A
newfound morality
Posted on March 3, 2014 by letters2pppapers
Better late than never, I suppose. In that sense, I
should welcome Gareth Evans’ attempt (Post, 28
February) to introduce moral considerations into governmental and diplomatic
matters, even though the attempt is very belated.
Reading his indignation at the killing of
five striking workers in Phnom Penh in January, it is impossible not to recall
his total lack of concern as Australia’s foreign minister in the 1980s, when
the Indonesian government was killing tens of thousands of people in East
Timor, not very far off Australia’s northern coast. Indeed, Evans’ reputation
suffered considerably at the time when he was filmed drinking champagne toasts
with the Indonesian generals who were directing the slaughter. It seemed that
the needle of Evans’ moral compass pointed, not to truth and justice, but to
East Timor’s offshore oil resources.
And it is hard to avoid the suspicion that
the timing of Evans’ new moral crusade owes a great deal to Australian
politics. As has been widely reported, Australia’s current Liberal Party
government is seeking to have Cambodia receive some of the refugees that
Australian governments have been deporting contrary to international law. As a
longtime Labor Party politician, Evans knows how to throw a punch at Hun Sen in
order to hit Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
Evans’ moral concerns would be considerably
more convincing if he extended them to the abusive treatment of refugees by
Australian governments, including the previous government of the Labor Party.
This abuse has already resulted in the loss of far more than five lives.
By Allen Myers
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