Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to amend general business motion No. 464 standing in my name.

Leave granted.

I move the motion as amended:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) freedom of the press is an important element of any functioning democracy, and

(ii) access to Papuan provinces by foreign journalists has been tightly restricted by the Indonesian Government;

(b) expresses its concern at the ongoing detention of French journalists, Mr Thomas Dandois and Ms Valentine Bourrat, on 6 August 2014, while they were filming a documentary for the Franco­German television channel Arte, noting that they entered Indonesia on a tourist visa;

(c) welcomes public statements from Indonesia's President-elect, Mr Joko Widodo, that Papuan provinces should be open to foreign journalists; and

(d) calls on the Australian Government to request That the Indonesian Government release Mr Dandois and Ms Bourrat as a sign of his commitment to a more open Papuan provinces.

I seek leave to make a short statement.