Senator CALVERT (4:33 PM) —I am pleased that as a member of the government I am able to stand here today and support this motion. Given the fact that Senator West has agreed to delete part (a) of the motion, we would certainly agree with the amended motion as it stands. As Senator Hogg said in concluding his contribution, the rule of law at all times must be absolute. In the case of Fiji those of us in Australia have seen a coup played out on the television screens across our nation. Every night we have seen George Speight parading himself and the hostages, pushing himself out there as a coup leader, knowing all the time that the legal government of that country was being held hostage. Just think of the anguish and despair of the wives and families of the people who were being held hostage—horrific times.

Mr Acting Deputy President, I do not know whether you have had the opportunity of visiting Fiji. I did before I came to this place, back in 1986. I took my family there for a holiday. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to—a very relaxed tourist destination, with very happy people and, to all intents and purposes, a small South Pacific country that seemed to be going very well. Since then we have had two coups. The second one has been very protracted. It was very distressing to me and I think to all Australians to see every night people being suppressed at the point of a gun. No government, no opposition, no country can stand by and let that sort of activity happen. The wellbeing of a nation should not be held to ransom because of the illegal activity of a few. The actions of George Speight and his group earlier this year in attempting to orchestrate the overthrow of the Chaudhry government deserve the condemnation of the Senate and the whole nation.

The government, I am very well aware, is of the view that it is of the utmost importance for all Fijian leaders to work together to restore constitutional government and stability to their country. It cannot be denied that the actions of Speight have done untold damage to Fiji in recent months. It is, therefore, very comforting to know that at last the rule of law has been established somewhat and Speight and his supporters are behind bars. We as a government welcome the recent swearing in of the new President Ratu Josefa Iloilo on 28 July this year. This government has made it clear that the overriding priority remains an early return to the rule of law and constitutional and democratic rule in Fiji. Fiji needs to return to a democratically elected government very quickly. Anything less is totally unacceptable.

It is certainly pleasing to see that the Howard coalition government has been at the forefront of international efforts to encourage an early return to constitutional government and the rule of law in Fiji. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Downer, attended a meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group in London on 6 June. I have been informed by the minister's office that the Fijian situation was discussed at some length in this meeting. As a result, several options for Commonwealth action were decided upon. The most important action decided at that meeting was the provision for a clear timetable for the return to constitutional government in Fiji. On 18 July the government announced a range of measures so that we are in a position to register our deep concern over the lack of a democratically elected government and to provide an incentive for Fiji to return to constitutional law and rule.

I might just remind the Senate of some of those actions. The measures include a reduction in the bilateral aid program—that is, non-humanitarian aid—of around 30 per cent, involving the termination of all new scholarships and training in the following public sector projects: the Mineral Resources Department Project, the Fiji Customs Service Project, the Fiji Civil Service Reform Project, the National Planning Office Project, Fiji Bureau of Statistics Project and the UNDP/Australia Information Services for Parliamentarians. The Pacific Technical Advisory Facility will also be terminated. The next intake of Australian Youth Ambassadors to Fiji that was scheduled to take place in July has been postponed indefinitely. On the defence side, all naval ship visits, senior officer visits and joint military exercises have been suspended. Australia has also taken measures to prevent Fiji sporting teams from playing in Australia, although I understand that SOCOG's agreement with the IOC prevents any action being taken against Fiji's Olympic participation. In addition, government to government relations or cooperation under the Australian-Fiji Trade and Economic Relations Agreement have been suspended and the Australian High Commissioner to Fiji was recalled to Australia for consultations.

There is no doubt that a lot of these actions will hurt the man in the street. But somehow or other we have to get the message through to the people in Fiji that the sooner they get back to a democratically elected government, the better. It was pleasing to see that Mr Chaudhry came here to Australia and had meetings with the Prime Minister. I am sure that those matters were discussed. You would know, Mr Acting Deputy President, as a person formerly involved in the textile industry, that Australia has had very close cooperation with Fiji, particularly with textile, clothing and footwear. This has to be put back into place very quickly because it is one of their major industries and one of the major parts of their economy. I do not think anybody wants to see the economy of Fiji suffer, nor, I suspect, do we want to see the suspension of sporting exchanges between our countries and nor do we want to see any of these other actions. But they have to be taken because somehow or other we have to get the message through that this government and this country deplore the actions of George Speight and his supporters and that we do not want to see a repetition of those events.

I guess at this stage we are not proposing to lift our sanctions. Any such removal of sanctions would certainly be reliant upon the commitment by Fiji's interim government to return the country to democratic and constitutional rule. Can I take this opportunity to assure all honourable senators that such a decision will not be taken lightly and that the rule of law and the ability of the Fijian people to democratically elect a government will ultimately be the key determinants to the lifting of those sanctions. This government will continue to watch very closely the path taken by the new interim civilian administration and we will continue to press for an early restoration of the rule of law and democratic and constitutional institutions in Fiji. The actions of George Speight and other criminals involved in the illegal overthrow of a democratically elected government are deserving of condemnation. This Senate should not lose sight of just how fragile democracy is.

I return to a comment made by Senator Hogg towards the end of his contribution. He commented on a press release from the shadow foreign affairs spokesman for the opposition, Laurie Brereton, in which he commented on the lack of intelligence from Australia as to whether this coup was going to occur or not. I find it very difficult to believe that anybody could foresee what happened in Fiji or how anybody could foresee what happened in the Solomon Islands. We have a lot of neighbours who have unstable times from time to time. To foretell or to try to second-guess what is going to happen in those countries or to try to interfere in fact would not be wise from Australia's point of view. But I agree with Senator Hogg that we should be there to help ensure that democracy rules, that the rule of law is continued and, in this particular case, taking these sanctions against Fiji hopefully will engender some urgency in returning that country to a fully democratically elected government and ensuring that the rule of law is continued.

This Senate should not lose sight of just how fragile democracy is. We are certainly fortunate to live under an umbrella of democracy and the protection it affords us all. In this year 2000, I think we can reflect on just how fragile that democracy is. I do not know whether Senator Cooney is intending to follow me in this debate, but I am just about to resume my seat. I would not want to cause a cessation of this debate. Can I just say, as I said at the beginning of my address—now that the mover of the motion, Senator West, has amended it slightly—that we certainly support this motion and look forward to its passage through the Senate at a later hour this afternoon.