'Yes' supporter Geoffrey Robertson claims Australia won't be able to criticise China if 'No' vote wins – and says ex-politicians will struggle to get high-profile overseas jobs
A renowned international human rights lawyer says Australia won’t be able to criticise China’s re-education camps for Muslims if the No vote triumphs at the upcoming Voice referendum.
Geoffrey Robertson KC, an Australian-born barrister based in London, has likened Australia’s treatment of Aboriginal people to the detention of Uighurs in China’s Xinjiang province.
In an opinion piece for The Sydney Morning Herald Mr Robertson, who has appeared on panels with fellow high-profile human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, suggested Australia would lose the authority to speak out on human rights issues if the No vote prevailed.
‘They should not underestimate the toxicity that attaches to people connected, even inadvertently, to racism,’ he said.
‘This will tarnish Australians if this referendum, now publicised throughout the world, does not pass.
‘It will open Australia up to charges of hypocrisy when its government complains of China’s discrimination against Uighurs, and it will undermine the important efforts we are making to be a force for good in the Pacific.’
Mr Robertson KC’s essay angered several readers, with one critic noting China’s attempt to eliminate the religion and culture of Uighurs was not comparable to the disadvantage Indigenous people suffered in Australia.
‘China’s genocide doesn’t equate to Australian racism.’
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