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5-AUG-99:PARLIAMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRA (r)



Subject: 5-AUG-99:PARLIAMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA--EXTRACT FROM HANDSARD

POSTED 7-AUG-99, 6:00AM

EXTRACT FROM HANSARD
PARLIAMENT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
5 AUGUST 1999
[MOTION: By Hon Bob Such(Fisher), SECONDED: HOn Kris Hanna(MItchell)]

BURMA

The Hon.R.B. SUCH(Fisher): I move:
"that this HOuse urges the Federal Government to pursue all means at its
disposal to help bring about democracy in Burma."

I am pleased to move this motion. I currently chair the parliamentary
branch of Amnesty International but, apart from that, I have a strong
commitment, as I am sure do my colleagues in this Chamber, for the cause
of democracy wherever it may be under threat. Members can appreciate
that where democracy is denied to a group of people then that diminishes
us all. Some people say, 'Well, why should we concern ourselves with
Burma?'--or Myanmar, as other people call it. The fact is, as with the
issue of Cyprus that was raised in this Chamber recently, we do live in
a world where we cannot be isolated or insulated from other events.

Whilst we do belong in a FEderal system for which the Commonwealth
Government has responsibility for international relations overall, that
does not deny us the opportunity and the right to raise an issue of
concern and promote the cause of justice, I point out that, on behalf of
the parliamentary group of Amnesty International, I did write to the
Hon. Alexander Downer on this issue. I received a supportive letter in
response, and I commend the Minister for that and what he is trying to
do.

Burma has a population of 45 million people and a land mass
approximately the same size as South Australia. As members would
appreciate, Burma was once a British colony and gained its independence,
along with many other countries, in 1948. However, unfortunately, since
1962 the country has been ruled by military dictatorship in one form or
another. After the Burmese military government cracked down on a
nationwide uprising in 1988, a multiparty general election was held on
27 May 1990.

The National League for Democracy(NLD), Burma's leading political Party,
won over 80 per cent, or 392 seats out of 485, in that general election.

However, the military Government of Burma refused to hand over power to
the winning Party, the NLD, and the elected representatives were not
allowed to convene Parliament. Throughout the period after the general
election of May 1990, the Government has continued to oppress elected
members of Parliament, and since that time many of these people have
been detained, some have been sent into exile and others have died in
prison.

Members may be aware of the name Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the General
Secretary of the NLD and the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. She was
the co-founder of the NLD in 1988. Suu was detained in 1989 by the
Burmese military Government and released in 1995. Although she and other
prominent members of the NLD were detained during the election period,
their Party(NLD) won a landslide victory in the election of 1990. After
many years of military Government oppression and intimidation, only
about 300 MPs were active in 1998. Concerned at the lack of progress
towards democratisation in Burma, the 251 MPs at the NLD Party general
meeting in May 1998 decided to convene a Parliament before August that
year. HOwever, the Burmese Government detained 160 MPs in so-called
Government guest houses and arrested more than 1,000 NLD Party members
and supporters.

During the general meeting of May 1998 the NLD leadership was given the
mandate to act on behalf of the elected representatives. In September of
that year the NLD leadership, with the support of four other ethnic
political Parties, formed the Committee Representing the People's
Parliament (CRPP). The CRPP therefore has the support of 251 surviving
members of Parliament and is mandated to act on behalf of the Parliament
elected in May 1990. Since the formation of the Committee Representing
the People's Parliament, the military Government of Burma has renewed
its crackdown on the Opposition. Thousands of NLD member supporters,
including elected members of Parliament, have been detained.

The military Government staged mass rallies across the country to
denounce the NLD Party, and to deport Aung San Suu Kyi, to the
consternation not only of people within Burma but also clearly of people
outside the country. The military authorities summoned ordinary people
to come to those public rallies and forced the people to sign statements
withdrawing their support for the elected MPs. We know that the Burmese
military intelligence also pressured and continue to pressure elected
representatives under their detention, and only those who resign from
the NLD or from their position as an MP have been released.

That brief outline puts the issue in context and should remind us all of
the importance of democracy, something that too many in our society
treat lightly and take for granted. We would regard it as an abomination
if we were in that situation. Without labouring the point for too long,
I commend this motion to the House and urge members to support it, and
would encourage the Federal Government to pursue this matter. I believe
it is a bipartisan issue and, as I said at the start, where other people
are denied their democratic rights the totality of humanity is

diminished. Accordingly, I invite support from members for this motion.

MR. HANNA(MITCHELL): I fully support the motion moved by the member for
Fisher. I am pleased to see members of this Chamber taking an interest
in international affairs and matters of social justice in other
countries. The important thing before I get onto Burma specifically is
to bear in mind that issues of social justice and democracy, which the
honourable member raises in relation to Burma, are really some of the
problems that we face in our own backyard, albeit very large and in a
much more tragic way in Burma as it is in many other countries.

When we talk about human rights being infringed, about freedom of
association being crushed and so on, there is legislation of this very
Government that purports to go a step down that road. I do not mean to
belittle the terrible situation under the SLORC dictatorship in Burma,
but every time this Government tries to break down the rights of workers
here in this country, tries to take away rights of workers'
compensation, tries to diminish the rights of unions, it is taking a
step towards the kind lifestyle to which people are subjected at the
hands of a narrowly confined military Government in Burma.

There is no doubt about the injustice of the situation in Burma. It is
one of the most clear-cut cases of democracy being subverted in the
world today. As the member for Fisher rightly pointed out, there was
duly held election at which one particular democratic Party won 80 per
cent or so of the votes, and that Party was then kicked out and trampled
on by the military. The members o that Government, the one who hold the
guns and the power in that country, are raping and looting it. It is a
good example of power being concentrated too much in the hands of a few.
It is absolute power. The way that the Burmese military are soaking up
the capital both within that country and from other countries is
unashamedly greedy and I could even say evil, because in the course of
amassing their own personal fortunes they are happy to be involved in
perpetuating slavery and torture. It goes as far as that.

I know that the member for Fisher is very involved in Amnesty and he
would have plenty of details about those sort of activities in that
country. I have seen photographs, for example, of young children being
forced to work in heavy labour, clearing roads and so on, for industrial
and commercial purposes, for projects which are purely going to benefit
the members of the military Government. Children in these situations are
sometimes forced to live apart from their parents and are given little
more than a bowl of rice a day to eat. It is a disgraceful regime. It is
an affront to democracy, and it offends our sense of social justice.

In closing, I would like to refer back to some of the comments I made
about the situation in Cyprus just a short time ago in this place.
Cyprus is another example where similar sorts of injustices have been
perpetrated over last 20 or 30 years, certainly since the turkish
invasion of cyprus in 1974. There are many other trouble spots, and I am
very glad that the member for fisher has brought to our attention today

the problems in an Asian country. Sometimes I feel that there is an
element of hidden racism in the way we think about these international
problems.
-- 

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