Lesley Osborne, Professor Damien Kingsbury, Kamal Fadel, Polisario Representative, ALP Conference, Dec 2018

The Australian Labor Party National Conference held in Adelaide on 16-18 December 2018 adopted a positive resolution on the question of Western Sahara urging the UN to proceed without further delay with the organisation of the referendum of self-determination and to press Morocco to implement all UN resolutions pertaining to Western Sahara and calling on the Australian Government to ensure Australian companies have regard to international law regarding the importation of resources and products from the occupied areas of Western Sahara until the legal status of the Territory is determined and the Saharawi people are allowed to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and Peace Plan of 1991.

Text of the Resolution:
Australian Labor Party Resolution on Western Sahara
Adopted by the National Conference on 18 December 2018 in Adelaide
“Saharawi self-determination

This conference:
•    Expresses full support for the efforts of the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara, Horst Kohler, former President of the Federal Republic of Germany, to revive the peace process between parties to the dispute in Western Sahara;
•    Expresses deep concern about the situation of human rights in Western Sahara and urges the UN to mandate its mission in Western Sahara to monitor and uphold human rights;
•    Applauds the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of 2016 and 2018 and the decision of the High Court of South Africa of 2017, which affirmed that any use of the natural resources of Western Sahara must be in accordance with the wishes of the Saharawi people and for their benefit;
•    Calls on the Australian Government to ensure Australian companies have regard to international law regarding the importation of resources and products from the occupied areas of Western Sahara until the legal status of the Territory is determined and the Saharawi people are allowed to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and Peace Plan of 1991;
•    Urges the UN to proceed without further delay with the organisation of the referendum of self-determination and to press Morocco to implement all UN resolutions pertaining to Western Sahara;
•    Calls on the Australian Government to extend all due assistance to the UN in its efforts to pursue an enduring political solution based on compromise and the need to provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara in a manner consistent with the Charter of the United Nations and to maintain an appropriate dialogue with the Polisario Front as the UN-acknowledged representative of the people of Western Sahara.”