Australia must not be a dumping ground for palm oil made from slavery: The Australian Greens

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TL;DL version:

The recently released Global Slavery Index reveals that Australia risks importing goods amounting to US $17.4 billion, which are suspected to be produced via forced labour.

A ban of these goods from Australia was proposed by the Australian Greens, who along with several community organisations, are urging the Labor Party to prioritise this change following a report from the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Despite previous support while in opposition, the Australian Labor Party has now shown signs of weakening on supporting a ban on commodities like palm oil, clothing and electrical goods made using slavery and forced labour.

Advocates of the ban, including the Greens spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Peace & Nuclear Disarmament, Senator Jordon Steele-John, are pushing for Australia to align with the EU and the United States that have already enforced similar bans.

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Media release from the Australian Greens, published 1 June, 2023. Read original.

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Despite Labor voting in support of banning products produced by forced labour when they were in opposition, today in Senate Estimates they could not confirm that they would do so again.

A wide range of community organisations are joining the Greens to call on Labor to prioritise this change.The outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet produced a report in 2022 that called on the Australian Government to block the import of goods made from forced labour from all countries.

Across our region, forced labour is occurring en masse, and many in the Australian community would be surprised to know that forced labour produces many goods that are used in Australia.

The latest Global Slavery Index found 50 million people worldwide now live in modern slavery. It also showed Australia’s at risk of importing at-risk products which amount to US $17.4 billion. In Indonesia, forced labour is seen in industries including the production of palm oil and onboard fishing vessels.

In Malaysia, migrant workers have been forced to produce garments. In Turkmenistan, state-sanctioned forced labour is used in the cotton industry. Since 2017, the Chinese government has imprisoned more than one million Uyghurs and subjected those not detained to forced production of garments, electronics, home decorations and more.

As stated by Senator Jordon Steele-John, Australian Greens spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Peace & Nuclear Disarmament:

“The Australian Government must do all it can to ensure that human rights are upheld globally.

Amending the Customs Act would enforce a global ban. It would send a clear message to all countries that Australia sees modern slavery as unacceptable and that our community will not accept goods that have been produced by forced labour.

“We are calling on the Australian Labor Party to support this change, as they did in opposition. We have the opportunity to pass the Greens amendments when the Customs Act is next before the parliament. We could see this parliament take immediate action to stop forced labour imports and no longer have Australia implicated in these horrific human rights abuses.

“It’s time for Australia to no longer fall behind, and join countries like Canada and the United States who have implemented a ban.

As stated by Carolyn Kitto, Be Slavery Free:

‘No-one wants to buy products which have been produced through another person being in slavery like conditions. The social licence to be exposed to such goods is rapidly disappearing. The Australian Government needs to catch up with the desire of the Australian people and the practices of others globally in banning the import of products made with forced and child labour.

If we truly want a level playing field for Australian business we need to make it easier for companies seeking to do the right thing for people to work freely in their supply chains.

We risk becoming a dumping ground for products made with forced labour which are banned from entering the USA, Mexico, Canada, the European Union and the UK.

We have seen the effectiveness of ‘forced labour ban legislations’ in driving change in labour rights for marginalised workers.

ENDS

Media release from the Australian Greens, published 1 June, 2023. Read original.

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Read more about human rights abuses and slavery in the palm oil industry

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