The leader of Australia's Greens party, Bob Brown, says the government is willing to sideline the rights of Papuans in order to further its relationship with Indonesia.
The Greens Senator is among those voicing concerns over Canberra's proposed security treaty with Jakarta which lays out a new framework for co-operation between the Australian Defence Force and Indonesia's military.
Australia's opposition and others have criticised the secrecy of the treaty in which Jakarta is demanding a clause under which Canberra rejects Papuan claims for independence.
Senator Brown says Australia's support for a document stripping away the right of Papuans to self-determination is undemocratic and unethical...
"It's wrong. The government knows it's wrong. But for the political purpose of having a settled relationship with Jakarta - and that means the corporations in Australia who want to invest in resource extraction from Indonesia, including West Papua, having an easy go of it - the West Papuans' rights to democracy are being sidelined.'"
Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown
