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

I rise to present the report of the Australian Parliamentary Delegation to the United Kingdom and Poland from 5 to 15 November 2012. I also want to make some comments related to the make-up of the delegation, which was led by the President of the Senate, the Hon. John Hogg, in a very dignified and professional manner. The delegation also consisted of the Hon. John Murphy MP, the member for Reid; Mr Michael Danby MP, the member for Melbourne Ports; Ms Sharon Grierson MP, the member for Newcastle; Senator David Bushby, a senator for Tasmania; and me, as deputy chair. We were ably assisted by Mr Tim Bryant, the delegation's secretary. The delegation worked exceptionally well together with the intent of strengthening the parliament-to-parliament relations between the Australian parliament and the United Kingdom and Poland.

I thank the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for its oral and written information, which was complemented by the Parliamentary Library, both of which ensured that we were well briefed. Our appreciation must go also to DFAT officers at each destination. Many individuals and organisations met with the delegation members and gave most generously of their time and knowledge. I wish to particularly acknowledge the extensive briefing from the Australian Deputy High Commissioner, Mr Adam McCarthy, and the Rt Hon. Sir Alan Haselhurst MP, Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and Chair of the CPA UK Executive Committee, who welcomed and briefed the delegation on the current agenda with which the CPA is dealing.

All members found the London visit most informative, with the generous contribution by the five committees or committee chairs offering an opportunity for each member of the delegation to learn more about the functioning of committees and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Thanks must be given to the Rt Hon. Michael Moore MP, Secretary of State for Scotland, who gave his time to ensure that the delegation had full understanding and details regarding the possible independence of Scotland. A referendum on Scottish independence is planned for 2014.

In the Republic of Poland, the delegation was privileged to have advice, support and words of wisdom from Ms Jean Dunn, the Australian Ambassador to Poland, and the embassy officials. They were extremely professional in every aspect of the delegation's visit.

The first part of the visit to Poland focused on Krakow, giving the delegation a cultural and educational view of this city with 23 universities. President Hogg officially opened a cultural exhibition documenting the lives of Polish Siberian deportees to Australia. In Warsaw, President Hogg was presented with the Medal of Gratitude of the European Solidarity Centre by His Excellency Mr Borusewicz, the Speaker of the Senate, on behalf of the Polish parliament.

We as Australians never forgot 11 November, Remembrance Day, whilst we were overseas. It was foremost in our minds. We visited the Commonwealth war graves at Rakowicki Cemetery. We were reminded that at the end of the Second World War the British Army gathered together Commonwealth graves from all over Poland into three cemeteries, Rakowicki being the largest. Those buried there died while prisoners of war during the German occupation. Twenty-two Australians are buried at Rakowicki Cemetery. The delegation was welcomed by Major Aleksander Gladki. President Hogg and I laid a wreath at the Cross of Sacrifice, and the delegation laid a rose at the gravesides of the individual Australians. I have to say to you, Madam Speaker, that that was a very compelling experience.

The delegation now recognises that there is a great opportunity for the two parliaments to work more closely to support and strengthen each other, as both countries have much in common. I noted with some satisfaction the spontaneous positive reaction of the Polish people to the Australian flags on the ambassador's car and the positive comments about the quality of Australian wines.

Once again, I compliment President John Hogg on his leadership and all members of the delegation for their cooperation with each other and their commitment to work. I again thank the many officials who assisted in a professional way to ensure that the delegation achieved the aims of the visit, and I present the report.

Sharon Grierson (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is my pleasure, as a member of the delegation to the UK and Poland, to follow the member for Hume. I would like to second all the comments that the member for Hume made in thanking and acknowledging all the formal contributions to the success of our delegation trip. It is important to always remember that the Prime Minister of this country, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Defence cannot visit all these countries. The Minister for Trade cannot visit all these countries. So delegations have an important role in reinforcing those partnerships and relationships and saying: 'Yes, this is a relationship that is important to Australia and that we value. We value it enough to send our members of parliament to these countries to visit.'

Certainly in the UK the visits to committees were very interesting, because they have more power than our committees. They actually set their own work program. They do not have to have it approved by both chambers of parliament, as here. We found that they stressed the staunchly bipartisan nature of their committee work. I think, when I reflect on the last five years, that perhaps that is something that has slipped away somewhat. We are more powerful as backbenchers, like me, if we are parts of committees that really focus on change, reform and highlighting issues that are central to this nation rather than political expediency.

It was particularly interesting to meet the Foreign Affairs Committee, a very powerful select committee—which featured, of course, in the new James Bond movie, Skyfall. It was interesting to once again meet Baroness Liddell. Many members here enjoyed her hospitality when she was the ambassador to Australia. But the big issue facing Britain, of course, was whether they should stay in the European Union. There was great debate around that issue. Interestingly for me, their views on economic risk were very strongly put to us, as were the history of the UK and its independence. It seemed very difficult for many of the members to embrace the European Union. However, I took time to speak to a lot of the young people who worked in the houses of parliament. One's partner was Spanish. Another's partner was German. These people are living in a united Europe and enjoying it. The European Union, of course, won a Nobel peace prize for some of the changes it has brought about. It was an interesting debate, as was the independence quest for Scotland—a very interesting debate to be part of. We also concentrated on our combined positions in security and on terrorism—the work we have done together—and certainly the support that the UK gave us for our temporary seat on the UN Security Council, which we were successful in achieving, and our work in Afghanistan together. These are very valuable.

On an evening we were free, I had the great pleasure to visit the Ledbury restaurant, which is run by a young man from Newcastle called Brett Graham. It has two Michelin stars. Brett is a TAFE graduate from my city and started his restaurant in 2005. In 2010-11 Ledbury became the UK's No. 1 restaurant and Brett was named Chef of the Year. It is wonderful to visit young Novocastrians who are making their mark in the world.

It was lovely to meet with the Speaker of the House of Lords. She took the time to say to me how much she as a woman enjoyed the Prime Minister's speech last year on misogyny. These are things women parliamentarians say to each other, and the Scottish women, of course, took me aside to share that as well. They are some of the personal encounters.

The highlight for me of the Scotland trip was the visit to Glasgow. I particularly thank Ian Davidson, the MP for Glasgow South West, who hosted us for a whole day. He took us to look at shipbuilding work and to BAE Systems and we had a roundtable with economic people from Glasgow about urban renewal and change and about the Commonwealth Games bid—Glasgow hosts the Commonwealth Games in 2018. I thank Ian Davidson. There are great parallels between his city and my city.

Visiting Poland was an absolute privilege. Of course, there are many Polish people living here in Australia, but, as the member for Hume said, it is quite an experience to stand at a Commonwealth war grave and know that that country has been invaded and occupied many times and has experienced great turmoil. I thank Ambassador Dunn, in particular. Her attention to detail was incredible. It made our trip and our understanding of Poland so much deeper and more worthwhile.