Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with great privilege that I rise to speak on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Bill 2015. My very first trip overseas as a parliamentarian was to Papua New Guinea and Bougainville with the then opposition foreign affairs spokesperson, Julie Bishop. We were able to go up to Hides in the Highlands to see the magnificent infrastructure around the LNG projects and the work that was done, the sheer engineering skill that that project was able to bring into the country.

We then ventured over to Bougainville. It was when we were in Bougainville that building capacity and capability with aid really struck home to me. It was just after the Queensland state election when the Bruce Highway had been cut for about a week leaving Labor, Liberal and LNP banners and those sorts of things stranded on the side of the road that we travelled the road from Buka all the way round to Arawa. That road is maintained by what was then AusAID. We provide the jobs, we pay the people and we provide the equipment that grades that dirt road every year. The reasoning behind that was that if you build a bitumen road, it is good for a while but in equatorial regions and tropical regions potholes soon appear and it becomes problematic. A place like Lae is the pothole capital of the world.

What we decided in conjunction with the Bougainvillians was that we would provide the work to make sure that this road was graded every year. The road came up to streams that the Japanese had been in. Jane Prentice, the member for Ryan, told me that some of these streams flood so quickly that people are locked in for almost 48 hours, unable to cross. I said, 'I am from Townsville and we have just been isolated for seven days.' It was one of those things. The bridge was a single lane concrete bridge across a couple of these streams. It had a magnificent great big ceramic plaque saying it was donated to the people of Bougainville by the Japanese government. The Bouganvillians was so very proud of these bridges and so very thankful to the Japanese government for providing these bridges. They did not recognise the work that the Australian government did in relation to providing the road on which we travelled. It comes down to how you present and sell your achievements from your aid dollar.

We have to be very wise and we have to very frugal in the way we present our dollar. I think the way we are going to work the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the AIIB, is going to be a good way of making sure that, as a region, we are able to put this up there and therefore remove the temptation for some nations to put themselves out there as delivering for the people. What we could have done on that road was spend another million dollars putting up big signs with Johnathan Thurston from the North Queensland Cowboys saying, 'This is what the Australian government has delivered for you.' What AusAID did in those days was to deliver the service, and that was their role.

When we came to government, we brought AusAID into the Department of Foreign Affairs, because we need to be better at telling the people what we are doing and how we are doing it. Aid into these regions has to be twofold. There has to be capacity building for infrastructure and there has to be programs for education and health, and programs that help lift people out of poverty—that is crucial. Programs that deliver aid for education, health and physical wellbeing do not have so much room for 'corruption', for want of a better word. When there are massive infrastructure projects and massive projects like the rebuilding of ports and bridges, there is room where some people in some countries in some instances can rake some money off the top. That is what the AIIB must work against. Going in as an organisation will remove the temptation to try to do a better deal. It will ensure it is our infrastructure as opposed to Korea's infrastructure, the Philippines' infrastructure or China's infrastructure. If we do those things and do it as the bank, if we make sure it is the government of that sovereign nation delivering it for their people in a commercial capacity, then we will surely get a better result.

I congratulate Treasurer Joe Hockey for his ability to argue the case that we should join this. I think we are so much better inside the tent that outside the tent. We have to project this and use this in the region to try to build capacity in these nations and reduce the level of innate corruption. I do not like to use the word 'corruption', but I do not know a better word for it. If you are using these sorts of things to line your own pocket or structuring a tender into these countries where some people get more benefit than others then, for me, it is about corruption. It is not just about the ability for these countries to perform better. We must make sure it is a two-way street. If they get better facilities then they will be able to receive and process our goods quicker. If we are able to get the port in Lae, for example, to work better then all the goods coming in and out of Lae and Papua New Guinea will be transitioned so much quicker. It will be done so much better.

I see a bunch of schoolkids up in the gallery behind the glass. I say congratulations to them for coming to Canberra. What we are doing here with this, as well as with the China Australia Free Trade Agreement and the other free trade agreements, is about their future. It is about making sure that when they leave school, they will have the ability to enter these markets. Because we live in Australia and we are geographically isolated does not mean we cannot provide services, access and value into these regions. That is what this place is all about. As a parliament, we have to make sure that we do get into this space, that we are aggressive when it comes to being a member of this. We have committed $930-odd million in capital over the next five years to be a part of this bank.

I live in Townsville in North Queensland. The closest capital city to Townsville is not Brisbane. The closest capital city to Townsville is Port Moresby. My region includes the Solomon Islands, a nation which is coming out as a result of what is surely the greatest piece of foreign policy that this parliament has seen in many, many decades—the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands. They now have a functioning police force, a women's chamber of commerce, more infrastructure on the way, a budget in surplus and economic growth at about seven or eight per cent—albeit from a low base. You can see all these positive things now. That is what Australia has been able to provide in that space.

Looking at the Asia-Pacific region, there are massive challenges but there are also massive opportunities for us. There are massive opportunities for Australian companies to engage in this space. There are massive opportunities for Australians to participate in the tender process and become part of the supply chain in this space. There are massive opportunities for us to say that we care about our region. As part of this development bank, we will ensure that we are delivering to our region. There is a competitive edge that allows some countries in some instances to provide infrastructure that may not be necessary or superfluous to need, or to supply infrastructure for a benefit other than for the benefit of the people. Those are the things that we have to make sure about.

As foundation members of this bank, we will be able to provide support and help with the policy and tender settings and processes, and we will end up with a better result. Our aid dollar will get a better result into these regions. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will be able to provide the solid, physical infrastructure to those countries and it will be the country that will deliver it with finance, and then we will be able to deliver the aid in the form of programs which will lift education levels. Education is the secret to everything. If you get a good education, you can get better health. If you get a good education, you can build the things yourself. If you get a good education, you can get better off financially. If you get a good education, you lift the whole country. That is what we must do in our region.

We have some very big challenges in our region with the likes of poverty, domestic violence, type 2 diabetes and climate change. We have some very real issues. What we have to do is make sure that we are addressing those issues. What we have to do is make sure that, wherever possible, we are addressing the whole issue not just part of it. I welcome our position as a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. I welcome Joe Hockey's commitment to this. I think he has done a fantastic job to get the government to become a partner in this. I think we are so much better for being part of this and for being part of something that is going to be at the forefront of our region's development. I think it is something that we can do. If we can badge it properly, it will be a magnificent part of my region's economy.

At the end of the day, there are 149 people in this room here—not right now, but when it is full—and we all come here with self-interest and with the interests of our seat, our city, our region and our country. What I want to do is make sure that we are projecting a positive image in our region, that we are projecting a proactive image into our region and that we are extending a helping hand into our region to make sure we are able to lift all boats and help all peoples deliver the kind of infrastructure that means they can all have the kinds of lives they want to have in those countries. This is a great bill. I want to make sure that we support this. I thank the House very much.

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