In the Senate Chamber

Fresh from their recent visit to Dharamsala, members of the Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet are working hard to keep the Tibet issue alive in the Federal Parliament. Last week Sarah Hanson-Young, Greens Senator for South Australia, spoke in the Senate on her experience in Dharamsala, concluding with a rousing call for Australia to stand up for the voiceless in Tibet.

“It is time for our government, for our Prime Minister, for our parliament to open the doors to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and say, ‘Yes, we stand with you.’ This is about justice and human rights; it is not just about politics. This is about doing what is right and using the opportunities that we have. Here in Australia we have an amazing opportunity because we are able to speak freely and stand strong. We need to help others do the same.”

Read Senator Hanson-Young’s full speech
Read more reflections from the parliamentarians on their visit to Dharamsala

Yesterday Senators Sarah Hanson-Young and Independent Nick Xenophon, backed by Senator Bob Brown, attempted to set an important precedent by moving that the Dalai Lama be invited to sit in the Senate’s distinguished visitors’ gallery during his visit to Australia later this year - an honor usually reserved for visiting parliamentarians or recognized heads of state. The Senators noted that the Dalai Lama has previously addressed both the European Parliament (twice) and a joint sitting of the US Congress. The motion was defeated. Media Release from Senator Hanson-Young

Also yesterday (20 August 2009) Senator Scott Ludlam, Greens Senator for Western Australia and another member of the recent delegation to Dharamsala, moved that the Tibet issue be the subject of a full enquiry by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade. The motion was postponed to 7 September.

A New Phase in Australia-China Relations?
Last week I was privileged to attend a special screening in Parliament House of “10 Conditions of Love” - the film at the centre of the media frenzy surrounding Rebiya Kadeer’s visit to Australia. Ms. Kadeer and her able translator Alim Seytoff also addressed a packed house at the National Press Club and met several Federal MPs and Senators to brief them on recent events in Urumqi and the continuing oppression of the Uyghur people.

Predictably, Rebiya Kadeer’s hugely successful visit to our shores prompted outrage from Beijing officials, with opposition MPs including Malcolm Turnbull accusing the Rudd Government of catastrophically mismanaging relations with China. Nonetheless, Australia has this week signed its biggest ever export deal with China - $50bn worth of natural gas from WA’s proposed Gorgon development.

Has Australia’s relationship with China really taken a blow or is it in fact maturing in a way that we as Tibet supporters should see as positive? Is it becoming more akin to that of the US, which has for many years been outspoken on Tibet while maintaining strong economic ties? The $50bn Gorgon deal, the latest twist in the recent storm over Australia-China relations, certainly casts doubt on the familiar argument that Australia risks damaging lucrative economic ties with China by pushing the Communist Party on human rights.

For all its fiery rhetoric and diplomatic rage over Rebiya Kadeer, China will continue to pursue deeper economic ties with Australia. As Rowan Callick and other senior journalists have pointed out, the Party’s fragile legitimacy at home is built upon successive decades of economic growth and in delivering material improvements to the lives of many among the Han majority. That legitimacy depends upon continued growth, which is impossible without key economic partners including the US and Australia.

While few would deny that the events of the last two months have put strains on our complex relationship with Beijing, what we will hopefully finally accept is that we can, indeed we must, press the Communist Party on human rights issues, including Tibet, without fear of significant repercussions for Australia. It is not a case of having to choose between human rights and trade. As the Australia Tibet Council has long argued, Australia’s robust economic relationship with China means we are exceptionally well placed to promote human rights in China and a peaceful resolution of the Tibetan situation.

The next few months will be a key test for Australia on Tibet. With the Dalai Lama arriving in Australia in a little over three months and with high expectations that he will meet with US President Barack Obama in October, senior political commentators are already asking the inevitable question… Will our own Kevin Rudd hold firm and meet the Dalai Lama this time?

Links
Rowan Callick - “Perverse Rising Superpower” - Lecture at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, 12 August 2009 (Mp3 audio)

Peter Hartcher - “Dragon is Cross, But It’s Business as Usual”, Sydney Morning Herald, 19 August 2009

Rowan Callick - “Dalai Lama’s Visit to Pose Another Curly Problem for Rudd”, The Australian, 21 August 2009