Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I was going to look for an extension of time if the member for Dunkley was going to regale us with more stories about how wonderful me and my wife are! I thank the member for Dunkley very much, that was very generous of you. It is my great pleasure to speak today on my shared role as parliamentary advisor to the United Nations General Assembly for 2022. I genuinely extend my thanks to the member for Dunkley for her camaraderie and professionalism, and the very constructive engagement we had across a broad range of issues during our time in New York and in Washington.

It may surprise people listening at home, or the young people I see up in the gallery today, to hear members on this side of the House in furious agreement with members on the other side of the House when all they ever see of parliament is question time and the argy-bargy. It may surprise them to hear that there is bipartisanship in this place from time to time, and particularly when delegations leave this country and travel abroad. We're all part of team Australia in those moments. To have that very rare opportunity as a member of parliament to spent such an extended time away from our electorates is something I feel incredibly privileged to share with the member for Dunkley. I have to say it was one of the more amazing life experiences a member of parliament could ever have. I would encourage other members, if they get the opportunity, to embrace it fully and to do everything they can to learn from the experience as well.

For a member of a parliament who represents a rural and regional electorate—my hometown has 8,000 people—it was somewhat of a culture shock to turn up in New York City where the greater area population was about 18 million people. I think there were more in our apartment building than actually live in my hometown! That culture shock from day one—the noise and the vibrancy and the activity of New York City—is something that took me a bit of getting used to, but we embraced the experience and were determined to make sure we learned from the culture as well as from the opportunities that were presented to us at the United Nations.

I thank my electorate for their indulgence in letting me do this, for letting me take those three months to represent Australia at the United Nations with the member for Dunkley. I think it was incredibly decent of my community. I heard hardly a whisper of complaint from them, knowing that I was there representing the parliament and trying to do my little bit as a member of the House of Representatives in the United Nations environment. I also thank my own staff. The challenging time zones that apply—a 16-hour time difference—became a bit awkward at times, trying to participate in public debates here in Australia, correspond with ministers, and stay involved with local issues while also giving full justice to the role in New York.

I really do appreciate the opportunity that was provided by the parliament to both myself and the member for Dunkley to spend that amount of time away from our electorates. It's a program that I think the parliament should be comfortable in continuing to support going forward. There has been an absence for a couple of years because of COVID, and the previous speaker quite correctly indicated that the outgoing delegation in 2023 would benefit from having more preparation time and being able to really focus their areas of interest so they can correspond with the mission in New York and let them know exactly what they're seeking to achieve. A little more structure around that would help them get even more out of the experience. There is also a reverse to this question about the staff in the mission—and this is by no means a criticism of anyone. I think the staff in the mission would benefit from getting a better understanding of the roles that members of parliament could play or how they could assist the mission in their diplomatic efforts. Particularly I think of the member for Dunkley, who is trained in law and an incredibly capable woman in her own right. There were times during International Law Week when I thought her skills in particular could have been more fully utilised if we had had a little bit more preparation time for that. Again, that's not meant to be any criticism whatsoever, because the senior staff from the ambassador himself right down through the staff were very engaging and supportive towards us.

I want to thank a couple of staff perhaps a little bit lower down the rankings in the mission and who probably met with us more regularly—in particular, Alice Volkov, the coordinator. She had a tough gig trying to herd the member for Dunkley and I around and fulfil our expectations according to our various interests and our determination to get the most out of that experience. So, Alice, thank you so much for your support. The interns that we met very early in our experience we basically adopted as our New York children—Paige Likos and Tim Hobbs. Because they didn't have security clearances they were stuck in the outer office, which was where the member for Dunkley and I had our offices. So by virtue of the fact that they had to put up with us on a daily basis they became our adopted New York children. We had them around for dinner and had a great time.

The point I want to make when referring to the staff is just how incredibly young and incredibly talented they are. We can be so proud of the work that our DFAT staff are doing representing us on the world stage. The member for Dunkley quite correctly named several other staff members who she dealt with more directly. Their capacity, their abilities and their willingness to work hard for Team Australia in that environment is something we should all be very, very proud of.

As a cultural experience for someone like me who has only spent a very small amount of time in the US in the past, being there at a time when the US mid-term elections were in full swing was educational. It was informative. It was also a pretty good indication of where we don't want to go. As a nation, we need to just take stock from time to time and see the tone of debate that is experienced during those most heated moments in the US system. That is not where we as a nation want to be. The level of personal denigration in some of the advertising I saw was something that just wouldn't be welcomed here in Australia. But that's the rough and tumble of a democratic system.

We were lucky to spend some time in Washington, DC, and have some engagements on the hill. I would suggest for future planning of this delegation and given the increasing importance of our US relationship, with AUKUS in mind, that it should allow for a longer period of time in Washington, DC, and more direct peer-to-peer engagement. That's because, as we all know, in this job in particular we are all in the people business. We are building relationships, building networks and having exchanges of ideas. Having those connections in an increasingly globalised world is so important. Members of parliament who go there to represent Australia having more time in the capital would, I think, be time well spent. We did have some very interesting conversations with senior US officials around a whole range of issues. As the member for Dunkley indicated, my pet subject of natural resource management may not have necessarily been the thing she really wanted to spend an hour talking about, but she tolerated my passion for that area, just as I tried to maintain some level of intelligent conversation on areas where she was much smarter than I was by a very significant margin. I made the point at the outset that once we as members of parliament get out of this country we are all on the same team and we do try to do our best to represent the parliament in a very constructive way.

