Myanmar Election

Question

Senator McLACHLAN: Have we engaged with the government in Myanmar and expressed our dissatisfaction recently-or post the election, I should say. Senator Wong: On the elections? Senator McLACHLAN: On the elections. Ms Smith: As I said in response to your first question, we do, through our limited engagement with the authorities in Naypyidaw, express our concern about the situation in Myanmar. I am, as my colleague Ms Chan has just said, a little reticent to go into the detail of those representations, in this forum. Senator McLACHLAN: I'm not asking for the detail of the representations. Senator Wong: I'd be happy for you to be briefed about this, Senator, but the line we are seeking to walk is we have, shared with like-mindeds, a set of policy constraints about engagement. Working in the context of those to make representations is, I think, what the officials are trying to find a way through. Have you gone to the public statement? Ms Smith: Not the 1 February public statement yet- Senator McLACHLAN: I'm not trying to unpack what you actually said. I'm just trying to understand what we've actually done subsequent to the elections. Senator Wong: I issued a statement on 1 February marking the fifth anniversary of the coup, which also made reference to the elections. That was probably our most recent public statement. Would that be right? Ms Smith: Certainly. Minister, with respect to the fifth anniversary of the coup, on 1 February you issued a public statement. The Australian embassy in Yangon also posted on Facebook on 6 May, noting our continued concerns in the context of reports of the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi. There was also, as the minister has said, the 1 February statement that the minister issued with respect to our concerns at the situation, including in the wake of the elections. On 10 December last year, 2025, we issued a departmental statement condemning the Myanmar military regime's widespread human rights abuses and violations. That statement also said the situation in Myanmar at that point fell short of 'what was needed for free, fair and inclusive elections'. Of course, that election process was run in late December and throughout January. I could also go to the statement that we delivered in November at the International Labour Organization, together with like-mindeds, with respect to our concerns about the situation in that particular context. I can provide more detail, Senator, as you might find useful. I'm happy to go into that here or to take that on notice if that's helpful. Senator McLACHLAN: Just take it on notice for this meeting. I was really just seeking the sequence of events post the election. I'll come to the sanctions. Are they being effective, or do we need to reflect on increased sanctions? Are our partners also reflecting on the effectiveness of those sanctions?

Answer

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