Australia still 'catching up' on modern slavery fight

The chair of the Australian parliamentary committee on human rights says the country has failed to prioritize the fight against modern slavery and is now playing “catch up” on the issue — but that those concerns should not stymie greater investment in Southeast Asia from Australian firms. Josh Burns, a member of Parliament from the Australian Labor Party, which returned to government in May 2022 after almost nine years in opposition, said Tuesday that “we have to make sure that Australia is reaching out and engaging with the region economically, but we have to do it in a way that respects human rights and respects people's individual rights.” Burns was speaking at a side event during the gathering of Southeast Asian nations in Melbourne, where Australia announced a range of spending in the region, including a 2 billion Australian dollars Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility, designed to boost economic ties, particularly in clean energy and infrastructure. Kyla Raby, an anti-trafficking specialist, noted at the side event that many of the potential growth sectors highlighted in a 2023 report to the government on Australia’s economic strategy in southeast Asia, such as agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism, were also high-risk areas for people trafficking and modern slavery. Some 49.6 million people were living in modern slavery in 2021, according to the International Labour Organization, including 15.1 million in the Asia-Pacific region. Last year, the Australian Greens political party called on ALP to support a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor. And Raby challenged Burns at the side event over how Australia would ensure its new spending did not exacerbate modern slavery. Burns cited a government bill currently before the Senate on the establishment of a modern slavery commissioner, saying the intention was to conclude that process this year as part of “a whole range of reforms” to tackle the issue. A review of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act last year made 30 recommendations for change. “We will also be saying some things about that in the not-too-distant future,” Burns said, flagging in particular the idea of publicly declaring some “key areas of concern, where we are very concerned about high-risk industries and regions where modern slavery, we know, is more prevalent than others." "Australia needs to remain humble in this and we need to realize that we have a lot more work to be done,” the MP said. And while reform is underway, he said, “it is a process where we are playing catch up." “We know that there are not just too many examples of modern slavery in the region — it's happening in Australia as well, and we need to stamp that out as quickly as possible."