Speech to the Legislative Council 23rd November 2011

I draw the attention of members to the plight of the people of West Papua, a people who live a mere 250 kilometres from our northern shore. During the 1950s, with assistance from its Dutch colonial Government and the Australian Government, West Papua was moving towards independence. By 1961 the colony had its own flag, the Morning Star, and Papuan government officials. However, in 1962 conflict erupted over West Papua between the Netherlands and Indonesia, and a United Nations agreement gave control of the colony to Indonesia for six years. This was to be followed by a referendum to determine the views of the population.

But in 1969 the so-called Act of Free Choice, in which the Indonesian Government used the procedure of musyawarah—where only elders selected by the Government were allowed to vote—returned West Papua to Indonesia. Given that only about 1,000 out of one million were selected as elders, it was no surprise that they voted to remain under Indonesian control. A briefing by Free West Papua Campaign (United Kingdom) to the International Parliamentarians for West Papua stated that since 1963 at least 100,000 West Papuans have died at the hands of the Indonesian occupying forces, representing approximately 10 per cent of the population. Countless others have been tortured, raped, intimidated and imprisoned.

A military build-up in West Papua has continued under Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and a government ban on journalists travelling to West Papua severely limits the international community’s ability to monitor the scale and impact of human rights abuses. This attack on the human rights of West Papuans reached an appalling low in October this year. The Papuan People’s Congress, the third in 50 years, was held at Jayapura in an isolated province. Its aim was to discuss human rights and the Papuans’ struggle for independence. It attracted several thousand people from some 200 tribes. It also attracted 5,000 armed personnel from the Indonesian police and army. According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, the announcement of independence at the conclusion of the congress was met with gunfire from the security forces. A reported six people were killed and dozens wounded. The newly elected President and Prime Minister were arrested, along with a few hundred more activists who were taken into custody.

Internationally, at least lawyers and others are watching. The International Lawyers for West Papua was launched in Guyana on 3 April 2009 and in the United Kingdom in October this year, bringing together Papuan independent leaders, lawyers, parliamentarians and non-government organisations to assist in the West Papuans’ fight for self-determination. Parliamentarians from around the world are watching. International Parliamentarians for West Papua was launched at the Houses of Parliament in London on 15 October 2008. The organisation was established by exiled West Papuan independence advocate Benny Wenda, and is chaired by British Labour MP Andrew Smith and Lord Harries. The International Parliamentarians for West Papua’s declaration states:

WE the undersigned recognise the inalienable right of the indigenous people of West Papua to self-determination, which was violated in the 1969 “Act of Free Choice”, AND call upon our governments through the United Nations to put in place arrangements for the free exercise of that right SO that the indigenous people of West Papua can decide democratically their own future in accordance with international standards of human rights, the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.

I recently joined the International Parliamentarians for West Papua. The Australian Government funds and trains the Indonesian counter-terrorism squad known as Densus 88, reportedly part of the contingent of troops who opened fire on the independence congress. I support calls by my Federal colleague Senator Richard di Natale for the Australian Government to immediately suspend all support to the Indonesian military and to send a fact-finding mission to the region. The Australian Government cannot sit on its hands any longer on this issue. The importance of the notorious Freeport mine—the most valuable mining operation in the world—cannot be underestimated in all of this. Jim Elmslie wrote for New Matilda today that the mine was imposed on the Arnungme people against their will and has been dominant in the political economy of West Papua ever since.

The mine is currently crippled and weakened by violent strikes, where tribesmen have now joined the strikers and successfully fought back police attempts to break through. The tribesmen were drawn in by the strike and, armed with spears and arrows, have been expressing their own grievances over land rights, pollution and lack of compensation from the mine. Herman Wainggai is a Papuan who lives in Australia as a political refugee; he has a key role in the West Papuan National Authority that acts as a transitional government. He puts his faith in the West Papuan National Authority to end 50 years of repression and violence at the hands of the Indonesians. He likens the West Papuan National Authority to a canoe carrying different tribes united by nationalism to be one people, one soul and one nation. He looks to countries like Australia to hear the Papuan cry for help. I look to my fellow members of Parliament from all political backgrounds to come together to show that we hear those cries and that our backs are not turned on our nearest neighbours. I ask members to support the formation of a West Papua Parliamentary Friendship Group, which will first meet when Parliament resumes next year.