In late 2025, I was invited to participate with other union leaders and activists in a Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA study tour at the Thai-Myanmar border. In eight days we visited four of their projects, were guided through the Umpiem Mae refugee camp, and met with countless exiled unionists, politicians, business leaders and community activists. APHEDA’s work across the globe is something every PSA CPSU NSW member, and every member of a union generally, should be proud to be part of.

In an increasingly unstable world, Myanmar is not a country that receives much of our attention, but it should for two important reasons. Myanmar is not at war with another sovereign country, nor is it a civil war between two armed forces. Rather, since a coup in 2021 it has been ruled by a brutal military junta which is relentlessly at war with its own people. Further it is our doorstep and as a democratic leader in our region, we are being looked to by the Burmese opposition for leadership and support.

Below is an extract of my report on the tour to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade in Canberra on 26 November 2025.

“There are three key messages I would like to provide the committee today.

“The first is that Australian foreign aid in the region is being well spent and delivering results. The projects we visited, including those sponsored by APHEDA through community-based partners and others directly by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, are making demonstrative impacts on displaced Burmese people living in Thailand.

Secondly the refugee camps on the Thai-Myanmar border are on the precipice of a humanitarian disaster due to the Trump Administration’s winding back of USAID, which provided more than 50 per cent of their assistance and no new funding being identified to bridge the gap.

“But most importantly the Burmese people were universally in agreement as to what they seek from the Australian Government. They are not asking for military intervention. Notwithstanding the grim outlook for many refugee camps, they are not seeking more foreign aid. They only want what we enjoy here in this place, what we are doing now. The one thing that without they cannot return home. Democracy. And to that end they seek further sanctions to be imposed on the Burmese Junta and denouncement of the sham election that is to be held on 28 December 2025. Those we met fear this election, whose outcome has been fixed through voter suppression, the abolition of opposition parties, gerrymandering and digital interference, will be used by the Junta to claim rightful rule and make the path to a return to democracy even more difficult than it is now. And this surely is a call every Australian should hear and answer.”

To find out more about APHEDA and its work, go to www.apheda.org.au