Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to report that relations with our North American friends, both the United States and Canada, have been significantly strengthened by the Prime Minister's most recent visit. I spoke yesterday about the Prime Minister's successful meeting with the United States President, and I am pleased to inform the House that the Prime Minister's discussions with Prime Minister Stephen Harper were also warm and productive, covering topics like international security, trade and development, international taxation, the G20 agenda and the like.

Canada has a shared heritage with Australia and is one of the world's great democracies. Our soldiers have fought for freedom and against common enemies as far back as the Boer War, world wars I and II, the Korean War and in Afghanistan. Canada is an active and constructive member of the United Nations, APEC, the World Trade Organization, the G20, the G8 and others.

I note the Prime Minister's visit to Canada last week was the first visit by a Prime Minister since John Howard in 2006 and I note that there was no visit by an Australian foreign minister since Alexander Downer's visit in 2006, and I intend to visit our close friend and partner to follow up on the Prime Minister's successful visit.

Canada is generally regarded as one of the world's leading nations in terms of human rights and its strong democratic foundations, in stark contrast, of course, to certain other nations. There has been a bipartisan view in this place that there are certain regimes that undermine the international order. They fund terrorism. They routinely inflict human rights abuses on their citizens. They are called pariah states. It has generally been accepted that North Korea, Iran and Syria are pariah states, but now Labor have added to their list of pariah states Canada. The shadow Attorney-General was on Melbourne radio on 11 June and described Canada as a pariah state. This is a test for the Leader of the Opposition. Show some semblance of decency and some leadership. Rebuke the member for Isaacs for calling Canada a pariah state. The Leader of the Opposition refuses to do so.

Mr Dreyfus interjecting—

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