Senate debates

Monday, 18 June 2018

Motions

Bangladesh

4:33 pm

Photo of Lee RhiannonLee Rhiannon (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) this year marks the 50th anniversary of the one of world's worst mass industrial manslaughter incidents in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which resulted in the deaths of 1,133 garment workers and more than 2,500 injuries, when their factory collapsed,

  (ii) most of the victims of this tragedy were women,

  (iii) a March 2018 UNICEF report on child marriage in Bangladesh notes that 22 per cent of young people under 15 years of age are married and 59 per cent of young people under the age of 18 years are married, and

  (iv) a 2017 Human Rights Watch report notes that the Bangladeshi Government has continued to push for the weakening of the law on child marriage; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

  (i) work with stakeholders to ensure Australian companies abide by the 2018 Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, and

  (ii) continue to advocate for the prevention and elimination of child marriages in accordance with United Nations Human Rights Council resolutions.

Question agreed to.