Friday, 14 November 2025

 Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (10:25): Right now we are seeing unimaginably devastating reports coming from Sudan. For over two years this conflict has become one of the world’s largest humanitarian emergencies, and blood from this conflict can literally be seen from space. Since April 2023, estimates are of over 150,000 people killed and more than 12 million forcibly displaced. The UN Human Rights Office warns of widespread sexual violence, mass executions, abductions, bodies literally hanging from trees and attacks on humanitarian workers – just absolutely horrific stuff. Li Fung, the UN human rights representative in Sudan, has called out the global silence surrounding this conflict. She said, ‘The cost of silence, of inaction, is too high.’ I will not stay silent. Let us be clear: this is not just a civil war; it is a proxy war fuelled by foreign powers that are funnelling weapons and money to armed factions in exchange for Sudan’s gold, farmland and trade routes. This is a war for profit, and some of the countries involved have strong trade links and partnerships with Australia and Victoria in particular, like the UAE. So it is time to speak out and time for Victoria to look at what we can do not just to support the local Sudanese Australian community, which we should, but to also put pressure on the international community. We cannot stay silent in the face of such a catastrophic humanitarian crisis when literally hundreds of thousands of people are being massacred.