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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 05 Hansard (Thursday, 13 May 2004) . . Page.. 1907 ..

• Uncertainty about the future. The plan anticipates trouble-free compliance from Turkey over the coming years, but in the absence of strong, unequivocal guarantees that Turkey and its military are committed to the plan and fully intend to implement it. Greek Cypriots do not feel reassured enough to take the bold step of abandoning their state in favour of an uncertain new state of affairs from which there would be no return.

• Restricted return to their own homes. The number of Greek Cypriots who would be allowed to return to their former homes in the north of the island was also reduced in the plan as re-worked by Mr Annan. Again the Greek Cypriots were offended and their trust in the outcome was eroded.

There are other reasons for Greek Cypriot reluctance to accept the plan but I will not go into them here. Suffice it to say that the plan that Mr Annan ended up with was a botched plan that appealed only to one side. It was cobbled together to meet a deadline that would satisfy Mr Annan’s ego and the wishes of many other people, except the Greek Cypriots.

The Greek Cypriots want a fair and workable solution that will endure. They do not want an unbalanced, cobbled-together plan that will fall apart and in the end not produce the desired results.

The failure of this latest referendum cannot be the end of the matter. All parties interested in an equable exit from this impasse must apply themselves more rigorously to finding a solution. They must abide by the Charter of the United Nations and any decisions they make; they must show proper respect for human rights; they must not cause ethnic, cultural and religious divisions to become more prescribed, as they would have become if the Annan plan had been implemented. Instead they should seek a plan that would reduce the ethnic, cultural and religious divisions so as to foster a harmonious society to replace the tense society that has endured for some decades. Then we might see a practical and proper solution.

The president of the Cypriot community, Mrs Georgia Alexandrou, today sent me a statement from the Cyprus Community of Canberra and Districts and the Justice for Cyprus Coordinated Community of the ACT. The statement reads as follows:

The Cypriot people have by an overwhelming majority in a referendum held on 24 April 2004 decided not to endorse the settlement of the Cyprus problem proposed by the United Nations Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan ...

The rejection is not because the Greek Cypriot people do not want a rapprochement and a lasting settlement with their Turkish Cypriot compatriots.

This decision is a rejection of the Annan plan because of its intrinsic deficiencies and problems which make it unworkable.

I have covered why in more detail in my speech, but it is very important that members of this Assembly and the broader community understand the great anxiety that was generated by comments made earlier by the foreign minister, Mr Downer. I am pleased to say that since Mr Downer made those statements not only has the Greek Cypriot community around Australia made strong representations to the Prime Minister’s office

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