They may be strange bedfellows but Greens leader Cassy O'Connor and Liberal senator Eric Abetz are united on wanting a boycott of the Winter Olympics in China.
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Both have questioned China's human rights abuses and the safety of sending athletes to the games in 2022.
Ms O'Connor's personal view is the Chinese government's imprisonment of Uyghur people and Tibetans warrants a boycott.
"The Chinese Government has cracked down violently on Hong Kong and makes daily threats to invade democratic Taiwan," she said.
"The same government has 'disappeared' Australian citizens and threatened our journalists.
"How can we send our athletes in to the arms of a genocidal, totalitarian regime that has already kidnapped Australian citizens."
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Senator Abetz will write to the Australian Olympic Committee to voice his concerns and is urging the International Olympic Committee to consider an alternative venue.
"We need to teach China a lesson about human rights and that 'you can't treat Australia badly because of COVID'," he said.
"Given the recent departure of the last Australian journalists in China, reporting on the Olympics also raises serious concerns as to whether journalists' wellbeing and safety can be guaranteed.
"There are similarities with 1936 (Olympics) and the National Socialist regime of Adolf Hitler - the Chinese Communist Party want to show their local population they are the epicentre of the world, the world loves us and aren't we fantastic."
In a joint letter to the IOC, 160 human rights advocacy groups called for Beijing to be removed as host of the games because of its actions in Hong Kong and detention of Uighurs in Xinjiang.
"It is well-documented that China continues to perpetrate systematic abuses of human rights and this is why a boycott should be seriously considered," Senator Abetz said.
"China don't want to be of service to sport they just want to exert their nationalistic propaganda."
He said the 2022 winter games would be the last Olympics exempt from human rights principles being incorporated in host city contracts by the IOC, which will bind hosts to UN conventions from Paris 2024 onwards.
"China's hosting in 2022 is a glaring choice before the conventions become part of the contract," Senator Abetz said.
Sue Bailey
Sue works two days a week for The Examiner and The Advocate newspapers and and is based in Hobart. Loves any human interest stories!
Sue works two days a week for The Examiner and The Advocate newspapers and and is based in Hobart. Loves any human interest stories!
