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

I, and also on behalf of Senator Bartlett, seek leave to amend the motion standing in our names.

Leave granted.

I move the motion as amended:

That the Senate—

(a)   welcomes the Government’s engagement with the United Nations (UN) and commitment to human rights via its:

(i)   proposed ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and

(ii)   consultations on Australia’s ascension to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;

(b)   notes that:

(i)   Australian companies are increasingly active in developing countries, some of which have weak regulatory environments,

(ii)   the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises has reported to the Human Rights Council on the responsibilities of host and home states and the corporate responsibility to respect human rights,

(iii)   the Special Representative emphasises that it should be an ‘urgent priority of governments’ to ‘foster a corporate culture respectful of human rights at home and abroad’, and that states must provide access to remedies, and

(iv)   the Special Representative advises that companies have a responsibility to respect human rights, undertake human rights impact due diligence, and institute rights-compliant grievance mechanisms; and

(c)   calls on the Government to:

(i)   encourage Australian companies to respect the rights of members of the communities in which they operate and to develop rights-compliant grievance mechanisms, whether acting in Australia or overseas,

(ii)   consider the development of measures to prevent the involvement or complicity of Australian companies in activities that may result in the abuse of human rights, including by fostering a corporate culture that is respectful of human rights in Australia and overseas, and

(iii)   support development at the international level of standards and mechanisms aimed at ensuring that transnational corporations and other business enterprises respect human rights.

Question agreed to.