Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise for the third time to speak to the deep concern and dismay that many constituents in Bennelong continue to discuss with me about the heavy-handed measures against Iranians by Iranian authorities. It has been 73 days since the death in custody of Mahsa Amini and Iranian people, both in Iran and around the world, continue to rise together in protest. The Iranian government has met these protests with brutal violence and heavy handedness.

The Prime Minister, the foreign affairs minister and this government have vehemently expressed their resounding condemnation of Iran's treatment of protestors and the serious concerns held regarding Iran's human rights record. In November, Australia joined Canada and New Zealand in expressing their grave concerns about the situation in Iran to the United Nations Security Council, including leading the call for the removal of Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women.

Today the chair of the petitions committee presented to this place the petitions report, which included 13 separate petitions to parliament regarding Iran, with combined signatures from more than 70,000 people. I have a responsibility to the Iranian and Kurdish communities in Bennelong to continue to stand in solidarity and be their voice to the government on this matter. It's a responsibility I take seriously. I stand today with them in their right to peace. I stand with them in advocating for the rights of women, girls, children, those of all religious faiths and the LGBTIQ+ communities to live safely and freely in Iran and around the world. Zan, zendegi, azadi.

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