Laurie Ferguson (Reid, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the report of the Australian Parliamentary Delegation to the European Institutions and bilateral visit to Norway, April to May 2006. At the outset, I would particularly thank Christopher Reid, who accompanied the delegation, and Lynette Mollard for their endeavours beforehand to our diplomatic representatives overseas and to the public servants in the countries that we visited. Also, to the members of the delegation, I think the delegation had a great sense of camaraderie and cooperation. It really is another worthwhile aspect of these visits that people come to know each other better.

The delegation visited the European Parliament, NATO et cetera. Amongst the issues with the European Parliament were the question of Turkey’s future in Europe. Obviously there are mixed views there, but I think the delegation have come away with a better understanding of a very strong position from Germany and Austria in particular. I for one am very strongly supportive of Turkey going to Europe for the future of relationships in that region, but there seems to be a very divergent view there.

We also had the opportunity to focus on something we do not really think about very much in this country—that is, the development program of the European Community of £6 billion to £7 billion. The orientation towards Asia was, I think, informative for members of the delegation. Obviously, members took the opportunity to put an Australian perspective with regard to the Common Agricultural Policy. But, particularly when we moved on to Norway, I think we appreciated the other side of this coin: the national cultural centres behind the preservation of agriculture in some of these countries. Whilst Norway is not in Europe, I think the degree to which the country seeks to preserve its sector was very much driven home.

Another issue throughout Europe is immigration. Whilst those countries do not have our tradition as a settlement reception country, we must also bear in mind the very low populations of some of these countries—Norway, four million; Belgium, Holland et cetera—so the level of migration is in some senses a very real challenge to their cultural identity. Whilst we obviously would like to overcome the barriers of discrimination and bias in those cultures, we must at the same time appreciate the severe challenges that it represents to their culture.

Another most interesting aspect of our visit to Norway was the pension fund that the country has established as a result of its oil revenues, appreciating, as it does, that they will one day run out. I think members were surprised that that fund currently has $US286 billion and had an 11.1 per cent return in 2005. What I think was interesting to the delegation was the degree to which the fund had invested in external financial instruments. The other interesting aspect for all members—and I think we all came away with a view that we should take it on board in this country—was the question of the ethical committee that looks at investments, decides that there is too much risk in areas, decides that weapons and non-humanitarian investments are totally wrong and excludes investments in that field.

We also had the opportunity in Norway to look at that country’s reorientation to the high north of the nation, which is also interrelated with its interest in renewables in the capture and use of carbon dioxide. At the same time, on the question of the Sami minority there, it was interesting to meet Berit Eira, the state secretary of the ministry of labour, who is a Sami speaker.

Another aspect of the delegation’s visit was its involvement in overseas commemoratives services. I was particularly struck by the Anzac Day events at Ypres. We had arrived just after an unfortunate stabbing death in the main railway station of the capital city, and I was very impressed by the Bürgermeister, Luc Dehaene, who, in his speech, really stressed the need to overcome ethnic division in the country and to not go into stereotyping et cetera. It was a very worthwhile speech on a very important day. We were honoured by the reality that Belgians, many decades afterwards, still have that service at the Menin Gate on a daily basis. It was interrupted only by the Nazi occupation in the Second World War; otherwise it has been constant. I found the Flanders Field Museum very impressive, magnificent and world class. It really did convey the realities of the suffering.

Also with regard to commemorative services, we had the opportunity in the Netherlands to be present at a ceremony recognising the 8½ thousand Dutch citizens who fought for this country in the Second World War after the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies. This comes at a time when we are celebrating 400 years of contact with the Dutch. There is also an important publication by Nonja Peters, The Dutch Down Under, which our ambassador in the Netherlands has had very high— (Time expired)

Mal Washer (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I support the member for Reid’s excellent presentation. I had the privilege of being a member of the Parliamentary Delegation visit to the European Institutions and bilateral visit to Norway. It was one which strengthened the ties with the European Parliament, legal and political institutions in the Netherlands and the Norwegian parliament.

It was a delegation of six. I, again, thank Laurie Ferguson, Joel Fitzgibbon, Wilson Tuckey, Senator Stephen Parry and their partners for their focus, their teamwork and their collegiality. I also thank the leader of the delegation, government senator Kay Patterson, for the example she set at meetings and functions. She tabled this report in the Senate six weeks after our return on 21 June 2006.

In Belgium, the European Union is entering a period where developing issues, such as immigration, and existing issues, including the EU constitution, enlargement and the Common Agricultural Policy, have become leading priority areas. The European Union membership increased to 25 nations on 1 May 2004 and now produces over 25 per cent of the world’s GDP and remains Australia’s largest single trading and second largest investment partner.

Although Australia has strong differences with the EU in international trade, particularly on agriculture and aspects of the EU’s regulatory approach, Australia cooperates with the EU on a broad range of international issues. For Australia, the EU market is the destination of 11 per cent of total exports and the source of 28 per cent of imports.

Throughout a very successful series of meetings, the delegation was able to outline for some members of the European Parliament Australia’s position on issues such as energy, including uranium, trade subsidies, immigration and foreign policy. The delegation also noted that the EU has succeeded in implementing further economic reforms and recognises that the European Parliament and national governments continue to face resistance.

Other features of the delegation’s work in Belgium included a visit to NATO, where the delegation learnt about the pan-European perspective on current key issues such as global security. The delegation also called on the Belgian parliament to attend a meeting with the Speaker of the Chamber of People’s Representatives.

On 25 April, Anzac Day, ceremonies at the Western Front, West Flanders, to commemorate the Australians who fought and the thousands who died there were a highlight. In The Hague in the Netherlands, engagements included visits to several international institutions, including the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. We also visited the Dutch parliament and attended a very successful and memorable function hosted by the Australian ambassador, honouring Dutch veterans who served or assisted Australia in World War II. This function also commemorated 400 years of bilateral relations between the Netherlands and Australia. The parliament was delighted to accept a bilateral invitation from the Norwegian parliament, the Storting. Australia enjoys good relations with Norway and we share many common values.

During the visit to Norway the delegation met with a number of parliamentary representatives, including a number of its committees and senior officials from government departments and industry. Many issues of interest, such as immigration, education, the pension fund and fishing were discussed. The delegation observed that, while areas of disagreement remain, such as whaling policy, the growing relationship between Norway and Australia was sufficiently mature to realise the areas of growing partnership.

The delegation expressed its tremendous gratitude for the warm welcome it received at all meetings and functions, and for the generosity of the Norwegian parliament in hosting this visit. The leader of the Australian delegation was pleased to be able to formally invite, on behalf of the Presiding Officers, a delegation from the parliament of Norway to visit Australia.

The delegation also extended its sincere thanks to our Australian ambassadors, their embassy staff and colleagues for making the visit such a beneficial and memorable one. Thanks also to Lynette Mollard from the Parliamentary Relations Office for her tremendous work in bringing our appointments and bookings together.

Finally, a note of appreciation to the secretary of the delegation, Mr Chris Reid. He is also the Director of the Parliamentary Education Office. I am not surprised he holds this position if his tireless work and attention to detail in managing and reporting on our trip are any indication. I am sure I can speak for others when I extend my gratitude to Chris Reid for his efforts. I commend the report to the House.