Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Senator Watt) and the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Wong) to questions without notice asked by Senators Faruqi and Rice today relating to live sheep exports and to Tibet.

Animal welfare advocates are having to do the government's job yet again. ABC's 7.30 aired heart-wrenching footage of Australian sheep collapsed in exhaustion and cowering in pain and fear. The brutality of this trade extends well beyond the suffering on the ships of misery. This was really hard to watch. Australian regulators are failing to ensure the welfare of sheep again and again. They can't put independent observers on every ship that meets the criteria. They can't stop every incident of cruelty. They can't ensure compliance. All this points to one thing and one thing alone: this cruel trade is irredeemable and must be shut down.

It's good that the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has reaffirmed Labor's commitment to phasing out live sheep exports, but it's deeply disappointing that he has refused to commit to legislating an end date for the phase-out in this term of parliament. This is despite immense community pressure to do so. This is what people want and expect. A quarter of Australians think there should be an immediate ban on live exports, while 59 per cent believe the phase-out should happen within two years. Over 43,000 Australians have signed a petition calling for an end to live sheep exports as quickly as possible, and this was tabled by a member of the government in the House today.

Labor have been promising to end live sheep exports for years. They went to the last two federal elections with this policy. But today the minister has, sadly, refused to confirm that Labor will be legislating to end live sheep exports within this term of parliament. In saying this, Minister Watt is ignoring the community and the reality of the suffering, deaths and stress that hundreds of thousands of sheep are forced to endure. This makes a mockery of any claims that they care about animal welfare. How many sheep will need to suffer and die before Labor end this horrific trade? Labor must move faster. Legislate the date in this term and end this trade of misery within two years.

Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question today to the Minister for Foreign Affairs went to the heart of what Australia could do to apply pressure to the Chinese government to end the appalling abuses of human rights in Tibet—a country that was occupied by the Chinese forces 64 years ago, where Tibetan people have had their culture, religious rights, freedom of speech and freedom of movement obliterated. I'm pleased that the foreign minister told us that she'd met with the delegation of Tibetans who today are raising with parliamentarians the appalling situation in Tibet—good on them!—but I was incredibly disappointed with the limp response I got today. I asked what the foreign minister and the Australian government were doing about the appalling oppression of Tibetans, including whether they were applying pressure to the Chinese government so that the Chinese government doesn't interfere in the selection of the next Dalai Lama. Had the foreign minister even raised this issue with her counterpart? She refused to answer. We know that the Chinese government have form in this regard. They kidnapped the Panchen Lama, at the age of six, 27 years ago and he hasn't been seen since.

As for the other questions I asked—about the oppression of human rights; the Sinicisation of Tibetan culture; the use of forced labour; the children removed from their families and sent to be educated in Chinese boarding schools, some returning to their families only once a year and losing their language and culture—all the foreign minister could tell me was: 'We have raised these issues. Essentially, if they don't listen, what more can we do?' There is so much more that we can do. We could ban the import of goods produced with forced labour, as per the Labor Party's national conference platform. We could instigate Magnitsky sanctions on Chinese government officials who are responsible for human rights violations. We know from a recent survey that two-thirds of Australians have said that human rights accountability is more important than a resumption of trade with China. Despite the countless merciless attacks on Tibetan people, however, I am constantly in awe of the warmth and resilience of the Tibetan people and community. To all the people of Tibet: please know that we hear you and that your voices matter, not just on Tibet lobby day today but every day. We in the Greens will continue to amplify your voices inside and outside the parliament.

Question agreed to.