Lee Rhiannon (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I also have been deeply shocked to hear the reports about what is happening to the Rohingya people. I wish to share tonight the words of some of these Rohingya people in Sydney. They have a right to be heard. We need to listen and to act on the genocide that is occurring. The first words are from Asma:

My name is Asma, I am 14 and I am a Rohingyan refugee from Burma. I am writing because what's happening in Burma is something I should not be experiencing or seeing. My people should not be experiencing this.

When I see the news I see my people being tortured, abused and women being raped. Children being slaughtered and burned alive in front of their families. This is something happening to people I know and love as well. My cousin and her husband and child and their whole village were burned alive. I have also lost all of my childhood friends. They have been killed.

My dad has been crying while he is praying. I have never seen him cry before. This breaks my heart.

This rips me inside and out. I don't understand. We are all people. Religion and race don't matter.

I want Rohingyan people to be free. They have been treated wrongly for so long just because they are Muslims.

When I first found out about the genocide I wrote this poem to try and express how I feel.

"Seeking the future we have lost

The place where we all used to share our dreams

The place where we truly knew ourselves

The place where we go when we are hurt or sad

The place where our parents, grandparents and their ancestors grew up in

The place where we, the Rohingya Muslim minority have been living on for centuries"

All we want is freedom.

Those are Asma's words. I also want to share with you this statement from the Burmese Rohingya community in Australia. It reads:

Our Rohingya brothers and sisters are being massacred as we speak here today. Thousands of civilians: men, children and women, are being: raped, hacked with machetes, shot, burned alive with petrol, and their charred remains are being desecrated and thrown into mass graves. Rohingyas have been massacred and villages razed in over 183 villages from Rathedaung to Buthidaung and Maungdaw. This massacre is being conducted by the Myanmar Army and Rakhine extremist militias acting in concert, and the world remains silent. Australian citizens and residents have been receiving reports from survivors that their mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters are being slaughtered with knives and guns. They have received recent photographs and videos of their friends and families being murdered and their bodies desecrated with fire. This … is being conducted in the crematoria that is the killing fields of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and Rathedaung. The burning of the victims by the Myanmar Army and the Rakhine extremists serve their twin goals of the regime to instil terror in the survivors and to dispose of the evidence of Genocide.

However, each victim of these atrocities have a name and a family and the Rohingya community will remember them, and record their names, and document the way that they were murdered and desecrated. The Myanmar Government hides these mass killings from the international community. But the survivor reports show that the Myanmar Army has sought to destroy the Rohingya people by massacring village after village and seeking to extinguish all evidence that they ever lived on this earth. More than 300,000 people have fled in anguish through minefields, mortar and machine gun fire, knowing they will be murdered and desecrated if they remain.

The Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia have been collating the reports of these atrocities. The best available estimate was that 9,000 to 10,000 Rohingya civilians have been murdered by the regime in less than two weeks and more than 183 villages have been burned down. This was the available information as of 7 September 2017.

There is no international agency better suited to report on the actual death toll of the massacres than the community that has been subjected to it. The Rohingyas voice must be heard at this vital time. On the basis of an interview from the survivors' testimonies, BRCA believes that the Myanmar government planned the current ethnic cleansing in response to Kofi Annan's advisory commission and also as part of the longstanding pattern of massacres of Rohingya that have occurred over at least four decades and intensified since 2012. BRCA indicate that the Myanmar army had surrounded the Rohingya villages after 23 of August when Kofi Annan made recommendations on his advisory commission to be implemented.

They also reported that on 23 August the Myanmar army had started to commit atrocities against villagers. In this context, many Rohingya men and boys tried to defend their families and their villagers in self-defence. They have all been killed. From one village to another, all the males, including young boys under 10, have been separated from their families, tied up and killed. Women and girls have not been spared but subjected to rape, murder and the murder of their husbands and sons. BRCA speculates that this attack by the Myanmar army on 23 August was a provocation under the instructions of the Myanmar government as they feared they would have to recognise the Rohingyas and grant them citizenship, amongst other things, as per Kofi Annan's advisory commission. BRCA also highlights that, after decades of suffering persecution, no stateless Rohingya would jeopardise the chance to be finally recognised as a citizen in their own country and be given basic human and citizen rights. Myanmar's propaganda on fighting insurgents is, therefore, nothing less than preposterous.

