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

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) Mr Eddie Funde, the first diplomat to be appointed to the African National Congress's Mission to Australasia and the Pacific, died suddenly last month,

  (ii) Mr Funde built a broad-based grassroots anti-apartheid movement across Australasia and New Zealand made up of unions, student groups and a range of community groups that engaged in a boycott and sanctions campaign,

  (iii) when Nelson Mandela in 1990 visited Australia and stood on the Opera House steps and was welcomed by thousands of Australians, Mr Funde said it was a highlight of his career, and

  (iv) Mr Funde successfully won financial support from the federal government for the Special Assistance Program for South Africa and Namibia, and development and aid assistance for exiles from South Africa, and

(b) recognises that Mr Funde was a hard working diplomat and effective campaigner against apartheid and for a just future for South Africa; and

(c) conveys its condolences to Mr Funde's wife Nosizwe, and their two children, Themba and Vuyo.

Question agreed to.