December 15, 2022
Greens prickle at Zelensky invite
Greens co-leader Marama Davidson says if parliament is willing to open itself up for a speech from Ukranian prime minister Volodymyr Zelensky, it should be willing to listen to indigenous leaders from closer to home.
President Zelensky addressed the house by video link yesterday as part of his campaign for international support for his 10-point plan to end Russia’s invasion.
Ms Davidson says she has long-standing concerns about who gets that honour – with then Australina prime minister Julia Gillard the only other foreign leader to address a sitting of parliament.
She says the Greens have a long record of standing up for some of the most oppressed voices around the world.
“How about we hear from some of those leaders? We’ve stood with indigenous people in West Papua for many, many years. How about hearing from those leaders? And of course, we’ve been long supporters of Palestinian independence and freedom and human rights and there has never been aby though to mention of inviting those state leaders to this House,” Ms Davidson says.
President Zelensky spoke of the environmental damage the war is doing to not just Ukraine but neighbouring countries, which he called ecocide.