The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) reports that seven Australian Members of Parliament have spoken in favour of a motion that honoured the 70th Anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.
The motion also honoured the author of the Convention, Dr. Raphael Lemkin, stating he “coined the word ‘genocide’, informed by his study of the systematic extermination of the Armenians during World War I and the Jews during World War II”.
The motion was introduced in the Australian Parliament's Federation Chamber on 3rd December 2018 by Liberal MP Tim Wilson (the Member for Goldstein) – who is of Armenian ancestry, and it was seconded by Labor MP Chris Hayes (Member for Fowler). Government MPs to join Wilson in speaking for the motion included Julian Leeser (Member for Berowra), Jason Falinski (Member for Mackellar) and Michael Sukkar (Member for Deakin). Hayes was joined by fellow non-Government MPs, including Michael Danby (Member for Melbourne Ports) and Tony Zappia (Member for Makin).
All seven MPs spoke in favour of the motion honouring the 70th Anniversary of the UN Genocide Convention, with most speakers using this debate as an opportunity to call on Australia – as one of the first nations to ratify the Convention – to recognise the Armenian Genocide.
“This debate was a worthy tribute to the UN Genocide Convention, which was adopted 70 years ago,” said ANC-AU Executive Director, Haig Kayserian. “It honoured the Australians who played part in its process, led by President of the General Assembly Doc Evatt, and it also honoured Dr. Raphael Lemkin.”
“We thank all speakers in this debate who unanimously endorsed the motion, which signalled a clear rejection of the 'genocide' word games by Australia's House of Representatives,” said Kayserian. «This motion clearly articulates that the word 'genocide' and what happened to the Armenians are undeniably linked since the creation of the word itself.”
Tim Wilson, who is of Armenian ancestry, began the process by stating his privilege to move the motion to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the UN Genocide Convention as a man of Armenian heritage, a representative of a large Jewish-Australian electorate and as an Australian with knowledge of the exemplary relief effort made to help Armenian Genocide survivors from down-under.
Wilson said: “... as the only member of this house of Armenian descent, I remain fundamentally disappointed that our national parliament doesn't fully acknowledge the horror and tragedy of the genocide against the Armenians. I would hope that we would acknowledge the genocide against all people where they occur”.
He added: “Healing is enlivened when you cauterise a wound, because you clean it and you recognise that the damage that has been done is a pathway to healing. Acknowledging and honouring those who lost their lives and making sure that those who committed the crime are held to account and no longer feel that they can get away with it without proper critique, criticism and condemnation from the international community are critical to stopping future genocides.”
