ASEAN–Australia Special Summit
Meng Heang TAK (Clarinda) (16:32): I was proud to join members of South-East Asian communities from the Burmese, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Lao communities of Australia on the steps of Parliament House on Saturday to protest the loss of human rights and democracy in our countries of origin. The leaders of the repressive regimes in our countries of origin were here in Melbourne, joining the ASEAN–Australia Special Summit. The respective diaspora communities cannot accept this, and we joined together to send a message to ASEAN leaders to protest repression in South-East Asia and to call for the restoration of human rights and democracy in our countries of origin. With friends the member for Mordialloc, the member for Cranbourne and the federal member for Bruce Julian Hill, we joined the calls on the Australian government to advocate strongly for democracy and human rights in ASEAN countries and to end the intimidation and harassment by these regimes in our countries of origin and of the communities here in Australia. Thank you to all community representatives, community members and volunteers for coming together in solidarity across countries and communities with those fighting for freedom and democracy to call on all our people to live peacefully. The Australian government values human rights and democracy, and we will continue to call on the federal government to work more actively for these rights in ASEAN countries.