Lee Rhiannon (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I rise to speak about Ray Jackson, who was a remarkable man. He was a Wiradjuri man who, sadly, died on 23 April 2015, and I do send my condolences to all of his family—his children, his grandchildren, his great-grandchildren and his many friends and colleagues in Australia and around the world.

Ray was somebody that I came to know when I worked in the New South Wales parliament. He worked extensively not just in the Indigenous community but on a whole range of social justice issues, and he was a very powerful and moving speaker. We do need to give credit to Ray's work, because he exposed many of the crimes that continue to be perpetrated against Aboriginal communities around this country. Some of the campaigns he worked on include deaths in custody and the Northern Territory intervention, and just recently he was one of the people in Sydney who were instrumental in the protests against the forced closures of Aboriginal communities in Western Australia. Ray was prolific in so many ways—he produced newsletters, media releases and letters to the paper—and was active in many ways.

One campaign where I came to know him particularly well was to do with the tragic case of TJ Hickey, a young Aboriginal man in Redfern who met a very violent death. This caused great upset both in the Aboriginal community and much more widely. The young man, known as TJ, was being chased by a police car when he lost control of his bike and was impaled on an iron fence. The police denied that in any way they had caused his death, but Aboriginal people, particularly in Redfern, did not believe that and there was enormous upset and disquiet. Every year to this day there are protests about that issue. Ray played a key role in pushing for a thorough investigation of the police activities on that night.

Sadly, Ray was part of the stolen generation; he was stolen from his mother at the age of two and went to a white family. Years later he spoke about this, and I would like to read this quote from Ray:

All I know is that my father was a soldier and he went up to Papua New Guinea. He was killed on the Kokoda Track and instead of giving his wife a war widow's pension, the bloody government came and took his children away because of my mother's Aboriginality.

I also want to pay tribute to the work that Ray did around the issue of black deaths in custody. When the Howard government was in power, they removed funding from a whole number of Indigenous institutions. This is when Ray formed the Indigenous Social Justice Association—he was a founding a member and, I understand, its president until he died. It was a very active organisation in advocating around the issue of black deaths in custody and particularly in taking the up the cases—I mentioned TJ Hickey, but also Eddie Murray and Mark Mason were two of the other key cases that he took up. As we know, this work is incredibly vital. Australia continues to incarcerate black Australians at a higher rate than that of apartheid South Africa. We live in a country that is wonderful in so many ways, but the crimes against the original inhabitants remain so intense.

I do congratulate Ray for all he achieved. Certainly there is much work to be done, and what was very moving at the commemoration of his life was the number of people from his communities who got up and spoke of their commitment to continue his work.

I would also like to speak tonight about the situation in Bahrain. Bahrain's human rights situation continues to deteriorate, following the government crackdown against civil unrest that began in February 2011. Over three years ago the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry released its report detailing systematic torture, extrajudicial killing and other acts of violence. This violence has been committed by security forces against peaceful protesters. It is disturbing that since 2011 Bahrain has continued to receive support from Britain through defence ties and arms sales. The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy reports that over the past four years more than 130 individuals have been killed. Over 3,500 individuals have been arbitrarily detained as political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. Torture and enforced disappearance is on the rise, and prominent opposition members continue to serve arbitrary prison sentences. Children are also routinely detained and subjected to abuse and torture.

In Australia, this is an issue that we hear little about. Some former citizens of Bahrain came to speak to me about this situation and to really impress upon me, as a member of parliament, the importance of people in Australia understanding what is happening in their country. Freedom of expression and assembly have effectively been outlawed in the country. Following the implementation of decrees issued by the King of Bahrain, protests, rallies and sit-ins have been banned in the capital and routinely suppressed. New laws mean citizens can now be jailed for up to seven years for insulting the King, flag or national emblem.

Accountability is something the citizens of Bahrain raised with me very strongly. They set out how police officers and government officials accused of severe violations of human rights function within a culture of impunity. Some police officers accused of killing protesters in Bahrain have received only six-month sentences, and that becomes a suspended prison term, while some protesters have received life in prison on freedom of expression charges. Activists continue to face harassment and intimidation, with no independent human rights organisations allowed to function freely in the country. International NGOs, media and other outside observers are routinely denied access into the country, with the UN Special Rapporteur on torture being denied access three times.

I understand that Australia has not spoken out on this issue, and I think that does need to change. I add my voice to the call of Bahrain's citizens living in Australia for Australian diplomatic pressure to call for the release of political prisoners and individuals arbitrarily detained on freedom of expression charges. They have appealed that our government and individual MPs work with Bahraini civil society organisations and human rights defenders to strengthen their capacity and advocacy efforts. There is much that we can do, and I believe we have a responsibility to act.

Senate adjourned at 21:55