Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to add my voice in support of this reference to the foreign affairs, defence and trade committee and to add my voice to the sentiments which have already been expressed by my colleagues here, Senator Waters and Senator McKim, about China and its human rights record. I think that in itself is a significant reason why we should be looking at the issue of Australia's relationship with China. China is our largest trading partner. We know that our relationship with China is in turmoil at the moment, but we have to keep a focus on the fact that the underlying issue with our relationship with China and why it is controversial is that the Chinese government is a totalitarian state. They are not a democracy like we are here in Australia. Yes, we have problems with human rights in Australia. In fact, in response to Senator Canavan's comment that he wouldn't like other countries to be looking at our human rights record, I think other countries should be looking at our human rights record. I think other countries should be looking at how we treat refugees. Other countries should be looking at how we treat our First Nations people.

We in Australia need to look at what's going on in China. We cannot be silent. We cannot just say, 'Because it's happening in China we will turn our eyes away,' yet we are happy to continue to export our produce to them and happy to have that relationship.

I speak from the privilege of not having to be at the mercy of the Chinese government, but I have spoken to so many people who have been, stemming from when I was first elected to Maribyrnong council as a councillor in 2006 and I had some Falun Gong practitioners who came and met with me. I knew nothing about Falun Gong. I knew nothing about human rights in China at that stage. They laid out for me what was going on in China, with political prisoners who are disappearing and then being killed—being killed! They are being murdered for their organs—for their hearts, for their livers, for their kidneys. From all the evidence that can be discerned it's still going on. There is absolutely credible reference and evidence of very learned legal people who have put together the documentation that it's still going on. I sponsored a motion with Senator Abetz—a very strange thing for me to do as a Green to be cosponsoring a motion with Senator Abetz—to try to get a focus and a spotlight in this place on what's going on in relation to Falun Gong practitioners. It doesn't stop in China. We know, in fact, that there are agents of the Chinese government who are following those Falun Gong practitioners who manage to come to Australia and be refugees here. It doesn't stop at the Chinese border.

The same goes for the Tibetans. I have some very good friends in the Tibetan community in Melbourne who have welcomed me into their lives. They have told me what goes on in Tibet. They have told me about the abuses. They have told me about horrible examples of people disappearing, people not being able to speak out and people being killed. They've told me that that's what's going on.

Then we've got the issue of the democracy movements in Hong Kong. You just think: look at the crackdown on those people who are just fighting for what we think are our rights here. They thought it was their right in Hong Kong as well, just to be able to be living in a democratic system and yet that is now all under threat.

We need to speak up. We need to shine a spotlight on this. I know from the position of the Liberal Party, the National Party and the Labor Party that it can be very inconvenient, because they've got some very close financial relationships. There are some big donors and there are some big economic players who they don't want to upset, but we cannot let that stop us taking action. At the very least what we can do, as a very important first step, is to have this Senate inquiry to look at these issues in the context of our broader relationship with China.