Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the report of the Parliamentary Delegation to the 44th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly held from 5 to 11 August 2023. I seek leave to make a short statement in relation to the report.

Leave granted.

I am pleased to present the report of the Parliamentary Delegation to the 44th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, or AIPA. The 44th assembly was hosted by the Republic of Indonesia and was held between 5 and 11 August last year in Jakarta. It was a pleasure to be joined by the member for Lyne to form a two-member delegation. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Australia's relationship with ASEAN. It was back in 1974 that Australia became one of ASEAN's first dialogue partners. We were one of 10. The cooperation continues to this day. Australia recognises that continued dialogue and cooperation are important in order to foster stability and economic security in the region. It also recognises that ASEAN is at the centre of that dialogue. Its role is critical to providing a stable, peaceful and prosperous region, which is why it was a pleasure and honour to lead the delegation.

The theme of the 44th assembly was 'Responsible parliaments for a stable and prosperous ASEAN'. It was opened by Her Excellency Dr Puan Maharani, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia and the President of the 44th AIPA. Her Excellency highlighted the ongoing need for commitments to create peace and prosperity in South-East Asia. Her Excellency also highlighted the role of AIPA as a vehicle for its member states to find a middle ground in achieving these commitments.

I was pleased to make a statement on behalf of the delegation. It was a statement that reinforced the important relationships that Australia has in the region and the importance of South-East Asia as an economic, trade, defence and cultural partner to Australia. The statement acknowledged the important role of Indonesia in its ASEAN chair year. It also reinforced Australia's report for the road map of Timor-Leste's full membership in ASEAN. I recognised the significance to Australia of the ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in combating climate change, building health security and advancing the ASEAN outlook on the Indo-Pacific.

The themes of addressing climate change and the transition to clean energy were consistently raised through AIPA and I appreciate the opportunity to observe this discussion. The need for addressing supply chain insecurity due to the war in Ukraine and continuing post-pandemic recovery efforts were also a focus. Australia is an observer country to AIPA and, as such, was invited to participate in a dialogue with other member countries chaired by Mr Ravindra Airlangga MP, from the House of Representatives for the Republic of Indonesia. During the week, four bilateral meetings were held with delegations from Ukraine, Lao PDR, Indonesia and the United States of America. In making recommendations for the next assembly, Australia recommended that future delegations seek further engagement in other aspects of the program as observers or contributors, if agreed.

The delegation wishes to thank the Indonesian House of Representatives for hosting the event. The delegation would also like to congratulate the Republic of Indonesia on their successful year as ASEAN chair and a successful and productive 44th AIPA. Thank you to the team who made the delegation a success—Jeff Norris, Tom Coghlan, the Australian Mission to ASEAN and the Australian Embassy Indonesia.

David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was a great pleasure for me to represent Australia at the 44th ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly held in Jakarta and to be accompanied and led by the member for Swan. This is a really important strategic meeting of parliamentarians, and it is coming up for its 50th anniversary. All the ASEAN members were there, but I note that Myanmar did not attend. We were welcomed by the Secretary-General of AIPA, and the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, gave a keynote address focusing on a prosperous and stable ASEAN as a driver of global economic growth. He really focused on the power of ASEAN, as a calm middle power across the world, as a force for good. Peace, prosperity and stability are the aims of everyone in ASEAN.

I found it very interesting to have the formal dialogues as well as the informal dialogues. In Indonesia we met many very senior politicians who will be very prominent in the current election cycle. Accents were put on our comprehensive strategic partnership with ASEAN, and we also noted we give not just ASEAN nations but South-East Asian and East Asian nations aid to the tune of $1.24 billion annually. We do make, with our ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, a contribution of $204 million and we've also been heavily involved in the Indo-Pacific endeavour since 2017.

Many people in this building don't focus as much on these really important ASEAN and Asian focused diplomatic events, but it is critical to our wellbeing that we foster deeper ties with all the ASEAN members. In meetings and in private conversations, Brunei Darussalam, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam thanked us for our help for them during the COVID pandemic—with both PPE and vaccines. I would like to thank Jeff Norris and the other members of the secretariat who accompanied us and made it such a smoothly run show from our side, and I thank the Australian embassy. Congratulations to Indonesia for putting on a really good meeting.