FOURTH HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE ON SOGIESC
PAPEETE, FRENCH POLYNESIA
STATEMENT BY AUSTRALIAN SPECIAL ENVOY ON INTERATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS, THE HON MARK DREYFUS KC MP
Madam Vice President, distinguished delegates,
Good morning everyone, and ’ia ora na.
I am honoured to be here in Papeete for this 4th Pacific Human Rights Conference on SOGIESC. It is great to be here with the community and I look forward to the conference ahead.
I would like to thank all members of the regional organising committee for organising this event. I also want to thank the Government of French Polynesia for hosting us.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights begins with a powerful truth: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
All human beings. Not some. All.
Today, this room honours those words. Here, you are free. Free to be who you are. Free to love who you love. Free to describe yourself in your own words.
And you are equally entitled to claim your human rights.
In Australia we use the phrase “LGBTQIA+” to refer to people and communities of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics.
This term is designed to welcome people in. Across our region, communities reflect a diversity of identities and expressions, and I celebrate every one of them.
This diversity is not a new concept.
In Australia, First Nations Brotherboys and Sistergirls are part of our own story. Recognising – and sometimes reclaiming – long-standing identities and traditions in our societies is an important part of building an inclusive future for everyone.
But, as we know, in too many places around the world, LGBTQIA+ people face discrimination, violence and criminalisation.
Discrimination that can deny them housing, economic opportunities, access to health services, humanitarian assistance in times of emergency, even a safe and loving family.
Violence that threatens their physical safety and mental well-being, sometimes at the hands of family, neighbours, or the state authorities that should protect them.
And criminalisation that fuels stigma, legitimises that discrimination and violence, and in some places can even lead to the death penalty.
Simply for being who they are, for living as their true selves.
Despite this – as Australia’s Foreign Minister has often said – we can’t just take the world as it is - we have to do what we can to shape it for the better.
This is what Australia seeks to do.
In 2023, our Foreign Minister announced that Australia would boost our engagement in support of LGBTQIA+ equality globally. Since then, we have used our new Inclusion and Equality Fund to launch the Equality Collaboration, which supports the LGBTQIA+ movement with multi-year core funding grants.
Last year, Australia’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister appointed me as Special Envoy for International Human Rights. In doing so, they asked me to focus on protecting the rights of LGBTQIA+ people as a core priority.
We have also stepped-up other practical efforts in support of equality and inclusion.
Our engagement with LGBTQIA+ communities and experts, including at the last Pacific Human Rights Conference on SOGIESC in Fiji, has informed the approach that we have taken.
Partnership with locally-led movements is core to our efforts to support change in a way that is appropriate to local contexts and rooted in local culture.
As we have been boosting our engagement and launching the Equality Collaboration, we have unfortunately seen significant changes in the global context, including regression on human rights and attacks on freedom of expression.
We have also seen the arbitrary arrest, persecution, and wider criminalisation of LGBTQIA+ activists and movements.
And a global rise in harmful rhetoric that falsely presents LGBTQIA+ people as a movement that threatens families, and the safety of women and children.
Australia will continue to stand against this rhetoric and work with partners to support the rule of law and human rights.
We will continue to make sure that our actions in support of equality and inclusion do no harm.
And do not fuel these harmful narratives.
We will continue to support local movements and lend our voice and efforts to the fight for equality in our region and around the world.
As a Pacific nation, Australia puts our region first, backing the power of Pacific unity and Pacific-led solutions to our region’s challenges.
We will continue to support the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and the Revitalised Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration.
No country can reach its full potential without equal opportunity for all.
We are stronger together by drawing on all our sources of strength, wisdom, and resilience.
I want to conclude by stating two additional truths, grounded in those powerful, original words from the UDHR:
One: discrimination, violence and criminalisation based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or innate sex characteristics is unacceptable.
Two: human rights apply to everyone equally, no matter who they are or who they love. This is not an ideology but a statement of fact.
I look forward to this 4th Pacific Human Rights Conference on SOGIESC reaffirming these simple truths, and celebrating inclusion in our Blue Pacific Continent.
