Judith Troeth (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I present the report of the Australian parliamentary delegation to the Republic of Serbia and to the 119th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, Switzerland, which took place from 4 to 18 October 2008. 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.

It was my very great pleasure to be a member of the Australian parliamentary delegation which visited Serbia and Geneva on the dates I have mentioned. We also spent one night in Vienna in transit. I was fortunate to have the company of the Hon. Roger Price, who was the leader of our delegation, and Mrs Price, the Hon. Danna Vale and Mr Vale and, in Geneva, Senator Claire Moore.

We were fortunate to visit Serbia as the first Australian delegation and the first to visit after the formation of the new Democratic National Assembly earlier in 2008. The new government, which was approved in July 2008, is dominated by the pro-European Democratic Party in coalition with the Serbian Socialist Party of the former Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic. As senators will be aware, the new Republic of Serbia was formerly a part of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro, which was dissolved in 2006 and, prior to 2003, was part of Yugoslavia. The former Yugoslavia was the third largest source of migration from continental Europe for Australia. The 2006 Australian census recorded 17,330 Serbian born people in Australia with 95,364 people identifying themselves as of Serbian origin.

In February 2008, Kosovo, formerly an autonomous province within Serbia, declared its independence and Australia recognised the bid for independence two days later. Negotiations between the Serbian government and the new administration of Kosovo have continually stalled and, at the time of this delegation’s visit, Serbia was seeking agreement in the United Nations General Assembly to request the International Court of Justice to provide an advisory opinion on the legal status of Kosovo’s declaration of independence.

Serbia is moving towards European Union membership, and only the Dutch parliament has failed to ratify the documentation which Serbia has produced so far on a range of political, trade and economic issues. One international obligation with which Serbia must fully comply is to make all possible efforts to arrest and transfer named indictees under the International Criminal Tribunal jurisdiction. There are two remaining fugitives which Serbia must deliver.

There is no doubt that Serbia faces significant challenges. By the year 2000, gross domestic product had dropped to 50 per cent of the 1989 level and 60 per cent of the population was living in poverty. The NATO military action in 1999 destroyed or damaged a substantial part of industry and economic infrastructure. Serbia must establish a functioning market economy. There has been improvement in foreign reserves and the level of indebtedness, and the banking sector and state owned enterprises are slowly being privatised.

The delegation was very impressed by the younger, well-educated, progressive and professional generation of ministers and political leaders. Serbia has turned its face towards Europe, and the delegation was very sympathetic to the admission of Serbia to the EU as an important step towards stability in the region.

Australian interaction with Serbia is reasonably low. Trade offers scope for development. There is potential for healthcare agreements, and the scientific, technological and educational sectors are areas where we could take advantage of exchange of information and expertise, which would provide significant benefits and developments to both countries.

Culture and the arts are also areas that could benefit from Australian support and assistance, both financial and otherwise. We met a number of extremely motivated and dynamic people in this sector and, on my return to Australia, I conveyed these thoughts to the Australian Ballet, to which I am a subscriber, and I am hopeful that more interaction between our two countries in that particular area may be possible.

We are pleased to note that after our visit the Ambassador of Serbia has now returned to Australia. There was a short time when he was not here because of our approval of the independence of Kosovo, but he has now returned. During our visit we were extended hospitality and courtesy at every level by our Serbian hosts. At short notice, Ambassador Claire Birgin arranged a comprehensive program of meetings which covered the highly coloured tapestry of Serbian life. The ambassador went to great lengths to make us feel personally welcome, and we do thank her and the entire embassy staff.

The delegation also had a productive visit to the Inter-Parliamentary Union conference in Geneva, where we were joined by Senator Claire Moore. We attended groups of the 12 Plus Geopolitical Group. With 45 members, it is the geopolitical group centred originally on EU membership but now includes several other countries. We also attended the Asia-Pacific Group with 26 members, of which naturally we are a member. Senator Moore and I attended the meetings and discussions of the IPU Committee on United Nations Affairs and I am delighted to say that today, along with many other members and senators, I attended the inaugural meeting of a United Nations parliamentary association which is to be based here in Canberra.

We held bilateral discussions with delegations from Iraq and Timor-Leste. Mrs Vale, Senator Moore and I attended the meeting initiated by women parliamentarians. In addition, we gave strong support to the candidacy of Speaker Laksono from Indonesia for the position of President of the IPU. Senator Moore participated in the workshop on ensuring transparency in parliamentary processes and we met many of our parliamentary counterparts in official ceremonies and social functions hosted variously by France, Indonesia, Korea, Namibia, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament and 12 Plus.

I should add that Mr Price, our delegation leader, presented a draft report to open the panel discussion on the subject to be considered by the first standing committee on advancing nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament and the role of parliaments in that process. I would like to thank particularly Mr Elton Humphery, the delegation secretary, who was extremely efficient and practical, and also Ms Alison Purnell, the adviser from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who provided professional advice and assistance to the delegation during the IPU meeting. This was the first delegation meeting that I had attended as a representative of the parliament, and to see our country take its place among an assembly of a very large number of nations made me feel very proud. I think we can make our mark very strongly in that gathering, and I look forward to further meetings. The next one is to take place in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, early in April, and I will look forward to reporting further to the parliament on the delegation’s activities.

Question agreed to.