The Foreign Affairs Department has admitted it failed to consult Australia's foreign minister about a decision not to co-sign a statement calling for an end to the military's violence in Myanmar.
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Department secretary Frances Adamson said it was her agency's decision not to join the United States, United Kingdom and European Union in signing a March 19 statement calling for the restoration of democracy, the release of detained protesters, and the lifting of martial law.
She told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday that the decision had been based on "local and other considerations" and that her department failed to consult the government.
"We should have consulted the Foreign Minister. That is a failing on our part, and we bear responsibility for it, but it doesn't detract from the fact that we absolutely support the content, we've made that clear on a number of occasions," Ms Adamson told senators.
"It was not a deliberate, considered - including by the minister - statement that you might be expecting it would be, and indeed it should have been."
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DFAT officials said Australia had condemned the violence against protesters and called for the restoring of the democratically-elected government on many other occasions.
First assistant secretary at DFAT's south-east Asia division, Ridwaan Jadwat, said the decision not to co-sign the March 19 statement was a judgement made by the ambassador "on the ground".
"Certainly we support the sentiments in the statement," Mr Jadwat said.
Labor senator Penny Wong asked officials why Australia did not co-sign the statement, which appeared to align with the government's position towards the military coup in Myanmar.
"We are talking about a coup, we are talking about unarmed civilians being, some, murdered. We're talking about an escalation of violence, I think this was issued at a time when that was occurring," she said.
Australia earlier this month suspended military cooperation with Myanmar and redirected aid to non-government organisations in response to escalating violence against people protesting the February 1 coup.
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