20 September 2011
ATC’s Communications & Government Relations Manager Tsering Kyinzom Dhongdue

This week as I complete the first year in my campaigning role at Australia Tibet Council, I would like to make a few observations on the movement we’re building together in Australia. While we are constantly taking positive action together - for instance by bringing a record number of parliamentarians to meet the Dalai Lama, we are working in a challenging political environment. Critical issues such as Tibet have been forced too far down the agenda and politicians are too easily unnerved by an ever more assertive China. And while we join in the celebrations of the exile Tibetans’ milestone of electing a new political leader, we also face a deluge of sad news from Tibet.

In a year, perversely celebrated by China as the 60th anniversary of its ‘peaceful liberation’ of Tibet, two young monks burnt themselves to death in their last political act. Such conflicting realities leave me with a few sobering thoughts.

Meeting a number of politicians during my lobbying trips to Canberra has brought home the scale and scope of the task ahead of us. There is little surprise that China actively leverages its strong trade ties to avoid criticism from Australia on the situation in Tibet. Consequently and disturbingly, many of our leaders place Tibet in the too hard basket and develop a disproportionate sense of economic dependence on China. However, let me also assure you that we have a small, dedicated group of supporters in the Parliament. With your support, we can make this group bigger and turn the tide for Tibet in Canberra.

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter today and stay tuned for regular news. We will have new campaigns in the coming months to advance the Tibet issue in Australia.

1. A record number of MPs and Senators met the Dalai Lama in Parliament House on 14 June
Thanks to your phone calls and emails, a phenomenal 90 MPs and Senators met the Dalai Lama this June to discuss Tibetan human rights and democracy. The House of Representatives welcomed His Holiness to the Special Visitors Gallery and the Senate passed a motion on Tibet.

2. Growth of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet - 5 new members
Following the formation of the new government last August, we contacted all MPs and Senators and invited those who were not in the Parliamentary Group for Tibet to come on board. Five of them accepted our invitation, taking the current membership to 26. We briefed them on the latest situation in Tibet and discussed ways to build political action on Tibet.

3. Hearings by various parliamentary committees
The Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy Lodi Gyari’s visit last month gave our Tibet lobby team a chance to brief the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade on the resolution of the Tibet issue. Similarly, the visit by Tibetan environmentalist Tenzin Norbu in February enabled us to raise our concerns on climate change in Tibet to the House Standing Committee on Climate Change, Environment and the Arts. This month, the ATC team appeared before the Human Rights Sub-Committee to present our report on the Australia China Human Rights Dialogue.

4. The Tibet issue raised in Parliament
We have kept our parliamentarians well-informed on the situation in Tibet whether by face-to-face meetings or monthly briefings. As a result, many of our Parliamentary Group for Tibet members have consistently brought the Tibet issue to the attention of both Houses on a number of occasions through motions and in Senate Estimates.

5. Visit by the Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy Lodi Gyari and environmentalist Tenzin Norbu
We organised successful visits by two important Tibetan advocates - one on the Tibet-China relations and the other on Tibetan environment. The Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy Lodi Gyari, who’s also the chief interlocutor in the Tibet-China dialogue, made a compelling case for Tibet during his meetings with political leaders, academics and the public. Environmentalist Tenzin Norbu raised Tibet’s environmental concerns and pushed the Tibetan plateau’s climate change issue into broader discussions in Australia at meetings in the Parliament and public events in three cities.

6. Launch of Freedom Education Program
With your generous donations, we launched an innovate program to support the education programs of former Tibetan political prisoners and their families in Dharamsala. Our first project in March raised funds to buy new computers for a training school run by Gu Chu Sum to help the former prisoners develop IT skills relevant to a modern workforce.

So what’s ahead?
In the coming months, in our political advocacy we will work towards addressing the dominant political thinking that Australia is so economically dependent on China that it is too great a risk to pursue the subject of Tibet. We will also focus on community engagement through public events and will be launching a new initiative called Tibet Talks, a series of talks and panel discussions in major cities to discuss all things Tibetan. Most importantly, we’ll be making the best use of online technology to make your support for Tibet more effective.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter today.

And please help us in our work by making a donation here.