Patrick Secker (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was honoured to attend the 118th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union as a member of the Australian delegation to Cape Town, Republic of South Africa in April of this year and then to further participate in the bilateral visit to Jordan. The delegation was certainly very ably led by the Speaker of the House, Harry Jenkins.

I have been asked in the past: what is the IPU? I suppose it could be described as the equivalent of the United Nations for members of parliament. Although it obviously does not meet as often as the United Nations it has a similar role in many areas. The assembly was inaugurated on 13 April in the presence of His Excellency the President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Thabo Mbeki. Delegations from the parliaments of 130 countries took part in the work of the assembly, with observers from a range of organisations such as the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the OHCHR; the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; the United National Children’s Fund, UNICEF; and others.

It was particularly inspiring to note delegations from the parliaments of Malawi, Swaziland and the United States of America, who participated as observers with a view to considering further affiliation with the IPU. Of the 1,467 delegates who attended the assembly, 700 of us were members of national parliaments. The parliamentarians included 51 presiding officers, 42 deputy presiding officers and 196 women.

On the first day the assembly observed a minute of silence to honour the memory of several political leaders killed in recent months as a result of political violence. That is certainly something that we in Australia do not really think much about because we do not generally have assassinations in this country, although we had one in New South Wales. I think that has been the only assassination in Australia’s history.

The overall theme of the assembly was ‘Pushing back the frontiers of poverty’. One of the keynote speakers, Ms Yassine Fall, a senior economist at the United Nations Development Fund for Women, said that poverty was a complex topic and a great challenge. I recall Ms Fall saying that it was women worldwide who bore the brunt of, and were responsible for dealing with, the consequences of food, water and other shortages. She went on to say that at no time in history had so many resources been available to end poverty and that although some countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America were experiencing growth, millions of people were not benefiting. Ms Fall urged the assembly to view poverty as the responsibility of parliaments as well as governments and reminded us that fighting poverty involved fighting inequality and upholding the rights of individuals.

On Tuesday, 15 April, the assembly was addressed by the Prince of Orange, His Royal Highness Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Chair of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, and Mr Valli Moosa, President of the International Union for Conservation and Nature. His Royal Highness Prince Willem-Alexander recalled that 10 years ago the IPU had adopted a resolution on water and the means required to make the best use of that resource for sustainable development. He went on to say that 7,500 people were still dying every day because they lacked access to clean water and sanitation. Whilst we have problems in Australia with water supply, I think people would recognise that it is nothing in comparison with what some other countries are going through. He noted that there is still a long way to go, and in light of those sobering statistics I wholeheartedly agree with him. Even if the Millennium Development Goals were achieved, more than one billion people would still have no access to basic sanitation. His Royal Highness was confident that the challenges could be met by working together. Later that day Dr Francisco Songane, Director of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, addressed the assembly and said that the IPU member parliaments should play a substantial leadership role.

It was certainly an interesting time to be in South Africa, given that neighbouring Zimbabwe had not released the results of their elections more than two weeks after the people of Zimbabwe had cast their votes. For a large part of the assembly, up until the Speaker of the Republic of South Africa raised it, it was the elephant in the room that nobody wanted to talk about. Indeed, at the closing sitting the president of the assembly read out the declaration on the situation in Zimbabwe which had been prepared by a working group at the assembly.

At the end of the IPU, I was equally honoured to participate in the bilateral visit to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Jordan is a constitutional monarchy consisting of a bicameral parliament with a lower House of Representatives and a Senate. The 110 members of the House are elected with a number of seats being reserved for women and for various religions and ethnicities. The Senate’s 55 members are appointed by the King. Whilst the Senate is similar to the Australian parliament, it has half the numbers of the House of Representatives. They are appointed much more like the Canadian parliament and the British parliament. Political parties were legalised in Jordan only in 1992 and political reform has been a priority of the government in the last few years. I think they have come a long way in a relatively short time and have done a very good job in bringing democracy to Jordan.

With my keen interest in parliamentary committees and the value I hold of these in the workings of parliament, it was interesting to learn that in Jordan all proposed laws are referred to relevant committees for inquiry and report, and ministers attend these meetings to explain the proposed law. I think it would be wonderful if we took that procedure up in the Australian parliament.

I was particularly honoured to attend an Anzac Day dawn service commemorating the landing at Gallipoli 93 years ago. This year, 2008, also marks the 90th anniversary of military engagements of Anzac troops in and around Amman in 1918. The service was held in the grounds of the Amman Citadel in the area of the Roman temple directly overlooking downtown Amman. It was quite an extraordinary experience to be part of that dawn service in such a place of reverence. I note the Chief Government Whip has entered the room and he would certainly agree with me how that special commemoration of the Anzac Day dawn service made us feel as Australians in that special place in Amman.

