Laurie Ferguson (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises the accomplishments of 50 years of fruitful diplomatic relations between Peru and Australia, the continuing friendship between our nations and the contribution of Peruvian migrants in our nation building; and

(2) notes:

(a) the reopening of our Embassy in Lima in September 2010;

(b) our:

  (i) shared democratic values in the context of a strong commitment to transparency, well-established policy credibility and good governance structure and quality of institutions; and

  (ii) mutual emphasis on multilateral involvement exemplified by Peru s membership to the United Nations, World Trade Organisation (WTO), Organization of American States, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Pacific Alliance and Forum for East Asia and Latin America Cooperation;

(c) the roles of Herbert Vere Evatt and former United Nations Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar point to our mutual activity;

(d) our similar activity on the free trade front and common membership of the Cairns Group, WTO and APEC; and

(e) the:

  (i) visits to Peru by former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975 and former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in 2008, and the visit of former President Alan Garcia Perez to Australia in 2007;

  (ii) November 2011 framework to promote Bilateral Consultations and Cooperation;

  (iii) presence at the 2011 census of 8,441 Peruvian born citizens in Australia and attraction of Peru to Australian visitors totalling 30,000 in 2011; and

  (iv) longstanding Australian mining endeavours in Peru, the growth of Peruvian student numbers in Australia and 56 Australian companies having an office in Peru or investment in a Peruvian project.

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

Is the motion seconded?

Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion.

Laurie Ferguson (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I particularly notice the attendance of the Ambassador of Peru, Luis Quesada, and I also note the extremely active Consul General in Sydney, Elizabeth Castro, who is certainly doing a significant amount of work to make sure that this 50th anniversary is noteworthy in Sydney.

I also note that 50 years of diplomatic relations between Peru and Australia has certainly been significantly recognised in Peru itself. On 30 January this year, those 50 years were recognised by an event at our embassy in Lima attended by 480 guests, including the Foreign Minister of Peru, Rafael Roncagliolo. The Congress of Peru on 9 May passed a congratulatory resolution, which was taken to the embassy by Victor Isla Rojas.

Today we recognise 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Obviously, there are many connections. We share borders with the largest ocean on this Earth—the Pacific, which covers 46 per cent of the world's water. We have a strong Indigenous population—in the case of Peru a far higher proportion than our own. Both countries are troubled by the struggle for equity of these people. We are both heavily dependent upon extractive mining, which tends to cause a degree of dislocation in our economies, and we have very strong ties. Through representative diplomats—in our case through Dr Herbert Vere Evatt, the former Australian Leader of the Opposition, and in their case through former UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar—we have also had significant roles on the international stage with regard to United Nations activities.

Our relations of 50 years involved, on our part, an embassy in Lima from 1968 to 1986. It was closed, but it is pleasing that it was reopened in 2010. It is important not only for Peru but also for large parts of South America with regard to immigration and other matters. In the case of Peru we are the 30th export source and the 39th import source. Peru has a population of 30 million—not that far distant from our own. Both countries have been very strong on international diplomatic fronts: Peru involved in the United Nations, APEC, the IMF, the WTO and the Organisation of American States, and this year it is the chair of the Union of South American Nations. We also bear common membership of the Pacific Alliance Forum.

Both countries are heavily dependent on extractive industries. In the case of Peru they make up 63 per cent of the total merchandise exports for that sector. The CIA handbook for the last year said of Peru:

The Peruvian economy has been growing by an average of 6.4% per year since 2002 with a stable/slightly appreciating exchange rate and low inflation, which in 2013 is expected to be below the upper limit of the Central Bank target range of 1 to 3%. Growth has been in the 6-9% range for the last three years, due partly to a leap in private investment, especially in the extractive sector, which accounts for more than 60% of Peru's total exports.

There is the question of how you finance investment, development and infrastructure in a mining industry, and it is worthwhile noting that Australian companies have $1.7 billion invested in the country, and $5 billion worth of new projects pending. When we hear people talking about foreign countries investing in Australia and what they own with regard to mineral sectors, it is important to note that Australian companies are themselves very active in other nations. We are in the top 10 investor sources for Peru.

There are other facets to our relationship, and one of them is migration. There are approximately 6,800 people in this country who claim Peruvian ancestry—a medium group by the standards of Australian migration diasporas—and of those a high proportion were born in Peru rather than being Australian-Peruvians born of parents from Peru. In my own electorate there are only 286.

