Ian Causley (Page, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to support the honourable member in the comments he has made about the President’s trip to Malta and Spain. I think all members of the Australian Parliamentary Delegation to the Republic of Malta and Spain were hit by the fact that we had not realised the importance of Malta in the Mediterranean. I certainly had not. When you go there and see the history you start to realise that anyone who was ever a power in the Mediterranean, from the Phoenicians on, controlled Malta. Of course it is very central to the Mediterranean. It has a flourishing economy and a very good standard of living. It has a population of only 400,000 people on two rocky islands. It has a lot of problems with water. In fact, it has three plants which, by osmosis, convert seawater to freshwater. The economy is quite strong. Because it is so close to the Suez Canal it has adapted to trade there. There is a free port where large containerships come into port. They unload and the cargo is then disseminated around Europe.

They also have a system that could be helpful to Australian companies. Since returning to Australia I have contacted a number of companies concerning a very lucrative arrangement whereby the Maltese government encourages companies to establish in Malta. Now that they have joined the EU—they speak perfect English; the last occupation was by the British—they are an excellent staging post for any Australian company wanting to get into the European market. That is something which made a strong impression on me and it is something that Australia should be aware of. The member for Oxley said that we have a very good relationship with Malta because of the fact that many Maltese have migrated to Australia. There are probably as many Maltese or Maltese descendents in Australia as there are on the island. We have a very strong relationship.

Spain is a very interesting country. It has many problems that Australia can identify with, particularly with border control and illegal immigration. It has problems concerning fishing and neighbouring countries; the Canary Islands are part of Spain. In our discussions with Spain we were able to share our experiences. To an extent the problem of illegal immigration was to the fore in Malta as well. Spain is doing quite well at present. The economy is moving along strongly. It has problems with some of the provinces which want independence. That has been going on for a long time, as we know. Some of the issues with terrorism stem from that area. I believe that while the economy is moving along quite strongly many of the issues will remain fairly quiet. Many people who want independence never seem to think through the issues that will arise if they gain independence. What are they going to do about their economies? How are they to support themselves as an independent area? Those are very important questions. Spain is like Australia in many ways, although I would have to say that many of the provinces have more independence—if that is possible—than Australia’s states. It is interesting to see the way they deal with that issue.

As the member for Oxley said, we met some very eminent people in Spain, from King Don Juan Carlos I down to the President of the Senate, the President of the Congress of Deputies and other prominent people. We had some very in-depth discussions. Spain is currently bidding for a contract with the Australian Navy for the supply of some ships to the Australian Navy and was very keen to impress upon us the importance of that contract. The country is very colourful. There were bullfights every night we were there—not that we got to see one. We did see a display of horse carriages, Mr Speaker, that you would have envied—about 150. There were all the stately carriages of the past. We saw all the different ways of rigging horses, some of which I had never seen before. The display would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was very colourful and people were dressed up in their national costumes. I believe that the visit to Malta and Spain was very valuable. We certainly made good progress—(Time expired)

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