John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Are they going to be quiet? We'll ignore the Greens, won't we, Madam Acting Deputy President? So we won't get on to all the coal-fired power stations being built. We're not going to change the world. I just want to say this. They import a lot of their vegetables and fruit and, by the time they get there by ship, they're not that fresh. I think we could help them by showing them how to grow hydroponic food. I've talked to Minister Fierravanti-Wells about this. It would be a great assistance. Also, it's something small to us but big to them.

When we met with the health minister at the main hospital, at Tarawa—a hospital that caters for 50,000 people—they had just one wheelchair. I came back and spoke to friends, including Bob Neich, a great member of the Rotary Club in Inverell, a good member of the National Party too, and a good friend, I might add. He rounded up the wheelchairs, fully reconditioned, in Sydney, and in January they were sent over to Tarawa. The health minister accepted four wheelchairs, fully reconditioned by Rotary. It's something small, but now they have five wheelchairs at their hospital. We had a container go over there.

We need to help them grow food because they are importing so much food and it's just not fresh. Of course, there are other things they could do there. I'm sure Senator Macdonald was as amazed as I was: there's a real problem with litter and rubbish. There are car bodies everywhere, as well as nappies and rubbish.

I was very pleased to be part of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum in Hanoi, Vietnam, a couple of weeks ago. On the agenda for next year we should put: cleaning up the Pacific. There's no reason we couldn't clean it up. Look at Singapore. Singapore is renowned for its cleanliness. Don't throw the rubbish out for it to blow into the ocean. Don't throw it on the streets or whatever. We can do a lot to clean up the Pacific. We can do a lot more in Australia to do exactly that. As a former South Australian, I'm very aware of rubbish. The Keep South Australia Beautiful campaign is very successful.

The best thing we could do for the people in the Pacific is help them to grow food and grow their industries. Samoa has so much potential to grow coffee. The second-most demanded commodity in the world after oil is coffee, yet they have thousands of acres not being utilised. We could help them do that. I've tried to do exactly that over many years with little success, I can tell you. I'd like to see the government put about $500,000 forward, get an expert in hydroponics and set up a hydroponics system—not a big one but a good one to show the people at Kiribati how they can grow their vegetables. They're lacking land. We are fortunate in Australia and have plenty of land. Per capita, there are probably more acres of land than any other country in the world. I think we can help them immensely. They are great people. They were great hosts. I thank DFAT, the ambassadors and the high commissioners.

The Tongan people are also wonderful. As Senator Macdonald said, the rugby union match between Samoa and Tonga was a real highlight. I have seen two religions in the Pacific: one is Christianity and the other is rugby union, and I enjoy both of them very much. I wish them well. I hope we can continue to help our Pacific neighbours in any way we can. I thank Senator Macdonald for his leadership and his friendship on the tour.

Question agreed to.