Majority want Rudd to intervene in Tibet

April 7, 2008 - 9:39PM
Theage.com.au

Almost three quarters of Australians want Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to take a lead in bringing a lasting solution to the conflict over Tibet, a new poll shows.

A Galaxy poll conducted for progressive lobby group GetUp shows 71 per cent of the 1,100 people surveyed want Mr Rudd to use "his standing with the Chinese government to attempt to broker a lasting solution to the Tibet conflict".

GetUp executive director Brett Solomon called on Mr Rudd to pay careful attention to the poll result.

"The prime minister should be in no doubt as he heads into his meetings with the Chinese leaders of the deep resonance of this issue within the broader community," Mr Solomon said in a statement.

"He clearly has the backing of his domestic constituency."

Mr Solomon said Mr Rudd's background as a China expert put him in a rare position to take a leading role in negotiations.

"Mr Rudd is the best placed world leader to stand up for Tibet and the Australian community are rising to meet that opportunity by sending him to Beijing with an unflinching mandate to boldly do so."