Page 2805 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 21 October 1992
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Madam Speaker, during the 1970s I had the fortunate experience of meeting Eddie Funde, who was the ANC representative in Australia, and also Maxwell Nemadzivhanani, who was the representative of the Pan Africanist Congress in Australia and who then went on to represent the PAC in an unofficial delegation to the United Nations. Both of those gentlemen travelled extensively throughout Africa. It is a tribute to their commitment to human rights in Africa - all of Africa - that both of those gentlemen now are regarded as very valuable citizens of the emerging new South Africa. But it is only an emerging new South Africa as Uganda is only an emerging new Uganda.
It is my greatest and fondest hope that, through support of motions such as this, we can say to the Government of Uganda, "Look, you should be holding democratic elections. Yes, 1995 is only two years away; but your country is a long way from true democracy, as South Africa is still a long way from proper democracy". We should not allow some very small movements against the totality of the oppression existing in those countries to lull us into a false sense of security. We should not allow the fact that Nelson Mandela, as an example, has been released from gaol to lull us into a false sense of security that the institutionalised apartheid in South Africa has gone. It has not. When you get rid of your institutionalised apartheid, you still have your economic apartheid. That is just as sinful as the first one.
Again as I said in my opening remarks, it is incumbent upon all of us to ensure that, while we talk about Uganda and the other African countries today, we look at ourselves because within our own country there is still a great deal of work to do. I certainly hope that Amnesty is successful in speeding up the reform process in Uganda with the support of this chamber and the staff of this Assembly and with the support of other parliaments throughout Australia. I believe that it is a matter upon which there should be unanimity when the vote is taken. The vote should be 17-nil. The issues are so significant that petty political differences which at times cause us to hold different views in this chamber should quite clearly be put aside as this motion is being considered. We are representing the people of the ACT. I believe that the motion before us today is one on which there is unanimity within the population of the ACT, and this Assembly should be able to demonstrate that.
MS ELLIS (11.12): Madam Speaker, we have probably overlooked Uganda since the departure of Idi Amin. It is with some sadness that I can look back and recall during the reign of Idi Amin a fairly pathetic attitude by some members of the Western community in particular. I can recall seeing comedians stand up on television and do comedy roles depicting funny lines attributed to Idi Amin. It is only now that, thank heavens, we have matured somewhat in global terms and are coming to grips with the horrific reality of people such as Idi Amin. But, as I said at the outset, unfortunately we may have sat back in a cocoon of security knowing that he had gone and believing that the problems had gone with him. We know that that is not true.
Thank heavens we have come a long way since then, but obviously we have not come far enough. We in Australia are generally very fortunate. We do not live in a world of constant fear about what the next day may bring to us or our families. The frustration that I personally feel is the need that organisations such as Amnesty have and that each of us as individuals has to bring the spotlight of
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