Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Racism is one of the most vile and disgusting evils in our society. It represents the worst aspects of humanity. This baseless hatred has been responsible for so much bloodshed and suffering over history. Millions of people have been slaughtered because of their race, religion, colour, or national or ethnic origin.

Tragically, racism is still alive and flourishing today. Despite the tremendous advances which humans have made in fields such as science and the arts, racism continues to rear its ugly head across all four corners of the globe. Nowhere is this more apparent than at the UN-sponsored Durban Review Conference, which is scheduled to take place this year in April. Commonly known as Durban II, this conference is a sad sequel to the original World Conference Against Racism which was held in Durban in 2001. The 2001 conference was rife with base anti-Semitism. Jewish attendees were subjected to verbal and physical assaults, and sickening racist material was widely distributed. The 2001 conference was so appalling that both the US and Israel walked out on the conference, and a host of other nations condemned the event. Rather than working towards eliminating racism, the conference was transformed into a platform for abuse and gave legitimacy to some of the worst expressions of hatred.

Durban II is already promising to become a repeat of this event before it even commences. The planning of Durban II has been hijacked by countries such as Libya, Iran and Cuba, some of the worst human rights offenders across the globe. The draft declaration singles out only one country for condemnation—Israel. Israel, the only free and open democracy in the Middle East, is accused of torture, collective punishment, apartheid and abuse. Nothing is mentioned of the shocking genocides and ethnic cleansing taking place across Africa and Asia. No reference is made to the awful slavery that still runs rampant across many parts of the world. No concern is raised about the terrible abuse and discrimination suffered by women in various nations on this earth. Only one country, it seems, is guilty of these crimes: Israel. The award-winning journalist and author Thomas Friedman once said:

Criticising Israel is not anti-Semitism and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for … international sanction out of all proportion to any party in the Middle East is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest.

The Durban II conference is scheduled to begin on 20 April 2009, which also happens to be the same day that Adolph Hitler was born, a day still celebrated today by many Neo-Nazis across the world. How appropriate, therefore, that this festival of hatred should take place on the same day that one of the most evil men in human society was brought into this world.

Why do I raise this issue here in parliament? Because Australia at this stage is still planning to attend this disgraceful event. It seems the Rudd government’s fanatical obsession with winning a seat on the Security Council has caused it to lose its moral compass. It seems the prospect of winning the cheap votes of many African and Asian countries is enough of an incentive for us to abandon our morals and ideals. This was seen last Wednesday when Australia lifted its longstanding ban on providing non-humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe. In the race for a Security Council seat, the Rudd government has now decided that it is acceptable to give money to an oppressive regime which purposely starves its population. I urge the Rudd government not to turn us into a nation of appeasers. Our morals cannot be sold for a seat on the Security Council.

America, Canada, Israel and Italy have already announced that they will boycott the Durban II conference. Britain, the Netherlands and France have also stated they are seriously considering doing the same. Australia must join these countries in condemning the conference and announcing that it will not play any part in this festival of hatred. If the price of a seat at the UN Security Council is participation in a hate-filled conference, then Australia needs to seriously reconsider whether this is a price worth paying. To put it in simple business terms: this is a bad deal.