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

I seek leave to make a short statement.

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

I'm very grateful for the leave from colleagues. I would like to very much endorse the comments of Senator O'Neill on the last IPU delegation to Geneva. I'd also like to commend her for her leadership, in the absence of the Speaker, who was missed. You did a fantastic job as a parliamentary delegate but also in leading the delegation, particularly in terms of parliamentary diplomacy. I think, in that sense, what the last IPU delegation demonstrated is that all of us here in this chamber play an important role in parliamentary diplomacy. It has never been more important in our nation's history for everybody in this chamber to work as part of 'team Australia' with colleagues—in this case, in the IPU—from 180 countries.

I'd also very much like to thank Ambassador Gorely, who's the Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN and to the Conference on Disarmament, for her and her team's amazing support for the delegation, including her kind hospitality at her residence. I'd also like to thank Ambassador Emily Roper, the Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and staff of the Australian permanent mission in Geneva. Mr David Hevey, the first secretary of cyber and digital affairs, provided ongoing support and invaluable assistance to the delegation, particularly during my and Julian Hill's participation in a very instructive workshop and series of sessions on artificial intelligence. I also thank the Parliamentary Library, who always do a good job but, in this case, did a particularly outstanding pack for the delegation.

In closing I'd like to briefly thank Mr Speaker. As some people in this chamber would know, I have been actively pursuing the issue of orphanage trafficking to get global action on orphanage trafficking. At the IPU before this, I was successful, as part of team Australia, in getting a very comprehensive resolution up that 180 nations supported. But now it's a matter of getting that resolution implemented, and I want to thank Mr Speaker very much for, on behalf of the Presiding Officers, supporting a new initiative with the IPU, which we're just waiting for approval to go ahead with, so that we can start preparing a manual for legislators globally on how to tackle orphanage trafficking. I'm thankful for the support-to-be from the Parliamentary Library. Thank you very much for your indulgence.