Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As a liberal democratic country whose culture is underpinned by valuing pluralism, tolerance and mutual respect for all people, it saddens me to see the human cost where these values are not observed across the world today. This is very much following on from the previous speaker's address.

There have always been increasingly alarming reports out of the Russian province of Chechnya of homosexual men being captured and tortured in prison camps, and families being encouraged to kill other members to protect their honour. Independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta found that dozens of men aged between 16 and 50 have mysteriously disappeared off the streets. Among them were well-known faces on local television and religious leaders.

The camps in the town of Argun have reportedly become a cesspit of inhumane abuse. Men are taken outdoors and beaten several times a day whilst also enduring electric shocks. NGOs are helping Chechens to flee the region, including 20-year-old Ilya. Even though he is now almost 2,000 kilometres from the Chechen capital, Ilya still panics each time a car drives past the secure house. In October he was taken into a field and beaten by three men in military uniform, leaving a huge scar along the side of his jaw.

Chechnya's leader has mandated that women must wear the hijab in public places and has endorsed polygamy. In light of these arrests, Kadryov denies the accusations, asserting simply that homosexuals do not exist in his country as a justification for what is going on.

Sadly, similar signs are now coming out of Indonesia. In recent days we have seen the public caning of two men for engaging in consensual sexual activity in the province of Aceh. The two men in their 20s have done no harm to others, and yet have become the target of their neighbours acting as vigilantes and local authorities seeking to impose barbaric law. Similarly, in the past few days there have been mass arrests of around 140 homosexual men in Jakarta. These tactics are being used as the basis for intimidation against people who have committed no crime. It follows the arrest of 14 other men in a hotel in Surabaya only last month.

These tragic examples, of course, do not sit in isolation. Throughout much of Africa, homosexual acts are a crime, with the most egregious in the Middle East coupled with brutal punishments including the death penalty using degrading and painful methods reflecting the cruelty of Islamist militant groups in the region.

As difficult as it is, we must always be mindful to be strategic and targeted in our advocacy to address these crimes. Being loud is not the same as being effective, particularly when it comes to protecting people from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation. Indonesian writer Hendri Yulius said on ABC's Radio National recently in response to a question about whether improvements in rights for homosexuals in Western liberal democracies was contributing to this crackdown:

The globalisation of LGBT rights, including the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the United States, also contributes to the rise of anti-LGBT attitudes … Most of the anti-LGBT arguments revolve around westernisation, and how we have to counter westernisation of our country. This is the number one reason behind it.

As we found in Uganda in the past, public advocacy by Western governments can be used as a weapon to reinforce the justification for crackdowns and make situations worse.

I am proud to be part of a government that has been unafraid to directly tackle some of these governments and work with others to stand up to this sort of barbarism. I particularly want to congratulate the work of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, for her targeted, strategic and precise advocacy as the foreign minister and also for working with other countries towards a coordinated response. I do encourage the foreign minister to continue on this path and use any method or option available to her to be effective. But we must also condemn these governments. I hope that all members and senators will join with me in this expression.

There is something we cannot ignore in all of these acts. There is a common thread underpinning these wicked acts: the application of extremist versions of Islamic theology to justify the deliberate and malicious targeting of homosexuals. I have previously spoken in this place and others about the same rationale being used to target, mistreat and kill women and Christians.

Freedom sits in a context underpinned by our values of the dignity of all people and their liberty to pursue their life, their opportunity, their enterprise and their happiness. That is why I will never be a culture relativist; it is why I am a cultural conservative. Our liberal democratic culture underpins the freedoms that so many of us enjoy and do not lead to the abuse of the law to target particular minority groups and send them through punishment. Other cultures, unfortunately, do not value these principles in the same way that we do. History shows the price always falls hardest on minorities and those who do not neatly conform to cultural values. That is why we must condemn these acts. It is also why we must always stand up for our culture, our values and our way of life.

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