An elected Dutton Coalition Government will establish a Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs to provide greater support for Australians being held in arbitrary detention overseas.
The need for a Special Envoy has been identified by the Australian Wrongful and Arbitrary Detention Alliance as a key strategy to provide a stronger focus on efforts to free Australians being detained by certain countries or in high-risk parts of the world in what is often referred to as ‘hostage diplomacy’.
It also follows recent announcements by countries including the UK and Canada, to either appoint a Special Envoy, or explore doing so.
Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister David Coleman said it was clear that more needed to be done in cases where Australians are detained overseas on spurious or false charges by foreign regimes.
“Few can imagine the horror of being arbitrarily detained overseas, cut off from loved ones, from legal support and, in some cases, from access to Australian officials,” Mr Coleman said.
“We want to provide people caught in such instances with the highest level of support from the Australian Government through DFAT, and appointing this Special Envoy will help to deliver that.
The Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs would be appointed by the Prime Minister and report directly to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Under the Coalition plan:
- The Special Envoy would lead the Australian response to cases of Australians arbitrarily detained overseas with authority to operate across relevant agencies.
- We would conduct a review of Australia’s approach to this issue, seeking recommendations on the best administrative and legislative structure to support the work of the Special Envoy, including an examination of the latest developments in this area by like-minded partners and allies, such as the US and the operation of the Levinson Act and appropriate supports for family members back in Australia.
- The review will also consider the recommendations of the report of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee report into wrongful detention of Australian citizens overseas, which was released in November 2024.
Mr Coleman said there have been significant advancements in the way other nations approach this issue, particularly in the US, with the establishment of an independent Envoy supported by the Levinson Act which drives their approach. The UK has announced plans to appoint a Special Envoy, and the Canadian Government has been looking at similar structures.
“In the last decade, we have seen a number of Australians detained. Thankfully, following the determined efforts of successive governments, most, like Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, Cheng Lei, and Professor Sean Turnell have been returned home to Australia from Iran, China, and Myanmar, respectively,” Mr Coleman said.
“However, their release came only after years of having to endure circumstances which are difficult for anyone to comprehend, with little or no access to health care, contact with loved ones, lawyers and in some cases, no access to Australians officials.”
There are still a number of Australians trapped in this situation, including Robert Pether who has been detained in Iraq for four years; Mr Gordon Ng detained in Hong Kong under the draconian national security laws imposed after pro-democracy demonstrations; and Dr Yang Hengjun who has been detained in China since 2019 and sentenced to a suspended death penalty.
The Coalition has engaged with returned detainees, particularly with the Australian Wrongful and Arbitrary Detention Alliance, which campaigns to strengthen the Department of Foreign Affairs’ approach to this issue.
The Coalition believes this is a serious issue which requires a higher-level response which will begin immediately, if we are re-elected.