Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to congratulate Eloise Adsett from Scarborough, who was this week officially awarded a New Colombo Plan scholarship. The New Colombo Plan has been overseen by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop. It was her idea, and she has implemented it well. It has bipartisan support, and the Governor-General is the patron. It is a fantastic plan, where young Australians can reach out into our region. It gives Australian undergraduate students the opportunity to do a semester of study and undertake internships in Indo-Pacific locations. Eloise will study in Meiji, Japan, and plans to undertake internships to do with nutrition and agriculture. She is actually the second member of the Adsett family to be awarded this scholarship. Her brother Joel studied in Indonesia for six months this year. Mr and Mrs Adsett must be very proud of their children. Congratulations to you both. They are the first family to have two siblings go through the New Colombo Plan, and they are from the federal seat of Petrie, which is good news. It is great to see young Australians achieving, and I know Eloise will be a great ambassador for Australia. I encourage other students in my electorate and right around Australia to apply for the New Colombo Plan and take the opportunity to study overseas.