Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I join the member for Fremantle in congratulating the great Chinese intellectual, Professor of Literature Liu Xiaobo, on his award of the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel committee has given this award to this professor in China, the first Chinese intellectual to win a Nobel Prize. As the member for Fremantle pointed out, this was for advocating peaceful, civil and constitutional change as expected in the Chinese constitution. The award of the Peace Prize to this imprisoned Chinese human rights activist is reminiscent of the case of Carl von Ossietzky, the German peace activist who was awarded the same prize in 1936. Carl von Ossietzky was arrested by the Gestapo in 1933 and, although very ill, was detained in concentration camps. When he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the German government demanded that he should decline it, which he refused to do. He was prevented from travelling to Oslo to receive the prize and the Nazi press was forbidden to comment on the granting of the prize. In addition, they decreed that in future no German should accept any Nobel Prize. Carl von Ossietzky died of tuberculosis in 1938. This parliament, all people of good will and all people who support civil and constitutional rights all over the world should support— (Time expired)