Julia Banks (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm proud to speak to this motion today and acknowledge the success of the New Colombo Plan, an inspired initiative of our foreign minister, the Hon. Julie Bishop, and constructively implemented by the Turnbull government. My electorate of Chisholm is home to two of Australia's biggest and best universities—Monash University in Clayton, where I studied arts and law, and Deakin University in Burwood. These are two fantastic tertiary institutions where thousands of Chisholm residents are pursuing further education. I'm thrilled also that both Monash and Deakin are participant universities in our government's New Colombo Plan.

The New Colombo Plan continues to be a crucial element of the government's long-term plans to build closer relations in our region. In its first five years, the New Colombo Plan has supported more than 30,000 Australian undergraduates undertaking study and work based placements across the Indo-Pacific region, including some 22 scholarship recipients and 2,151 mobility grant recipients studying in my electorate of Chisholm. These undergraduates are returning to Australia with new skills and networks from their experiences in the region, enhancing Australia's capacity to engage with our neighbours and, of course, having gained wonderful insight into the cultures and professional settings of our regional neighbours.

The New Colombo Plan is mobilising young Australians who are bright, inquisitive and wonderful ambassadors for our nation. Indeed, the Minister for Foreign Affairs recently launched the New Colombo Plan Alumni Ambassador Program, which, in its first year, will support students from across Australia to promote the New Colombo Plan and the value of Indo-Pacific study and work placements. Some young people from Chisholm's Monash and Deakin universities are included in this cohort of ambassadors and are representative of the diversity of students participating in the New Colombo Plan and of the depth and breadth of study and internship opportunities available in the Indo-Pacific. Included among these students is William Rathgeber from Deakin University, who this year is completing his Bachelor of Design, majoring in architecture. In 2015, he completed a study tour in India. In 2016, he attended Seoul National University in South Korea on exchange via a New Colombo Plan mobility grant. Finally, in 2017, he attended CEPT University in Ahmedabad, India, on his third international study trip. These opportunities have provided William with integral skills as well as professional and academic experience, and I am pleased to hear about William's ongoing successes.

Likewise, Sam Williams completed a Bachelor of Arts with honours from Monash University last year. For his honours year, he studied anthropology in Nepal, before conducting research in-country about Nepali ethno-politics through a New Colombo Plan scholarship. Sam interned for three years at the Australian Embassy in Nepal and is now working at the University of Melbourne. Also from Monash University, Alexander McLeish, who is studying arts/law, was the New Colombo Plan Japan Fellow in 2016, where he completed a semester of study at the University of Tokyo. Supported by his New Colombo Plan scholarship, Alex had the opportunity to intern for a law firm in Tokyo and with a leading Japanese company. Finally, Christopher Williams, whom I have met, is a Bachelor of Computer Science student at Deakin University. He is currently studying at the University of Hong Kong as the 2017 New Colombo Plan Fellow and plans to intern in the technology sector in Hong Kong in early 2018. These young Australians living and studying in Chisholm are just some of the wonderful examples of the thousands of Australians who are being mobilised in our region, and I commend them on their wonderful ongoing endeavours.

The New Colombo Plan thrives not only from government funding but from private sector sponsorship, including new sponsorship this year from aged care provider Arcare. Arcare's funding of $500,000 over five years will be directed to support New Colombo Plan mobility programs. Next year, it will fund 14 Deakin University School of Nursing and Midwifery students to travel to Bhutan to undertake practicums in primary health care, midwifery and aged care study. It is just one example of the fantastic mobility programs being undertaken by Chisholm students. The plan's mobility program would not have been possible without this additional support, and it is a great example of how the Turnbull government is partnering with the private sector to deliver new opportunities for young Australians. The New Colombo Plan is a wonderful initiative that is enhancing relationships in our region. I encourage all undergraduate students to apply to participate and explore the wonderful opportunities available in our region.

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