Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I table the report of the Australian Parliamentary Delegation to the 141st Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly, which was held in Belgrade, Serbia, from 13 to 17 October this year. I seek leave to move a motion in relation to the report.

Leave granted.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

The Australian parliament's delegation to the 141st assembly was led by the member for Robertson, Mrs Lucy Wicks, and included the member for Fisher, Mr Andrew Wallace, the member for Bruce, Mr Julian Hill, and myself. The IPU is the international organisation of parliaments of sovereign states. Australia has had a longstanding commitment to attend IPU assemblies and associated meetings, and provides the chance to develop and progress parliament-to-parliament relations, to build on bilateral and multilateral relationships and to promote parliamentary democracy.

The 141st assembly was attended by 1,729 delegates, 739 of whom were parliamentarians from 149 parliaments. A key focus of the 141st assembly was strengthening international law through parliamentary roles and mechanisms. Throughout that week there was also an emphasis on promoting democracy through the political empowerment of women and youth.

During the assembly, members were called upon to adopt a resolution on achieving universal health coverage by 2030. The resolution focused on promoting health and preventing disease through coordinated action across every sector and, of course, as an Australian member of the delegation, I was particularly pleased to participate in that, given reference to our Medicare standards.

Australia is a member of two geopolitical groups. Meetings took place with the Asia-Pacific Group and the Twelve Plus Group during the assembly. Meetings were also held with delegations from Vietnam, North Macedonia, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

Australia's Ambassador to Serbia hosted a very, very enjoyable reception that was attended by delegates and staff from Fiji, Tonga, Timor-Leste, the Federated States of Micronesia, New Zealand and Australia. Speakers from Tonga, Fiji and Micronesia were present at the reception, which provided an opportunity to discuss issues of relevance to the region. I particularly thank Ms Toni Matulick for her outstanding support of our delegation. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.