Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

I present the report of the Australian Parliamentary Delegation to the 118th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Cape Town, South Africa and a bilateral visit to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

As the report that I have just tabled attests, this was a highly successful, hardworking and informative delegation. I congratulate each and every delegate—the deputy leader, Danna Vale; the Chief Government Whip, the member for Chifley, Roger Price; the Government Whip, the member for Shortland, Jill Hall; and the member for Barker, Patrick Secker—for the significant contribution that each of them made to the delegation to the 118th Assembly of the Inter-Parlia-mentary Union in Cape Town and also to the bilateral visit to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. It was a team effort.

I have only have a few minutes to speak to the detailed report and therefore cannot review all of the meetings undertaken by the delegation and the issues that were pursued. In relation to the IPU, I would commend to honourable members pages 4 and 5 of the report, which list the many highlights of the delegation’s work at the IPU. I am particularly pleased to report that the member for Shortland has followed in the path of the member for Riverina, Mrs Hull, and was elected as a titular member of the coordinating committee of women parliamentarians. This is a great honour for this parliament and Australia.

In a major achievement for the delegation, Australia proposed and was successful in having the IPU agree that its first committee should debate and finalise a resolution on nuclear proliferation and the comprehensive test ban treaty at its meeting in Addis Ababa in April 2009. It is a great honour for this parliament and for Australia that the member for Chifley, Mr Roger Price, was elected as a co-rapporteur for this debate. I know he has already undertaken significant work to facilitate this debate, and I wish him well for his work at the meeting of the IPU in Geneva in October, when he will conduct a workshop on the matter.

On behalf of the delegation, I congratulate and thank the parliament of South Africa for the extremely efficient and successful conduct of the assembly. Their hospitality was well received. I also place on record our appreciation for the way in which the Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa, Ms Baleka Mbete, carried out her duties as the president of the assembly, especially the important motion that she put forward as her president’s statement on Zimbabwe.

The bilateral visit to Jordan was highly educative and informative. Every member of the delegation came away from this visit with an enhanced understanding of the history of Jordan and the Middle East and the dynamics of the complex challenges that impact on the peoples of this troubled part of the world. The delegation was impressed with and welcomes the moderate and responsible approach adopted by Jordan in what was quite rightly described as a ‘hard neigh-bourhood to live in’. The delegation was impressed with how the Jordanian people are addressing significant domestic challenges including refugees, access to water and lack of energy resources. They are addressing these with enthusiasm, resolve and commitment.

The delegation expresses its sincere appreciation to the Jordanian parliament for an outstanding program incorporating intense discussions on complex and challenging issues facing the Middle East. There is no doubt that Jordan is in the ‘eye of the storm’ of the Middle East process involving Israel and Palestine and wider issues of the region as a whole.

Other highlights for the delegation were two events that indicate Australia’s heritage in this region and Australia’s involvement during the First World War. We attended the opening of an exhibition of historical photographs from the Australian War Memorial collection. The exhibition, entitled Anzacs and the Great Arab Revolt, showed Anzac soldiers in and around Amman and Salt in 1918. The delegation was also extremely honoured and moved to attend the Anzac Day dawn service commemorating the landing at Gallipoli 93 years ago, on 25 April 1915. The service was conducted at the Citadel in Amman. The location is particularly appropriate as it was the site of military action between Anzac forces and some 2,500 Turkish troops, in September 1918, in what was described as a ‘short but violent battle’. We will indeed be pleased to hear of the commemorations of the 90th anniversary of this battle that involved the Australian Light Horse.

It is important that, in this statement, I place on the public record the delegation’s appreciation of the outstanding contribution made by Dr Hani Al Nawafleh, a member of the Jordanian House of Representatives, to the success of the visit. Dr Hani and his wife, Attica, are graduates of Monash University and lived and travelled in Australia during their time here. No delegation could have wished for a more enthusiastic, pleasant, committed and energetic ‘honorary host’ than Dr Hani. If it could, the delegation would have made him an honorary Australian for the outstanding services he provided to us. His willingness to make the visit a success was boundless, and this report attests that he achieved his goal.

The delegation highly commends the services provided by the Jordanian parliament, particularly by Mr Yaroub Al Habashney; the excellent security officers, led by Lieutenant Colonel Amjad Al Husami and Captain Mohamad Al Zubaidi; and the efficient transport officers.

Federal Agent Michael Jackson, who for obvious reasons likes to be known as Mick Jackson, worked tirelessly to coordinate security and other arrangements, and his contribution was much appreciated. The staff of the Australian Embassy in Jordan, particularly Ambassador Trevor Peacock and Deputy Head of Mission Victoria Young, could not have done more to ensure the success of the visit. The program for the visit was wide-ranging and well targeted, with significant appointments with the Jordanian Prime Minister, the Speaker of the House, the President of the Senate and several senior ministers. The delegation appreciated the time and effort of other embassy staff, particularly those who organised an excellent and informative program for spouses.

I congratulate and thank my fellow delegates for their work on this highly successful visit. I wish to express my sincere and massive gratitude to the secretary of the delegation, Neil Bessell, who has been the secretary to a number of delegations to the IPU. His breadth of knowledge on the IPU has been important to the ongoing success of Australia’s contribution to that organisation. I thank the House for its attention and I commend the report to the House.

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