I valued the opportunity to meet with international members of parliament and it was further an honour to meet with the Prime Minister, Mr Nader Dahabi, with the President of the Senate, His Excellency Zaid Rifai, and with His Excellency, Abdul al-Majali, Speaker of the Jordanian Parliament. The delegation’s visit to Jordan and Cape Town was highly educative and informative. It certainly gave me a greater understanding of its history and the dynamics of the complex challenges that impact on the peoples in troubled or impoverished parts of the world.

We did have the opportunity of visiting the Dead Sea. It was, again, a very interesting experience and I have to say we have a parallel in Australia. It is called the Coorong, unfortunately referred to several times yesterday by the Prime Minister as the Coorong lakes. In my whole life, I have never heard the Coorong called the Coorong lakes. I think the Prime Minister was getting it confused with the Coorong and the Lower Lakes. They are two quite separate problems in my electorate and there are two quite separate solutions. They are not very much related to each other.

I noted there was a proposal to dig quite a large channel to refresh the Dead Sea with sea water and I have actually proposed that for the Coorong—without much success I might add. It is interesting that they were not only looking at refreshing the Dead Sea, which is falling in its level as every day passes, but also using the fact that it is about 200 metres below sea level to produce hydroelectricity. I am interested to see how they approach that and how successful they are.

It certainly was very interesting to look at the problem that they have with the Dead Sea and to see the West Bank over on the other side of the Dead Sea, which showed how important Jordan is to the whole Middle East area because it is surrounded by Iraq, Iran, Syria and so on. It is quite an interesting place to be. I have to say I was very impressed with the country and felt quite safe when walking the streets.

I congratulate the members of the group ably led by Mr Harry Jenkins and also the deputy leader, the Hon. Danna Vale, the member for Hughes, Ms Jill Hall, the member for Shortland, and Mr Roger Price, the Government Whip. There were many highlights of the work. I would particularly congratulate Ms Hall on being elected to her position which is ongoing. Well done! She made a great contribution to the delegation and to the IPU conference. Thank you again to the Australian parliament for giving me the opportunity to be part of a wonderful delegation that was very much working towards Australia’s future and the future of the globe and, with the trip to Jordan, our interests there as well.

Roger Price (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the member for Barker for his contribution and associate myself with his remarks. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the role played by the Speaker, Harry Jenkins, who led the delegation to the IPU and Jordan. I would also like to make particular mention of Michele Jenkins who accompanied our Speaker. I know that the spouses in particular valued the contribution that she made to the overall success of the trip.

The delegation deputy leader was Danna Vale, and I would like to acknowledge the role she played as deputy leader. The member for Barker and the member for Shortland were also members of the delegation. In particular, it was a delight for me to be on this trip with the member for Shortland. As the Speaker and other speakers have noted, the member for Shortland—Jill Hall, the Government Whip—was elected as a titular member of the coordinating committee of women parliamentarians, succeeding Kay Hull, the whip of the Nationals, in that role.

I turn to what we accomplished at the IPU. Danna Vale was elected to the third committee; she was on the drafting committee and became a rapporteur for its report. I am pleased to say that I was involved in the second committee, which looked at migrant workers, people trafficking, xenophobia and human rights. The drafting of its report took all day but it was a delight. Both reports were unanimously adopted.

There are two other things I would like to mention. One is that our emergency motion on nuclear proliferation and the comprehensive test ban treaty was adopted as an agenda item for Addis Ababa next year. That was done with the help of a number of countries—in particular, the UK and Japan. I would like to acknowledge the contribution that those countries made to the success of that item getting up. I should report that I am a rapporteur, with my colleague from Zambia, and we will be presenting a draft report to Geneva later this year on that subject matter.

One thing I would like to comment on is the emergency item that was adopted—that is, the role of parliaments and the Inter-Parliamentary Union in ensuring an immediate halt to the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in conflict areas, and its environmental dimension; in facilitating the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, particularly by ending the blockade in Gaza; and in accelerating the creation of a Palestinian state through viable peace processes. I want to put on the record that I think we could have had a completely unanimous stand-alone motion on the issue of Palestine, a path which was not taken. To dispense with an alternative motion on climate change by including the expression ‘and its environmental dimension’ in the item demeans the IPU in trying to forge such a compromise. Hopefully we will avoid that in the future.