People-to-people relationships are important, and I will talk briefly about three typical people I know who have migrated to this country. Francisca and Felix Grau have been known to me for the last decade or so. They are hardworking people: Felix is a handyman at a private school in Sydney and his wife is a trained teacher. They are people who make sure they try to enhance Australia's knowledge of their country through heavy involvement in music, dance and drama productions that they and friends put on in the Parramatta region. I have also known Isabel Almendrades for approximately two decades. She is a social worker who has been very involved with women's issues and with migrant needs in both North Sydney and Western Sydney. These are typical of migration sources, and typical of people who help build up a country.

The relationship between the countries takes many forms. It is worth noting that a very strong accent has recently been on educational efforts. Recently we have had applications for AusAID's Australian award scholarships for Latin America. They opened in February and closed on 30 April. These are very important. We also as a country have the Australia Latin America leadership program taking place in Australia in October this year. Young leaders from Peru and Bolivia between the ages of 28 and 42 with at least eight years work experience benefit from the program in terms of getting to know Australia and Australian participants and working with other young leaders from Latin America. We will select 24 people from both countries to make sure that this exchange between the countries is valuable.

Another aspect of relations between the countries is the question of volunteers. Every day of the week you hear about those people who have a change of lifestyle. One of my wife's relatives the other week, a well-paid chef in a London restaurant earning big bucks, suddenly became connected with an African village and was running a small fundraiser in Parramatta the other day to make sure that water and education will be provided. In Peru at the moment there are 12 Australian government-funded volunteers working there and many NGOs and religious orders. For instance, two Sisters of Mercy, Patricia McDermott and Joan Doyle, have just left Peru after devoting 17 years to changing the lives particularly of women and children in Candela, north of Lima. I notice that recently in the Queen's Birthday awards one person in Western Sydney in close proximity to where I live was recognised for those kinds of efforts.

We salute today Peru's historic liberation in 1821 from Spanish control. The efforts of Jose San Martin and Simon Bolivar headed a struggle that involved a multiethnic effort to replace the Spanish regime. As I noted earlier, on the world stage in recent years Peru has very much punched above its weight in a variety of international fora. The country also holds attractions for Australia in regard to investments in a number of other industries: energy, airports and traffic systems, agribusiness, sugar, dairy and gourmet foods. Australia is of course aware of Peru's arrival in a big way on the international gourmet cooking front. Agricultural equipment, genetics and veterinary products are also seen by Australia, along with environmental management, as being areas in which there can be development by Australian investment.

As of December last year there were 1,700 students enrolled in Australian universities. These are apart from those scholarships I talked about before, being students who have financed themselves. That is another significant way in which we can develop contacts between our two countries. Ex-president Garcia has visited Australia and back in 1975 Gough Whitlam enhanced Australia's contacts with the continent by a visit to Peru. I salute the efforts of Peru since its independence in 1821 and more particularly over the period that Australia and Peru have had diplomatic relations. These are important ties which are part of our wider engagement with South and Central America. Lima is indeed, through the embassy, an important stage post in that relationship. I also recognise that Peru's diplomats in Australia will make sure that that the Peruvian community is aware of these 50 years of ties and has an opportunity to participate in festivities and to drive home the connection between the two countries.

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

I welcome our distinguished guest to the chamber today. I now call the member for Fowler.

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the member for Werriwa for bringing this motion before the parliament in recognition of the 50 years of diplomatic relations between Australia and Peru. We enjoy very good relations between our two countries and it stems from our shared common values, particularly in freedom, liberty and the transparency of government. We also share a commitment to global cooperation through membership of organisations such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation, APEC and others. Our relationship has been integral to developing our participation in those bodies.

The two nations also share a commitment to tackling such issues as environmental issues, fisheries management, international law enforcement and transnational crime. Madam Deputy Speaker Grierson, you and I are aware of their cooperation in respect of those latter matters, being former members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Law Enforcement.

Among the things I would also like to talk about in the limited time I have today are our educational ties. These continue to grow between our Australian universities through agreements with their Peruvian counterparts. There is certainly a successful scheme in place at present that sees the exchange of post-graduate students. At the moment, our trade in exports is also up from 2011-12 to about $244 million.

