Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for La Trobe for putting forward this motion and acknowledge his ongoing interest in our local Sri Lankan community. I also thank my colleagues who spoke before me. I want to begin by acknowledging the longstanding and ongoing friendship between Australia and Sri Lanka. This year marks 75 years of diplomatic relations between our two nations, a friendship that shares a proud history of joint cooperation in trade and investment, in education, in our love of sports and in culture and development. Our friendship is supported by a strategic partnership and is also characterised by mutual interests on shaping the future of our region. But it's the people-to-people links which stand out the most for me.

To that end, I'm very proud of my local Sri Lankan community, which is part of the very large Sri Lankan diaspora across Australia. Their ongoing contribution to the strength of Australian multiculturalism has been significant. Wherever we look, in the fields of education, media, culture, literature, science, medicine, politics, commerce and law, the people who make up the story of the Sri Lankan diaspora here in Australia continue to actively shape our understanding of modern Australia. In any one of these fields, there are prominent Sri Lankan Australians making their mark, and we value their contribution to our skilled migration program and our international education sector.

That is why I'm saddened to be marking this significant occasion against the backdrop of a significant economic crisis and civil unrest in Sri Lanka. There's been a long, systemic downfall of the Sri Lankan economy, with the country now having to import basic staples such as rice. Sri Lanka had been known to all of us, and to the world in general, to be one of the world's leading exporters of that commodity. Sri Lanka has lost a whole season of recovery in agriculture because of policies that were set in place primarily as a result of bad political decisions. Sri Lanka was the breadbasket of rice and tea in the world, with its products renowned globally for their quality and quantity, but those industries are now a shadow of their former selves.

The issues facing Sri Lanka are huge and complex. The lack of fuel has been impacting day-to-day mobility, with people unable to get to work and fuel set aside for emergency services only. Schools are closing down, and infrastructure is at a standstill. Food and fuel are rationed, with many families down to one or two meals a day. Tourism has also been severely impacted, with dire indicators, although it is now one of the only remaining sources of stability in an otherwise stunted economy in free fall. I welcome the Australian government's recent announcement of aid to support Sri Lanka's food and healthcare needs, which is in addition to the allocation in Australia's aid annual budget.

This motion is right to acknowledge the anxiety and distress that the Sri Lankan Australian community is experiencing as a result of these events. In speaking to this motion, I want to put forward the voices of people in my community who share the anxiety about this experience. I recently caught up with my good friend Chandra Bamunusinghe, who is a prominent leader in our local Sri Lankan community and who, in a recent meeting with members of the Aus-Lanka People's Solidarity, shared concerns regarding the impact of the use of terrorism laws now active in Sri Lanka, with arbitrary arrests of university students, union leaders and people associated with the protest movement.

My local community is calling for the implementation of the constitutional rights to democracy, freedom of speech and freedom of protest, both in the spirit and the letter of the law. This parliament should share the position held by my constituents, because strengthening regional norms and rules based order requires a commitment to human rights. Australia has been a strong supporter of human rights and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, and I want to see this emphasis as a basis of our relationship continuing into the future.

My local Sri Lankan community maintains very strong links to Sri Lanka, and it is a community that is proud of its diversity and celebrates the different religions, languages and ethnicities that make up the island country. I visited Sri Lanka on a parliamentary delegation some 10 years ago and was very much moved by the beauty of the country, matched by the warmth of its people. At that time, their hope and optimism for the future was palpable. While, sadly, the situation now remains dire, I place my confidence in the people of Sri Lanka to overcome this period of turmoil. They are a people whose ingenuity and resilience remain marked features of their proud national identity. I'd like to see us as Australians, and this parliament, aid and assist the people of Sri Lanka as they move forward into the future.

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