Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was privileged to visit Taiwan last week, alongside other parliamentary colleagues, to attend the inauguration of President Lai Ching Te. Taiwan is Australia's seventh-largest trading partner and the Northern Territory's second-largest export market, behind Japan. So working with Taiwan is in Australia's national interest and certainly in the Territory's interest. As a very important trading partner, Taiwan matters very much. There was a significant international presence at the inauguration, including from some Pacific Islands nations, with the Prime Minister of Tuvalu and a significant delegation from Marshall Islands to name a few. There were 500 delegates at this event, with over 30 international delegations.

It was my first time in Taiwan, and I was very impressed by the professionalism of the program. The military ceremony on the day of the inauguration was polished, with Army, Navy and Air Force elements parading, which of course is normal for these significant events. There was a flyover by military helicopters as well, all of this being very normal. But Lai Ching Te's speech was measured, and called for the status quo in the Taiwan Strait to continue into the future. This is in everybody's interest, including Australia's.

A memorable highlight was my visit to the Huikuang Guide Dog Foundation Taiwan. My father has been involved in training guide dogs for over 50 years, and helping Taiwan for 30 years. He sent Taiwan their first guide dog puppies and helped train their trainers. It started when he met Taiwan's former president Lee, who was the first promoter of a guide dog program, along with the Institute for the Blind of Taiwan, to better support visually impaired and blind Taiwanese people. Outgoing president Tsai Ing-wen was a big supporter, too, and wanted to adopt a retired guide dog. The Guide Dog Foundation provided three for her to choose from, and she took them all. The foundation needs more puppies, and I intend to help them acquire some from Australia.

I was also impressed by a meeting with an NGO that works to counter misinformation and disinformation. In Taiwan, disinformation has been quite successful at swaying hearts and minds. This organisation's approach is to look at the methodology of how it spreads, to assist with targeting. They want to learn from Australia's experience with the same problem.

Our unofficial relationship with Taiwan is not new; it is longstanding. Australia is a long-term, reliable supplier of energy, resources, food and services to Taiwan, but our relationship is about much more than us buying their technology and them buying our resources and energy. Our interests intersect across areas, including education, green energy innovation and investment, biotechnology, smart cities and multilateral affairs. Australia and Taiwan have grown people-to-people contacts in the arts, space, education, science, tourism, sport and disability, as I've mentioned with guide dogs. There are real opportunities for further deepening collaboration, which we can seize by better aligning our South-East Asia investment strategy with Taiwan's New Southbound Policy.

As a fellow democracy and an island of 23 million people, Taiwan's future is a matter of direct concern to Australia. Australia and Taiwan share an interest in a rules based, open, inclusive and stable Indo-Pacific region. We support peace in the Taiwan Strait and oppose any attempt to change the status quo unilaterally. Shortly after the inauguration, China deployed warplanes staging mock attacks against Taiwan, in an effort to intimidate the Taiwanese. The PLA sent forces to the north, south and east of Formosa, encircling the island as it had previous drills. This is a spectacle that the Taiwanese people are used to, but it is clearly not in line with the peaceful status quo.

Australia has a longstanding and bipartisan One China policy, but we must continue to reject attempts at coercion wherever they occur in our Indo-Pacific region.

House adjourned at 16:5 8