Ursula Stephens (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I table and present the report of the Australian parliamentary delegation to Vanuatu and New Zealand by the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee, which took place from 30 April to 9 May 2014. I seek leave to move a motion in relation to the report.

Leave granted.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

This report outlines the activities, observations and conclusions arising from the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee exchange visit to Vanuatu and New Zealand between 30 April and 9 May 2014. I was honoured to lead the delegation. The other delegation members were Senator David Fawcett from South Australia, Senator Helen Kroger from Victoria and Senator Anne McEwen from South Australia. We were accompanied by Mr David Sullivan as the delegation secretary.

The Australian and New Zealand national parliaments have, for a number of years, operated an annual parliamentary committee exchange program. The purpose is to enable Australian and New Zealand parliamentarians working on committees to explore issues of common interest that are the subject of consideration by their committees.

Each year, one New Zealand parliamentary committee visits Australia and one Australian parliamentary committee visits New Zealand. As the Australian parliament has Senate, House of Representatives and joint committees, with joint committees comprising both senators and members, the Australian parliament conducts the exchange program on a rotational basis over a three-year cycle, with a Senate committee selected one year, a House committee the second year and a joint committee in the third year.

Each visit is focused on the particular subject field of the committee selected for the visit. Meetings, roundtables and inspections are arranged that allow the committee members to exchange views and information with their parliamentary counterparts, as well as with public servants, senior private enterprise personnel, academics and experts working in the subject field of the committee.

For Australia, each year the Presiding Officers call for nominations from committees to participate in the program, with committees required to outline the reasons they wish to be considered in that particular year. The Presiding Officers select the committee they consider has put forward the most compelling reasons for undertaking the visit.

In 2014, the committee visit to New Zealand was adjusted to include a visit to one other Pacific region country. Another annual committee visit, the parliamentary committee visit to the Asia-Pacific, was adjusted at the same time to simply become a parliamentary committee visit to Asia. Of course it was the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee which put forward an excellent proposal and was therefore selected by the Presiding Officers to participate in that 2014 committee exchange program. The committee nominated Vanuatu as the Pacific country of its choice.

The committee's visit to Vanuatu and New Zealand was timely in the light of its inquiry into Australia's overseas development assistance program, the report of which was tabled here in March 2014. The inquiry's terms of reference focused on the broad policy settings for the delivery of Australia's overseas aid, including its international development priorities and the integration of AusAID into the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and including the freeze in international development assistance funding.

A number of aspects of the inquiry's report are relevant to the committee's visit to Vanuatu and New Zealand. For example, the report noted that more than 80 per cent of Australia's ODA is directed to its nearest neighbours in the Asia-Pacific region. Indonesia and Papua New Guinea are the two largest beneficiaries of Australia's support. It noted, too, that the allocation of development priorities in the Australian aid program for 2013-14 was education, 22 per cent; economic development, 20 per cent; health, 19 per cent; humanitarian, 16 per cent; governance, 16 per cent; and general development support, 7 per cent.

Australian aid should be allocated to the most effective mechanism for delivery, including non-government organisations, private-sector contractors, bilateral agreements and multilateral organisations. Finally, the report found that, while integrating AusAID into DFAT has created opportunities to improve Australia's aid program, there are also risks associated with the merger, including that DFAT may lose key personnel, skills, procedures and specialist staff needed to effectively administer Australia's aid program.

However, the main objective of the visit was for the committee to investigate three key issues within the committee's portfolio responsibility: defence partnerships, tourism and overseas aid. The committee was particularly interested in exploring the priorities, effectiveness and delivery of Australian aid to Vanuatu, as well as Australia's contribution to Vanuatu's tourism sector and infrastructure projects. The committee also explored the reforms to New Zealand's aid program that paralleled recent developments in Australia, including the reintegration of aid into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in 2009, New Zealand's tourism sector and its contribution to the national economy, focusing on Queenstown as a national and international tourism hotspot; and the reconstruction of Christchurch following the devastating 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, including the city's economy and tourism prospects. Finally, the committee also explored Australia's defence and security cooperation with Vanuatu and New Zealand, and the current and emerging security environment in the Asia-Pacific region.

Many people assisted the committee's visit to Vanuatu and New Zealand. The committee expresses its appreciation to all those involved in making the visit a success. In particular, the committee would really like to thank the International and Community Relations Office, which facilitated the committee's travelling arrangements and development of the program for the official visits; the officers from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Defence who briefed the committee before and after the official visit; the officers from the Australian high commission in Vanuatu and New Zealand who met with the committee; and particularly Ms Tanya Parkin, the deputy high commissioner at the Australian high commission in Vanuatu, the staff at the Australian high commission; Mr Remo Moretta, the deputy high commissioner at the Australian high commission in New Zealand; Ms Liz Kitto, of the Department of Internal Affairs of New Zealand; Mr Darryl Stevens, of the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives of New Zealand, for facilitating all aspects of the New Zealand program. The committee also records its appreciation to everyone who took the time to discuss their work and for the hospitality and courtesy extended to the committee during its visit to Vanuatu and New Zealand. The committee would particularly like to thank the Hon. Philip Boedoro, Speaker of the parliament of Vanuatu, the Hon. Moana Carcasses Kalosil, the former prime minister of Vanuatu and now leader of the opposition, and the Hon, David Carter, Speaker of the House of Representatives in the parliament of New Zealand.

The report is well worth reading. I mention two brief chapters, one of which provides an introduction to Vanuatu and outlines the key issues that were canvassed by the committee during its two-day program there, and the other that goes to issues in New Zealand, following an outline of the key issues canvassed by the committee during its five-day program.

In conclusion can I say that what really impressed the committee most on our trip to New Zealand was the extraordinary resilience in the recovery efforts that have been going on in Christchurch around the earthquake recovery. We had only great feedback from New Zealand officials about the contribution of Australia in all facets of the recovery, from the immediate disaster relief response, to continuing support with skilled personnel and advisers. It was an amazing challenge for New Zealand. The committee was overwhelmed by what they are facing. We are good friends with New Zealand. Our relationship is very close. Australia's response to the disaster they experienced is deeply appreciated and has gone a long way to strengthening the relationship between our two countries.