Page 678 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 20 May 1992
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Thailand : Aidex
MR BERRY (Minister for Health, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Sport) (4.42), in reply: Madam Speaker, I rise to speak on an issue that has rated the front pages in the last couple of days. I refer to the current unrest in Bangkok, the Thai capital.
Mr De Domenico: I thought it was Graham Richardson.
MR BERRY: They think this is funny. This is something that would be of great concern to all sound-thinking Australians and it would be of great concern to any Thai residents in this country; so I think it is appropriate that this Assembly make mention of it.
It is with great concern that I have read and seen reports on television of the massacre of students in Bangkok. I am sure that members in this Assembly would wholeheartedly condemn the outrageous use of force by the Thai military. In Thailand, as in many countries around the world, citizens do not have the same basic rights that Australians take for granted. While watching the images of massacre, I was reminded of a debate in Canberra that received national coverage. I am, of course, speaking of Aidex, the defence exhibition held at Natex in November last year.
Last year in the Assembly the Labor members clearly stated that we do not support this type of event. I also remember that members on the opposite side of the house supported the exhibition. Now the results of such an event and the subsequent sales are being felt by the students in Bangkok. One of the many arguments against Aidex is the fact that the companies exhibiting weapons export them to Third World countries where they are used against the people.
Australian companies are involved in the sale of weapons to Thailand. Thailand is Australia's thirteenth largest importer of defence equipment. In 1989-90 the Federal Government approved $715,630 in exports to Thailand. In 1989-90 Olin exported shotshell cartridges to Thailand, which might be very useful equipment for dispersing demonstrators. IBM sold encryptographic equipment, and Australian Defence Industries exported Bofors 40/60 anti-aircraft guns.
Madam Speaker, unfortunately, it appears that major massacres in neighbouring countries are becoming annual events. This is in addition to the daily killings, the abuse of human rights and the waste of resources that ensures that the poverty cycle continues. This will not stop while the armed forces use up large chunks of the countries' resources. What is happening in Thailand is unacceptable. It clearly vindicates Labor's position that the ACT must play no part in aiding those whose business it is to sell weapons of destruction.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Assembly adjourned at 4.46 pm
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