March 9: for immediate release

The Howard Government was "pulling up the drawbridge" on Australia's international obligations, Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson Senator Vicki Bourne told a Tibetan Uprising Day rally outside the Chinese Embassy in Canberra today.

Senator Bourne said she was concerned that Australia would probably refuse to co-sponsor a resolution on human rights abuses in China and Tibet at this year's session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, which opens tomorrow in Geneva. Australia has co-sponsored similar resolutions with the United States and the European Union for several years, including last year under the incoming Coalition Government.

Australia Tibet Council President Stewart Johnson said he had written to Foreign Minister Alexander Downer asking him to deny media reports that Australia was not going to co-sponsor the resolution this year. This year's Human Rights Commission session coincides with Prime Minister John Howard's first visit to China.

Tibetan community representative Ms Dorji Dolma told the rally that following the recent death of Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, the next few years would be crucial for Tibet:

"As a Tibetan, I will follow His Holiness the Dalai Lama's example and pray for a good reincarnation for Deng Xiaoping. However, this does not stop me from stating that Deng's death has opened up possibilities for change in the Tibetan situation which did not exist while he lived."

Ms Dolma called on Australians to maintain their support for the Tibetans as they moved to seize the opportunities which would be opened up by change in China. She said that Australians rightly looked back with pride on the role they had played in supporting the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, and that she was sure they would play a similar role in bringing about freedom for Tibet.

Fifty members of Australia's tiny Tibetan community of fewer than 80 people travelled to Canberra to take part in the rally, which attracted about 200 people. Each Tibetan placed a candle inside a large sand map of Tibet to mark their home town or village.

Further information:

Alex Butler 03 9499 1841 Paul Bourke 0419 420 526