Mr EDWARDS (4:50 PM) —I am pleased to join with previous speakers in recognising the 50th anniversary of the Geneva conventions. I want to take the opportunity to pay tribute to the International Committee of the Red Cross for their humanitarian aid and assistance to those hurt and displaced by war and to compliment them on their People on War project. The International Committee of the Red Cross believe the Geneva conventions are central to international humanitarian law and recognise them as:

. . . the most important international instruments to defend human dignity in war and among the most widely ratified treaties in the world.

Under these conventions, countless numbers of people have been shielded and protected against war. But at the same time we must recognise that, despite these conventions, immense suffering, trauma and horror has stalked and struck down millions in war and conflict.

Tragically, of course, given the modern nature of war, many of the victims of this trauma have been civilians—non-combatant women and children—inescapably caught in the horror of modern weaponry which does not discriminate between soldier and civilian, woman or child. Landmines are a prime example of such weapons but not the only one. Of course, this parliament has worked with the Red Cross and other NGOs and ratified the Ottawa agreement.

Poised as we are on the threshold of a new century, we as a nation should reflect on how fortunate our country has been to largely escape the devastation of war on our own soil. With that reflection in mind, however, we must turn to the future and recognise the inevitability of armed conflict in the next century with the knowledge that, in the face of modern warfare, we in Australia are as vulnerable to its cruelty, its horror, its devastation and its ravages as any country in any other region of the world.

Distance and isolation are no longer a means of defence, and morally as a nation we must recognise our responsibilities to continue to work toward a sense of global security by supporting the Geneva conventions. We must continue to stand strongly in support of humanitarian issues and, with resolve and determination, confront those who threaten these conventions in the recognition that every man, every woman, every child on the face of this earth is a potential combatant when these conventions fail.

I strongly endorse and support the People on War project being run by the International Committee of the Red Cross and I quote from its document:

People on War is a worldwide project that intends to increase awareness around the world of the rules that already exist for people's protection in wartime and to encourage discussion of humanitarian law in the context of modern-day conflict.

It is designed to involve those who have experience of war.

Those who are actually experiencing the reality of war are rarely consulted, because debates on the subject take place in meetings they cannot attend and the findings are reflected in documents which they do not write or have the opportunity to read.

It is the ambition of the International Committee of the Red Cross to bring people in war-torn societies back into the global arena where the humanitarian rules and decisions of tomorrow are generated, and to make the process less of a monologue and more of a dialogue.

The federal parliament of this nation, the House of Representatives, is the prime arena of Australia where humanitarian rules and decisions of tomorrow can be generated. We in this place must never lose sight of what our responsibilities are, not just in relation to Australia and our region but in a global sense. The International Committee of the Red Cross also says this:

The purpose of international humanitarian law is to limit human suffering in times of armed conflict and to prevent atrocities.

Further, it says this:

Even wars have limits.

Our strong support for the Geneva conventions will help set those limits, and I support this motion and compliment the Attorney-General on his bringing it forward.