Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of this motion and to acknowledge the deeply concerning reports that continue to emerge from Iran. I stand in solidarity with Iranians everywhere. In December last year, Iranians gathered to protest economic and political conditions in their country. They were exercising their right to peacefully assemble and express their views. The Iranian regime's response was to murder its own people. There is credible evidence that, since December, the regime has killed thousands of Iranians and detained many more. At the same time, it has implemented nationwide internet and telecommunications blackouts to limit visibility of its actions. Eyewitness accounts gathered by Amnesty International suggest security forces aimed rifles and shotguns loaded with metal pellets at the heads and torsos of protesters. Tens of thousands of people have been detained, including women and girls, university students, human rights advocates, lawyers, journalists and members of ethnic and religious minorities. Authorities are refusing to provide information about detainees' whereabouts to their families. There are reports of ill treatment and torture.

These developments are deeply, deeply distressing to Iranian Australians, especially those with friends and family back in Iran, and they should trouble every single one of us. As a constituent from Wodonga in my electorate of Indi wrote to me this week:

Such practices contradict the principles of justice, human dignity and the rule of law. A peaceful and secure world can only be sustained through accountable and equitable governance.

Australia must categorically reject any actions that suppress democratic freedoms and must affirm our commitment to upholding human rights whenever and wherever they are threatened.

Australia has expanded its existing framework of sanctions in response to recent events, and I welcome this. Earlier this month, the government announced further sanctions on individuals and entities complicit in violent suppression of domestic protests and threatening lives both inside and outside of Iran. I urge the Australian government to continue to take appropriate diplomatic steps in partnership with the EU, the UK and other international partners because we must use all available channels to promote accountability for these crimes—because that is what they are.

This motion affirms our solidarity with the people of Iran. Their pursuit of freedom and democracy deserves our respect and it deserves our continued laser-like attention. In standing with the people of Iran, we stand for human rights and the rule of law. We support those who bravely advocate for these values under the most perilous, difficult and dangerous circumstances.

Debate adjourned.

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