Canberra: Representative Karma Singey of the Office of Tibet, Australia along with Executive Officer of Australia Tibet Council Dr. Zoe Bedford met the Hon Warren Entsch MP, Co-Chair of the Australian All Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet on Wednesday, 7th September 2022 and briefed him about the upcoming Tibet Lobby Day to be held on 12th September 2022 which has now been postponed due to the suspension of Australian Parliament for the next 15 days following the demise of Queen Elizabeth.
They also met the Shadow Minister for Countering Foreign Interference and Cyber Security Senator James Peterson and the Green Party’s spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Peace and Nuclear Disarmament Senator Jordon Steele- John. Earlier they had held a meeting with Senator Janet Rice, who participated in the recent 8th World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet in Washington, DC and briefed her about the lobby day event.
Tibet Lobby Day is an annual event where Tibetans and Tibet supporters come together in Canberra to meet with Australian Parliamentarians to talk about different issues concerning Tibet. Over the years Tibet Lobby Day has been looked upon by the Tibetan Australian community and the Tibetan associations as an opportunity to send strong messages to their representatives and the political leadership. This year, a delegation of 16 young Tibetans across Australia will meet with 30 Australian MPs and Senators from all parties and will be lobbying for Tibet, to call on the Australian government to follow its allies and make it an official policy that the selection of the Tibetan Buddhist leaders, including a future Dalai lama, should follow the desires of Tibetan Buddhist Community and the instruction of the current Dalia Lama without any interference from the Chinese Government. They will urge the MPs to adopt a Reciprocal Access Legislation to impose restrictions similar to the ones China currently imposes on travel to Tibet and to allow key abusers of Tibetan human rights to be sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act.
This year marks the 11th Tibet Lobbying launched by Australia Tibet Council in collaboration with Tibetan Community associations.
-Report filed by OOT, Canberra.