Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I present the report of the Australian parliamentary delegation to the 145th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly at Kigali, Rwanda, which took place from 11 to 15 October this year. I seek leave to move a motion to take note of the document.

Leave granted.

I move

That the Senate take note of the document.

Today I speak about the report that I'm tabling for the 145th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly, which, as I said, was held on 11 to 15 October this year. I was greatly honoured to be selected as an IPU delegate for the Australian parliament and to be part of the delegation, which travelled to Kigali, Rwanda to participate in 145th IPU Assembly. The delegation was led by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Hon. Milton Dick MP. I joined the delegation and was accompanied by the Hon. Warren Entsch MP; Senator Fatima Payman, who I see here in the chamber; and Dr Gordon Reid MP. Firstly, I'd like to most sincerely thank both Jane Thomson and Toni Matulick from the Senate department for all their work organising the delegation visit and also for the preparation of this outstanding report.

The IPU itself brings together parliamentarians from around the globe to promote peace, democracy and sustainable development. It also provides an important forum for Australian parliamentary representatives to contribute to contemporaneous global discussions. The IPU itself was founded in 1889, and there are currently 178 parliaments that are members of the IPU, with an additional 14 associate members. It really does offer a unique opportunity for delegates to meet with their international counterparts. The Australian delegation this time met with delegations from New Zealand, Fiji, Timor-Leste, Canada and Britain and also held bilateral meetings with delegations from Afghanistan, Georgia and Serbia.

The topic of this year's general debate was absolutely spot-on in terms of its relevance. It was about gender equality and gender sensitive parliaments as drivers for a more resilient and peaceful world. It was both interesting and very practical. We also engaged in very fruitful discussions considering a rights based gender response approach to migration as well as methods to address the root causes of human trafficking and also to ensure survivor-centric antitrafficking legislation, something that I have been particularly passionate about throughout my time here in the Australian Senate.

The assembly also adopted a very strong resolution condemning Russia's military occupation of sovereign Ukraine territory and human rights violations perpetrated in Ukraine territory following the Russian invasion. I'm also very proud to say that, when the Russian delegate spoke, the Australian representatives walked out with the Ukrainian delegations in a very visible show of support.

It was a privilege to address the 34th session of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights. On behalf of Australia, I put forward a proposal to combat the global issue of orphanage trafficking, which was accepted for consideration by the standing committee. The response of other parliamentarians from around the world was immediate and was incredibly positive. My proposal will be put forward as a formal resolution to the 146th IPU Assembly in Bahrain next year and then will be formally adopted at the 147th IPU in October next year.

I am greatly honoured to have been appointed as a co-rapporteur for the resolution and am now working alongside colleagues from other parliaments to raise awareness of this issue and to prepare a package of material for parliamentarians, so that they can start tackling this insidious form of trafficking. For those in-this chamber who have not heard me speak about orphanage trafficking previously, it is a particularly insidious form of 21st century trafficking that we have created through our naivety, but also through our compassion to assist orphans and children who are less well-off. That has created a multibillion dollar criminal enterprise—a scam—which is now trafficking up to eight million children into orphanages, so Australians and others can have an orphanage experience.

In conclusion, I would like to thank everybody on the delegation and particularly Senator Payman, who very ably took forward this motion. I thank her for her enthusiasm and for her very persuasive words at the conference. (Time expired)

Fatima Payman (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I'm pleased to speak to the report of the Australian parliamentary delegation that participated in the 145th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly, which took place in Kigali, Rwanda from 11 to 15 October 2022, as my colleague Senator Reynolds has already outlined. It was an absolute privilege to be representing Australia on the world stage along with the House Speaker, Mr Milton Dick MP; Dr Gordon Reid MP; Mr Warren Entsch MP; and Senator Linda Reynolds. Delegates from various countries were quite impressed by Australia's demonstrating its multiculturalism and the cultural and age diversity representation in its elected members to parliament.

As a young parliamentarian at the IPU, I had the opportunity to participate in the assembly's general debate on the theme of gender equality and gender-sensitive parliaments as drivers of change for a more resilient and peaceful world. In my speech I made the point that while women make up 54 per cent of all parliamentarians and comprise the majority of the Australian Senate—which is a great achievement for women in Australia—we are not finished. However, we need to do more to address the barriers that stand in the way of young women seeing politics as a legitimate career option and parliament as a place where they will be welcomed, valued and encouraged.

Dr Reid and I also took the liberty, as young parliamentarians, to make the I Say Yes to Youth in Parliament! pledge because we believe that young people deserve a seat at the decision-making table and need to represent the youth demographic, who often fall through the cracks and whose groundbreaking ideas that ought to be listened to remain with them.

Attending the IPU assembly provided an opportunity for Australian parliamentarians to participate in the various IPU committees, to meet international colleagues through bilateral meetings, which Senator Reynolds has already outlined, and to consider matters of mutual interest—for example, the collective effort of many democratic countries standing in solidarity with Ukraine to endorse the resolution calling for condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine and of the subsequent annexation of territories, in defence of the territorial integrity of all states. This resolution emphasised the call for an immediate end to the Russian military occupation of sovereign Ukrainian territory, the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity, the acknowledgement of its internally recognised borders that extend to its territorial waters and the rule of international law. There was further condemnation of the serious violations of human rights perpetrated in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv and other regions of Ukraine.

The resolution reinforces the creation of courts with special jurisdiction to investigate possible aggressions perpetrated and to hear cases of war crimes and human rights violations committed on Ukrainian territories. It was really good to see the resolution calling upon all parliaments across the world to raise awareness among state authorities and civil society of the need to contribute to a solution to the humanitarian crisis involving the migration of six million Ukrainian citizens as refugees, to encourage the support and cooperation of the international community in the process of reconstructing Ukraine and to recognise that the war is impacting energy supply, and thus we need to establish a commitment to climate change reduction targets. Justice needs to be restored and I'm proud to say that the Australian delegation wholeheartedly supported the resolution.

This trip to Rwanda allowed me to appreciate the importance of the IPU in bringing together parliaments and parliamentarians, in promoting peace, democracy and sustainable development and in providing a forum for Australian parliamentary representatives to contribute to global discussions. It also provided an opportunity for the Australian delegation, skilfully led by Mr Speaker, to work towards the advancement of issues of interest to Australia. In this regard I draw particular attention to the work of Senator Reynolds who, on behalf of the Australian delegation, successfully secured support for a proposed resolution to prevent orphan trafficking and orphanage tourism.

I thank the secretariat for their incredible work, along with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Parliamentary Library.

Question agreed to.