Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate, in regard to the massacre of civilians, including hundreds of children in the Tamil homelands of northern Sri Lanka, calls on the Government to take decisive action commensurate with the need to immediately halt this unnecessary bloodshed.

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—Labor cannot support the motion in its current form. Labor would like to place on record its objection to dealing with complex international matters, such as the one we have before us, by means of formal motions. Such motions are blunt instruments. They force parties into black-and-white choices that support or oppose. They do not lend themselves to the nuances which are so necessary in this area of policy. Furthermore, they are too easily misinterpreted by some audiences as statements of policy by the national government.

Labor are happy to work with the minor party on notices of motions of this nature, but we will not be pressured into supporting motions in the Senate unless we are completely satisfied with their content. According to recent reports, hundreds of civilians have been killed within the conflict zone as a result of heavy fighting between Sri Lankan government forces and the LTTE. These deaths are a tragedy. It is not clear which side was responsible, but it is clear that further tragic loss of civilian lives is inevitable unless both sides cease hostilities to allow civilians to leave the conflict zone. The Minister for Foreign Affairs outlined in a ministerial statement yesterday that Australia has consistently stated:

The safety and protection of civilians must be the absolute priority for all sides fighting in northern Sri Lanka.

Australia continues to encourage the Sri Lankan government to put forward credible political reforms to engage Tamil citizens and other minorities without delay. The long-term security and prosperity of Sri Lanka will only be achieved through a political solution or settlement that meets the legitimate aspirations of all Sri Lankans. There is no military solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka. Australia will continue to work with the United Nations and others in the international community to protect and assist civilians in northern Sri Lanka.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I hear what the government said, but it is the important role of all of us as parliamentarians to take note of human tragedies like that which is unfolding in northern Sri Lanka at the moment. This involves the massacre—there is no other word that is appropriate to it—of hundreds of innocent civilians, including children.

Steve Hutchins (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

By the Tamils.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If the honourable senator wants to interject, I will give him leave to make his own statement. It is important for us as part of global civil society to take very, very strong action. There have been acts of great violence and cruelty on both sides, but there is no doubt that, whatever has befallen in the past, the Sri Lankan government has the upper hand at the moment. There is an enclave—described yesterday on ABC news as being less than the size of Central Park in New York—with thousands of civilians caught in it which is being bombarded. It is not beyond the Sri Lankan government under those circumstances to have peacekeepers brought in and to have an end put to the bombs lobbing onto families just like ours in dreadful circumstances. This requires more than just statements. It requires stronger action by the global community to have an end put to that disastrous situation.

Question agreed to.