Last week, very politely, I asked Senator Patrick some questions about an important topic. Here’s the email.
Dear Senator Patrick
Professor James Leibold gave testimony to the Australian Senate Committee, Customs Amendment (Banning Goods Produced By Uyghur Forced Labour) Bill 2020 on Tuesday, 27 April, 2021, namely:
“Since 2019, I’ve interviewed 10 former Xinjiang workers and 30 immediate family members of workers and what I’ve learned from them through those interviews and through comparison to open-and-closed access Chinese government documents, such as internal police documents, is that a system of unfree labour is now widespread in Xinjiang and, to a certain extent, across China.”
Given the seriousness of these accusations, please explain why this valuable evidence was not obtained under notice – that is, a request made for Professor Leibold to provide de-identified transcripts of the interviews and explanations of the interview methodology.
Given that lying to a senate committee is contempt of the Senate and attracts a possible prison sentence, please explain what measures that you have taken to check that the professor was telling the truth.
I look forward to your response within the next 48 hours.
In the event that you choose not to respond, I will have no alternative than to judge that you have no interest in this matter or that it is not important to you and given the importance of this evidence, to publish your response.
Regards
Andrew Westerman
The accusation against China is very serious. It would seem that critical evidence, such as the testimony of people who have actually experienced forced labour, would be considered very pertinent to a Senate Committee looking to bring legislation before parliament to try and prevent it.
But despite a lot of posturing, it doesn’t seem like Senator Patrick actually gives a shit. The very fact that he didn’t follow this testimony from Leibold with a request for transcripts shows that he did not participate in this committee to see something of benefit occur to the people allegedly affected, but instead was doing what every politician is adept at – self-promotion.
The email I sent to Patrick was cc-ed to James Leibold. So now he, too, is aware of my request. But he’s not really obliged to do or say anything. For me, he can do what he likes. For the Senate, he just has to turn up and answer questions.
Of course, he has to tell the truth as well. Lying to the Senate is Contempt of Senate which can lead to a prison sentence. If he actually did as he said he did – that is, interviewed these people – then he should have no problem publishing de-identified transcript. So, since this is a serious issue, I’ll do what Patrick was too lazy or too stupid to do. I’ll ask Leibold, right here, to prove he is not lying.
Of course, he will probably ignore me. But, I did ask. And his response will be telling.
As for Patrick, just another politician full of shitfuckery.