Natasha Stott Despoja (SA, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senator Payne, move the motion as amended:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

8 August 2006 is the 18th anniversary of the Burmese military regime’s murderous suppression of the pro-democracy movement,

(ii)

while the pro-democracy uprising failed, international pressure placed on Rangoon led to the landmark 1990 parliamentary election,

(iii)

the lack of organised, sustained international pressure on Rangoon allowed the military junta to ignore the parliamentary election results, which saw a landslide victory for the project-democracy National League for Democracy led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and this situation renewed military oppression in Burma which has lasted to this day,

(iv)

military repression in Burma has led to more than 500 000 documented Burmese political and economic refugees living in India, China and Thailand, while undocumented Burmese refugees living in Thailand are estimated to be in the millions,

(v)

thousands of people have died and continue to die under the rule of the Burmese military, and

(vi)

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and many hundreds of other political prisoners remain under detention within Burma; and

(b)

calls on the Government to:

(i)

urge the United Nations Security Council to pass a strong binding resolution addressing the urgent need for democratic reform and greater protection of human rights in Burma, and

(ii)

make representations to the Chinese and Russian governments urging them to abandon any support they may have for the Burmese junta.

Question agreed to.