Dana Wortley (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Faulkner. Could the minister comment on the withdrawal of Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, from the Zimbabwean presidential elections due to be held this Friday? What is the Australian government’s response to this development and what further action, if any, might be taken?

John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday the President of the Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai, announced that he and his party would not contest the presidential run-off election in Zimbabwe on 27 June. In a statement Mr Tsvangirai said that his party could not ask the people of Zimbabwe to cast their votes on 27 June ‘when that vote could cost them their lives’. We recognise that Mr Tsvangirai made this decision because a free and fair election in Zimbabwe would not have been possible. The Mugabe regime has recently decided to restrict monitoring of the 27 June election to a level that would have removed any possibility of a credible poll, and the regime has been escalating its campaign of violence against the MDC and its supporters. MDC supporters have been murdered, they have been detained and they have been tortured. Most recently Mugabe said that the MDC would never rule Zimbabwe and that he was prepared to go to war to prevent them from doing so. Let us not forget that Morgan Tsvangirai received the most votes in the first round of the presidential elections, held on 29 March, and the MDC won the majority of seats in parliament in those same elections. There can be no legitimacy to an election stolen by the Mugabe regime through violence and terror.

The Australian government absolutely condemns the violence and brutal intimidation by the Mugabe regime, and I know all members of parliament and this Senate do also. We call on President Mugabe to stop the violence immediately. The people of Zimbabwe must be given the chance to express their will and they must be given the chance to do so free from fear. The international community must continue to pressure the Mugabe regime to stop the violence. We welcome the UN Security Council debate on Zimbabwe today in New York. We strongly support a full consideration of the situation in Zimbabwe.

Regionally, the Southern African Development Community and the African Union have a lead role to play. We welcome the statements made by a number of African leaders in recent days expressing their deep concern about events in Zimbabwe. We will continue to support their efforts. We will also maintain our bilateral pressure on Zimbabwe. We are actively considering what further measures may be taken to apply pressure to the Mugabe regime, including revising our list of regime members to whom restrictions apply to ensure that new figures in the regime are covered. At the same time we continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Zimbabwe. In 2007-08 we will provide more than $13 million to Zimbabwe, most of which is for essential food aid through the World Food Program. The situation in Zimbabwe is grave and it has been getting worse. The Australian government, along with the international community, condemns the Mugabe regime’s actions and commits to providing ongoing assistance to the people of Zimbabwe, who are the victims of their own government’s brutality.

Dana Wortley (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. To what extent does the Australian government believe that the sanctions already in place in relation to Zimbabwe have been effective?

John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Of course, since 2002, which was during the life of the previous Howard government, Australia has had a range of restrictions on contact with Zimbabwe—restrictions on visas for travel to Australia by Zimbabwean ministers and some Zimbabwean officials; freezes on financial assets; suspension of non-humanitarian aid; prohibition of defence links; suspension of bilateral ministerial contact; downgrading of cultural links; and a ban on adult students or sanctioned individuals studying in Australia. I can say that Australia encourages other countries—we encourage the international community—to extend similar levels of sanctions.