Harry Jenkins (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have pleasure in joining the leader of the delegation, the member for Pearce, in making comments about this delegation. Cambodia is a fascinating country. We were able to enjoy learning about the ancient kingdoms through our visit to the temples at Siem Reap. We have gone from the point when they were discovered, overgrown by trees, to the point now when we are worried that perhaps the temples are being loved to death.

At both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, we were able to see the great work that is being done by a number of Australians involved in aid work. It is very important that we emphasise that we have a great relationship with modern Cambodia—a modern Asian nation with a horrific recent past. The delegation went to places and witnessed some of the memories of that past. We look forward to there being some sort of closure through the extraordinary council process. We hope the process will deliver some justice to those who were victims of the Khmer Rouge.

We acknowledge that there are a number of Australians who work through the different non-government organisations and through Foreign Affairs, AusAID and the other professionals that we have up there. But the leader of the delegation has made mention of people such as the two senators that entertained us, Senator Chhit Kim Yeat and Senator Ung Huot. Both fled Cambodia during the time of Pol Pot, made their homes in the south-east suburbs of Melbourne and contributed greatly and committed to their new homeland, Australia. But when the opportunity arose to go back and do their bit to make sure Cambodia develops into a great nation, they were quite willing to do that. The strength of that connection was something that impressed me and made me realise that we do have a lot to do to assist Cambodia in the way forward. I am sure, as is the leader, that they will be able to do that because they are industrious people. There are a number of non-government organisations there and that indicates there is a developing civil society in Cambodia that will ensure that the checks and balances are there that will, hopefully, mean that we will not see the occurrences that we saw 20 to 30 years ago.

The other comment I would make about the IPU is that intuitively I have always felt that there was a great advantage in having continuing members of delegations to bodies such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The member for Pearce, Judy Moylan, the member for Riverina, Kay Hull, my Victorian comrade Senator Marshall and the secretary Neil Bessell have all been to previous IPUs. The strength of their understanding of the processes and the friendships they have made in previous times were great contributions to the way in which Australia could make a contribution to the overall work. I think that is important. I thank them for their friendship throughout the whole of the delegation. I also indicate that there is a place for people to be exposed to the machinations of a thing like the IPU.

Finally, although the thankyous are made in the report, I thank Claude Mannucci, who looked after our safety. I thank my shadow, Gatra, and Putu, Uddi and Ayu, his colleagues, for the close personal protection provided by the Indonesian police. We thank them for ensuring that we did return safely. We thank them also for their friendship along the way. These delegations are important; I urge members to have a look at the comprehensive report. I regret that we do not have more time to debate the issues that we raise.

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