Julia Irwin (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I wish to express my congratulations and thanks to a country and a number of its citizens. The country is Cuba, and the citizens are the 177 members of a Cuban medical team which returned to Cuba last week after two years of service to the people of East Timor.

As members would know, the past two years have been marked by outbreaks of conflict in East Timor, requiring Australia to send additional military and police personnel. During this time the Cuban doctors were the only foreign medical team to remain in place. The team provided over two million consultations, often in the midst of violent situations. The team achieved a remarkable reduction in the infant mortality rate in East Timor. The benefits will be ongoing, as the Cuban team assisted in the creation of a medical facility which is training 148 East Timorese doctors to continue that much-needed work. The Cuban assistance to East Timor is only part of Cuba’s contribution. They are providing and training medical professionals to Latin America, Africa and the Asia-Pacific regions. While Australia can be proud of its military involvement in East Timor, the humanitarian contribution of Cuba and its people is worthy of our thanks—congratulations on a job well done.