Liberals to support those freedoms that I just enunciated out of the Our Beliefs statement. They are freedoms which, yes, are Australian, but I would say to my good friend Senator Bernardi that, irrespective of us being Australians, they are of an even greater authority, being innate, universal and God given. So I say to Senator Bernardi: I know what you're trying to encapsulate, I know what you're trying to defend and advocate for, but freedoms are things which are innate. They are not Australian; they are, in fact, universal. They are God given; they cannot be given by government, because if they can be given by a government they can also be taken away by government. That is why we always have to keep in mind that these freedoms are not things to be played around with by governments or, indeed, for that matter, on occasion, by international bodies.

I can understand Senator Bernardi wanting an Australian discussion about freedoms, because on the international scene it has become somewhat sullied. Indeed, the currency has been demeaned. Have a look at some of the conclusions, so-called, of the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations. How often do they condemn the only democracy in the Middle East—Israel—and yet stay stonily silent about Cuba or North Korea or some of the other countries in the world which we know oppress their people?

Indeed, how often do they have the courage to condemn China? And, when I say 'China', let's be very clear: I do not condemn the Chinese people, but I do condemn the communist government in China, a dictatorship which as we speak has about one million Uygurs in so-called re-education camps. Christian churches are being destroyed and Christian pastors impressed. Falun Gong followers are being imprisoned and, according to a most recent report, subjected to having their organs sold—just an absolutely shocking abuse of human rights.

And yet I say to those that contribute to this debate that I would have preferred commentary on those aspects rather than whether you've got a right to superglue yourself to a street in Brisbane because you're concerned about climate. Really, let's try to get some of these things in perspective—keeping in mind, of course, that, if you do use superglue, you're using a petrochemical product, which, of course, they wouldn't want for us to be producing in any event, so one wonders how they would be demonstrating without the superglue. But once again I move on.

I simply say in relation to China that, if you have a look at the current membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council, you see that, yes, China is a member, as is Cuba, as is Somalia. You can go through the list. So I share what I detect to be the concern of Senator Bernardi: that we have within the United Nations framework a group of countries that have got themselves or their representatives onto human rights bodies when they do not practice the most basic of human rights. And isn't it a great contrast? I thank Senator McKim for his contribution, because the right to superglue yourself to a street in Brisbane, can I say, really is a First World problem. It's a real problem, isn't it, in comparison to people who are facing torture, being killed, being put into re-education camps?