John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Ludlam for his question. I can indicate, as the senator would probably be aware, that in his statement of 22 October last year the Minister for Foreign Affairs announced that the Australian government would continue to press the Burmese regime for meaningful progress towards democracy. The government of course remains gravely concerned by the Burmese regime’s systematic repression of Burmese citizens for their political views. In November last year the regime sentenced over 200 individuals to harsh prison sentences for political crimes. That brings the population of political prisoners to somewhere over 2,000 people.

Since that time Australia’s ambassador has conveyed our strong concern at the political situation to a number of Burmese ministers and senior officials, and we have repeated our call for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners. Australia welcomes the regime’s release of 29 political prisoners in February, although this falls short of what the international community is looking for. And of course the government looks to Burma for further releases of political prisoners. The government continues to support the efforts of the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, who, with his special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, is pushing for a genuine dialogue between the regime and the opposition.