We must listen to the victims and confront ourselves with the images of the desecrated victims and the testimonies of the survivors. It is a one-sided war of extermination by the Myanmar army against Rohingya civilians—every bit as evil as the Cambodian genocide. The world is being asked to look away while the Burmese army and the Rakhine extremists exterminate, extinguish and expel the remnants of the Rohingya people from Myanmar.

The international community must take action to stop this massacre against the Rohingya people. The obligation to prevent and punish the crime of genocide is erga omnes. It is an obligation on all to stop the crime of genocide. It is an obligation on the UN signatories to adopt 'responsibility to protect' protocols. 'We demand, on behalf of all humanity, that the Myanmar government stop the killings of the Rohingya people.' That is a statement from the Burmese Rohingya community in Australia, many of whom live in Sydney.

On another matter, Australia could do more for minorities that live in China, particularly the Falun Gong. Australia, along with 11 other countries, is a signatory to a joint statement, The human rights situation in China. The statement calls upon China to uphold its laws and its international commitments. I share the concerns of increasing numbers of people that state-sanctioned organ harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of conscience occurs in the People's Republic of China. Practitioners of Falun Gong and Uighurs, Tibetans and Christians are being subjected to organ harvesting. The United Nations Convention against Torture has called on China to conduct an independent investigation of claims that Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to torture and used for organ transplants and take measures, as appropriate, to ensure that those responsible for such abuses are prosecuted and punished. The 17-year-old prosecution of the Falun Gong meditation practice by the Chinese Communist Party is a violation of international human rights treaties.

I understand China performs about 10,000 organ transplants per year. There are 165 Chinese organ transplant centres that advertise that matching organs can be found within two to four weeks. I have to say that this is surprising. China does not have an organised or effective public system of organ donation or distribution, so to be able to claim such figures is quite amazing. The organ transplant system in China does not comply with the World Health Organization's requirements for transparency and traceability in organ procurement pathways.

I think it should also be noted that China has extremely low rates of voluntary organ donation, owing to traditional beliefs. I understand the growing concern about organ harvesting in China is fuelled by the Chinese government's failure to adequately account for the sources of excess organs. The former United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak, has requested this information.

It is also significant when we consider these disturbing reports that last year the United States House of Representatives passed quite a comprehensive motion about this issue. In part, it demands an immediate end to the 17-year-old persecution of the Falun Gong by the Chinese government and the immediate release of all Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience. It also encourages the United States medical community to help raise awareness of unethical organ transplant practices in China, and it calls on China to allow a credible, transparent and independent investigation into organ transplant abuses. This is where I think that these recent developments in the United States, with regard to the passing of this 2016 motion, do give some pointers to what Australia could do and how we could do a lot more on this very troubling issue.

On another matter closer to home, on the Saturday just passed, local government elections were held in New South Wales. These local government elections certainly bring out a lot of colour in many areas and some really considered issues. In recent years there has been a real push by the Liberal government in New South Wales to bring about forced amalgamations. There have been a number of corruption issues. We still have the very serious problem that real estate agents, developers and property speculators can stand for local government. But, barring all those problems, there was a huge showing of people deeply committed to their local community, running on some excellent platforms and out there working really hard to win the votes of the local people so they could represent them on council.

I do very warmly congratulate the Greens election teams that worked hard in 45 councils across New South Wales. This wasn't all the council areas, because some of them had been done in previous years, but the results are very pleasing for the work of the Greens Party. Generally, we saw that the Liberal Party did not do well, which I think is indicative both of how they operate at a local council level and also of this issue of forced amalgamations and how out of touch the Berejiklian government is.

