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

My question today to the Minister for Foreign Affairs went to the heart of what Australia could do to apply pressure to the Chinese government to end the appalling abuses of human rights in Tibet—a country that was occupied by the Chinese forces 64 years ago, where Tibetan people have had their culture, religious rights, freedom of speech and freedom of movement obliterated. I'm pleased that the foreign minister told us that she'd met with the delegation of Tibetans who today are raising with parliamentarians the appalling situation in Tibet—good on them!—but I was incredibly disappointed with the limp response I got today. I asked what the foreign minister and the Australian government were doing about the appalling oppression of Tibetans, including whether they were applying pressure to the Chinese government so that the Chinese government doesn't interfere in the selection of the next Dalai Lama. Had the foreign minister even raised this issue with her counterpart? She refused to answer. We know that the Chinese government have form in this regard. They kidnapped the Panchen Lama, at the age of six, 27 years ago and he hasn't been seen since.

As for the other questions I asked—about the oppression of human rights; the Sinicisation of Tibetan culture; the use of forced labour; the children removed from their families and sent to be educated in Chinese boarding schools, some returning to their families only once a year and losing their language and culture—all the foreign minister could tell me was: 'We have raised these issues. Essentially, if they don't listen, what more can we do?' There is so much more that we can do. We could ban the import of goods produced with forced labour, as per the Labor Party's national conference platform. We could instigate Magnitsky sanctions on Chinese government officials who are responsible for human rights violations. We know from a recent survey that two-thirds of Australians have said that human rights accountability is more important than a resumption of trade with China. Despite the countless merciless attacks on Tibetan people, however, I am constantly in awe of the warmth and resilience of the Tibetan people and community. To all the people of Tibet: please know that we hear you and that your voices matter, not just on Tibet lobby day today but every day. We in the Greens will continue to amplify your voices inside and outside the parliament.

Question agreed to.