Yesterday Greens Senator Kerry Nettle moved a motion in Federal Parliament calling on Australia to support a ban on the use of anti-vehicle landmines. Neither the government nor the ALP supported this motion, which is disappointing given that, like anti-personnel landmines, anti-vehicle mines are indiscriminate and kill civilians during war and long after conflicts have ended. We think that those senators who voted against this motion should tell us why - please email them and ask. A full list of email addresses for senators can be found at:
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/senators/email.htm The Motion read: ANTI-VEHICLE MINES Senator NETTLE (New South Wales) (9.47 a.m.)-I move: That the Senate- (a)notes that: (i)like anti-personnel landmines, anti-vehicle mines kill and maim long after conflicts have ended, (ii)like anti-personnel landmines, anti-vehicle mines are indiscriminate and kill both civilians and military personnel in violation of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol 1) of 8 June 1977, (iii)anti-vehicle mines can increase the cost and slow the delivery of humanitarian aid, (iv)there is no publicly available evidence that the Australian Defence Forces have gained any direct military advantage from the use of anti-vehicle mines since the Korean War, (v)the only Australian soldier killed in the 2001 to 2002 deployment to Afghanistan, SAS Sergeant Andrew Russell, was the victim of an anti-vehicle mine, and (vi)of the four Australian peace-keepers killed since 1966 by weapons, two have been killed by landmines while driving in vehicles; and (b)calls on the Federal Government to: (i)recognise anti-vehicle mines that can be set off by contact with a person as anti-personnel landmines, and therefore banned under the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and their Destruction (Mine Ban Treaty), (ii)support a ban on anti-vehicle mines with anti-handling devices, which can be set off if a mine is disturbed, and (iii)work with like-minded countries towards a global ban on the production, stockpiling, transfer and use of anti-vehicle mines. Melanie Gillbank Campaigner for Greens Senator Kerry Nettle [EMAIL PROTECTED] Electorate Office GPO Box 36, Sydney 2001 Ph: 9241 6663 Fax: 9241 6680 Parliament House Canberra 2600 Ph: 6277 3501 Fax: 6277 5716 -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
