Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) | Hansard source

Like so many around the world, the Greens are devastated by and condemn Russia's horrific invasion of Ukraine, and we are deeply moved by the heartbreaking stories coming out of Ukraine—the lives lost, the families devastated, the communities torn apart, the buildings turned to craters and the cities turned to concrete wastes. Clearly, there has been a massive human toll in this war.

We welcome the Australian government's urgency in responding and the fact that this suffering on the other side of the world has generated a rapid and genuine response. We support the targeted sanctions that have been imposed on oligarchs with direct links to Putin's regime and to the suffering and devastation that's been inflicted in Ukraine. We welcome the restrictions in Australia on importing Russian fuel, and we welcome the steps taken by the Future Fund to divest from Russian investments. These are all important steps, and the Greens support them.

Beyond that, we think, however, there is more that the Australian government can do. In particular, we think that, globally, cancelling Ukraine's national debt is a clear step that the international community could take, and we urge the Australian government to be advocating multilaterally towards that end. We welcome the immigration policy changes made to support Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, but we think that more can be done. The Greens call on Australia to provide an additional 20,000 humanitarian places above Australia's existing annual humanitarian quota, specifically for Ukrainian nationals fleeing conflict and/or persecution. We would like to see the fast-tracking of any outstanding visa applications by Ukraine nationals. We think we should offer permanent visas to Ukraine nationals on temporary visas in Australia, grant family reunion visas to applicant families of Ukrainian Australians and revoke any visa cancellation decisions for any Ukraine nationals held in detention.

For a long time, the Australian Greens, of course, have called for an urgent energy transition to address the climate emergency. The invasion of Ukraine and the way Putin's war machine has been funded by fossil fuels shows how urgent this transition is. Exports of oil and gas are worth $120 billion to Russia every year. They are fuelling the Russian war machine, and they have to be brought to an end while Russia is waging war on its neighbour. We need to work multilaterally to support other countries, particularly in Europe, to urgently shift from Russian oil and gas. We need to act at emergency speed to safeguard our future, from both the climate emergency and the potential outbreak of World War III. And, if you want to know what's in Australia's national interests, this is a massive opportunity for Australia to use government investment to drive new export industries in green hydrogen and minerals processing, ensuring that Australia becomes a renewable energy superpower.

Let me be clear: we support the Australian government responding urgently to the crisis in Ukraine, but there is a lot more that we think could be done. More broadly, I urge the Australian government to act urgently to uphold human rights wherever serious violations occur and not just where it is geopolitically convenient to do so. Without that, sadly, there's a real risk that the Australian government's response is seen through the lens of hypocrisy and racism, serving to highlight the many instances when the Australian government has refused to act despite desperate pleas from diaspora communities and human rights advocacy groups.

The simple truth is that we, the Australian Greens, believe that universal human rights are fundamental and must be respected and protected in all countries and for all people. Our commitment to this is reflected in my efforts over the course of this parliament to raise the issue of serious human rights violations that occur around the world. I want to particularly mention Myanmar and the actions of the military junta there. For over a year, we have been calling for the Australian government to meet with the National Unity Government and to impose targeted sanctions on the key generals who have led the coup and who have been responsible for the most appalling atrocities against the people of Myanmar. Sadly, we have not seen that happen. The foreign minister, to the best of my knowledge, has not met with the National Unity Government, so I urge her to do so. I hope that it will happen. We again urge the Australian government not just to meet with the National Unity Government at the highest levels but to recognise the National Unity Government. Sadly, instead, what we've seen so far is Minister Dutton legitimising the junta through ASEAN defence ministers meetings. I really do want to thank the many community members here in Australia and around the world for their advocacy and for the work that they've done to be working for justice in Myanmar.

I do now actually want to congratulate the government in the unexpected but very positive announcement of 16,000 visas for refugees from Afghanistan over the next four years. For me, as a Green, this was by far the best news of the budget tonight, in a sea of climate denialism and massive handouts to fossil fuel companies and projects. But it was not before time. Just last week, the Taliban announced that they are banning schooling for girls who were previously attending school. Today the news came through that they are banning the broadcast of foreign news reports and banning women from flying domestically or internationally without an approved mahram—a male relative—accompanying them. It is absolutely horrifying.

There is much more that the Australian government could be doing to support refugees from Afghanistan, and they should be acting with urgency. The plan for 16,000 visas is great news, but it's urgent for people to get out. We could and should be issuing people with emergency visas and doing everything we can to facilitate getting them out of the country. We should be issuing permanent visas to the thousands of Afghans here on temporary visas, who don't have rights to access health care, to go to university or to apply for visas for their partners or other immediate family members.

We should be resettling Afghans who have been living in limbo in Indonesia for over a decade. There is a lot more that we can be doing about human rights abuses that have been perpetrated by a whole range of other governments—often against their own citizens, including vulnerable minority groups. I urge the Australian government to do more in relation to human rights violations wherever they occur, including through the use of targeted sanctions, using our Magnitsky legislation. For example, we should be acting on the actions of the Philippines government, who are basically waging war against their own citizens, targeting environmental, labour and human rights activists. We should be acting on the actions of the Indian government against a range of minority groups in India and in Kashmir, particularly Muslims, who have been targeted by the RSS, with Hindu nationalism absolutely flourishing under the Modi government. There have been Hindu extremist groups actively calling for mass killings of Muslims.

We should be doing more about the actions of the Chinese government, with their attacks on the human rights of their own citizens and their attacks on Tibetans, Uighurs and Hongkongers. We should be doing more about the actions of the Israeli government for their ongoing, brutal occupation of Palestine, which has been assessed by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as apartheid.

In relation to Ethiopia, we have consistently called for greater action to address the humanitarian crisis in Tigray, in particular, where millions are facing starvation from a government blockade. I've spoken in this place previously about the actions of the Sri Lankan government and the serious human rights violations faced by Muslim communities there also. I've called for action to respond to the attacks by the Sudanese military on protesters in response to the violent coup that occurred there a year ago and that has resulted in the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of people.

And then there are the human rights violations committed by our ally the US, over many years—the invasion of Iraq, the imprisonment of Julian Assange or the horrific border policies of the Trump administration—but, throughout, the Australian government has remained silent. We need an independent foreign policy, not an unthinking alignment with the US.

So, to conclude, we welcome the urgency of the Australian government's response to the invasion of Ukraine, but we want to see an urgent response that advocates for human rights wherever human rights violations occur—not just where it's geopolitically convenient. I and the Greens will continue to speak out for the protection of human rights wherever in the world they are under attack. (Time expired)