On my own home turf around Waverley, we had the pleasing and very important result that the Liberals were voted out. Sally Betts, who has been the mayor, seemed to have a bit of a magical touch. Her name was always pulled out of a hat, so she became the mayor, even though it was a fairly evenly balanced council. One of the very damaging platforms that they developed was to privatise and further commercialise Bondi Pavilion. Forty years ago, in 1987, we won this against a previous Liberal council under very similar circumstances. It was a Liberal controlled council then under John and Carolyn Markham. They came forward with a similar plan with lots of restaurants—'We'll turn Bondi Pavilion into something that the people want'—not acknowledging how many restaurants are in that area and that Bondi Pavilion is effectively the only town hall, the only community space, we have in the Waverley municipal area that does the most amazing work in terms of music workshops and providing space for dance, physical activities, a whole lot of theatre work and pottery. The place buzzes with activity. Also, there are the tourists and beach-goers who come and go. The council wanted to abuse this centre and be able to lease it out or sell it off to their mates.

Labor and the Greens, who now have a majority on the council, ran on a very clear platform: this is a community centre. Today, it was pleasing that this chamber passed a most important motion calling on the government to fast-track legislation to put in place protection for future generations. In '87 the Liberals came along and tried to privatise it. We saw it again in 2016-17, and again it was an ill-thought out plan. I hope no generation has to fight that again. Bondi is a world-famous beach. It is a heritage building that people love and it serves the local community as well as international visitors. It needs to be set aside as a public building for the future. It is certainly time that was achieved.

It was a really big achievement, with a 7.9 per cent swing to the Greens in Waverley. There was a 9.7 per cent swing in Woollahra and a six per cent swing in Hornsby. The issues that we ran on are issues that really resonate with so many people. I had the opportunity to join many of our teams on the election trail, doorknocking, working on pre-polling and working on election day. The talent and the creativity never ceases to amaze me. We're not a party that takes developer donations and we don't take corporate donations. We're fortunate that we have people with dedication and commitment to their local community. That is how it should be for all parties.

The issues we ran on included planning for people, not profits, and putting the community ahead of the developers. That involved some fantastic programs around preserving the precious trees in our community—something that was once taken for granted, but, if you live in Sydney at the moment, you'll see trees being knocked down left, right and centre. It's now an issue that needs clear attention and much stronger protection. The issue of affordable housing was taken up by many of our teams. There is a great deal that local councils can do around ensuring that everybody has a home. We're certainly looking at the issue of empty homes and an empty-home levy for those currently held by investors for capital gains. This is where councils can really make a difference in their own community. Sadly, in Sydney we're seeing the number of people who are homeless increasing. More and more, these people are spreading into different areas as their chances of finding a home become harder and harder.

An issue that all our candidates took up—and certainly those who have been elected are very passionate about this—is action on climate change and really looking at a renewable energy revolution. Many of the councils are looking to join together to own solar farms in rural and regional New South Wales. It was in rural New South Wales where we picked up a lot of support. We picked up seats in Wollongong and Newcastle and a number of regional areas in the Central West, in Orange and in Armidale. We already have representatives in Albury and a number of other areas as well.

Another issue that was taken up very strongly by our local people is returning democracy to local government. I was concerned to hear about a number of councils that had removed their precinct committees, particularly once they were amalgamated. It seems that, when councils get to a certain size, they forget that they're there to serve local people and they seem to be more willing—too often—to remove local advisory committees and precinct committees. That's certainly something that I know our newly elected Greens are very keen to work on.

I think that local government elections are a lesson for people like us. We are fairly isolated in this place. But, at a local level, people are very close to what matters to people. Yes, there are always those essential issues about parks, roads and garbage. What also came out in this election—a big one for us and for many of the other candidates as well—were issues that resonate around the nation. This time it was marriage equality. People had their platform for the local election and their plans for local council, but they were also urging people to make sure they voted for marriage equality. All this talk about local councils should not do anything outside their own area is so out of touch. I'm looking forward to working with our new councillors. I congratulate them very warmly and, in fact, congratulate everybody who was elected. Everybody works pretty hard to get onto local council.

Senate adjourned at 21:05