Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I recently met with representatives of the National Council of Churches in Australia about human rights violations in West Papua. A delegation of 11 church leaders from Australia, the US and Fiji visited West Papua earlier this year to see for themselves the situation in that territory and to offer moral encouragement to a people who have experienced international isolation. In 2014, when Indonesian President Joko Widodo was still a presidential candidate, he declared that there would be a new deal for West Papuans. As President, he declared in May this year that foreign journalists would be welcome to visit West Papua. However, the rules governing media access remain unclear.

The NCCA reports that political prisoners remain in prison and that harassment, torture and extrajudicial killings of West Papuans—including children—by Indonesian security personnel continue. On 29 September, two high school students were shot in Timika. On 8 October, a number of West Papuans, including students, monks and a local journalist, were beaten and arrested while conducting a peaceful demonstration against the Paniai massacre of five teenagers by Indonesian police last December. Much of the killing is allegedly being carried out by the elite unit called Detachment 88 of the Indonesian National Police, which I am informed has been trained and armed by Australia since the Bali and Jakarta terrorist attacks. As the AFP noted, in a response to the ABC's The 7:30 Report, 'Indonesian law does not differentiate between terrorism, separatism and insurgency'. It would extremely concerning if Australia is facilitating serious violations of human rights in West Papua. I call upon the Australian government to investigate, to call for accountability, and to cease any assistance to D88.

Eric Hutchinson (Lyons, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was a real honour for me last week to host the Prime Minister in the Derwent Valley town of New Norfolk. I was particularly pleased that the new Prime Minister chose the electorate of Lyons as the first stop on his visit to Tasmania. More than 200 community members attended a breakfast at the historic Willow Court. It was the first public event held in the refurbished Bronte building at Willow Court and the facility showed off its potential for future such events. It is now the subject of a full assessment by the National Heritage Council for inclusion on the register.

A dedicated team led by council works manager Charlie Crosswell worked into the night during the week before Mr Turnbull's visit to finish the painting and landscaping at Bronte. The large crowd, keen to meet the new Prime Minister, enjoyed a breakfast spread prepared by the Magra Country Women's Association. One of the guests to chat with Mr Turnbull was 92-year-old Mr Ken O'Brien OAM, a long-time Derwent Valley resident who owned and operated a business in New Norfolk for many years. The last time Mr O'Brien met an Australian Prime Minister at New Norfolk was in 1954 when Sir Robert Menzies and Dame Pattie were special guests at a public gathering at the theatre. When Mr O'Brien realised, he was horrified that all they had were a couple of kitchen chairs for them to sit in. As the story goes, he raced back to his shop and proceeded to find chairs that were more suitable for a Prime Minister.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Saturday I had the privilege of attending the commemorative service for 'our boys' memorial at Colinton, which is a town that no longer exists. At the beginning of World War I, it had 211 people, and 44 young men and boys went to fight in World War 1. I want to congratulate the Brisbane Valley Heritage Trails and Elizabeth DeLacy for her wonderful book, The Colinton Boys, released last Saturday, which tells the story of these 44 young men who went overseas to fight on behalf of Australia. Colinton township does not exist anymore, but at its height it had a dairy factory—which was later closed down. It is north of Toogoolawah and before you get to the Blackbutt Range in South-East Queensland. I also congratulate the local committee that has been at the forefront of making sure this story is rescued for posterity. It is incredible that the story of these 44 young men, who were not always treated well when they came back, has not been told. The dairy factory that many of the men worked in was closed down not long after they came back, and not all of them had great and glorious lives afterwards. This was a time when Australians did not always treat their young men well when they came back from war. It is a great history lesson for all of us. We should treat the men and women who make sacrifices overseas on our behalf much, much better.