Page 2809 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 21 October 1992
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MR STEVENSON: Mr Connolly talks about the Zulus being involved in tribal violence. Year after year after year, they tried not to retaliate to the ANC tactics, supported by this Government in Australia, when they gave money to the ANC. Finally, they started to retaliate. That has been picked up by the media - talk about selective quoting - who totally misrepresent the true situation. It is a sad case indeed. We hear about 60 Minutes and their misrepresentation. They have done it again, because in the past they have supported the ANC in their shows.
Where do human rights violations start? Where does the suppression of a people start? It often starts in countries that are not known to be dictatorships, that are not known to be involved in the murder of their citizens and in vast human rights abrogations. The countries that do these things start by ignoring the will of the people. They take no notice of what the people want. People gain control of governments that should not have the title of "government". They are funded by powerful organisations, which may include international business organisations. They start by ignoring the will of the people. They implement crushing economic burdens on the populations. They implement law after law after law that continually reduces the right to freedom of expression, in exactly the same way as certain parts of the Discrimination Act that was passed in this Assembly last year do.
Those particular sections could well have been overturned by a High Court that said that Australians do have the right of freedom of expression. I know that that was a blow to those who said that we have no right to advertise a political message in the electronic media. I know that that was a blow to the Federal Labor Party, which wanted to prevent that. It was not just during the pre-election time that they wanted to prevent that; the initial proposal was for the full year, although some people do not know that. What a total abrogation of responsibility! Where does it say in the Constitution that individuals can arrogate to themselves the right to tell others in Australia that they have no right of freedom of expression?
You wonder where human rights violations start. Look to our own country. Read the Bill of Rights that was kicked out by the people in Australia but was supported by the Labor Party. Read the actions referred to in the Bill of Rights. This is the Bill of Rights that was taken from the United Nations. This is the same Bill of Rights as in the Soviet Union. Most of the clauses are the same. It is interesting to look at some of the United Nations treaties and bills of rights. Often what they say is that a person has a right to do something, and at the end they commonly use the term "except in accordance with law". So, it is usual that they do not talk about inalienable rights; they talk about rights that can be given by those people that control governments and taken away by those people that control governments. Let us look at who introduced most of the United Nations treaties and, indeed, the United Nations itself. Those influential in drafting these human rights treaties made up the greatest cabal of political and tyrannical governments you would ever want to know.
I now move:
Omit paragraphs (3) and (4) (second occurring).
I support the action of anybody standing up for people's rights, but not by usurping the sovereign rights of countries. What happens when that is done we find in history.
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