Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to start by congratulating the member for Brisbane and the member for Berowra for this excellent and important motion and for bringing it to the House in a timely fashion. It is timely because today we are in the shadow of a referendum ballot which has already been labelled as illegitimate by key members of the international community, including the United States and the United Kingdom. As a free, tolerant and open democracy and as a member of the United Nations Security Council, Australia has a right to point to the concerns of the international community about the democratic legitimacy of a ballot when surrounded by military personnel, when particular ethnic minorities do not feel able to cast a vote and under the circumstances we have seen in recent weeks and months in the Crimea and Ukraine. The United States have said they consider the referendum illegal under Ukrainian law and will not recognise the outcome. The European Union has condemned the referendum. It has also called the referendum illegal and is looking at sanctions. And the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has criticised Russian activities in a personal phone call with President Putin. These serious nations committed to democracy and freedom have expressed grave concern at the process. Australia has also expressed its grave concern about the process that has occurred on the Russian side in relation to Ukraine.

This motion is worth supporting because it does acknowledge that no-one has the right to use violence in relation to territorial sovereignty and integrity. We have heard from various speakers about the agreements between nations, including with Russia, to recognise the territorial integrity of the Ukraine in return for the giving up of nuclear weapons and the establishment of the Ukraine some few decades ago. Regardless of whether there are ethnic minorities which may wish to reunite with Russia or may have different desires than to be part of the Ukraine, it is not an appropriate mechanism to resolve those concerns or tensions through the use of armed soldiers simply walking into a country; simply surrounding the polling booths where a ballot is being conducted; simply pretending that, just because they wear no insignia, people with Russian equipment and Russian gear have nothing to do with the Russians. This is of grave concern to the entire world. I thank and support the United Nations Security Council and all the nations, including nations such as China, who have tried to seek a different way to resolve the problem within the Ukraine at the moment.

The reason we need to pass a motion like this is because all free and democratic nations in the world need to take a stand. If democracy is not properly constructed—that is, if the rights of minorities are not respected in a democracy—then you simply have absolute mob rule. The rights of minorities must be respected in a democratic system, otherwise there is no freedom or liberty. What we have in the Ukraine and particularly in the Crimea at the moment is that the rights of those minorities absolutely are not being respected or dealt with in a legal or lawful fashion, therefore there is simply mob rule and an illegitimate ballot. It is so important that we have this motion before us today to recognise from the Australian point of view that this ballot will not be regarded as legitimate by the international community.

I commend the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, on her excellent work on the international stage in ensuring that it is clear that the Australian government's condemnation of Russian military activity inside and outside of Ukraine in relation to this matter is not acceptable. It is unacceptable for any nation to threaten the territorial integrity of Ukraine, or anywhere else, in any way. The United Nations Security Council has been meeting and discussing this escalating crisis. In that process, Australia, through our new role at the Security Council, have made clear our unequivocal support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and that we absolutely condemn the use of force, the threat of the use of force and, of course, the conduct of a referendum ballot under the threat of the use of force. I fully support this motion, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, and the Australian government. I commend the House on all sides for supporting such an important motion in the shadow of such concerning developments in the Ukraine.

Debate adjourned.

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