Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As somebody who has lived her life across the diversity that is contemporary Australia today and who has been very actively engaged in our cultural diversity, I was very pleased to participate in this inquiry. Having also been a former minister in this space, I thought this was a very timely inquiry and report. I too associate myself with the comments of the chair—that's you, Acting Deputy President Kitching!—of the deputy chair, Senator Abetz, and with some of the comments that Senator Rice made as well.

I'd like to focus on a number of the recommendations. Of course, the first recommendation is about the need to further recognise the contributions of our diaspora communities in Australia. Let's face it: one half of us were either born overseas or have at least one parent who was born overseas.

One of the important recommendations is No. 5, which recommends that the government consider increasing, by way of a multilingual media or information campaign, awareness of the National Security Hotline as a means of reporting foreign interference. The evidence that came before us very much pointed to where this foreign interference is. As other senators have said, whilst a number of totalitarian regimes were identified in the inquiry, nevertheless the country that attracted the most attention was definitely China. As somebody who has been very outspoken against the Communist regime—indeed, when I was minister, I made some comments which resulted in an international debate about China's activities, most especially in the Pacific—I felt as I was speaking out on that issue that there weren't too many people who were interested in listening to the warnings that I was making in relation to the regime. I believe my comments were prescient and have been fully vindicated as more and more has become obvious about what the Communist regime is doing internationally and most especially here in Australia. We saw in this inquiry the face of what that foreign interference really is. Ordinary Australians, particularly those of Chinese heritage—there are 1.2 million of them—are the human face of this interference. Therefore, I think that that is really the most important take-out.

One of the other recommendations was about Magnitsky and encouraging the government to enact Magnitsky legislation. If we are going to enact Magnitsky legislation, we have to make sure that the agencies with the powers to enforce that legislation are adequately resourced. I have to say that over the Christmas vacation period I was very disappointed by what happened with AUSTRAC on the issue in relation to the transfer of Vatican funds. If that's the sort of basic error that an organisation like AUSTRAC is making, I think that we have to take a very serious look to ensure that our agencies are up to speed to be able to undertake the necessary work to enforce Magnitsky laws here in Australia.

I will go specifically to some of the evidence in the inquiry, particularly in relation to the Communist regime. We saw firsthand the work that the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the CCP is doing here in Australia. We had seen the work that Professor Clive Hamilton did and the books that he's written and also the work of Dr Alex Joske, and I commend both of them for the contribution that they have made to the body politic, most especially in relation to this issue. We saw firsthand the insidious practices of Beijing loyalists in Australia. These insidious practices here in Australia by people loyal to Beijing have caused alarm to our Chinese Australian community. Many who have escaped persecution and want to live freely in a democratic Australia feel intimidated. They have made an important contribution to the fabric of our community and they have been strong advocates for democracy and for our multicultural society. Therefore, I underline the comment that was made earlier. The criticisms that I and others have made have been against the Communist regime; they have not been against the Chinese people and certainly not against the 1.2 million Australians of Chinese heritage who have warmly embraced our way of life but whose way of life now feels very threatened as a consequence of Beijing's bellicose activities.

We know that the Communist regime has a history of illegal and bellicose activities. We see it daily in the South China Sea. Therefore, from that perspective, Australia, if we honestly say that we want a values based foreign policy then we have to stand by that, and we have to stand up when countries like China and other totalitarian regimes do not act as good international citizens, and that means calling them out when they do not act in accordance with international norms. If we say that our foreign policy is a projection of our values and beliefs, therefore, it is important that we support the international rules-based order. We need to stand up for those values, even when there are commercial consequences, when we see the egregious abuse of human rights by some of these totalitarian regimes—and we are seeing it. As Senator Abetz said, at the moment, there it is on the BBC: we're seeing what is happening to the Uighurs. It's also important that countries like Australia join with other nations. It would be really good to see Muslim countries also standing up for their Muslim brothers and sisters who are now facing persecution in China. It's not only incumbent on democratic countries like Australia to call that out but also important for us to encourage other countries, particularly countries in the Muslim world, to also speak out in this way.

We have to understand that China is not a democracy. It is a totalitarian regime, and therefore we need to treat it as such, rather than thinking that we can continue business as usual. We cannot continue business as usual with the Communist regime. It's not going to work anymore. Quite frankly, the Australian public is not going to stand for business as usual with the Communist regime any more.

In particular, before I conclude, I also want to touch on the effect of the Hong Kong security law. This is a very bad law and I know that so many people in Australia fear its application, not just if they go back to Hong Kong but also because so many people in the diasporas have connections in these countries—in China, in Vietnam and in other countries—where they fear repercussions for their citizens.

I will conclude on a couple of recommendations. Recommendations 12, 14, 15, 17 and 18 effectively go to communication with diaspora communities. When I became Minister for International Development and the Pacific one of the things I asked was: did we have an ethnic media listing in the department of foreign affairs? I was so disappointed that there was not an up-to-date list of ethnic media. Let's not forget that the ethnic media in the country is 500 to 600 strong and growing every day, because our diasporas get their news from around the world in different ways. Therefore, it is vitally important that we utilise the diaspora communities and utilise that media to more effectively communicate with government.

Question agreed to.