Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I present the report of the Australian parliamentary delegation to the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum and to Papua New Guinea, which took place from 15 to 25 January 2006. I seek leave to move a motion in relation to the report.

Leave granted.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

The delegation to the APPF and Papua New Guinea included the member for Mitchell as leader, Senator McEwen and the member for Kingston. I was deputy leader of the delegation. In preparing for the APPF, the delegation was conscious of the substantial contributions of previous Australian delegations to the annual APPF meetings. For this reason, and because the APPF is important for us as an assembly of members of national parliaments in this region, the delegation was keen to ensure it participated as actively as possible at the meeting. As the report shows, the delegation did continue that substantial contribution to the work of the APPF.

Chapter 1 of the delegation’s report contains a general discussion of the role and operations of the APPF, and chapter 2 provides a detailed review of our participation at the January meeting and that meeting’s outcomes. The agenda for the meeting covered a range of subject matters that are relevant to our region. Broadly, these were political and security issues, economic and trade issues and cooperation to address regional issues of common interest.

In preparation for the meeting, the delegation proposed resolutions on three of the agenda items. These were international terrorism, on which I spoke, poverty alleviation and the Millennium Development Goals, on which Senator McEwen spoke, and pandemic disease, on which the member for Mitchell spoke. The member for Kingston spoke on cooperation on empowering the economies of developing and least developed countries.

As well as speaking in the plenary forum, the delegation participated in the work of the drafting committee throughout the meeting. The drafting committee had an extensive meeting program, often running in parallel to the plenary forum. At its meetings, the drafts of all proposed resolutions were negotiated until it was agreed they were in a state that could be put to the plenary forum for final consideration and endorsement.

Although there was a very full formal program for the APPF, the delegation was able to participate in several other meetings in Jakarta. Chapter 3 of the report discusses these parts of the delegation’s program. One particularly interesting meeting was a visit, arranged with the help of the embassy and staff of the World Food Program, to a program project in East Jakarta. AusAID supports this project, which provides nutritionally enriched biscuits each day to young children at school. Without these biscuits, the children are likely to be malnourished.

It was a great experience to visit this project. The children seem to enjoy the biscuits and the discussions that their teachers have with them about nutrition and health. The delegation found the visit to be rewarding, as we were able to speak to the children, teachers and other members of their community as well as to the WFP staff. The dedication and optimism of the teachers and the WFP staff was extremely impressive. After we visited the school, we spent some time walking around the community. Meetings such as this provide a unique opportunity to gain an understanding of the lives of ordinary people and to express to them our goodwill and interest in their future.

At the conclusion of the APPF meeting, we travelled to Papua New Guinea, where we began our program with a visit to the Bomana War Cemetery near Port Moresby. The sight of so many Australian war graves brought home to us the historic links between our country and Papua New Guinea. We had a number of valuable meetings in Port Moresby and were fortunate to visit Goroka, Kundiawa and Mount Hagen. It was important for us to see something of the provinces and go beyond Port Moresby. To see first-hand the difficulties faced by the local people—for example, in transport and infrastructure—was very valuable for us. To see the natural beauty of the highlands landscape was also a great experience.

Although our visit to Papua New Guinea was brief, we met a diverse range of people. These people included patients and their families at regional hospitals, businesspeople, workers in a coffee factory and their families, medical researchers, staff of NGOs and colleagues from provincial parliaments and the national parliament. We were fortunate to have discussions with a number of Australians who choose to live and work in Papua New Guinea. Their understanding of their adopted home and respect for its people and culture left a strong impression on us.

Chapter 4 of the report outlines the meetings in which the delegation participated in Papua New Guinea. I would like to emphasise that at each of those meetings—whether they were formal parts of the program or otherwise—we were welcomed with friendliness and openness. Certainly we heard about some of the difficulties facing our neighbours there; but we were also left with the impression that there are leaders and members of communities with sufficient capacity, energy and motivation to ensure a more secure, prosperous future for the people of Papua New Guinea.

Before I conclude my remarks, I want to acknowledge a number of people who contributed so much to the delegation’s visits. None of us will forget the hospitality we received in Jakarta from the President, the Speaker, and the Governor of Jakarta, as well as the friendliness of people we met informally around Jakarta. Nor will we forget the welcomes we enjoyed at each stage of our visit to Papua New Guinea.

The delegation was ably assisted by the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, in particular by the ambassador, Mr Bill Farmer, and by Steven Barraclough. We appreciated very much the comprehensive briefings and assistance that were provided. In Papua New Guinea we received great assistance from the high commissioner, Mr Michael Potts, and from Tim Paterson and Solstice Middleby. They gave close attention to our program and arrangements to ensure that we were well informed and able to observe and discuss the impact of some of the current issues in Papua New Guinea and its relationship with Australia.

I also want to acknowledge and thank the staff of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Parliamentary Library and the Parliamentary Relations Office, who gave us great assistance with briefing material, advice and travel arrangements. During both our visits the delegation was accompanied by Mr Phil McDonald of the Australian Federal Police. His presence and advice were welcomed by all of us. I wish to thank my fellow members of the delegation. Throughout a demanding program we worked cooperatively. We are grateful for the opportunity to establish links with our colleagues from parliaments around the region, particularly those from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. We are equally grateful for the opportunity to exchange views with ordinary members of communities in both places.

Finally, on behalf of the delegation I wish to extend a sincere and heartfelt thank you to Ms Catherine Cornish, the delegation secretary. She was absolutely worth her weight in gold; she was a diamond, and we thank her very much for her efforts.