I reiterate that quite a number of us were very new to the IPU. We valued the experience the Speaker had and, in particular, the office of Mr Neil Bessell from the Senate. He was very helpful and was instrumental in our success. I would also like to acknowledge Debra Biggs, adviser to the Speaker, and Ms Alison Purnell of the Ministerial, Cabinet and Parliamentary Services Section of DFAT. Alison was simply terrific. I should also mention the assistance we received from the High Commission in South Africa. At the time, Zimbabwe was a hot item. We left Australia determined to make sure that Zimbabwe was raised, and thankfully that occurred, with the Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa, Ms Baleka Mbete, raising it in her presidential address. The events in Zimbabwe meant that our Foreign Affairs officials were stretched on the ground in South Africa, but they helped us and I would like to acknowledge that help.

I also thank the National Assembly of South Africa, the host parliament, for hosting the IPU at Cape Town. It was really terrific. I am sure the member for Shortland will share with us her experiences in getting out of the conference and undertaking a couple of visits associated with the IPU, which were very moving. South Africa is to be congratulated for the wonderful job it did in hosting the IPU. I am sure all members of the delegation are really grateful.

We did undertake a bilateral visit to Jordan, and what a wonderful country that is. There are a few memories I will take away from that visit. One is sitting and having a cup of coffee with the honourable member for Shortland. Can I point out to the House that I paid. But we were asked by two teenage students where we came from and who we were, so we said: ‘We’re from Australia. We’re members of parliament.’ They were absolutely delighted. They disappeared into the shop and they came back and said: ‘Here’s a chocolate. It’s so nice of you to be here.’ So I would say to any Australians proposing to visit Jordan that the people are overwhelmingly friendly and generous. Although we had security as part of the delegation, we were freely able to walk around Amman and did not have any concern for our security at all.

The other aspect that I think will always be an enduring memory for me was in fact the Prime Minister of Jordan, who was very generous with his time. I think we had three-quarters of an hour with him. He dismissed all the officials from the room and then gave us a very frank assessment of the Middle East—its history, its present and the prospects for the future. Of course, the delegation is always interested in peace in the Middle East, but he was able to really put out a grid map of the current situation and the potential dangers. I cannot emphasise enough the threat that is posed to Middle Eastern countries by Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. It is somewhat of a frightening prospect. But, having said that, I would like to reiterate the generosity of the Prime Minister to the delegation and the frankness of his address of all the issues.

We met the Speaker of the parliament as well as the President of the Senate and quite a number of ministers. Last but not least, the delegation had a very unique experience—and that is that there was a member of the Jordanian parliament, Dr Hani, who had in fact studied in the fair state of Victoria. He got his degree and doctorate there and returned to Jordan. It felt as though Dr Hani was a fifth member of the delegation. He was with us everywhere and he really smoothed our way tremendously—not that there were any difficulties, but he made it that much easier for both the Jordanian side and the Australian side as he floated between the two. He and his lovely wife, Attica, both showed us great generosity and hospitality. I might say that I think all of the delegation would be keen, should he visit Australia or when he visits Australia in the short term, to reciprocate and show our appreciation for that hospitality.

So, to the ministers and all those that we saw, a big thankyou. To the ambassador there, Trevor Peacock and his staff: thank you so much for your assistance. As I say, and as the member for Barker commented, Anzac Day at the citadel, at the high point in Amman, was something very, very special that we will carry to our deaths. I would like to thank the parliament for allowing me to be a member of this delegation. I would like to acknowledge the good teamwork and camaraderie between all the delegates on this delegation and thank them sincerely for their efforts. I believe it has been a successful delegation.

Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I join with my colleagues who attended the IPU in firstly congratulating all those who were associated with the delegation. I would like to acknowledge the work of Neil Bessell, secretary to the delegation, Mr Debra Biggs and Ms Alison Purnell, who was a great resource and assistance to all delegates at the IPU. I would like to thank everybody for the enormous contributions they made. It is the assistance, the briefing, the information and the support that you get when you are at these delegations that actually determines whether or not they are successful.

Like the member for Chifley, the Chief Government Whip, this is the first time that I had attended the IPU Assembly and, I must say, I went not knowing what to expect and left having learnt a lot and having a totally different impression of what it involved. The theme of the assembly was ‘Pushing back the barriers of poverty’ and it included the role that parliaments have in striking a balance between national security, human security and individual freedoms and averting the threat to democracy. The delegation was led by the Speaker, Mr Harry Jenkins, and he made a presentation in the main assembly on the theme of ‘Pushing back the barriers of poverty’.

All the delegates from this parliament to the assembly made an enormous contribution. Mr Price was appointed to report at the 120th assembly on the nuclear motion that we were successful in getting up. Ms Vale was elected to the drafting committee of the second committee and Mr Price was also elected to the drafting committee of the third committee, I believe. I made a contribution to the third committee and presented a paper on migrant workers, people trafficking, xenophobia and human rights. I was also elected as a titular delegate to the women’s organising committee along with 14 other members from parliaments and I took over from Kay Hull, the member for Riverina.

