Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday, official results were announced. There has been an overwhelming vote for South Sudanese independence. The global ballot saw almost 99 per cent of voters opting for secession. This is a historic achievement for the South Sudanese community in my electorate of Melbourne and other parts of Australia, who played a crucial role in this referendum. My office has been working very closely with the South Sudanese community in my electorate and I want to congratulate the organisers for their tireless efforts over the past months.

Many people have been part of this work—too many to mention—but I want to acknowledge the hard work of Akoch Manhiem from the Sudanese Lost Boys Association, Barnabas Bol Kout, Ambrose Mareng and Majok Abian of the South Sudanese Community Organisation of Australia and the Humanitarian Crisis Hub. Their work was crucial to the outcome.

It is now vital that Australia join with the international community in recognising this new nation-state. It will be important that friends of South Sudan continue to lend a hand in the coming months and ensure that the next steps towards independence can be taken. For my part, I will continue to work with the community in my electorate as the process towards independence continues. I know the Sudanese community in my electorate would like to thank the government for its support in helping them vote and contributing to the costs of the referendum in Sudan. It is a salutary reminder of why we should not cut our foreign aid budget to Africa. In particular, I thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs for his assistance in helping make available funds for voters to travel to polling centres.