Tuesday, 8 March 2022

Members statements

Russia-Ukraine war

Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (12:44): The war in Ukraine has finally driven COVID from the headlines. Hopefully it will bury the narrative and the government will take the opportunity to quietly kill the mandates and the remaining COVID restrictions while everyone is distracted. We are all watching what is going on in Ukraine in horror. While some of us might wish that Western countries had cleaner hands, following the military and diplomatic campaigns of the last 20 years, we should all still condemn the invasion and the attacks on civilian populations.

But I want to address some of the anti-Russian hysteria that is flying around out of control. There is effective boycotting of anything that sounds vaguely Russian. I want to oppose the blatant racial vilification of the Russian people. It is not the Russian conscripts who bear responsibility for the attacks on cities in Ukraine, and it is not the Russians living in Australia who are responsible for the war. Many Russians oppose the invasion. There have been anti-war protests all across Russia, and many thousands of brave protesters have been arrested. Russia is a dictatorship. The people are not to blame for what the government does.

It is not a secret that I have personal ties to Russians. Many of our close friends are from the Russian and Ukrainian diaspora. This section of our community are going through quite enough with what is happening in their homelands without having their children targeted at schools. Russian Australians are Australians. We need to dial down the racist rhetoric against these fellow citizens and lend them support instead. Let us save the condemnation for those who deserve it: Putin and his cabal.