Senate debates

Thursday, 18 September 2008

International Day of Peace

9:34 am

Photo of Scott LudlamScott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—
(a)
notes that:
(i)
on 7 September 2001, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 55/282 declaring that the International Day of Peace should be observed annually on the fixed date of 21 September, as a day of global ceasefire and non-violence, and
(ii)
the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his predecessor, Kofi Annan, have urged member states to support the observance of global ceasefire on the day;
(b)
supports non-government organisations in Australia who intend to observe the day through vigils, concerts and walks;
(c)
calls on the Australian Government to actively support the observance of a ceasefire in Iraq, East Timor, Afghanistan, the Solomon Islands, Egypt (the Sinai Peninsula) and Sudan on Sunday, 21 September 2008, by ensuring that Australia’s armed forces:
(i)
do not engage in hostilities for the duration of 21 September, unless provoked to do so in self-defence, and
(ii)
promote the observance of a global ceasefire for the duration of 21 September; and
(d)
requests that the Australian Government encourage other nation states also to support the observance of a global ceasefire.