Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Bob Carr. Can the minister outline to the Senate Australia's approach to global human rights concerns?

Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The deprivation of human rights remains a global challenge—an acute one. According to estimates by organisations such as the UN, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, over 700 people were executed in 2012, torture was carried out in more than 100 countries and 140 million girls and women suffered genital mutilation. Australia has been at the forefront of international efforts to improve human rights. We were one of eight nations to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights after World War II. The declaration in fact was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948 under the presidency of former Australian foreign minister Dr HV Evatt.

Our human rights tradition is one that we are proud of. I am pleased to announce today, therefore, Australia's candidacy to serve on the Human Rights Council for the 2018 to 2020 term. Australia has not served on the council since it was established in 2008. The council is the UN's pre-eminent human rights body, responsible for promoting universal protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is mandated to consider violations of human rights, including in the DPRK, Syria and the Central African Republic. It is a subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly—

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Don't they show their contempt for human rights? Nothing gives them away like that. But, for our part, we are proud of the Australian record, and we want to enhance it and enhance our contribution. In that spirit we are seeking a place on the Human Rights Council, and we see it as complementing our term on the UN Security Council. It reinforces our commitment to the universal protection of human rights. (Time expired)

Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister inform the Senate of Australia's human rights efforts in our own region?

Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As foreign minister I regularly discuss human rights with my counterparts from countries such as Myanmar, Laos and Malaysia. Just today I discussed human rights issues with the visiting foreign minister of Sri Lanka. This week Australia hosted our 10th human rights dialogue with Vietnam. The 14th annual human rights dialogue between Australia and China took place in Canberra in July last year. Last month I was pleased to congratulate eminent Australian jurist Michael Kirby on his appointment as chair of the UN commission of inquiry to investigate human rights violations in North Korea—an inquiry we actively sought and persuaded others to support. With a Pacific Islands forum we are working to protect the rights of women through a 10-year $320 million initiative on domestic violence, economic empowerment and political participation. We are working to strengthen human rights institutions from Myanmar to Afghanistan. (Time expired)

Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister inform the Senate of how Australia's aid program is supporting human rights priorities?

Bob Carr (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are striving to tackle the root causes of human rights programs, such as poverty and instability, through our aid program. Next year Australia's aid budget—

Senator Milne interjecting —

I welcome all the support from Senator Milne; I thank her for those supportive noises. Next year Australia's aid budget will be $5.7 billion, up by more than $2.5 billion since 2007. Australian aid directly funds practical human rights initiatives.

Senator Brandis interjecting—

And I thank Senator Brandis for his support. Excitement ripples through their benches as we talk about human rights; they cannot contain themselves, and neither can the Greens. By 2015-16 our aid will have supported 40,000 women survivors of violence and helped train attendance at more than one million births. We are helping over 100 organisations pursue this agenda. By 2015-16 we will be providing education for half a million boys and girls. (Time expired)

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask that all further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.