Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

HN () (): War is a most terrible thing. Those so-called leaders who would pursue wars of aggression, to dominate, to subjugate and to profit from their neighbours for political purposes are committing, in that act, one of the highest legal and moral crimes possible in the human community. In their illegal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and his regime have joined a dark pantheon of despots, dictators and sometimes democratically elected officials who have committed such vile crimes.

In speaking to this motion today, I once again extend the solidarity of the Australian Greens movement to the people of Ukraine in their struggle to retain and reassert their sovereignty and to face down this vicious dictator and his brutal regime. In doing so, I also reiterate the calls of the Australian Greens for all nations that are party to the United Nations Charter to work collectively in accordance with the Uniting for Peace resolution, No. 377 A, to deliver coordinated international support to the people of Ukraine. It is absolutely incumbent upon Australia to work as part of the international community to ensure that the words of solidarity that are so often and so easily spoken in political chambers throughout the world are translated into material action. One of the ways in which those words must be translated into that material action is to now begin organising an international program of debt relief for Ukraine to support them in the urgent work that will need to be done for the rebuilding of their communities.

Right now, as we sit here, the Ukrainian army is engaged in a great battle with Russian forces over the city of Bakhmut. Much has been said in relation to the military strategic value of this engagement and this location. But we must not forget that this is a town which before the war hosted 70,000 people. Seventy thousand people called Bakhmut home, and it is now little more than rubble. Should the Ukrainian army and their allies achieve their strategic objectives, should tomorrow the Russian forces be thrown back over the border, should Crimea be liberated, the very next day the residents of Bakhmut will have no more home to return to than they do right now.

There is a profound moment of danger for the people of Ukraine in that moment if, in the aftermath of victory on the field, the international community declares 'mission accomplished' and moves on. We cannot let that happen. We must ensure that the Ukrainian government are provided with that plan of debt relief so that they can invest in the rebuilding of their communities and the reknitting together of those communities, to be able to once again have the services and supports that people need to ensure that a state is able to function in a time of peace, and to do more than simply deliver ammunition, materiel and troops to a battlefront. If we fail in that moment—if we turn away and say, 'You've got your battle tanks, but it's a very hard conversation for us to have with the IMF or the ECB or global moneylenders in relation to your national debt'—then in that moment we will condemn Ukraine to struggle to re-establish itself as a sovereign nation and a functioning, peaceful nation. We will continue this work. We will continue to advocate alongside the Ukrainian community for these actions.

In closing, I say simply this: Slava Ukraini. Glory to Ukraine.