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Hansard Reference : 01 June 1999, Page reference
P4624
"I strongly urge this parliament to support the independence
of the Tamil people from the state of Sri Lanka. It is foolishness for us to ignore this
15-year bloody conflict that sees no end in sight because the Tamil and Sinhalese people
cannot peacefully coexist under one government. Our immediate regional history has shown
that Sri Lanka is one clear example where the demographic reality requires a separation
of states...."
 Mr
John Murphy, (Federal Member for Lowe) speaking in the Australian House of Representatives
on 1 June 1999 at 10.48 p.m declared:
"I rise tonight to speak about the plight of Tamils in the war-torn country of Sri
Lanka. The Tamil community constitutes one of the most significant cultural entities in my
electorate of Lowe. It is widely acknowledged that the Lowe electorate is the Tamil
'capital' of Australia.
On 4 August 1998, the Sri Lankan government extended its state of emergency to the
whole of the country. This measure was in force in the capital Colombo and in the north
and east of Sri Lanka, where separatists belonging to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
have been waging a bloody struggle for independence.
Today, the civilian Tamil population
continues to be a
target of military operations by the Sri Lankan armed forces. As a consequence,
disappearances,
extrajudicial killings,
rape,
torture,
arbitrary arrest and indefinite detention are
continuing to occur regularly within the Sri Lankan army-occupied regions of the Tamil
homeland. There are more than
825,000 displaced
Tamil civilians living under appalling conditions that include
acute shortages of water, food and medicine. In
the northern Vanni region of the Tamil homeland there is
an embargo of essential food and medicine in
violation of humanitarian law.
At the present time we are hearing so much about the
horror of war in Kosovo. Why are we not hearing about
Sri Lanka's war? Because it is a hidden war due to the
strong ties
between the Sinhalese dominated Sri Lankan government and the major Western powers.
 (Photo alongside: Buddhist
Monk inspects Sri Lanka artillery at the war front in 1998 ) Both
scenarios depict a
racially dominated military
oppressing an ethnic minority. Both have resulted in
massive displacements, sightings of
mass graves and evidence of
genocide. Both situations have resulted in two of the
gravest disasters and crimes against humanity.
Multiple
massacres have occurred in townships in the east and north of Sri Lanka. An attempted
democratic mandate proved
by a 70 per cent
vote by Tamils to separate from Sri Lanka in 1977 has been systematically denied.
I have the greatest respect for the Tamil community. They are perhaps one of the best
organised ethnic communities in Australia. Since I was elected to this House in 1998 I
have received representations from several Tamil organisations and individuals. These and
other associations form an
international network of Tamil
community organisations seeking a peaceful solution to the ongoing bloodshed in Sri
Lanka.
What then is the solution to the 15-year civil war in Sri Lanka? In fulfilment of this
drive towards a peaceful solution, the Tamil community is asking for a
withdrawal of security forces from the occupied Tamil
homeland, a lifting of the embargo on essential food and medicine and a political
solution to the conflict with the Tamil people that would enable the Tamil people to
choose their own political and national status.
The Tamil people call on Australia to
assist
them in their appeal for negotiations to take place under the auspices of a neutral
third party acceptable to the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil leadership under the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
I strongly urge this parliament to support the independence of the Tamil people
from the state of Sri Lanka. It is foolishness for us to ignore this
15-year bloody conflict that sees no end in sight because the Tamil and Sinhalese people
cannot peacefully coexist under one government. Our immediate regional history has shown
that Sri Lanka is one clear example where the demographic reality requires a separation of
states.
The alternative to this course of action is for Australia to participate in the grave
destabilising influence of Sri Lanka melting down into a further 15 years of protracted
civil war that may threaten to further destabilise our immediate region. Like Kosovo, a
political and peaceful solution to the conflict can be achieved only in the absence of
ongoing-armed conflict. The Tamil people cannot negotiate under the auspices of military
oppression.
I call on the Australian government to take urgent action to press the Sri Lankan
government to
(1) withdraw its security forces from the occupied
Tamil
homeland;
(2) lift the
embargo of essential food and
medicine;
(3) seek a political solution to the conflict with the Tamil people that would enable them
to choose their own political and national status; and
(4) recognise the
Tamil right to self-determination
as stipulated in article 1 of the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural
Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states :
All people have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely
determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural
development.
I call for negotiations to take place and to be overseen by a third party acceptable to
the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil leadership, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Australia has an obligation to play a role in bringing about a lasting and plausible peace
for Sri Lanka and the achievement of a peaceful Tamil homeland-a dream shared by the
million Tamils world-wide." |
