Roger Price (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the member for Barker for his contribution and associate myself with his remarks. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the role played by the Speaker, Harry Jenkins, who led the delegation to the IPU and Jordan. I would also like to make particular mention of Michele Jenkins who accompanied our Speaker. I know that the spouses in particular valued the contribution that she made to the overall success of the trip.

The delegation deputy leader was Danna Vale, and I would like to acknowledge the role she played as deputy leader. The member for Barker and the member for Shortland were also members of the delegation. In particular, it was a delight for me to be on this trip with the member for Shortland. As the Speaker and other speakers have noted, the member for Shortland—Jill Hall, the Government Whip—was elected as a titular member of the coordinating committee of women parliamentarians, succeeding Kay Hull, the whip of the Nationals, in that role.

I turn to what we accomplished at the IPU. Danna Vale was elected to the third committee; she was on the drafting committee and became a rapporteur for its report. I am pleased to say that I was involved in the second committee, which looked at migrant workers, people trafficking, xenophobia and human rights. The drafting of its report took all day but it was a delight. Both reports were unanimously adopted.

There are two other things I would like to mention. One is that our emergency motion on nuclear proliferation and the comprehensive test ban treaty was adopted as an agenda item for Addis Ababa next year. That was done with the help of a number of countries—in particular, the UK and Japan. I would like to acknowledge the contribution that those countries made to the success of that item getting up. I should report that I am a rapporteur, with my colleague from Zambia, and we will be presenting a draft report to Geneva later this year on that subject matter.

One thing I would like to comment on is the emergency item that was adopted—that is, the role of parliaments and the Inter-Parliamentary Union in ensuring an immediate halt to the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in conflict areas, and its environmental dimension; in facilitating the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, particularly by ending the blockade in Gaza; and in accelerating the creation of a Palestinian state through viable peace processes. I want to put on the record that I think we could have had a completely unanimous stand-alone motion on the issue of Palestine, a path which was not taken. To dispense with an alternative motion on climate change by including the expression ‘and its environmental dimension’ in the item demeans the IPU in trying to forge such a compromise. Hopefully we will avoid that in the future.

I reiterate that quite a number of us were very new to the IPU. We valued the experience the Speaker had and, in particular, the office of Mr Neil Bessell from the Senate. He was very helpful and was instrumental in our success. I would also like to acknowledge Debra Biggs, adviser to the Speaker, and Ms Alison Purnell of the Ministerial, Cabinet and Parliamentary Services Section of DFAT. Alison was simply terrific. I should also mention the assistance we received from the High Commission in South Africa. At the time, Zimbabwe was a hot item. We left Australia determined to make sure that Zimbabwe was raised, and thankfully that occurred, with the Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa, Ms Baleka Mbete, raising it in her presidential address. The events in Zimbabwe meant that our Foreign Affairs officials were stretched on the ground in South Africa, but they helped us and I would like to acknowledge that help.

I also thank the National Assembly of South Africa, the host parliament, for hosting the IPU at Cape Town. It was really terrific. I am sure the member for Shortland will share with us her experiences in getting out of the conference and undertaking a couple of visits associated with the IPU, which were very moving. South Africa is to be congratulated for the wonderful job it did in hosting the IPU. I am sure all members of the delegation are really grateful.

We did undertake a bilateral visit to Jordan, and what a wonderful country that is. There are a few memories I will take away from that visit. One is sitting and having a cup of coffee with the honourable member for Shortland. Can I point out to the House that I paid. But we were asked by two teenage students where we came from and who we were, so we said: ‘We’re from Australia. We’re members of parliament.’ They were absolutely delighted. They disappeared into the shop and they came back and said: ‘Here’s a chocolate. It’s so nice of you to be here.’ So I would say to any Australians proposing to visit Jordan that the people are overwhelmingly friendly and generous. Although we had security as part of the delegation, we were freely able to walk around Amman and did not have any concern for our security at all.

The other aspect that I think will always be an enduring memory for me was in fact the Prime Minister of Jordan, who was very generous with his time. I think we had three-quarters of an hour with him. He dismissed all the officials from the room and then gave us a very frank assessment of the Middle East—its history, its present and the prospects for the future. Of course, the delegation is always interested in peace in the Middle East, but he was able to really put out a grid map of the current situation and the potential dangers. I cannot emphasise enough the threat that is posed to Middle Eastern countries by Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. It is somewhat of a frightening prospect. But, having said that, I would like to reiterate the generosity of the Prime Minister to the delegation and the frankness of his address of all the issues.

We met the Speaker of the parliament as well as the President of the Senate and quite a number of ministers. Last but not least, the delegation had a very unique experience—and that is that there was a member of the Jordanian parliament, Dr Hani, who had in fact studied in the fair state of Victoria. He got his degree and doctorate there and returned to Jordan. It felt as though Dr Hani was a fifth member of the delegation. He was with us everywhere and he really smoothed our way tremendously—not that there were any difficulties, but he made it that much easier for both the Jordanian side and the Australian side as he floated between the two. He and his lovely wife, Attica, both showed us great generosity and hospitality. I might say that I think all of the delegation would be keen, should he visit Australia or when he visits Australia in the short term, to reciprocate and show our appreciation for that hospitality.

So, to the ministers and all those that we saw, a big thankyou. To the ambassador there, Trevor Peacock and his staff: thank you so much for your assistance. As I say, and as the member for Barker commented, Anzac Day at the citadel, at the high point in Amman, was something very, very special that we will carry to our deaths. I would like to thank the parliament for allowing me to be a member of this delegation. I would like to acknowledge the good teamwork and camaraderie between all the delegates on this delegation and thank them sincerely for their efforts. I believe it has been a successful delegation.

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