The United Nations itself—and I have a few comments to make on that experience—is an enormous beast and it is very difficult to navigate. There are complex issues and a range of very obvious competing interests and national interests. I was struck, though, by the simple fact that Australia has a very solid reputation within the walls of that building. We are not perfect, but certainly our reputation in the global community as being a like-minded country on whole range of very important issues impressed me, and I was very heartened to see the relationships that the Australian mission has formed.

The critics will say that, at it's worst, the United Nations is a bloated bureaucracy and a debating society. But, at its best, it is delivering aid and peacekeeping missions on the ground, setting standards for a rules based order, pursuing sustainable development goals to eliminate poverty and secure peace and stability in a very troubled world and also doing its best to improve the health of communities right around the globe. So it's important to reflect, for all the critics, that, if we didn't have the United Nations, the first thing we would be talking about it is: 'How do we form one?' because it's an opportunity for the people of the world to get together in the one location and find areas where they can agree and then work through the areas where they don't agree.

The member for Dunkley reflected on the High-Level Week. They didn't spend a lot of time coming up with a name for it! But High-Level Week was where all the high-level diplomats turned up and our own foreign minister and many other leaders were there. There was the opportunity for us to do our little bit to engage, particularly with the leaders of the Pacific, and have conversations with them, at a time when that relationship has never been more important. It was a small role that introduced the member for Dunkley and I to the world of diplomacy. As far as we know, we didn't cause any international incidents, and we seemed to be well received by each delegation that we met.

The highlight for my wife, Julie, was clearly meeting Princess Mary. For the member for Dunkley, her royalty was our own foreign minister. But that's okay; we each have our own particular passions, I guess.

The United Nations is a forum where the smallest nations in the world can be heard alongside the biggest nations, and that really struck me as well: to see the delegations—quite small delegations, from nations of not enormous size—having the opportunity to get in there in the General Assembly and give their view in that environment where the largest countries are there alongside them. I thought that was a really important part to remember, as I represent a small community and small communities often feel that they're not heard in the big communities, but that was something that really struck me: small towns, like those in my area of Gippsland, want a voice at the big table, and, when it comes to the United Nations, there's no bigger table for people to assemble around.

In conclusion, I think—and without risking making headlines about a broader debate—we should make no apology in this place, as members of the House of Representatives, or as senators, for engaging in overseas delegations. The media and the public are sometimes very quick to suggest that it's a junket; it's just a trip overseas; it's a bit of a jolly. I'd have to suggest that it's quite the opposite, particularly in the challenging world environment we face today.

I actually wrote to the incoming foreign minister just after the last election and suggested to her that we should be doing more outgoing delegations, not because I suddenly had more time on my hands but more because I took the view that, if there were a strategic direction set by the foreign minister, set by the government of the day, and she would allocate where the priority countries were, MPs from both sides should be engaging more in those priority areas. Obviously, for us, it would be the Asia-Pacific region. I think it's important because it avoids any chance of members in this place becoming too insular, and they're more likely to embrace the wider world and have a greater and a deeper understanding of our near neighbours. Just as the Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program has been used to introduce members of parliament to the Defence Force and to give them opportunities that no-one else would get to do and to go and spend time with our men and women serving—because most of us haven't served—I think opportunities to spend more time with DFAT and to get an experience of what they're doing and the complexities of their task and to spend time in-country and actually get a greater appreciation of their roles, is something that we should work towards in a bipartisan way. The minister, to her credit, told me she would consider it. That's now a question for her and, I guess, budgetary processes, as to whether that's possible. But more structured visits, more cultural exchange and more trade engagement, and witnessing firsthand how Australian aid dollars are actually spent on the ground and the benefits they create, I think would make the case for this parliament to be a bit more tolerant when it comes to conversations about the foreign aid budget and how our place in the world is seen in this particular region. I think it would also provide a better standard of public debate and increased mutual understanding on those complex issues.

In conclusion, again, I've no doubt the delegation to the United Nations has made me a better member of parliament. I will work hard to try and draw on my experiences for the remainder of my political career. I want to repay the faith shown in me by my electorate in allowing me to embark on this particular delegation.

I will just reinforce my comments at the outset about the bipartisanship and the camaraderie and the professionalism of the member for Dunkley and her husband, Rod, and the opportunity to spend time with another member of parliament. For the life of me, I don't understand why she's not a minister in the Albanese government. This is not my time to give her a job reference; I've probably just finished off her whole chance of being promoted now! But I think she has some enormous talents and abilities that could be applied at a more senior level in this place, and I wish her in particular every success in her role in this place.

Again, I thank the parliament for giving us the opportunity to spend some time at the United Nations and expand our understanding of that important organisation.

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