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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 9 Hansard (7 September) . . Page.. 3055 ..

Regardless of one's views on abortion, Mr Speaker, I think everyone in this place would find it reprehensible that someone would be forced to have an abortion. There is quote after quote, story after story, in this material, Mr Speaker, which I encourage members to look at.

Female infanticide is another offshoot of China's one-child policy. Here is an eyewitness report, Mr Speaker. It is under the heading "The Shame of China: girl children abandoned to die of neglect". With the one child policy, obviously families in China want to have a boy and often young baby girls are abandoned. Here is a chilling account, Mr Speaker, of the abandonment and death by dehydration and starvation of baby girls in a Chinese orphanage. This is the government we are going to sign a sister city relationship with in a week, and it is too late to stop it. I hope Mr Stanhope is listening. Next door in another room, the dying room, in one bed there were four baby girls. I cannot read it, Mr Speaker. I will just table that. Read that, Mr Stanhope. I seek leave to also table Amnesty International's Annual Report 2000, Mr Speaker.

Leave granted.

MR OSBORNE: I table the following papers:

Mr Speaker, we have learnt much today already about China's appalling record on the most basic human rights that any individual can expect from their government. What can we now learn from the major parties as they respond to the truths that we have heard? The Liberals are indeed content to set aside the issue of human rights to pursue the commercial gain. To some extent this is not much of a surprise, although it is nonetheless a great disappointment. The government today have made no bones about the fact that there is money to be made from a sister city relationship and they have put the blinkers on, as is the way with the Liberals in this country. It is no secret that the Liberals historically have had little to offer the downtrodden.

Mr Speaker, the big surprise for me is to see the Labor Party abandon their principles and good sense in favour of hard currency. When did the ALP replace the very core of their being and become such ardent capitalists? I have been amused today to hear Labor's pathetic excuses as to why they support this motion. We heard Mr Stanhope speak for 28 minutes, and it was not until the last two or three minutes that we heard that it was all too late. It was all too late to stop. That was my interpretation. Mr Kaine nods to me over there, Mr Speaker. Labor's pathetic excuses as they support this motion have been disgraceful.

In the 1960s the world finally became angered with the policy of apartheid and decided to do something about it. What was done? Did the majority of nations around the world form alliances with South Africa and seek to increase trade? Rather, they sent the strongest possible message that until apartheid no longer officially existed our contact with them would be minimal. The majority of Australians were happy to go along with

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