Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I join with the member for Brisbane in her comments on this report, and note that as chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade she does work tirelessly across a whole range of topics in this area, and many reports have been undertaken at the moment.

As a member of this joint standing committee, I rise to speak on the foreign affairs and aid subcommittee's most recently tabled report, entitled Partnering for the greater good: the role of the private sector in promoting economic growth and reducing poverty in the Indo-Pacific region.

Australia is a generous aid donor by global standards. In 2015-16 Australia is set to provide an estimated $4 billion in total official development assistance, which makes us approximately the 13th-largest donor among OECD nations. The aid program will continue to reflect the government's commitment to development and economic needs, with a particular focus on encouraging development among our near neighbours in the Pacific and on building economic partnerships across Asia. As a government we are interested in outcomes. We want an aid program that is effective: not merely measured by money spent but also measured in development outcomes achieved in partnership with countries across our region.

Crucial to achieving long-lasting positive outcomes from our aid program is economic development and growth. Such growth, if it is to be permanent, needs to involve the creation of a vibrant private sector as well as the establishment of reliable public institutions. In developing economies, it is the private sector that provides the jobs to lift people out of unemployment or subsistence farming. It is the private sector that provides revenue through taxation to allow governments to fund infrastructure and services and to eventually reduce dependence on foreign aid. Encouraging private sector activity in developing nations should be a focus of the Australian aid budget, and I welcome the committee's recommendation in this respect. A great example of a successful partnership is the role played by the company Oil Search in delivering HIV and AIDS programs in Papua New Guinea as part of their major LNG project. I have been privileged to have done site inspections of the work they are doing with a variety of villages up in the highlands where they have started the LNG project, and how they are delivering community support throughout very difficult areas of Papua New Guinea. I also note that very worthwhile projects like the YWAM boat with a mission, which is delivering medical services to the western part of Papua New Guinea and very difficult to access areas, is doing so with the support of private sector involvement. Everyone involved is a volunteer, but they could not deliver the medical supplies and services without the support of the private sector.

A key part of any attempt to grow economic activity is broadening the size and the skill base of the workforce. In many developing countries in our region, women are underrepresented in the workforce. This can be due to factors including barriers to education for young girls; patriarchal social norms discouraging women venturing beyond the home to work; early marriage and pregnancy and, in some cases, endemic rates of domestic violence.

What this means is that in many developing countries a large proportion of the productive labour capacity is being locked out of the labour market. In this context, I note that recommendation 11 of the report is for the Australian government to support and extend business leadership programs, such as the Business Coalition for Women in Papua New Guinea, a group of companies and corporate leaders who are working together to drive positive change for women and businesses in PNG.

This recommendation also supports the continuation of existing women's leadership programs, including the Pacific Women's Parliamentary Partnerships Project. The PWPP aims to address the continuing underrepresentation of women in parliaments in the Pacific region. Just 13 per cent of positions in unicameral or lower houses of parliament are held by women in the Pacific region. This is the lowest of any region in the world. If we exclude Australia and New Zealand, the figure drops to just 5.4 per cent—although I note that recently in the Bougainville elections, as well as the three reserved seats for women, a woman was also elected in one of the open seats against other men and women candidates.

The major focus of the PWPP forum this year was on ending family violence, and we held a forum in Suva, in Fiji. We had wonderful representation from many of our Pacific neighbours, and we worked together to try and mentor and support the women who have a much more difficult time in their parliaments than we enjoy here in Australia.

As we know, this is a global problem, but one that is endemic in large parts of our region. Ending family violence is vital to improving the economic wellbeing of women in our region. I note that the report also recommends that the PWPP be transitioned to become an initiative where all women's leadership positions are included for development and support. As we know, it is the women in roles in the bureaucracy and in delivering government services that can provide support for other women in their communities, and we must support women in the Pacific nations and our near neighbours and encourage them to participate in this way.

In total, the report makes 37 recommendations relating to the engagement of the private sector in the delivery of the Australian aid budget. The recommendations are wide-ranging, practical and evolutionary in nature. We have an aid budget that is generous and does achieve worthwhile outcomes in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region, but we can always do better. This report provides a set of proposals as to how we can better target our aid program to achieve long lasting outcomes for recipient countries across our region. I particularly congratulate the chairman, the member for Murray, Dr Sharman Stone, and I commend the report to the House.

Debate adjourned.

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