Australia has expressed grave concern about the sentencing of dozens of pro-democracy activists, including an Australian man, in Hong Kong.

Australian Gordon Ng was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison under a broad-brush national security law criticised as being installed by China to suppress dissent.

Ng was one of dozens of activists that comprised the group NSL47 charged with subversion under the law – 45 were sentenced on Tuesday.

“The Australian government is gravely concerned by the sentence handed down in Hong Kong for Australian citizen Mr Gordon Ng and other members of the NSL47,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Tuesday.

“This is a deeply difficult time for Mr Ng, his family and supporters. Our thoughts are with them following the sentencing.”

The Australian Government is gravely concerned by the sentence handed down in Hong Kong for Australian citizen Mr Gordon Ng and other members of the NSL47. Our thoughts are with Mr Ng, the other detainees and their loved ones at this difficult time.

— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) November 19, 2024

Australia has made diplomatic representations and sought consular access to Ng.

He moved from Hong Kong to Australia as a child, where he became a citizen. He considers himself a “Sydneysider”.

Ng had been living in Hong Kong for 15 years when he was arrested in 2021. He was convicted under the national security law in May 2024 for organising and participating in an election primary in Hong Kong.

“Australia has expressed our strong objections to the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities on the continuing broad application of national security legislation, including in application to Australian citizens,” Wong said.

She called for the repeal of the national security law and “for China to cease suppression of freedoms of expression, assembly, media and civil society”.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham added his voice to the condemnation, saying the sentencing of pro-democracy advocates was “appalling and unacceptable”.

The sentence was “another stark reminder of the Chinese government’s continued attacks on freedoms and rights in Hong Kong”.

A nearly $200,000 bounty remains on the heads of Australian citizen Kevin Yam and former Hong Kong politician Ted Hui who lives in exile in Australia.

-with AAP