The Debate | Opinion | Oceania

Human Rights Are Essential to Australia’s Interests

Governments such as Australia’s need to recognize that defending civil society and a free press throughout the region and beyond are not luxuries but central to a democratic resurgence.

World politics feels like it is in disarray. Rules intended to regulate the behavior of all countries and institutions seem not to matter. International human rights norms now appear decidedly unfashionable, even in Australia, a country that should be one of the staunchest defenders of global human rights, where I have just spent two weeks meeting with government officials and civil society.

Transactional power politics increasingly disregard internationally agreed rules, enabling powerful governments, from China and Russia to the United States and their allies, to accelerate violations of human rights with few consequences. 

But the longing for human rights is not going away. Respecting them remains critical for so many people around the world, especially those facing the most severe repression. In recent years, protesters throughout Asia – often led by young people – have fought for rights and equality in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and India, even at the cost of their lives. 

Democracies that remain committed to human rights and a rules-based world order should recognize that. Instead of cowering to this geopolitical moment, they should seize the uncertainty by doubling down and recognizing that rights are central to their long-term national interests. Canberra should be first in line. 

Instead, Australia and other democracies have become focused on military security, diminishing the focus on human rights. In the past year, Australia has prioritized signing new regional defense and security agreements while doing little to re-energize a rules-based world order.

To be sure, military and cyber threats pose real dangers in this new world disorder. But coercion from abroad can take many forms. It also works by intimidating exiled dissidents, silencing journalists, corrupting democratic institutions, and exporting surveillance. Defense pacts alone cannot address these tactics.

Governments such as Australia’s need to recognize that defending civil society and a free press throughout the region and beyond are not luxuries but central to a democratic resurgence. Doing so means weaving human rights into domestic and foreign policies. 

Australia should establish an Asia Democracy Fund together with other democratic governments to support embattled independent journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society organizations, particularly those already endangered or in exile, and groups that cannot safely access funding otherwise. Australia, like Canada, could also provide a safe haven to threatened rights defenders by establishing a special immigration pathway for them. 

Australia should also support independent groups........

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