Richard Di Natale Victoria, Australian Greens
3:49 pm
I ask that general business notice of motion No. 1059, standing in my name for today, relating to Uyghurs in China, be taken as a formal motion.
Scott Ryan President
Is there any objection to the motion be taken as formal?
Anne Ruston SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific
Yes.
Richard Di Natale Victoria, Australian Greens
In lieu of suspending standing orders, I seek leave to make a one-minute statement.
Richard Di Natale Victoria, Australian Greens
Yet again we see members of the government blocking the will of the Senate. They see a motion it doesn't like and deny formality yet again.
Like many Australians, the Greens are appalled by the reports of the persecution of the Uyghur people in China. We are seeing images of mass internment camps where more than one million people are reportedly imprisoned. We have seen pictures of surveillance devices tracking ordinary citizens' everyday movements. We've heard Uyghur Muslims have been banned from going to mosque and from praying. We're also hearing reports that mosques are being destroyed.
Thus far, the Morrison government has meekly asked our consular officials to raise concerns behind closed doors, but that is no longer good enough. We must call out publicly these human rights abuses, and we must use our position on the Human Rights Council to advocate for the protection of the human rights of the Uyghur people in China.
Anne Ruston SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific
3:50 pm
I seek leave to make a short statement.
Anne Ruston SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific
In line with the government's longstanding view, motions that cannot be debated or amended should not deal with complex foreign affairs matters. The government is concerned about the situation in China and the use of detention facilities. Officials have raised these concerns with China on numerous occasions, including on 11 September in a national statement at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. We will continue to seek opportunities to express our concerns.