Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to speak about an important part of Tasmania's place in the nation—and that is, as the gateway to the Antarctic and the host of this year's Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting held in Hobart. The Antarctic Treaty was signed by 12 nations in 1959 and came into force in 1961. It is an incredible and unique model of joint management, inspired by the exceptional environmental, scientific and heritage values of the world's driest, coldest and most desolate continent. It defers problematic territorial claims in favour of scientific cooperation and creates a stable and practical modus vivendi. Decisions are taken by all parties to the treaty in the best interests of the continent itself and, unlike so many other decision-making forums, influence is derived not from money or power but from the respect a nation garners from its scientific endeavours in the Antarctic.

Australia has a proud history of engaging with the Antarctic, this year marking the 100th year of Mawson's expedition from Hobart. So, too, do we have a proud place in the development and working of the treaty system. Indeed, one of the most essential elements, the Madrid Protocol—the moratorium on minerals exploration and extraction in the Antarctic—was spearheaded by the great Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke and his counterpart, former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard, who I had the pleasure of speaking with about these matters just last week at the commencement of the 35th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting.

The Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, ATCM, is the primary forum for the parties to the Antarctic Treaty to take decisions that further the principles and objectives of the treaty. ATCM 35 has not been hosted in Australia since 1981, when it was held in Canberra, and the first time this year in Hobart—Australia's gateway to the Antarctic region. Amongst its wide-ranging agenda are discussions on legal affairs, the growing tourism in the Antarctic, NGO presence in the region and the core environmental and scientific matters at the heart of all Antarctic operations.

They will be assisted, no doubt, by the depth of Antarctic expertise between the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies; the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC; Commission to the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources; the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels; and the Tasmanian Polar Network—all of which are based in Hobart.

I am sure that considerable progress has been made in these 10 days of discussion, but I do hope that international delegates have also had a chance to experience Hobart and Tasmania in addition to their important work. At the Australian Antarctic Division in Kingston, just south of our capital, there is a store with the national flags of expeditioners who have been outfitted by the division. These flags already number in the dozens, and it is my hope that Hobart and Tasmania can build on its reputation as the best base for Antarctic operations and continue to host treaty states parties well beyond the conclusion of the ATCM this Wednesday.

This week is Refugee Week, a nationwide celebration designed to celebrate the contributions of refugees and to bring attention to the stories of refugees living in Australia. I have spoken a number of times in this place about the important plight of refugees and asylum seekers, and our responsibility to ensure that people are able to enjoy their most fundamental rights: to build a home and a life in safety, security and free from persecution.

Australia's responsibility is not just to ensure that people are safe from the violence of persecution but that they are able to participate in a community that recognises and values them as people with unique and compelling contributions to make. Our country owes much to the diversity of its people. Australian society would be so much poorer without the art, faith, language, food, opinion and culture of those who have come from every part of the globe. Refugee Week is about making people aware that refugees are an important part of our community, and this year's Refugee Week theme, Restoring Hope, is about the transition that many refugees experience from trauma and tragedy to new and better lives.

I want to take a moment to mention a few of the events being held in my home town of Hobart which exemplify the spirit of this week. This week, the foyer of the Royal Hobart Hospital will be filled with posters and information to educate patients and staff about the journeys taken by refugees and the health services available to refugees and migrants. Students from Hobart College's students against racism group will be setting up a conversation pod in the Elizabeth Street Mall, running through Hobart's central business district. Members of the public will have the opportunity to enter a conversation pod and be face to face with a young refugee who knows what it is like to leave their country, live in a refugee camp and have to settle in a completely new place.

There is no more powerful way to confront one's beliefs about what it means to be a refugee than to hear directly from someone who has been through it, and I want to acknowledge this group of students and this initiative. Having been involved previously, with some of their initiatives with the Tasmanian Centre for Global Learning, these students are brave, patient and generous, and I have no doubt that anybody who joins a conversation pod will be moved by their stories and their journeys.

The Hobart Migrant Resource Centre will host an art exhibition at the Moonah Arts Centre, with arts from many amongst the migrant and refugee communities, with the theme 'Identity, Translation and Transformation'.

Finally, on Saturday the Welcome to Australia movement will be holding its Walk Together march in major cities across the country. I have been pleased to have met the Director of Welcome to Australia, Pastor Brad Chilcott, and I have no doubt that this march will be powerful symbol of this movement's resonance with the community. Hobart's march will begin in front of the Tasmanian Skills Institute on Campbell Street and march down to Princes Wharf No. 1 shed, the same venue that just a few months ago hosted the world party celebration of diversity of cultures within our community.

Each of these events is a small demonstration of the enormous importance of celebrating refugees and their stories, and I encourage all Australians and senators in this place to reflect this week on our responsibilities to refugees and on the rewards in valuing diversity in our community.