Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

I'm proud to stand up and support the spirit of this motion because, as with many motions that are before this Chamber, it's important to be able to say we were here and stood up for what was right. We have the Hazara community within Australia, new Australians who have contributed an enormous amount to our country and, more importantly, continue to contribute to the success of our nation. These people come to this nation—sometimes not intentionally but through humanitarian programs—make a home for themselves and then go on to become full participants in the Australian way of life. They bring their full selves—including their heritage, their recognition and their history—to enrich our nation, but that does not mean they leave behind the legacy of their homeland and the challenges of Afghanistan.

We should never forget the scale of the challenges that are left at home in Afghanistan. We all remember some of those graphic and moving images as the last American air force planes left the tarmacs of Afghanistan only a few years ago. People were desperate in their efforts to leave as the Taliban made their way into the nation's capital. As so often had been the case in the past as the Taliban advanced, people knew of the terrible human rights tragedies that could unfold as a consequence of attacks on minorities, women, homosexuals and other people who didn't fit in with the fanatical world view of the Taliban. The tragedies continue to be lived every day by so many people and include declining education standards, denial of access to education and basic health services, and reduced capacity to have a normal life or a career. This is a denial of people's basic sense of agency and purpose, and a denial of their capacity to be able to exercise their basic rights as human beings.

When it comes down to it, the Liberal ideal of human rights is anchored in the equal dignity and worth of all people. It's something we should never be afraid to stand up for, because sitting behind the equal dignity and worth of all people is the very basis on which people are treated equally as part of a free society. But the brutal reality, as we all know, is that that is not the lived condition of so many people currently in Afghanistan. It's a denial of not just their agency but their full contribution to the rest of their society, including their culture, which everybody is losing as a consequence. With that goes not only declining culture but also economic progress, and—we've seen this—it makes a society less able to adapt and respond to terrible conditions.

The previous speaker, the member for Melbourne, talked about the tragic realities of what happened with the earthquakes last August. When those terrible events occur, the full consequences of denied economic development come to the fore: countries aren't in a position where they are able to respond, to support their people or to provide the aid or relief that is so important in times of tragedy. Of course, we're very proud as a nation to be able to lend a hand in those difficult times, but we also want to be able to support countries to support themselves. It makes it very difficult when you have a government operating on a fanatical basis, putting their ideology ahead of their people, their human rights and their best interests.

There's a tragic reality sitting behind the lived condition of so many people in Afghanistan right now. That's why this motion is so important, as are many of the motions brought before this parliament. It's an opportunity for us to come together, to stand up and to speak up. What we should want for every person, no matter where they are born on this earth, is that they are treated with equal dignity and respect based simply on their rights as a human being.

For the Hazara who made it to Australia and who are caring for people and family members back in Afghanistan, we extend warmth to you and love to those who are not with you. More importantly, if you're in a position to assist or support them, we understand how important this issue is to you. As part of a country that does believe in the equal dignity and worth of all people, we understand how important it is for us to stand by you, to stand up for them, and to stand up for the type of country we want to be and for the type of world we want for everybody. The basic principles of human rights are about the lived-out Liberal vision that we want for all people. That's the basis on which we support this motion.

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