Australia expected to voice Pacific concerns on rights council

Transcript

JONNY KOANAPO: They have done quite a bit of lobbying over the past years to secure the numbers for the membership. So I think it's significantly important for Australia to be there. There's also the obligation that the Australian representative on the human rights council needs to also take on board the views and different perspectives on human rights issues that have been raised by the Pacific Island countries.

JOHNNY BLADES: Is Australia receptive when the Vanuatu government brings up issues of human rights?

JK: I think broadly the Australian government is very strong on human rights, and I think it's very important for the governments of the pacific - including Australia and New Zealand - to maintain that kind of position, especially when it comes to human rights. I think sometimes it's very clear that the positions that governments take in the Pacific often become fairly selective, when it comes to the issues of indigenous rights, but other indigenes in the Pacific including the issues of West Papua. When it comes to talking about the indigenous rights of people in the broader Pacific, I don't think Australia is doing enough to address those issues. It becomes quite inconsistent on the type of policies that they advocate, and I think that it's better to maintain consistency when it comes to addressing human rights.

JB: How do you feel Australia's human rights record stands up in the Pacific region itself, looking at Manus or Nauru where their offshore processing of refugees has been controversial to say the least?

JK: I will not comment on that because that's their own issue. But for the issue of West Papua which has appeared on the agenda of the Pacific islands forum for maybe the last two consecutive years, the wording is very soft. It's not as if it is urgent. But given the reality of what's happening in West Papua, it is very urgent, it is very serious, and yet it is not being addressed in the way it should be. So we are hopeful that the membership of the Australian government, or the Australian people, at the Human Rights Council will be an opportunity that Australia will use to explore the allegations that the indigenous peoples of West Papua are facing a sort of cultural genocide, they are being marginalised, they're not being given an opportunity to fully participate in their political and civil rights, all these things. These things need to be addressed and I'm hopeful that Australia will also be able to raise those issues, and it is the expectation of the Vanuatu people. It is the expectation of the government as well.