Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I also rise to speak on the report of the parliamentary delegation to Vietnam and to the 17th Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum, in Vientiane, Laos. The delegation took place between 5 and 10 January in Vietnam and between 11 and 15 January in Laos. For her hard work during the visit and in the compilation of the delegation report, I would like to thank Ms Catherine Cornish, the delegation secretary. We were also fortunate to have the Clerk of the House, Mr Ian Harris AO, along, primarily for the APPF phase, and he was able to greatly assist the delegation with his wealth of knowledge of process and of foreign government representation at the APPF.

I was very pleased to have the opportunity of joining this delegation and joining you, Mr Speaker, and Senators Kroger, Moore and Collins. Although I had not expected to have the opportunity of participating in the delegation, I was certainly pleased to do so. Given the number of people in Cowan of Vietnamese descent, I wanted the opportunity to look at Vietnam and the way the country is run. The Vietnamese people in Cowan know why I wanted to go to their homeland, and I thank my Vietnamese friends across Australia for the information they gave me before the visit and the communication I had with them and their friends in Vietnam during the visit.

I will take this opportunity to thank the Australian diplomatic staff for their great assistance and detailed support of the delegation. Beginning in Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, we had the support of Consul-General Mr Graeme Swift, who supported a program of meetings with Australian businesspeople and city officials as well as visits to the Nguyen Dinh Chieu School for the Blind and the Phu My Bridge, under construction by Bilfinger Berger Baulderstone Hornibrook. We also visited the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology Vietnam, which is a great success story for not only RMIT but also the whole of Australia.

In Hanoi the delegation was supported by the ambassador, His Excellency Mr Allaster Cox, and his staff. In Hanoi, highly effective and interesting meetings took place with government officials, including the President of the National Assembly, His Excellency Dr Nguyen Phu Trong, and we made a courtesy call on the Prime Minister, His Excellency Mr Nguyen Tan Dung. A visit also took the delegation to the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, which was highly interesting and instructive.

The delegation visit to the Protec Helmet factory was of great interest to the delegation, as throughout Vietnam the very large number of motorcycles demonstrated to all of us the need for helmets and better road safety. Although a helmet for the rider of the motorcycle was required under recent laws in Vietnam, sadly the law did not apply to the two, three or even four pillion passengers that we saw on those motorcycles, including children. The delegation appreciated the significance of the production of those helmets, and I note here in the parliament the contribution by AusAID towards the helmet factory and safety programs in Vietnam. The delegation witnessed the announcement of an additional US$100,000 contribution by AusAID to the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation, who run the factory.

The visit by the delegation was highly productive and greatly increased our understanding of Vietnam, the needs of that country and the relationship between our nations. I also would particularly like to thank First Secretary Michael Hoy for his consistent and outstanding support in Vietnam. He is a most excellent diplomat and Australia is fortunate to have him in Vietnam.

Given that I do not have much time left, I will confine my comments on the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum in Vientiane to observations of the forum, while also acknowledging the work of AusAID. Ambassador Michele Forster and Second Secretary Emily Russell greatly assisted the delegation in administrative arrangements and, beyond the forum, a day visit to an AusAID funded school as well as organising contact with Australians working and volunteering in Laos. I thank Michele and Emily for their dedicated work supporting the delegation.

The APPF was a very interesting experience for me as I had never been involved in such an event. I understand, though, that you, Mr Speaker, and Senators Kroger, Moore and Collins had all had similar experiences in sitting down with delegates from other nations and drafting resolutions and the final communique. ‘Frustrating’ would be one description. However, in speaking to and then helping to draft the resolution on cluster munitions I appreciated the experience of getting to negotiate with the Laotians, the South Koreans, the Chinese and the Russians—a very interesting and instructive experience.

Apart from the APPF itself, Ambassador Forster organised visits to the Friendship Bridge between Laos and Thailand that was built by Australia in 1994. The delegation also visited the Saka Primary School which, as I mentioned before, is assisted by the Australian government to participate in the UNICEF child-friendly school program. Then we got to observe the difference between that school and the Nong Poung Primary School, which is soon to join the program. It was a fascinating comparison and evidence of effective Australian support in Laos.

To conclude, I can say that I echo the sentiments of the entire delegation in saying that the two parts of the delegation, the two aspects of the visit, were fascinating and highly instructive. I thank the staff of this parliament, the Parliamentary Relations Office and our missions in Vietnam and Laos for their excellent support in all regards. I also thank you, Mr Speaker, and Senators Kroger, Moore and Collins for their guidance during the trip and also for the way we worked so well together to try to achieve the aims of the delegation.

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