David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the report of the Australian parliamentary delegation to the 15th annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum, held in Moscow from 21-26 January 2007. As leader of the delegation, I am pleased to present the report of our contributions to the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum meeting held in January. The delegation included the member for Maribyrnong as deputy leader, the members for Gorton and Maranoa, and Senator Ian Macdonald.

The Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum is significant for Australia because it is an assembly of members of national parliaments in our region. Each January, since 1993, it has met to discuss matters of common interest. These meetings provide a valuable opportunity for Australian members of parliament to engage with parliamentarians from the wider region. The APPF member countries are of immediate concern to Australia’s regional strategic and economic interests, and we support the objectives of the APPF meetings. These include: deepening our understanding of the policy concerns of countries in the region; examining major political, social and cultural developments; and fostering the roles of national parliamentarians in building up a sense of regional cohesion and cooperation.

I will turn now to the main matters of the meeting. As is customary at these meetings, sessions were broken into three main subject areas: political and security issues, economic and trade issues, and regional cooperation. I spoke on securing peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific and negotiated the final resolution in the drafting committee. It seems clear that the main path to achieving peace and stability is through constructive engagement in regional cooperation, and that forums such as APEC, the East Asia Summit, the Pacific Islands Forum—and, indeed, APPF—contribute to this engagement by developing greater understanding and cohesion in the region.

Other agenda topics and resolutions that the delegation proposed, debated and negotiated included: strengthening political and security cooperation; combating terrorism, illegal drug traffic and organised crime; strengthening regional and global economic cooperation; and energy security. Outside the plenary, the delegation participated in a number of successful bilateral meetings with other delegations. These included the delegations from the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and Thailand.

I express our special thanks to the Australian Embassy in Moscow, particularly the Ambassador, His Excellency Mr Bob Tyson, and Dr Alexandra Siddall. They managed to anticipate and meet our needs thoroughly. Ambassador Tyson provided excellent briefings and advice and also hosted a reception at which we met expatriates and members of the Moscow community. We are grateful for Dr Siddall’s advice and practical assistance throughout the visit. We also thank His Excellency Mr Sergey Mironov, President of APPF and the Chairman of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, and his colleagues—in particular, His Excellency Mr Dmitry Mezentsev, His Excellency Mr Ilyas Umakhanov and the APPF15 secretariat staff and liaison officers. They provided excellent meeting arrangements, generous hospitality and a wonderful cultural program for all who attended the meeting.

We also thank those closer to home who supported the visit: the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Parliamentary Library, the Parliamentary Relations Office and, of course, our excellent delegation secretary, Catherine Cornish, whose support was invaluable. I thank the deputy leader, the member for Maribyrnong, and all members of the delegation. Each of us pressed Australia’s interests through our draft resolutions, our speeches and negotiations, our bilateral meetings and on informal occasions. In short, the Australian team worked hard to promote Australia’s interests and to represent our parliament.

Before concluding, I also take this opportunity to note that, prior to joining the delegation in Moscow for the meeting, I made a short official visit to Israel at the invitation of the Speaker of the Knesset, Mrs Dalia Itzik. This visit formed part of the regular bilateral exchanges that take place between the Australian parliament and the Knesset. This regular contact contributes to building and maintaining the relationship and understanding between our two countries and parliaments. During the visit I met with the Speaker, Mrs Dalia Itzik; the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu; President Mr Moshe Katsav; Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres; and the head of the Israel-Australia parliamentary friendship group, Ms Ronit Tirosh.

During the visit I also met with Israeli researchers and academics working in the fields of water and solar energy research, as well as the Australian Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation, Major General Ian Gordon. I made a visit to the UN observation post, OP51, in the Golan Heights, accompanied by an Australian serving with UNSTO, Captain John Bouloukos. I have to say that the Australians serving with UNSTO are performing a valuable role and bringing great credit to Australia through their dedication and professionalism. I should also note that in all of my meetings in Israel there was a genuine appreciation expressed for Australia’s friendship with and support for Israel and for the role Australia plays in working for a resolution of the very difficult and complex problems in the Middle East.