I report that Kay Hull made an enormous contribution to the IPU in the time that she was a delegate from this parliament. She is very highly thought of by the women who are on the organising committee and her presence there was sorely missed. I hope that in my role as titular delegate to the organising committee I can make a similar contribution to hers. It is also worth noting that, because of the work that she had done on the women’s organising committee, she was also invited as a delegate to the conference earlier this year that looked at the impacts of HIV-AIDS. So she has made an enormous contribution and it is through her involvement in the IPU that she was actually able to make that contribution.

One of the aspects of the committee that I found particularly interesting and important was the countdown to 2015, which looks at child and maternal health and how the 60 developing countries are working towards reaching millennium goals Nos 4 and 5. It was a very moving experience to learn of the issues and difficulties faced by developing countries, but it was also inspiring to see the work that was being done by organisations such as UNICEF.

Whilst talking about UNICEF, I would like to refer to a visit that I made. I left the conference and spent a day with UNICEF. I visited an African community. We had the choice of three visits and I chose to go to a community that had child-led households. It is interesting to note that in South Africa currently there are three million women with AIDS and 300,000 pregnant women who are HIV-positive. Each year 32,000 children and 400,000 adults die of HIV-AIDS, there are 500,000 new infections and 300,000 people are treated. There should be 1½ million people receiving the anti-retroviral treatment that is available.

I visited an African community and, to be quite frank with you, I had never visited a community where there was so much poverty and where people were living under such appalling circumstances. The one thing that came through to me was the hope and the support that existed within this community. The wonderful program had been developed within the community. We visited two households. One was where three young people whose parents had died of HIV-AIDS were living and supporting each other. The young people were attending school and they had the support of the community. ‘Isibindi’ is Zulu for ‘courage’. What I saw there showed that those involved with this program have a lot of courage.

I also visited a woman who had been in the last stage of AIDS. She received anti-retroviral drugs and has regained her health. She is living back in her community with her young son. She moved from having one foot in a coffin to living and having hope for the future, hope to see her young son grow up. The other programs that people could have visited were mothers2mothers, which works with mothers who are HIV-positive, and Mount View Primary School, which implemented a safe and caring child friendly society. These were communities that had enormous pressure on them, yet from within those communities there was great strength, resilience and coming together. They are working to see that there is a future and are making real changes in people’s lives. I found it absolutely inspiring to be involved with that. In relation to the IPU conference, I feel that Australia made an enormous contribution to the debates and I feel it was a very worthwhile experience.

Along with attending the IPU, we had a bilateral visit to Jordan. That was also a very interesting experience. Jordan is a country with a modern history that began with the fall of the Ottoman Turks, who dominated the region from the 16th to the 20th century. It is a constitutional monarchy consisting of a bicameral parliament with a House of Representatives and a Senate. It was really interesting learning how that parliament worked and actually sitting around the table and getting an understanding of the situation in the Middle East from a totally different perspective. Since I visited, I scan the papers on a daily basis to keep in touch with the issues in that area.

We met with a number of ministers. We were given a totally different perspective on the Middle East peace process and the issue of refugees. In this country over the last few years we have had quite a debate on refugees, and I acknowledge, Madam Deputy Speaker Moylan, your fine contribution to that debate. Visiting a country like Jordan, which is confronted each and every day with refugees from Palestine and Iraq—an enormous number of people crossing the border into this small country with limited resources—and seeing the way the Jordanian people open their hearts to those refugees was a learning experience for all of us. Whilst we were there we visited a Palestinian refugee camp. Once again, we could see the different approach that has been adopted there and the enormous stress and strain that it places on those communities.

Like previous speakers, I acknowledge the work of Dr Hani in organising such a fine visit for the delegation. His contribution was enormous. Particularly I would like to say that the meetings we had with the various ministers—the Prime Minister, the Minister of Social Development, the Minister of the Environment and the Minister of the Interior—and with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate were of particular significance. Once again, they gave us a totally different perspective on what is happening in the Middle East, the issues that we in this country should be aware of, and how we as a nation can make a contribution towards a resolution of these issues.

Our attendance at the Anzac Day dawn service was a truly memorable experience. I think it impacted on all the delegation in the same way. It was very moving and really brought to our attention the fact that, no matter where Australians are on Anzac Day, it is a very special day. Whilst we were there we also attended the opening of an exhibition of historic photos from the Australian War Memorial collection, which linked in, the night before the Anzac Day dawn service.

I would like to thank everyone associated with the delegation. It was a very useful experience. I learned a lot and I think the delegation worked together to the benefit of this parliament.

Debate (on motion by Mr Danby) adjourned.