Australia passes law banning imports made from forced labour

The Australian Senate has passed a bill banning anyone from importing goods produced using forced labour as the state looks to tackle the issue of modern slavery first-hand.

The bill was pushed to the house by independent senator Rex Patrick, but it still required approval from the country's lower house before it will come into effect, following a heated debate on Monday over the topic of Uyghur abuses in the Xinjiang province.

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Patrick estimates there may be anywhere between 38 and 46 million slaves across the globe. Many of these are working in sweatshops to manufacture cheap goods to sell to the west.

He described the bill as “an important step forward in the international efforts to combat modern slavery”.

"We need to send a very clear political signal to Beijing and to the numerous international brands that have been happy to turn a blind eye to China's massive exploitation of forced labour," he added.

Slavery has always been a problem within the industry, with several key materials or products being supplied by developing nations, which tend to have poorer track records on human rights.

While greater efforts towards full supply chain sustainability have been made by key developers, reports are still circling of companies relying on unethically sourced products.

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A report from early 2020 indicates as many as 83 companies from both within China and outside have been exploiting forced labour on behalf of the Uyghur population.

The sweatshops developed products for the automotive, textiles and electronics sectors.

Big brands such as Nike, Adidas, Microsoft and Samsung have all been linked to forced labour in China according to the same study.

The Guardian also suggests that one-fifth of all the cotton used for fashion products worldwide is sourced from Uyghur slavery.

Senator Patrick suggested to the Australian upper house there was "irrefutable" evidence hundreds of thousands of people remain in bondage in China's Xinjiang province.

Despite this, mention of the Uyghur's was not made in the bill itself. Rather, the debate acted as the catalyst for the bill's creation.

This is likely due to the bill specifically targeting the concept of forced labour, rather than simply dealing with the issue within a certain area.

He now says the onus is on the country's coalition government to clear the bill through the House of Representatives.

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However, a few politicians wish for the bill to receive more scrutiny before being enshrined into law, over concerns it could be difficult to gauge the content of a supply chain from such a narrow frame.

The bill has, however, received support from a number of parties, including near-unanimous bipartisan support from both the Green and Labour parties.

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