It's a nice sentiment, but more wishful thinking by organisers and host countries these days. Olympics president Jacques Rogge has predicted one billion people will watch tonight's opening ceremony. That's got to be a pretty tempting audience for people who want to get their message out to the world.

China's record on Tibet, Taiwan, the Falun Gong and human rights in general is sure to get an airing in the international media. The Chinese, unsurprisingly, have been reinforcing the Olympic Charter's ban on politics lately, particularly with the growing number of protests as tonight's opening ceremony approached.

Without mentioning the controversies, Chinese President Hu Jintao said recently, ''We believe that politicising the Olympics does not favour resolving these issues, and also violates the Olympic spirit.''

Beijing Games spokesman Sun Weide went even further after the latest protests. ''The Olympic Games is [a] grand international sports gathering. We strongly, firmly oppose any attempt to politicise the Olympic Games,'' he said on Wednesday.

They are not the first Games hosts to make such comments. Just eight years ago, many in the Australian community criticised Cathy Freeman for celebrating her 200m gold with the ''unofficial'', and therefore banned, Aboriginal flag, and Midnight Oil came under fire for unveiling their ''sorry suits'' during the closing ceremony.

Both acts were overtly political and brought the world's as well as many Australians' attention to the pride and plight of indigenous people.

Kevin Rudd on the first trip to an away Olympics by an Australian prime minister in 32 years is among several world leaders to vow to speak out about China's human rights record.

''I believe the responsibility of the international community is still to speak with a strong united voice on these questions, while recognising that over time some progress has been made in China,'' he said yesterday.

But what good will all these comments do? Despite the Olympic Charter, the Games are filled with political acts although few of them involve politicians.

The 1980 Moscow and 1984 Los Angeles boycotts did, as did Hitler's Olympics in 1936. But the most shocking, such as the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Games, and the most powerful, such as Tommie Smith and John Carlos's black power salute in Mexico in 1968, did not.

Standing next to Smith and Carlos as they bowed their heads and silently raised a gloved fist during the medal ceremony was Australian Peter Norman.

Norman died in 2006, but in a recent documentary, Salute, Norman says people should be aware of the human rights abuses in China.

''Once you've earned the right to stand on that podium, you've got that square metre of the world that belongs to you. What you do with it is up to you within limits,'' he says.

But Smith and Carlos paid for their actions; they were ostracised for decades, and even received death threats, before finally receiving recognition in recent years.

Times have changed, but no doubt many athletes fear repercussions for stepping too far over the line. Australian athletes are allowed to discuss political issues at the Games, but there are still many restrictions.

Australian chef de mission John Coates said Australian athletes have to respect the Olympic rules. ''We've given them the opportunity personally on blogs, personally at conferences like this, you're free to ask these athletes whatever questions you want here. But we think and we strongly believe that they should support the IOC rules that say no protests, no banners, flags, within the village or at the venues.''

Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans has been an outspoken Tibet supporter in the past, but indicated he was going to tone down his comments while in China.

''I'm here to ride my race and play my role as part of the Australian Olympic team, not to upset anyone. But of course, yes, I have my opinions,'' he said on his arrival.

But these rules do not apply to politicians like Rudd. Unlike most Western leaders, he is in the special position of being able to talk to the Chinese in their own language. In a carefully crafted speech at Peking University during his last visit, Rudd was able to use the ''true friendship'' of Australia and China to ''engage in a direct, frank and ongoing dialogue about our fundamental interests and future vision''.

''There are still many problems in China problems of poverty, problems of uneven development, problems of pollution, problems of broader human rights,'' he said then.

Rudd also talked directly to the Chinese leaders about his, and Australian, concerns, including Tibet. His comments got much attention worldwide, except in China, where the state-run media focused on his positive comments and language skills.

That does not mean he shouldn't bother this time. The Chinese are unlikely to be bullied into making the changes the Western world wants to see, but as Rudd said yesterday there have been changes over the years, albeit slow changes.

''You're not going to turn the events of centuries around in the matter of a few days but what you can do is continue to apply the appropriate level of scrutiny to these things and I intend to do that while still building on what I think is a very important relationship for China,'' he said.

While it is the athletes who can more easily bring these issues to the public's attention, it's to be hoped Rudd can do his bit behind closed doors to make that slow change even just a little bit faster. David McLennan is Parliamentary Bureau reporter.