Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'd also like to make some brief remarks in support of the comments made by Senator Lines and Senator Van from Victoria reflecting on the joint communique of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum that was held here in Canberra from 13 to 16 January 2020. I want to emphasise one point: in this day and age, when there's much greater complexity around many international issues, and as we in this country, in our region, are presented with some very modern geopolitical challenges, we can't underestimate the importance of soft diplomacy. This was a remark that Kevin Andrews, the member for Menzies, made. He was leading the delegation in January here in Canberra. Mr Andrews reflected on the importance of soft diplomacy and how in this day and age it was important for parliamentarians to be able to gather as parliamentarians to express their views and their attitudes on a variety of issues.

This particular conference was dominated by issues concerning the engagement and empowerment of women, the geopolitical challenges that face the Asia-Pacific region, and also the importance of strong and durable trading relationships as a way of raising prosperity and providing some important pathways to an enduring peace in our region. I think the soft diplomacy opportunities that are presented by conferences like this are often underrated by governments. I congratulate every parliamentarian from Australia who participated in that conference and the great collegiality and sense of one that Australian parliamentarians demonstrated in their interactions with other parliamentarians.

A particular highlight for me was an opportunity to meet the Mongolian delegation and in particular the Speaker of the Mongolian parliament. That was an opportunity for me to talk about my ambitions to establish an Australian Mongolian parliamentary friendship group. I invite senators who are interested in Australia's relationship with Mongolia to be part of that. More importantly, it was an opportunity for me to raise directly with the Speaker of the Mongolian parliament and other Mongolian parliamentarians a very, very important issue that is close to my heart. It is a constituent matter that I have been fighting for a number of months, perhaps even 12 months now, on behalf of a constituent. That goes to the welfare of Mr Munshi, an Australian citizen who, unfortunately, is imprisoned in a Mongolian jail. I thank Foreign Affairs and Trade for their support of thus far and their consular people for the work they are doing in constantly checking up and monitoring Mr Munshi's welfare. I took the opportunity to speak specifically to the Speaker of the Mongolian parliament to bring to his attention this particular issue. I said to him in our discussions that I was hopeful that, with due respect to the rule of law and proper judicial processes in Mongolia, he may be able to continue to raise awareness of my efforts to secure an early release for Mr Mohammed Munshi among his parliamentary colleagues. As I discussed with the Mongolian Speaker, Mr Munshi is an Australian citizen who is currently serving a term of imprisonment in Prison 409 in Mongolia, and Mr Munshi's family seek his early release on humanitarian grounds due to his current state, and continued state, of poor health.

So it was an important conference not just in terms of Australia's geopolitical position and not just to demonstrate the great collegiality of Australian parliamentarians acting internationally but it was a particularly important conference for me to be able to raise a very, very important local constituent issue with the Mongolian Speaker.