Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I present the report of the Australian parliamentary delegation to Kiribati and the Kingdom of Tonga which took place from 25 June to 2 July last year. 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 am pleased to present the delegation report. I want first of all to thank my colleagues who formed that delegation, starting with my friend and colleague Senator Williams. The delegation also included Mr Steve Georganas, the member for Hindmarsh, and Mr Milton Dick, the member for Oxley. I particularly want to thank the delegation secretary, Mr Gerry McInally, who, as is the way with the secretaries who accompany parliamentary delegations, was excellent in his work, in his support for the delegation and in making sure that all the right doors were opened. I also want to thank the international and parliamentary relations element of this parliament for their support and to thank those who assisted us both in Kiribati and in Tonga. The delegation's visit was organised and supported by the Australian parliament's International and Parliamentary Relations Office. They, as any senators who have ever been on a delegation will know, do a wonderful job, as do the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The delegation, during most of its meetings, was accompanied by DFAT officers stationed at Kiribati and Tonga. The professionalism, knowledge and guidance of these officers were very much appreciated by every member of the delegation.

I also particularly want to express the delegation's thanks to the Australian high commission staff who assisted the delegation—in particular, in Kiribati, the Australian high commissioner, His Excellency Mr Bruce Cowled, and the first secretary and consul, Ms Kate Chamley, and, in Tonga, the Australian high commissioner, His Excellency Mr Andrew Ford, and the deputy high commissioner, Ms Rhona McPhee. I should as well thank the government officials and staff in both Kiribati and Tonga for their welcome and the way they dealt with the delegation.

Time is short. I just want to mention two things. I was delighted to see in Kiribati that, as a result of a lot of good work by Australia over many years past, particularly in the fishing area, Kiribati have really turned their budget around and they have now increased their revenue to around $200 million a year from selling their licences for day-long fishing to commercial fishermen. This accounts for some 70 per cent of Kiribati's annual income. Australia had a big part to play in setting up the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, with the Australian Pacific Patrol Boat Program, which assists very much in the monitoring of foreign fishing vessels in Kiribati waters, and also the Central Pacific vessel monitoring system, which again Australia had a lot to do with setting up, a decade or so ago. It was a wonderful visit and it was great to see some of the major battlegrounds of the Second World War in the Pacific.

On Tonga, the report says it all. I encourage people who are interested in those islands or Australian support there to read the delegation report. It was a very full program in Tonga. I just want to mention one thing that I don't think is mentioned in the report. On the last day that we were there, the high commissioner invited the delegation—unfortunately I was the only one who could make the travel arrangements to do this—to go and see the most significant thing that has happened in Tonga, I'm sure, for 10 years, and that was the annual rugby union match between Tonga and their archrivals from Samoa. I'm pleased to say, and I claim credit for the fact that the Australians were there in some presence with the high commission staff, that Tonga actually won that game; they hadn't done it before. Football diplomacy is very, very big in PNG and in the Pacific. It was great to be part of that, as well as all of the other very significant things we did, which are reported in the delegation's report. I recommend the report to the Senate.

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

I would like to contribute to Senator Macdonald's tabling of the report. I thank him for his leadership and friendship. Mr Dick and Mr Georganas were also on that trip.

There is a lot we can do to help the Pacific region. In Kiribati, they have some serious problems.

Lee Rhiannon (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Do something about climate change! That's what you should do!

John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to 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.