Kay Hull (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of the motion moved by the member for Fowler regarding the Inter-Parliamentary Union and I welcome the opportunity to raise the profile of the IPU and its work. Following the Saatchi and Saatchi strategic report on how to make the IPU better known and its mission and work better understood, the members of the IPU in the Australian parliament are very keen to promote the work of this important forum. As the report has outlined, the IPU organisation is about democracy—something that the Australian parliament does not take for granted and which it respects dearly.

Many national, regional and international institutions exist, but it is important that we, as members of the IPU, discuss and promote the many positive outcomes of the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s activities and the important issues that are debated within its assemblies. After all, the IPU is the international representative of a constituency of over 40,000 parliamentarians, both men and women, from around the world; it represents more than 140 parliaments across the globe. It is unfortunate that the IPU’s activities are not well known outside of its membership, and we of the Australian Parliamentary Delegation to the IPU are determined to change this.

I also look forward to new direction and leadership from the newly elected President of the IPU, Mr Cassini. Mr Cassini is the Speaker of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and is a most impressive and eloquent man. He was elected in Geneva, after giving a dynamic and powerfully motivating address. We look forward to Mr Cassini’s dynamism flowing through the IPU in a direction that will make us important in a whole host of forums.

During the IPU assembly, the level of debate varies; however, with little exception, speakers are able to inform delegates extensively, through their debate, about many issues of political, economic, social and cultural importance, which are of relevance to both Australia and the entire international community. We have discussed and debated a range of issues including peace and international security; sustainable development, finance and trade; democracy and human rights; violence against women and children in conflict situations; and strategies to prevent, manage and treat HIV-AIDS.

This international forum is a valuable process that enables members of parliament to gain extensive understanding of many global issues. It is a process that has to become more widely recognised and valued. Some parliamentary processes across the world are very fragile. Saatchi and Saatchi has rightly determined that there is a strong need to develop and sustain fragile parliaments in a way that consistently reinforces the underlying principles of democracy. We are reminded that parliaments are the assemblies of people—the global foot soldiers of democracy, as pointed out by the Saatchi and Saatchi report. We must be ever-vigilant about the possibilities of paid bureaucrats undermining and usurping the role of the people-elected parliamentarians within the IPU. After all, the 40,000 strong membership of the IPU has been elected by millions and millions of people to represent their interests. Surely this means that most of these elected representatives have the trust of the people.

I am very proud of the extremely strong debating skills of the Australian delegation. Each delegate prepares extensively for their area of responsibility. In the team that I led to Manila, in the absence of our delegate leader, we were complimented highly on our contributions; certainly, the members of parliament in the Australian delegation received offers to address other organisations.

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