Alby Schultz (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the report of the Australian Parliamentary Delegation to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the United States of America from 11 to 23 July 2006 and the report on the official visit to Canada by the President of the Senate from 23 to 28 July 2006.

It is with a great deal of pleasure that I rise to present the report of the parliamentary delegation. That is because the delegation, which was a joint delegation with the Hon. Paul Calvert, the President of the Senate, was one of those delegations that you always seemed to be happy with as an individual member. The delegation consisted of Senator the Hon. Bill Heffernan; Senator John Hogg, the Deputy President of the Senate; Steve Fielding, Leader of the Family First Party; Mr Steve Ciobo, member of the House of Representatives; and me. I also must not fail to mention Senator George Campbell.

Not only was the delegation well received both in Trinidad and Tobago and in the US but, more importantly, it was gratefully acknowledged by all of those people who met the delegation that it was an excellent bipartisan delegation, with all members working together to ensure that the learning that was there to be obtained was maximised in a bilateral economic relationship and that future prospects were enhanced. It was the first Australian parliamentary delegation to Trinidad and Tobago, where we were welcomed with enthusiasm and warmth. Links were forged with the members of the Trinidad and Tobago parliament, and a greater understanding was gained from the perspectives of Australia and of Trinidad and Tobago.

I wish to express the appreciation of all members of the delegation for the professional guidance and support given by High Commissioner John Michell and his wife, Suzanne. In the United States we were greatly assisted by Mr Rene Reinhart, Director of Consular Affairs, and Chris Benscher, Congressional Liaison Officer. We had a significant number of productive meetings. We also had one with the Ambassador to the UN, the Hon. Robert Hill, a former senator of this great place.

We got to know and meet with a significant number of Australian business men and women, both in Trinidad and Tobago and in the US. The issue of Australian export commodities cropped up from time to time. I was pleased to hear, because of the Tasmanian senators there, that, although it has not been officially recognised, the contract for one of those beautiful boats that are being built in Tasmania has been signed off on for the Trinidad and Tobago government.

I also took the opportunity, with Senator Heffernan, to meet with the United States Department of Agriculture to talk about a number of issues centred around the problems with wheat and, more importantly, some of the other issues centred around Australia’s contribution to bailing out the almond industry in the United States, as an example, by exporting millions and millions of honey bees, which has been the subject of some local discussion and media coverage in the past five or six months in Australia. So it was very constructive overall.

Just as an aside, we had the pleasure of meeting Senator Teddy Kennedy when we were coming out of the JFK memorial library in Boston. And, lo and behold, when we were going from New York to Washington DC in the train, who should be sitting beside us and whom we were chuffed to be talking to but Henry Kissinger! So, from a historical perspective, this delegation was very constructive.

Can I compliment the Usher of the Black Rod in the Senate in particular and Mr Don Morris, the private secretary to the President of the Senate, for the significant contribution that they made in a very, very busy schedule that was put together by them. The contribution that they made ensured that anything we did was done professionally. (Time expired)