Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have the honour today of presenting a petition from more than 10,000 members of the Vietnamese community in Australia.

The petition read as follows—

To the Honourable The Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives

This petition of certain Australian citizens and Vietnamese Australians

Draws to the attention of the House:

(a) that the People's Republic of China has heightened the risks of war in South East Asia by its latest unilateral and provocative installation in mid 2014, of its oil rigs including the Haiyang Shiyou 981 within Vietnam's Exclusive Economic Zone, as part of China's unsubstantiated 9 dash line daim of more than 90% of Bien Dong (East Sea) aka the South China Sea (SCS by China); and

(b) that Australia's national interests as a trading nation are at serious risks because the PRC's aggressive policy and practices are threatening peace and stability of the region.

We therefore ask the House to:

(1) reaffirm that Australia has legitimate interests in the Bien Dong/SCS disputes, as a regional power and a trading nation;

(2) declare that any unilateral action to change the status quo, including on air navigation, by any claimant in the Bien Dong/SCS disputes is unacceptable;

(3) ask the PRC as an emerging major power in the Asia-Pacific region, to stop its current policy of hegemony;

(4) request all claimants to settle their disputes through peaceful negotiations in accordance with international laws including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; and

(5) support the negotiations between the PRC and ASEAN for a binding Code of Conduct (COC) to replace the non-binding 2002 Declaration of Conduct (DOC)

from 5,064 and 4,967 citizens

The petition was handed to me just an hour ago by the National President of the Vietnamese Community in Australia, Mr Tri Vo. Together with Chris Hayes, the member for Fowler; and Craig Kelly, the member for Hughes; and other members I congratulate Mr Tri Vo and the Vietnamese community on gathering this petition.

The petition raises the concerns of the Vietnamese Community in Australia about the territorial actions of the People's Republic of China, China's claim of 90 per cent of the East Sea and the threat of instability. The petition asks the House to reaffirm Australia's interests in the region, reject any unilateral action to claim territory, engage with China over the dispute, engage with all claimants to seek their peaceful resolution of such disputes using international law and United Nations conventions, and finally to support the China-ASEAN negotiations for a binding code of conduct to replace the current nonbinding code of conduct.

This petition reminds us that, through all our endeavours, we must be active in pursuing the stability of the region and the pursuit of human rights. Through our work in so many areas of foreign relations, good relationships with other countries allows us the opportunity to pursue peaceful resolution of the issues that confront us.

Once again I congratulate Mr Tri Vo and the many members of the executive of the Vietnamese Community in Australia and the wider Vietnamese community that are in the gallery today. Thank you for the very wide collection of this petition. I have the honour of presenting it to the House.