Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Of course, a range of procedural and administrative activities occur at IPU conferences. I wouldn't say that they make gripping television, having watched a few of them, or that they're very exciting, but they are important. In accordance with usual practice, Australia also actively participated in meetings of the Twelve Plus geopolitical group, and we're also a member of the Asia-Pacific group, appropriately, although unfortunately that group didn't hold any of the general meetings or caucus meetings during the assembly. In addition to the assembly and geopolitical group meetings—and this is an important part of participation by parliamentarians—the Australian delegation held bilateral meetings with a range of delegations, including those from Britain, Indonesia, Israel, New Zealand, Poland and Timor-Leste. When I represented the parliament in late 2019 in Belgrade, Serbia, I discovered that, for many of our diplomats, the opportunity to have parliamentarians in country to participate in a number of these bilateral meetings and support DFAT in its important work was greatly appreciated. I certainly found many of the discussions very valuable, including some quite difficult discussions with people—in a more private, semiformal environment—about human rights and various differences. In addition to the assembly and group meetings, the Australian delegation, together with the delegations from Britain and New Zealand, visited the memorial for victims of the 2002 Bali bombing tragedy. They laid a wreath in their honour, which was entirely appropriate on the 20th anniversary of these tragic events.

In conclusion, the IPU is a niche but important and constructive place in international diplomacy, even if parliamentary diplomacy is not going to in and of itself change the world. Having seen the importance that many countries, both larger and smaller than ours, place on their delegations—in the one that I participated in in Belgrade and from talking with the member for Fremantle about his participation in the previous term—it did strike me that Australia really doesn't engage as extensively as perhaps we could, given our shared national interests in many of these debates. A lot of that's due to time zones, and a lot of it seems to be our view of international travel and the political backlash it receives, which isn't the case in Europe, Asia and much of the world.

We can get a lot of business done particularly with our friends in the Pacific islands, where the former government, to its credit, placed a high value on parliamentary diplomacy through parliamentary committees. This is actually a very efficient way to do it, with senior parliamentarians—delegations are usually led by presiding officers—former ministers and senior people all in the one place, so DFAT can task the delegation effectively and efficiently.

In conclusion, I do note that, traditionally, the Speaker of the House leads the delegation to the IPU when it's not a sitting week and the President of the Senate leads the delegation to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. I'm more than confident that the new Speaker will do us proud in giving our voice to these international forums on matters of importance.

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