HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PROOF
PETITIONS
Falun Gong
PROCEDURAL TEXT
Monday, 24 August 2020

BY AUTHORITY OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 Monday, 24 August 2020

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

79

PROCEDURAL TEXT
Date Monday, 24 August 2020
Page 79
Questioner
Speaker

Source House
Proof Yes
Responder
Question No.

Falun Gong
Falun Gong
Dear Chair
Thank you for your letter regarding petition number PN0467. The petition raised concerns about the treatment
of Falun Gong practitioners and reports of organ harvesting and trafficking in China.
Australia is committed to promoting and protecting human rights, including freedom of religion and freedom of
belief for all people. We remain concerned that religious groups in China, including Falun Gong practitioners,
continue to be targeted on the basis of their beliefs. We have regularly raised our concerns about this issue with
China, including at ministerial level, both directly and in international fora. We will continue to do so while
serious human rights abuses continue.
The Government is aware of reports of illegal organ harvesting in China. The Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade (DFAT) is carefully monitoring developments on this issue, and regularly reviews available evidence as
new reports are published. We are aware that organs have been harvested from executed prisoners in China for
use in medical transplants, at least prior to 2015. Australia strongly opposes this practice.
Australia is committed to preventing organ trafficking. Since 2004, the Government has had a comprehensive
strategy to combat such crimes and is committed to ensuring that Australia's response to organ trafficking and
transplant tourism remains as effective as possible. Australia's States and Territories have robust frameworks
in place to regulate lawful donation and transplants of human organs and tissue for therapeutic purposes. In
November 2018, the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (JSCFADT) Human
Rights Sub-Committee produced the report ' Compassion Not Commerce: An inquiry into Human Organ
Trafficking and Organ Transplant Tourism ' . This report delivered 12 recommendations, which are currently
under consideration by the Government. The Department of Home Affairs is leading the Government's response.
The petition you referred to requests the sanctioning of individuals involved in the persecution of Falun Gong
practitioners. We regularly review our sanctions settings to ensure they remain suitable and effective. At my
request, the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade is inquiring into the merits of a
'Magnitsky-style' human rights-based sanctions regime for Australia. I look forward to receiving the Committee's
report in due course, and will consider its recommendations carefully. I take very seriously the question of
whether Australia should introduce a human rights-based sanctions regime and consider it important that we
properly understand the implications of such a regime. At present, the Migration Act allows the Government to
prevent individuals involved in human rights abuses from visiting Australia. We will continue to monitor closely
reports of mistreatment and restrictions against religious groups in China, and seek opportunities to respond
strongly to these abuses.
Yours sincerely
from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Payne (Petition No. PN0467)

CHAMBER