Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I present the report of the Australian parliamentary delegation to the Republic of South Africa and the 114th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in Nairobi, which took place from 28 April to 12 May 2006. I seek leave to move a motion in relation to the document.

Leave granted.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

I will speak very briefly to the motion because the report of the delegation and the bilateral visit to the Republic of South Africa and the 114th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in Nairobi is a detailed and comprehensive one and speaks for itself. I just want to highlight a couple of the issues, the first one in relation to the South African bilateral visit where the delegation went to visit the BHP Billiton aluminium smelter site located the north of the Republic of South Africa in KwaZulu Natal in the town of Richards Bay.

As the delegation arrived at the airport we were met by a protest that had been organised by the local union movement in Richards Bay, protesting against the repressive and extreme industrial relations changes being initiated at the time in Australia by the Howard government. It took us somewhat by surprise that these laws had gained international attention, and the delegation—both members of the government and members of the opposition—had an opportunity to speak to the protesters. I was quite surprised at their knowledge of the industrial relations changes and the impact they would have.

As a much younger man I had been involved in opposing the apartheid regime in South Africa and I had also been involved with the union movement when the union movement in Australia took a very proactive and quite decisive role in many respects in opposing that abominable regime that was an affront to civilisation. South Africa is considered a developing country, but even as a developing country in the new post-apartheid regime they have laws that give people a fair go, that give rights to workers to collectively bargain and opportunities for workers to also share in the growing wealth of the Republic of South Africa where there is quite a substantial growth rate and, by all comparisons, a booming economy.