Senator HOGG (12:31 PM) —I rise to speak briefly on the Anti-Personnel Mines Convention Bill 1998 . As my colleague Senator Cook outlined in his speech in the second reading debate, this bill has unanimous support from all sides of the chamber. It is a real problem in the world which many people probably do not focus on enough. The problem was outlined in a speech by my colleague Mr Brereton last year, and Senator Cook referred to some of the statistics from the International Red Cross outlined by Mr Brereton in that speech, and it is worth traversing those again.

There are an estimated 119 million active landmines in 70 countries. It therefore becomes an issue of mammoth proportions indeed. The report also said that some 15 countries are, in effect, crippled as a result of the placing of landmines. It is interesting to note some of the places that are listed as being crippled: Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia, Cambodia, Mozambique and Somalia. This is not because of external forces fighting each other but because of internal war, civil war, in many instances. One finds that, once the civil war has been resolved, the mines that were laid are invariably left lying around the place. The effect of that is that they injure, maim and kill innocent people long after the hostility, the internal insurrection, has ceased.

The International Red Cross report, as my colleague Senator Cook indicated, states that landmines kill or maim some 2,000 people every month. The figures broken down are 800 killed and 1,200 maimed every month. That, again, is something of mammoth proportions and is completely and totally unnecessary. The International Red Cross report went on to say—and this was as of last year—that, if mine clearing were to proceed and no more mines were to be laid, it would take 1,100 years to clear the entire world of mines laid during civil or other wars that have occurred. That really puts into perspective the problem that is confronting many people in many nations. It is not a small problem; it is a problem of great magnitude.

Antipersonnel landmines are an indiscriminate killer, as I said earlier. Long after peace has been brokered within many of the countries where civil war has occurred, the people who laid the mines have invariably gone onto other pursuits. Of course the minefields were laid without any markings and in peacetime they become an indiscriminate killer, particularly of the young and the old and of women and children. That, in itself, should be completely avoided at all costs. People who had no direct input into the violence, people who invariably had no part to play in the warring that took place, are being injured long after the settlement of the melee. In many instances, as the statistics have shown, death occurs quite wantonly for these people.

The fact that there are so many landmines out there causes real poverty in some of these nations—nations which really cannot afford to be subjected to additional poverty, because poverty is one of the factors those nations inherit as a result of the protracted and prolonged wars having taken place in them. The existence of vast minefields stops appropriate resettlement within these nations, stops many of their people from being able to return to agriculture to till the land because mines are in the arable land. And all that does is impose further poverty. It also acts as an obstacle to the transportation of people and goods within some of these countries, and it has an effect on the provision of basic services. All in all, one sees in many cases not a very pretty picture being painted as a result of the laying and indiscriminate use of landmines in conflicts that have long been resolved—and, of course, they have wreaked havoc on very innocent populations in postwar periods.

I found it of interest to read a publication dated May 1997 called Living in a minefield—a report on the mine problem in Afghanistan, which was put out by—pardon my French—Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Senator Newman —Good; eight out of 10.

Senator HOGG —It was quite good? I got an eight out of 10 for French there, and I thank the honourable senator for that mark. But that was not the point. The point was not to prove my French but to look at just a couple of excerpts from this publication. I believe that we really have no experience nor real understanding of the problems caused by landmines and, therefore, it becomes a bit of an academic exercise for us. But I find it interesting that outlined on page 12 of the publication are the problems caused by landmines. It states:

There are three common patterns of anti-personnel mine injury: one is amputation of the foot or leg from standing on the blast mine; the second is multiple fragment injuries from triggering a fragmentation mine where the legs are injured and often so too are the head, neck, chest and abdomen; and, three, hand, arm, face and eye injuries from handling a mine.

What we see are injuries that are not at all pretty, injuries that take a lot of treatment and injuries that, in many cases, absolutely ruin the dignity of the individual living in these communities. This brings with it problems in terms of treatment, problems in terms of rehabilitation and problems in terms of ongoing support. It places a strain on the economy, on the family and on the community. Without being emotional about the issue, one sees landmines really as being a blight on our society and an issue being appropriately addressed by this legislation and measures that are being taken by the government through our expenditure going towards the elimination of mines in different parts of the world.

Part of the real problem in this is the finding of the mines; that costs time and money as well. Of course, in many instances, the minefields have not been marked and have not been mapped. So it is not simply a matter of once the war is over the nation returning to normalcy; what one finds is that there is still much work to be done in finding the mines, marking the areas, mapping them and then, of course, clearing the areas. This further disrupts the lives, the lifestyles and the chance of a livelihood of those people within those nations.

Part of the problem is educating the locals and making them aware of the problem. This in itself can have its own problems in that many of these people are unable to read or write and, therefore, are not necessarily able to understand signage. Even if signage is placed there, with many of these people being so poor, there is evidence that it is removed to assist them to make basic shelter and homes. As I have said, the Australian government is to spend $100 million by the year 2005, and this is very commendable.

As I realise this is non-controversial legislation, the last thing I will do is read from a World Vision document, which highlights the problem in Cambodia. I quote:

Between six and 10 million landmines that were laid in Cambodia during or after the 25-year war are yet to be removed. One of every 236 Cambodians has lost an arm or a leg to a mine.

I repeat: one in every 236 people. It is something of enormous proportions and it shows the lack of dignity that these people must experience in the injury being inflicted and in the harm that has been caused to them by the landmines that were placed in Cambodia over a long period of time.

We are a nation free from this. In this nation we do not have this problem, we do not experience it and, therefore, probably do not understand the disaster it causes at the family and social levels within these communities. The article goes on:

Landmines are currently the single greatest causes of poverty in these districts—

this is in Cambodia—

not only because of the deaths and the injuries but also because of the large areas of precious farming land that cannot be used due to the mines that lie hidden there. Mines are preventing needy families and communities from re-establishing decent livelihoods and futures.

The fact remains that, whatever one's view of war might be, landmines should be banned. They should be kept out of the realms of war. We as a nation should seek to assist others in clearing lands that are peppered with these indiscriminate killers. The fundamental thing that we can achieve by helping these people out is to return to them the most precious commodity that we can give them, and that is their dignity as human beings—their dignity as persons. I commend the legislation and I hope it gets the speedy passage it deserves.