Bruce Scott (Maranoa, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Hansard source

I present the report of the Australian parliamentary delegation to the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei from 30 March to 10 April this year. Five members of the delegation from our parliament, including from the Senate, which I had the honour of leading, visited these three countries—the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei—as part of our annual dialogue under ASEAN, of which Australia has been a delegation member now for some 40 years. Members of the delegation included the deputy leader Senator the Hon. Don Farrell, Senator Helen Kroger, Mr Ken Wyatt AM—who is in the chamber with me now—and also the Hon. Alan Griffin, who is also in the chamber. I want to thank all of them for their cooperation and the strength which they brought to this very important annual dialogue in the ASEAN region.

The delegation focused on re-affirming Australia's valuable relationship with our ASEAN neighbours, establishing connections with parliamentarians in the region and discussing bilateral ties associated with economic development, the environment, security and defence cooperation within the multilateral system and social development. It was very evident when we travelled in those three countries that Australians and Australia are held in very high regard. As Australians travelling there, it was very invigorating to have repeated in all of our meetings the regard in which Australia, and Australians as citizens, are held in the ASEAN region.

In the Bohol province of the Philippines we saw the provincial government and saw firsthand Australian aid money at work, which is rehabilitating the province after it was struck by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake, which killed some 200 people in October last year and destroyed buildings, including schools and hospitals, bridges and roads. The delegation learnt that, as part of the Bohol disaster, resilient homes were being built as part of a project to assist families whose homes were destroyed by the earthquake. The project is a partnership between DFAT and Catholic Relief Services, which will provide cash grants for some 870 families to enable them to quickly rebuild their homes with seismic resistance, for approximately $800 per home. It is very humbling to see how such a small amount of money can give people shelter in a resilient and very earthquake resistant home. It is humbling to see where the money is going and how it can help these people.

During our visit to the three countries we also focused on the important role that the Colombo Plan has played in helping the ASEAN countries. We saw in Bohol Colombo Plan students who had returned to their region, bringing the skills and knowledge they had gained in Australia back to their region. I, and I know the other members of the delegation, was inspired by these students who had studied under the Colombo Plan.

The loss of flight MH370 overshadowed our visit to Malaysia. It was clear that it was foremost in the minds of the Malaysian people. Of course, the Malaysian people thank Australia for the leading role that we were then and remain committed to doing everything we can to identify just where this plane and the tragedy that unfolded with it is now located. We visited the Monash University campus in Kuala Lumpur. This is of course for Monash University the first foreign university to be established in Malaysia. The delegation, through that university, saw firsthand people from over 60 different nationalities studying across seven faculties. The campus is fully integrated and governed by Monash University in Australia. It was clearly evident that Malaysian maintains a strong interest in participating in the Colombo Plan from 2015.

In Brunei we had the opportunity to discuss with officials the introduction of sharia law. The high commission was able to brief us what it might mean, particularly for Australian nationals living in Brunei. Wherever we travelled in Brunei we were assured that Australians should not be concerned about it, but of course the delegation is keeping a watchful eye, as our high commission will, on the introduction of sharia law in that country.

I thank the high commissions in those three countries, the staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and also the secretary to our delegation, who is the clerk here today. We thank you, Peter, for the work that you did in keeping us all focused and always on time. I do thank the department and all those who participated. The annual ASEAN delegation is important for Australia and a very important part of our relationship,.

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