Brunswick Labor.net

Text of the Prime Ministers speech this morning in Parliament.

Human Rights are central to our political system, which is why it is fitting to note that 2007 is the 200th anniversary of a landmark event, as I said in Parliament on Wednesday.

Mr CARLI (Brunswick) -- This year marks the 200th anniversary of the passing by the Parliament of the United Kingdom of an act for the abolition of the slave trade, called the Slave Trade Act 1807. This was a piece of legislation which is seen globally as a really important part of the campaign for the abolition of slavery. It was the culmination of a campaign conducted by a minority of anti-slavery campaigners in the British Parliament, led by William Wilberforce. It was a longstanding campaign, and they successfully passed a piece of legislation which banned the trans-Atlantic trade in slaves which had been going on for almost 250 years in the United Kingdom. It meant that in the United Kingdom you could not trade in slaves and that British ships could not carry slaves -- and if they were caught with slaves, they would be fined 100 per slave.

It was not a piece legislation which actually banned slavery -- campaigners had to wait until 1833 for the banning of slavery in the British Empire -- but nevertheless it was a really important piece of legislation, given that slavery continues to exist in the world. While most countries have outlawed slavery it is still practised around the world, so the struggle to abolish slavery continues today.

Mr CARLI (Brunswick) -- Tomorrow, 9 August, the International Transport Workers Federation and the International Trade Union Confederation have called an international day of action over the arrest and detention of two Iranian trade union leaders.
I too want to voice my concern and protest at the imprisonment of two trade union leaders in Iran.

Mansour Osanloo, president of the Tehran bus workers union, has been arrested three times over the past year and a half, and he continues to be in detention. He was arrested while travelling on a bus on 10 July. He has been charged with conspiracy against national security.
Also Mahmoud Salehi, a founding member of the Saqez Bakery Workers Association and the Coordinating Committee to Form Workers Organisations, has been arrested and is being detained. He has major health issues, and it seems his health is dramatically deteriorating as a result of inadequate health care.

There is an international movement to seek the release of these two trade union workers and to ensure that the rights of trade unionists and the right to organise in Iran are protected. This involves numerous activities around the world, particularly putting pressure on Iranian authorities

On Thursday 12 July Carlo Carli spoke to an Victorian Equal Opportunity Commission Forum on the Charter of Human Rights & Responsabilities.

Below the fold is his speech on the role of the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee in scrutiny of legislation and of our human rights.

Major Michael Dante Mori is David Hicks’ US Marine defence attorney. Major Mori was a guest of the Victorian parliament today. He gave a terrific presentation on the David Hicks case and his continued detainment at Guantanamo Bay. Hicks is classified as an enemy combatant and has become a person denied his rights including the rights of prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention.

This Sunday - December 10 - is Human Rights Day.
The day commemorates the 1948 adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - and its a good opportunity to familiarise yourself with some of the articles in that historic document.