Dr SOUTHCOTT(1.26 p.m.) —I am pleased to support this motion by the right honourable member for New England (Mr Sinclair). Having in Australia one of the oldest stable democratic traditions, we largely take those liberal democratic forms for granted. We achieved democracy in Australia without a struggle and without any sort of revolution. There was no reign of terror in Australia. There was no Boston Tea Party. All too often we take the liberal democratic forms we have for granted. Taking democracy for granted is not an option for Aung San Suu Kyi and the 45 million people of Burma, who continue to suffer under the despotic rule of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, or SLORC

If asked to think of an image that characterises the struggle in Burma, most people would think of Aung San Suu Kyi and her weekend addresses from the walls of her compound, where she has spent six years under house arrest. Just as Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi symbolised their nations' struggle for democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi has become a potent symbol of the democratic aspirations of the Burmese people. As the member for Lalor (Mr Barry Jones) referred to, we know that Aung San Suu Kyi draws great inspiration from the struggles of both those men.

As we send our warm birthday wishes, albeit belated, to Aung San Suu Kyi, it is worth reflecting on her life. Born in the middle of Burma's struggle for independence, her father, General Aung San, was the architect of Burma's independence from Britain. General Aung San was assassinated five months before his country achieved independence in 1948.

Educated in India and at Oxford, Aung San Suu Kyi married an Englishman and had expected to continue her life in England in the cloistered world of English academe. How different it was to the way she spent the last nine years. In 1988 she returned to Burma to care for her mother, who was ill. She returned to a Burma that had been in a state of impoverishment and repression as a result of three decades of the mismanaged ideals of army commander General Ne Win.

As we have seen former Warsaw Pact countries slowly adopting the practices of market economies and making treaties to join NATO over the last 10 years, Burma, in keeping with the successful tradition of other isolated countries like Albania and North Korea, has remained closed to the world and watched its economy stagnate, its currency depreciate and its people persecuted.

Aung San Suu Kyi became deeply involved with the democracy movement in Burma and became leader of the newly formed National League for Democracy in September 1988. In 1989 she was placed under house arrest, where she remained until 1995. In May 1990, in the first multiparty elections for 30 years, the National League for Democracy won a landslide victory with 85 per cent of the vote.

The SLORC refused to hand over power and, instead, clamped down further on democracy activists. It has been conservatively estimated that well over 100 NLD supporters, including 23 representatives from the 1990 election, have been detained and or sentenced in the last 12 months.

Today, Aung San Suu Kyi is a free person. However, that description is loose. She needs permission to leave her compound, and her phones are frequently disconnected. As we heard from the member for Lalor (Mr Barry Jones), he was turned back three times and not allowed to meet her. Despite everything, Aung San Suu Kyi's determination to free Burma remains strong and remains a shining example of the human spirit.

How do we in Australia get Burma to change? As the right honourable member for New England and the member for Lalor said, there have been two approaches made to pressure Burma to reform. The approach of the United States, Canada and, to an extent, Europe, has focused on economic sanctions to isolate Burma. That is not an approach that I think will be particularly fruitful. The Association of South East Asian Nations has sought to encourage political reform through constructive engagement, fostering links in the hope that economic growth will lead to political liberalism. Unfortunately, those two approaches are in conflict and tend to cancel each other out.

The recent admission of Burma into ASEAN has placed both opportunity and responsibility firmly in the lap of ASEAN members. ASEAN must ensure that the admission of Burma is not seen as a reward for its despotic leaders, and that its ensuing leverage is used to pressure Burma into fundamental liberalisation of its political processes. Australia must continue to encourage ASEAN countries to use their links with the junta to encourage change in Burma. I commend this motion to the House.