Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to endorse the comments of all speakers in this debate so far. I was very privileged to attend the Pacific Women's Parliamentary Partnerships program in Suva between 29 April and 1 May. As has already been stated by other speakers in this debate, the theme of the gathering was family violence in the Pacific region. The forum took place in and was supported by the Fijian parliament, and the speaker of the Fijian parliament was the host.

On the first day, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji, Mr Bainimarama, delivered the opening address. He said in his address that family violence is a vitally important issue and a test of values. I think that was a very significant statement that he made in that forum. He encouraged the forum to send a strong message to the world that family violence is a matter for public discussion. It is not something that should be kept behind closed doors; it should be recognised and addressed in an open forum and all the issues surrounding family violence should be addressed.

The forum provided an overview of actions taken in different countries and identified issues, actions, engagement and changes that have taken place. It is very easy to focus on the negatives, but there have been changes and there have been more women elected to the parliaments of Pacific nations. These things are all positive. It looked at the form and complexity of aid budgets, the way money is given by donor countries and the need to simplify that. It looked at the economic and health impacts of violence against women in societies in the Pacific. There were a number of really good, strong statements from the floor and a number of women shared their experiences and the experiences of their constituents.

Some areas in the Pacific are missing programs. Children before their birth was identified as an area that needed to be addressed, as well as employment of women and the importance of the employment of women in relation to the issue of violence against women. Bilateral relationships with donors were highlighted as being very important, as were the need for election platforms of various nations to include policies that directly mentioned violence against women; impact statements on policies on families; budget programs where violence against women is specifically mentioned; gender training; and looking at the millennium development goals.

On the last day we had a number of modules where the women broke into different groups, and I was privileged to lead one of those modules. The module that I led was 'the MP survival kit'. It was extremely interesting to look at the diverse backgrounds that the women in the group came from and the challenges that they faced. Everybody sharing their experience and talking about their challenges placed them in a better position. The forum had a number of outcomes, which have been highlighted by previous speakers—outcomes that we endorse—and also established priorities into the future. Pacific Women's Parliamentary Partnerships is a very valuable forum and it is one that we as a nation should continue to support.

Debate adjourned.

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