Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to the amazing Acting Deputy President, Senator Allman-Payne. As the 2022 FIFA World Cup kicks off today in Qatar, human rights advocates, players, fans, football associations, migrant workers and their families are continuing to bring attention to the human rights violations and migrant worker deaths that have occurred in the lead-up to the tournament. Over a dozen national football associations and 15 countries have supported calls for FIFA and the Qatari government to establish a remedy fund of US$440 million for migrant workers who have suffered human rights abuses and for the families of those workers who have died. It is currently estimated that at least 6,500 workers have died. This request has so far been dismissed by both FIFA and the Qatari authorities. Football Australia and the Australian government have not joined this call, instead choosing to remain silent. Shame! It is about time this country took its human rights obligations seriously. Again we are lagging behind in both our domestic obligations and our international advocacy.

Tomorrow I will table a petition, with 5,800 signatures from soccer fans, advocates and concerned citizens, calling on Football Australia to push more strongly for justice for migrant workers killed or injured in the preparations for the World Cup, and demanding that the Australian government step up and tell the truth about ongoing human rights abuses, in this country and abroad, and hold to account governments and international organisations like FIFA.