Anne McEwen (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also wish to speak to the report of the parliamentary delegation to the 14th annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum in Jakarta and the bilateral visit to Papua New Guinea. Like Senator Sterle, I would like to extend my thanks to all the people who assisted with preparation for the trip, including the staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Parliamentary Library and the Parliamentary Relations Office. I echo his sentiments about the delegation secretary, Catherine Cornish. She worked tirelessly throughout our program, kept us entertained with her endless good humour and made sure the delegation was always well briefed and ready for anything.

I also acknowledge the dedication and patience of our Australian Federal Police officer, Mr Phil McDonald. He is currently serving in Timor Leste, and I am sure Senator Sterle will join me in wishing him a safe and speedy return. While in Indonesia, we were also greatly assisted by Mr Nando of the APPF liaison office in the Indonesian house of representatives.

It was indeed a privilege to be able to travel to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea as a member of the Parliament of Australia. It was my first occasion to travel overseas in that capacity, and I believe it was very appropriate that my first trip overseas was to the nations of the Asia-Pacific region—all countries that are close to Australia’s history and integral to our future.

The visit was particularly timely, as it occurred just prior to the release of the government’s aid white paper, and many of the issues discussed with representatives of the governments that we met during our visit are dealt with in the white paper. We were given the opportunity to visit AusAID-supported projects in both Jakarta and Papua New Guinea. To witness first-hand Australia’s aid program in both countries and to hear the sometimes frank views of parliamentarians and local officials from countries that receive Australian aid was very useful in terms of ensuring that, as politicians, we have a realistic and practical view of our aid relationships with our near neighbours.

As Senator Sterle said, the objectives of the APPF are, broadly, to promote better regional cohesion and cooperation between the 27 member nations of the forum. The report outlines the contributions made at the forum and in the drafting and plenary sessions by the Australian delegation, so I will not reiterate those, but I certainly call those matters to your attention. I note that during the APPF meeting the representatives of Chile were very pleased to be able to announce that, on 15 January 2006, Michelle Bachelet was elected as President of Chile. She is the first woman elected as president of that nation, and she is a single mother with three children. Given that women’s participation in politics was one of the matters for discussion at the forum, this was welcome news, and Australian delegates offered their congratulations to the Chilean delegation.

I acknowledge the hard work of the other members of the delegation: Mr Alan Cadman, who was leader; Mr Kym Richardson, the member for Kingston, in my own state; and Senator Sterle, who was deputy leader of the delegation. Compared with some other nations, Australia sends a relatively small delegation to this important forum. Given the leading role we take in assisting with negotiations and finalisation of resolutions, there was much work to be done.

As Senator Sterle has said, apart from the formal business of the forum, the delegation visited a World Food Program in a Jakarta school. We also met with young Australian and Indonesian Islamic activists, who were participating in the Australian Muslim exchange program, at a function hosted by the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, His Excellency Mr Bill Farmer, and Mrs Farmer. The support provided by the ambassador and the embassy staff was exemplary. They ensured that we had plenty of opportunities to broaden our understanding of the very important relationship between Australia and Indonesia. The less formal opportunities to engage with other member countries at the APPF were many, and I am sure none of us will forget the singing entertainment provided by the President of Indonesia, the Speaker of the house of representatives of Indonesia and the Governor of Jakarta at the salubrious functions they hosted for all the delegates.

In Papua New Guinea the delegation made the most of its short time. The high commissioner, His Excellency Mr Michael Potts, and the staff of the high commission—particularly Ms Solstice Middleby and Mr Tim Paterson—ensured that we met a wide range of political and community leaders both in Port Moresby and, as Senator Sterle said, in the regional areas of Goroka, Mount Hagen and Kundiawa. Travelling by car along Papua New Guinea’s major ‘highway’ from Goroka to Mount Hagen brought home to us the enormous problems faced by our neighbours, whose economic and social wellbeing is frustrated by not having basic infrastructure—like navigable roads.

Our visit to the AusAID part sponsored AT Projects facility near Goroka showcased some examples of provision of basic services using low-cost, local and innovative solutions. One example we saw was the utilisation of the talents of a young Indigenous woman architect, who had designed a respite facility for people suffering from AIDS. This facility, using traditional design and local materials, was able to be constructed with local labour and would provide comfortable and warm accommodation for one or two AIDS sufferers and their carers in a village setting.

As we know, Papua New Guinea is facing a crisis with the highest incidence of HIV-AIDS in the Pacific region, and some estimates indicate that the rate of infection will increase by between 15 and 30 per cent annually. Assisting Papua New Guinea to acknowledge, confront and respond to the potential HIV-AIDS epidemic is one of the great challenges facing our two countries. And, of course, the people of Papua New Guinea are disproportionately affected by easily preventable diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria, a fact that was highlighted by our visit to the hospital in Mount Hagen, where those two diseases are major reasons for hospitalisation. As Senator Sterle said, we were fortunate to visit other places in Papua New Guinea, including the Coffee Industry Corporation and a coffee processing plant where the differences in health and safety standards between our two countries were, unfortunately, patently obvious.

It was particularly pleasing to meet on her own turf Dame Carol Kidu, the only female member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea and, I know, a friend of many in this parliament. It was a privilege to visit her home in Port Moresby and to meet the participants in a project she sponsors where young offenders learn how to propagate and sell garden plants at a local market, thereby earning a legitimate income through employment which offers them hope and respect.

The opportunity to meet with representatives of the Australia business council and local politicians gave our delegation an insight into the future prospects for Papua New Guinea’s economic future, particularly in the areas of mining, gas export and tourism development. There was hope and optimism from all those people for the future of Papua New Guinea, although the need for political stability was echoed by everyone we met.

Finally, like Senator Sterle I would like to make mention of the fact that we did visit the Bomana War Cemetery. I had been there before but it is always a salutary place to visit, to remind oneself of the cooperation of the people of Papua New Guinea and the assistance that they gave to our troops during World War II. I commend the report to the Senate.

Question agreed to.