Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I will go through some of the examples that you have given. Those cuts of 305 are part of a total of $107 million announced in the forward estimates against the departmental budget. It does make a mockery in a way of the raft of tasks already identified by the Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

I am also concerned that we have cuts to the teams negotiating the free trade agreements. As well, we have funds, not identified, to continue the government’s much hyped whaling surveillance. I am also concerned by the Prime Minister’s recent practice of outlining international initiatives without any evidence of thoughtful consideration, without any evidence of detailed preparation, without any evidence of considered diplomacy and without any evidence of common regional courtesies. We have, for example, the Asia-Pacific union, which is hasty, is ill conceived and smacks of policy on the run. Even the chosen envoy was approached only two hours before the announcement and, again, with no detail.

Against that background, my questions to the parliamentary secretary representing the minister are as follows: can the parliamentary secretary inform us when the minister became aware of the Asia-Pacific union initiative? Was it discussed in cabinet? Where in the budget would I find the funding and staff numbers set aside for this prime ministerial whim? What funding and staff will be made available to the envoy, Mr Woolcott? Will there be new resources or will the resources come from the already stretched department? The same questions apply to the Prime Minister’s nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament commission. Where is the detail? Where is the funding? Where is the staffing? Where do I look in the budget papers for these items? Are these new funds?

When it comes to other initiatives, the same is true. The attempt to pursue a seat at the UN Security Council: what will this cost; where will the money come from? (Extension of time granted) Where are the funds to pursue a seat on that council? What analysis has been done on the likelihood of success? What will be involved in securing that success? What diplomatic efforts will be required? What is the potential cost of this bid? What analysis has been done on the cost? Will the government be considering new embassies and missions to boost its chances of success? And how does this correlate with the government’s intention to cut 25 overseas diplomatic jobs?

Finally, the government has signalled its intent to pursue Pacific Partnerships for Development. This should be the parliamentary secretary’s sweet spot. How many Pacific partnerships does the government intend to establish? How will the government go about prioritising which country to pursue Pacific partnerships with? What mechanisms will the government put in place to ensure that Pacific partnerships will achieve their objectives? Are there any Pacific nations that the government has ruled out pursuing a Pacific partnership with? What part of the funding allocation in the budget is expected to be absorbed in pursuing the Pacific partnerships initiative?

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