Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee
12 February 2026
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Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee Australian Parliament
12:07 - 14:36
Speaker 1
Well, good morning. I declare up in this hearing of the senate foreign affairs defense and trade references committee's inquiry into democracy and human rights in Myanmar. The committee will be conducting today's hearing in person and via teleconference. I am senator Henderson, chair of the committee, and I'm joined by the deputy chair senator Ciccone, senator Whitaker, senator Smith, and senator Collins. I expect, senator Shubridge will be with us shortly.
These are public proceedings being video streamed live via the parliament's website, and a hand side transcript is being made. I remind all witnesses that in giving evidence to the committee, they are protected by parliamentary privilege. It is unlawful for anyone to threaten or disadvantage a witness on account of evidence given to a committee, and such action may be treated by the senate as a contempt. It is also a contempt to give false or misleading evidence. Witnesses have...
Also have a right to request to be heard in camera. The senate has resolved that an officer of a department of the Commonwealth or of a state shall not be asked to give opinions on matters of policy and should be given reasonable opportunity to refer questions asked of the officer to superior officers or to a minister. This resolution does not preclude questions asking for explanations of policies or factual questions about when and how policies were adopted. If a witness objects to answering a question, they should state the ground upon which objection is made, and the committee will determine whether it will insist on an answer having regard to the ground which is claimed. If the committee determines to insist on an answer, a witness may request that the answer be given in camera.
Commonwealth officers appearing today are also reminded of the senate order specifying the process by which a claim of public interest immunity should be raised. A copy of the order is available from the secretariat. I remind committee members and witnesses who are appearing via video conference and who are not speaking to mute their microphones. On that note, and I also just will say in advance that we will need to suspend prior to 09:00 due to, party room, commitments by liberal senators. So I do apologize in advance for that disruption.
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