Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to highlight that this afternoon here in Parliament House I joined a Tibetan delegation of former political prisoners, youth activists and community leaders to discuss the human rights situation in Tibet. In particular, they raised with me the effect of China's policies on Tibetan nomads and the environment. Their stories were both confronting and sad. But they inspired the need to demand a peaceful solution that provides freedom for Tibet and Tibetan people.

I am deeply passionate about the pursuit of human rights as well as environmental preservation for the people of Tibet. The Tibetan plateau is an area so precious and unique it is widely known as the earth's 'third pole'. As the world's largest and highest plateau, with an average height of 4,500 metres above sea level, it is a place of truly special and unique biodiversity. It is the primary habitat of some of the world's rarest wildlife such as the Tibetan antelope and snow leopard, as well as more than 5,000 plant species. And, of course, it features some of the world's highest and most spectacular mountains—including Everest, which it shares with Nepal.

But one precious natural feature makes the Tibet an p lateau truly remarkable and truly fragile. That feature is water. The Tibetan p lateau houses the largest reserve of accessible fresh water outside of the North Pole and the South Pole. It i s the source of the e arth's eight largest river systems — including the Yangtze, the Mekong and the Ganges — and helps provide fresh water for the world's 10 most densely populated nations. Yet this is all under threat. The International Campaign for Tibet has recently released a detail report titled Blue Gold from the Highest Plateau: Tibet's Water and Global Climate Change . It highlights the incredible environmental significance of Tibet. To quote the report:

Tibet is a climate change epicenter that is warming nearly three times as fast as the rest of the earth. Its glaciers are melting, and its permafrost disappearing. And instead of seeking to protect this fragile high altitude ecosystem and address the significant challenges it faces, China's policies are reshaping the Tibetan landscape with devastating consequences.

Among those destructive policies, the report cites state owned Chinese consortiums building major dams on the rivers running off the plateau. It details plans for a massive water diversion scheme to transfer water to drought ridden areas of northern China. The report attributes record levels of Tibetan water pollution to increased Chinese mining activities and the systematic displacement of nomadic Tibetan pastoralists from their land under the ironic pretence of 'environmental protection'.

I was pleased to endorse a similar report commissioned last year by the Australia Tibet Council called Tibet: An Environmental Challenge. That report makes clear Tibet's importance to the region and Australia in geopolitical, strategic and environmental terms.

Because of climate change, environmental degradation, economic exploitation and the displacement of nomads, whose history in Tibet is some 4,000 years old, there has never been a more important time to stand up for the people and environment of Tibet. Tibetan nomads are people who have worked the land in environmental harmony for generations and whose livelihoods depend on continuing to do so. Their management and stewardship of the local environment is vital for protecting and sustaining it. Yet this destruction of their culture and way of life is forcing Tibetan nomads into ghettos. To quote His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

This blue planet is our only home and Tibet is its roof. The Tibetan plateau needs to be protected, not just for Tibetans but for the environmental health and sustainability of the entire world.

As a world community, we must do more to highlight both the social and ecological plight of Tibet. That is why in desperation the International Campaign for Tibet calls on the nations of the world to directly challenge China's economic and environmental policies regarding Tibet.

I am proud that our parliament in the other place passed a joint motion yesterday regarding concern for Tibetan nomads, the significance of the Tibetan plateau and Tibetans having a say over the decisions that affect their land and livelihoods. I was incredibly moved by the young Tibetans I met today. I share their pain and frustrations. I stand with them for a free Tibet.