Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to mark Tibet Lobby Day, which is happening in the Australian parliament today and tomorrow. This is a day when members of the Tibetan community who have carried both the pain of exile and the pride of their culture for so many decades remind us of what is at stake when freedom is denied.

This year Tibet Lobby Day coincides with the 90th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a milestone in the life of a leader whose consistency and moral courage have inspired people across the globe. His story is intertwined with that of Tibet itself—a people who continue to fight for dignity, human rights and the right to preserve their identity in the face of overwhelming pressure.

The Tibetan experience is a stark reminder of what happens when sovereignty is curtailed. Since 1950 Tibetans have endured the steady erosion of their religious freedom, language and culture. Monasteries have been destroyed, traditions suppressed and dissent punished. Even the centuries' old tradition of identifying the next Dalai Lama has been targeted for political control and influence.

The disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama in 1995, taken from his family as a six-year-old child, is a clear example of how almost all aspects of Tibetan life are being dominated. This is not simply a matter of religion; it is an assault on sovereignty itself. Repression continues today. Peaceful protest is criminalised, surveillance is ever present, and religious practice is restrained and denied. Tibetan children are separated from their families and placed in boarding schools where their language and identity are stripped away, with terrible consequences.

These are not distant problems or something we can dismiss as 'internal matters'. They are challenges to the core principles that underpin free societies. The right to live in dignity, the right to speak one's language, the right to practise one's faith, the right to chart's one's own course—these are universal.

Australia is fortunate to be a democracy and respects human rights. We enjoy the freedoms of speech, belief and association that Tibetans today are denied. But those freedoms we experience here in Australia come with responsibilities, because we cannot believe in democracy and sovereignty for ourselves and be indifferent when those same principles are threatened or denied abroad. That's why Tibet Lobby Day matters. It is not a symbolic exercise. It is a reminder that our parliament can and should use its voice on issues such as this and do so in a bipartisan—even tripartisan—manner.

That is why I joined colleagues from across the Senate this morning at a media conference to draw the attention of my colleagues to Tibet Lobby Day that is on today and tomorrow. It means supporting the preservation of the Tibetan language and religion in exile. It means ensuring that Tibetan Australians are recognised and valued as part of our national story. It means maintaining a respectful but open and frank dialogue with those nations who might choose to deny Tibetans their right to self-determination.

When Australia speaks up for Tibet, we are not only supporting a people in need; we are strengthening the values that underpin our own society and sovereignty. We are demonstrating that our democracy is not only something to be defended at home but also something to be advanced abroad. On Tibet Lobby Day 2025, let us recommit ourselves to those values: democracy, sovereignty, freedom and human dignity for all. On this the 90th birthday celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, let us be reminded that true strength is to be found not in domination but in dignity and, of course, enduring hope.