Sunshine Coast Hinterland Times

Peter Slipper has been committed to the defence of human rights throughout his time in federal parliament. In a frank interview with Hinterland Times editor Michael Berry, Peter speaks about his recent trip to Daramsala to visit His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to meet Tibetan people in exile.

HT: You speak very passionately about Tibet. How long have you been concerned?
I first became interested in the Tibet issue in 1993 when I spoke in the House against Chinese atrocities. In fact His Holiness wrote me a letter of thanks for that particular speech and I have had it framed on my wall at Parliament House.
HT: You have met the Dalai Lama before. How did he respond to your recent visit?
What I was really moved by, almost to tears, was that His Holiness came straight up to me, shook my hand and said it was really good to meet a long time friend again.
I’m a Christian, but if I wasn’t, I could understand becoming a Buddhist. His Holiness the Dalai Lama doesn’t try to convert you. In fact he is an ecumenical kind of person. I admire Buddhists, and I admire their peacefulness. I admire the Indians too because for 50 years, at great cost to their relationship with China, they have provided hospitality to the Tibetans. And of course, there’s a great sense of peace and holiness surrounding the Dalai Lama.
HT: You went with an all-party parliamentary delegation to Daramsala, what was the purpose?
We wanted to highlight the human rights situation in Tibet, and the Chinese Embassy predictably came out and accused us of all kinds of activities, of interfering with the internal affairs of China.
Apart from an audience with the Dalai Lama, we had a very busy program and met members of the Tibetan parliament in exile, Nechung Monastery, Tibetan children’s village school, Tibetan chamber of commerce, Institute of Tibetan arts and crafts.
The visit was also to see how the Tibetans, under great adversity, are able to maintain their culture. You have families still smuggling children out of Tibet who are being looked after by the Tibetan children’s villages. We also went to a reception centre for new arrivals, and met people who had been shot by the Chinese.
HT: All Australian political parties seem to be united in their opposition to China’s occupation of Tibet. There is a problem though isn’t there, in that Australia relies so heavily on China for its own strong economy?
Unfortunately, the major political parties do not currently recognise the independence of Tibet.
Because of the importance of trade with China to our economy, and the jobs that creates, successive Australian governments have tended to subjugate issues like human rights. While Australia does have a human rights dialogue, ultimately we don’t focus as much as we should on the shocking human rights abuses in Tibet, which is clearly a country under occupation.
It’s interesting that the Australian Government gives something like $42 million to the Palestinians, who have a very poor level of governance. Whereas, what impressed me about the Tibetans was their fully functioning government, and they don’t get a cent from the United Nations. They have a high level of governance and, they are completely honest, and incredibly for a government in exile, they even have an electoral commission.
There is no doubt there is a form of ethnic cleansing under way in Tibet. It’s like the Indonesians transmigrating muslim people into Timor and undermining the Christian majority. Similarly, in Tibet, there’s a very real risk that Tibetan Buddhists will become a minority in their own land.
HT: So, did the Dalai Lama ask your delegation to specifically help the Tibetan people in exile ?
His Holiness doesn’t specifically ask anyone to do anything, except generally to get their message out to the world on the situation in Tibet. The Chinese keep calling him a ‘splittest’ – someone who’s splitting the motherland. Of course, he has not pushed to regain independence for Tibet, but rather taken the middle way which is genuine autonomy.
However, at the end of our trip the delegation met to see how we could move this forward, and we have decided to invite His Holiness when he visits Australia next year, hopefully to attend an official parliamentary reception and sit in a place of honour in the Senate Chamber. We want to meet with the Chinese ambassador and raise specific political prisoner cases. We also want some Australian Tibetans to visit the Tibetan children’s summer school, and we would like the opportunity for some Tibetan refugees in India to study at Australian universities.
HT: I guess the Chinese government is not particularly pleased with your outspoken comments?
I might not get another visa to China again, but I think the Tibetan situation is a particularly extreme case of human rights abuse. As for the future, His Holiness told us he plans to outlive Chinese communism, but one would hope that China will change and Tibet regains its freedom.