Judi Moylan (Pearce, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the report of the Australian parliamentary delegation to the 115th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly, held in Geneva from 16 to 19 October 2006, and to Portugal from 20 to 25 October 2006. In doing so, may I say that it was an excellent delegation, and I place on the record my appreciation of the work and contribution of the deputy leader, the member for Cowan. Not only is he an excellent travelling companion—as is his wife, Noelene—but also he is an outstanding ambassador for this parliament and for Australia. I also commend the member for Riverina, Mrs Kay Hull, and Senator Gavin Marshall for the significant contributions they made to the work of the delegation.

I know the member for Cowan will be speaking at greater length specifically on our visit to Portugal, but I thought it was appropriate that the report is being tabled today as we have a delegation from Portugal visiting the House—the Portuguese parliamentary committee on foreign affairs—led very ably by Dr Arnaud. As we had the pleasure of meeting the foreign affairs committee during our work in Portugal, I thought it appropriate to make a few comments. The committee met over 30 members of the 230-member Assembly of the Republic of Portugal and gained a greater appreciation of the key social, economic and political issues of Portugal, including education, health, drug control and, of course, foreign affairs. The visit provided an excellent opportunity for us to exchange views on the issues of mutual interest—in particular, on East Timor. I understand the delegation from Portugal will be flying to Dili to consider some of the matters up there. We have a very important partnership with Portugal to continue to work to help rebuild East Timor and indeed to help to strengthen their democratic system of government.

Australia welcomed the deployment of a 120-member contingent of the National Republican Guard as Portugal’s contribution to helping maintain law and order in East Timor and noted that both countries were working cooperatively and effectively to this end. The delegation noted the significant progress that has been made in restoring stability in East Timor but also noted that the security and political situation will continue to be challenging in the lead-up to the 2007 elections and beyond. This means that continued international support for East Timor is critical.

The delegation concluded that it would be useful for ministers, parliamentarians and officials from Portugal and Australia to talk further about the collaboration in and coordination of bilateral aid programs in East Timor and to explore ways of better defining areas of specialisation. So we are particularly pleased to welcome the Portuguese delegation to the Australian parliament, and we wish them well on their ongoing journey to East Timor.

Before I move on to the work of the IPU, I would like to express the delegation’s thanks to Mr Luke Williams, the Australian ambassador to Portugal, and to his staff at the Australian embassy in Portugal. The program of visits and meetings was well focused and comprehensive and allowed the delegation to gain a real appreciation of Portugal, its history and its culture as well as current issues. We were enchanted and delighted with the warm reception we received from the Portuguese parliament and the Portuguese people. I also thank the Portuguese ambassador to Australia, who assisted us in preparing for this visit.

There is a full account in the report on the IPU. I want to make clear that there is a typing mistake in there. In my speech to the IPU, it refers to the ‘nonproliferation of nuclear weapons’. It should have read ‘the proliferation’—that is, that we discourage the proliferation, not the nonproliferation, of nuclear weapons. I want to make that clear.

This delegation was an excellent delegation. I believe we have continued to lift the profile of Australian delegations to the IPU assemblies, and a great contribution was made by all members of the Australian delegation to the work of the 115th assembly. Once again, I thank all of the staff, including Mr Neil Bessell, our secretary, who assisted us in preparing for those meetings. Members were also grateful to the staff of DFAT, who also assisted us in our preparation. Our sincere thanks go to all of the staff in Australia’s embassy in Portugal. I commend the report to the House. (Time expired)

Graham Edwards (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary (Defence and Veterans' Affairs)) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

From the outset, I want to acknowledge the work of the leader of the parliamentary delegation to the 115th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly held in Geneva and to Portugal, Judi Moylan, and compliment her on a very professional job. Her leadership and personality helped make this trip a very enjoyable one. It was great to be part of a good team, and I feel that, under her leadership, we really did fly the Australian flag with pride, and we made sure that people knew where we were from as well. I also want to acknowledge the work of Kay Hull and Senator Gavin Marshall during the IPU and, of course, during our bilateral visit to Portugal. For me, the IPU was an eye-opener, and, as a stranger to the process, I greatly relied on the advice and direction of delegation secretary Neil ‘Fardo’ Bessell, who is a very valuable officer to have about. His experience was of great value to the delegation.

It was very interesting to be involved in a forum which included full, open and frank debate on various issues with speakers from countries like Israel, Lebanon and Palestine pitted against each other. It was also of interest to watch the politics of the Twelve Plus Group. As you know, Mr Speaker, Australia is a member of Twelve Plus as well as a member of the Asia-Pacific Group. But I must say I was absolutely astounded by the anti-American sentiment which was often expressed, and expressed with some passion and some strength, by some delegates. It is important for the future of the IPU and for the decision-making process that the United States gets involved with the IPU again.

I did put forward a motion on the banning of cluster bombs for discussion at the next IPU, but this motion was not supported. I was disappointed that it did not get up, but I can understand why. However, on a more positive note, I was asked to join the editorial board that was recently constituted to oversee the drafting of a new handbook for the parliamentarians on the forthcoming International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities. It is hoped to have that work finished and published in time for the 116th IPU assembly in spring 2007.

The bilateral visit was to Portugal, and I am absolutely delighted to have had the opportunity to welcome the delegates here today from Portugal. It is tremendous that, so soon after our trip, they decided to visit Australia to see what it was that we were so proud of. I also want to acknowledge the great work done by our post in Portugal and, in particular, to acknowledge and thank our ambassador, Luke Williams, for the very professional job he and his staff do and for their support of our visit.

There are many hundreds of people of Portuguese origin living in WA. Many of them are from the island of Madeira, and they make a great contribution to our state and to Australia. Indeed, many of them have involved themselves in the fishing industry. For many of them, the first time they ever picked up a fishing line was when they came to Australia. The Portuguese people were very warm in their hospitality, and, for me, a highlight of our trip to Portugal was a visit to Porto, which is couple of hours drive north. It was a very interesting drive, and Porto is a very fascinating part of Portugal. For me, there was a great resemblance between Porto and the old port area of Sydney, around The Rocks, and the old port area of Fremantle, where so many of the Portuguese people went.

We were also very interested to meet with officials from the ministry of fisheries. Portugal is the third highest per capita consumer of fish and has an overall deficit in fish trade. It consumes over €1 billion worth of fish products, its own catch supplying about two per cent of consumption—there ought to be a market there for Australia. In conclusion, I once again congratulate Judi Moylan and other members of the delegation. It was a delight to be a member of that delegation, and we hope that we represented our country well.