Finally, I express my thanks to the Australian Embassy in Tel Aviv, particularly to the Ambassador, His Excellency Mr James Larsen, and also to Jonathon Chew and Alison Drury. The arrangements for the visit were first class, resulting in an excellent and diverse visit program. Mr Larsen provided very thorough briefing and support throughout the visit. I also thank Simon Moore, the Australian Federal Police security adviser who accompanied me on the visit, who is a very professional officer and who is a credit to the AFP. Once again, I thank DFAT, the library and the Parliamentary Relations Office for their support in making this short visit such a success and, for the whole of the visit, I also thank my senior adviser, Mr Chris Paterson.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industrial Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the report of the delegation to the 15th annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum this January. My colleague the member for Maribyrnong, who was the deputy leader of the delegation, cannot be present, so I will make some remarks on his behalf, as well as my own.

Mr Speaker, you have referred to the role of the APPF and its relevance to Australia and some of the issues that the Australian delegation debated; I would like to focus on some other issues. These are political and security cooperation, which the member for Maribyrnong debated, and energy security, which I covered. In his contribution on political and security cooperation, the member for Maribyrnong referred to the interdependence of regional economies and the influence that had on member states maintaining international stability and upholding international obligations. His view was that we have no choice but to work together in addressing the challenges to its peace and security that the region faces.

The debate on energy security at the APPF drew quite a bit of interest. This is understandable because energy security, together with climate change, is amongst the most significant challenges the world is facing. Our region, the Asia-Pacific, is responsible for about 20 per cent of world energy demand and about 50 per cent of the increase in world energy demand in recent years. The implications of energy security are highly significant for our international relations in the future because competition for energy is likely to be the source of tension between states if countries do not have access to a market that can deliver reliable supplies at competitive rates.

The challenge of energy security presents us with an opportunity to collaborate to ensure that all countries have adequate access to energy. It is something that is essential for sustainable economic growth and for the alleviation of poverty. We cannot just consider the interests of our own countries; some of us are fortunate to have good access to energy. Australia has a high degree of natural energy security, although, as you know, we are a net exporter of oil. However, other countries, including many of our neighbours, are much less fortunate.

The kinds of measures that I called for at the meeting included enhancements to global energy trading by strengthening markets, expanding energy infrastructure, removing impediments to exploration and support for the production of alternative sources. We also need to confront this issue in terms of climate change by promoting the development of new and more energy efficient technologies to allow the ongoing use of fossil fuels while meeting climate change objectives.

As parliamentarians in the region we can contribute to progress on the initiatives already undertaken and the development of further initiatives. The value of debating energy security in a forum such as the APPF is clear: it is a global issue requiring global solutions, and these solutions will not succeed unless they are built on understanding and cooperation.

Forums such as APPF do more than provide a basis for speeches. Twenty-seven countries in the region are members and all but a few of them sent members of parliament to this meeting. During a meeting we get the chance to debate regional issues and discuss them in depth as we negotiate with our colleagues from around the region. Our interests will never completely coincide but we do manage to increase our understanding of each other and, through a cooperative attitude, find we can agree on many matters of common interest and concern.

Mr Speaker, you thanked a number of people, and I would like to add our thanks, especially to the Australian ambassador, Mr Bob Tyson, and second secretary, Dr Alexandra Siddall. We very much appreciated the preparations they made for us, and their advice and support while we were in Moscow. I also thank their Canberra colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for their advice and assistance; the research staff in the Parliamentary Library; and the Parliamentary Relations Office.

The organising committee and secretariat of APPF15 should also be thanked for their generous hospitality and efficient arrangements. A large conference in Moscow in the middle of winter must have had its logistical challenges but it went smoothly. In closing, I would like to thank you, Mr Speaker, for leading the delegation, and all my colleagues on the delegation. One of the benefits of participating in such a delegation is the opportunity it provides for us to get to know our colleagues within the parliament as well as from other parliaments. Throughout the four-day meeting, our delegates were vocal and highly participative, which ensured, I think, a very effective representation for Australia.