Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I willingly second the motion. I thank the member for Melbourne Ports for this motion. It is particularly important that we acknowledge events of this character, because they are so horrific we never want to see them again, as he said. I note that my colleague will also be supported by other Jewish members of this parliament in debate on this motion, but I speak as non-Jew. I speak as one who is moved by the tragedy that the Jewish people suffered and when I think of the enormity of it. I am told that some six million Jewish people died in the Holocaust. There were almost 11 million people in total who were killed, and it is important to acknowledge the many people of other backgrounds in Eastern Europe who also lost their lives. At Auschwitz, it is believed between 1.2 and 1.8 million people were killed. When you think of the atrocities, the torture and the way in which people were treated as less than animals, this Holocaust has to be regarded as one of the most depraved human rights abuses, a stain on our human history. I think it is very important that we acknowledge that.

I have not been to Auschwitz. I have been to Terezin in the northern Czech Republic. I saw something of that dreadful camp. I saw the gravestones of the many Jewish people who were killed there. It brought it home to me. What it also brings home to me is its impact upon us here in Australia. We took some 35,000 Holocaust survivors; only Israel, I think, saw a greater number. What I consider to be one of the greatest periods in Australian history was when we took so many people, and we continue to take refugees today. We have a very strong view that people should not be subjected to persecution of this sort.

Can I simply say that for me I do have indirect connectivity through my wife, whose father was a German Jew. He was one of those who did survive because he was able to leave Germany before the Second World War. In that sense, we know the pain that people have felt.

So I think it is appropriate that we mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. I think it is appropriate to acknowledge how many people were murdered. I think it is appropriate to recognise that 27 January was International Holocaust Remembrance Day and for all Australians to remember these crimes. Unless we learn from events like this, they will be repeated. It is the great tragedy of the world today that we see so little regard for human life and that in so much of the Middle East people are still threatened and that depraved conduct occurs which can in no way be defended. To my colleague I will just say that I feel for you and your community. We very much want to see the world be a better place. We thank you for your role in helping to remind us all that we as a people can be so much better.

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