Like Australia, Peru is also a resource-rich country. Mining is a vital part of Peru's economic development and is a significant contributor to its GDP, much as it is in Australia. In fact, Peru is ranked amongst the top five global producers of minerals and metals such as lead, silver, zinc, tin, gold and copper. That naturally attracts the interest and involvement of companies operating in Australia, such as BHP Billiton and Xstrata.

As I understand it, there are about 8,500 Peruvian-born citizens in Australia. Whilst I have the honour of representing the most multicultural electorate in the country, the Peruvian community in my electorate is relatively small, especially compared to the Vietnamese, Chinese and those of Arabic-speaking backgrounds. However, although small this community has a very strong representation in local organisations looking after the interests of individuals and various Latin-American speaking groups in my community. For instance, Community Action Services Australia, CASA, is a local not-for-profit organisation representing Australians with a framework of diverse multiculturalism. I have known CASA over the last few years, have seen them on several occasions and have visited their premises at Fairfield Heights. They provide assistance, guidance and under the leadership of their executive officer Marta Faggiano they aim to assist, particularly, disabled people, those with hearing problems and people from Latin-American speaking backgrounds. In addition to a very comprehensive settlement grants program, this organisation has expanded its services to assist those who are unemployed, families, single parents, aged migrants and refugees. Their concentration is on those people coming from Latin-American speaking backgrounds.

Another local organisation offering support and assistance to members of the Spanish and Latin-American communities, including the Peruvian community, is the Spanish and Latin American Association for Social Assistance, known as SLASA. Under the leadership of its president Yvonne Santalucia, SLASA assists migrants and refugees when they settle in Australia. I recently had the opportunity to support this organisation's application for a program to provide Spanish-speaking men in the Fairfield LGA with services and educational activities in relation to health and social issues. As most of us would acknowledge, men are generally known to be a little more reluctant to discuss issues of health, particularly mental health, and therefore this organisation has concentrated on making sure these issues simply do not fall through the cracks and are addressed. I have nothing but praise for the Peruvian community. The fact that they take on leadership not only in Peru but also what they do here in Australia is a credit to them. (Time expired)

Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank my colleagues from across the chamber, Mr Ferguson and Mr Hayes, for the opportunity speak today about the importance of Australia's relationship with Peru. It is very timely that we are discussing this motion as we celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations with Peru in the year 2013. In the time available to me this morning I wish to touch upon three aspects: the first is our investment relationship; the second is our developing tourist trade; and the third, the educational connections between our two countries.

Australia is one of the very important investors in Peru. Many in this place would be aware that, since 1997, Australia and Peru have had a bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement. This is indeed very important. Peru has a very critical open investment regime and very abundant natural resources—much like Australia—which makes it an attractive destination for Australian investment. Perhaps people would not be aware that there are many Australian companies with offices in Peru, and they are heavily involved in the mining sector. In fact, Australian investment is estimated by our authorities here to be at least $1.7 billion, with around $5 billion in new projects pending. This makes Australia amongst Peru's top 10 investors. This is indeed very significant.

We also find Peru to be a very attractive destination for tourism. Any Australian setting out today to do the world tour is lured by that wonderful trek, Machu Picchu. That is usually amongst the top international tourist destinations that many young Australians want to go to and experience. Around 30,000 Australians travelled to Peru in 2011 and 2012, and the vast bulk of those were travelling to see the wonderful Machu Picchu and all the other wonderful tourist destinations in Peru that they have to offer.

The final point I want to raise today, in addition to the investment and tourism relationships that we have developed over time, is that we have had significant cooperation on the issue of education. In 2006, during the previous coalition government, Australia and Peru signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in education, and our educational ties are in fact growing.

Many would be aware that, in the very beginning, when the founder of the Liberal Party, Sir Robert Menzies, was thinking about our foreign policy, he devised the Colombo Plan, to get the best and brightest from around the world and educate them here in Australia. The current shadow foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, has tweaked that plan and we have now in place a policy, a reverse Colombo Plan, to not only educate in our country, in our higher educational institutions, the best and brightest from around the world but also to send our best and brightest out into the world and to help them experience all that the world has to offer. I am confident that, with this plan that we will develop in government, there will be an opportunity for some of our best and brightest who wish to study in Peru to be able to do just that.

Australia has a very good relationship with Peru. We are celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations, and I am sure we will celebrate many more in the future. Our investment in Peru is very strong and our tourist links are growing stronger as are our educational links. We look forward to continuing strong diplomatic relations with Peru in the years to come.