Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For the information of honourable members, I present the report of the Australian parliamentary delegation to Singapore and Indonesia, 28 October to 8 November 2008.

In commencing my remarks, I extend my sincere thanks to my fellow delegation members: the deputy leader of the delegation, the member for Mackellar, the Hon. Bronwyn Bishop; the shadow minister for immigration and citizenship, the member for Murray, the Hon. Dr Sharman Stone; the member for Newcastle and chair of the public accounts committee, Ms Sharon Grierson; and the member for Blair, Mr Shayne Neumann. All delegates were enthusiastic participants in the visit, and each contributed significantly to the purpose of the delegation visit in a spirit of bipartisanship and goodwill. I thank them all for their contribution.

The bilateral visit to Singapore formed the first leg of our journey, from 28 October to 1 November. The warm reception received from the parliament and government of Singapore left us in no doubt as to the continuing strength of our relationship with this very important regional partner, and the visit provided an excellent opportunity to renew and reinforce these ties at all levels. Discussions with the Singaporean ministers and officials addressed topics of great relevance and timeliness, including water resource management, industrial relations, defence and security, scientific research and development, air services and the global financial crisis. Delegates found the frank and informative discussions on the financial crisis with representatives of the Monetary Authority of Singapore to be of particular benefit, while all were impressed by Singapore’s innovative and highly coordinated approach to water supply and management. While in Singapore, the delegation visited Kranji War Cemetery, where over 2,500 Australian war dead are buried or commemorated. Delegates laid a wreath at the Singapore Memorial in honour of those who lost their lives. All were moved by the stark beauty of the site and by the great sacrifice made by men and women of all ages and nationalities in the defence of our region.

The delegation’s visit to Indonesia began with a friendly Sunday soccer match in Jakarta between staff of the Australian embassy and a team from the local newspaper Rakyat Merdeka. Delegates were ably represented on the field by the member for Blair, who, being a Queenslander, was prepared to brave the tropical heat and soaring humidity. Despite his best efforts, however, Rakyat Merdeka ultimately triumphed—four goals to three. During its time in Jakarta, the delegation was very cordially received by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, His Excellency Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Vice President, His Excellency Jusuf Kalla. Discussions with the head of state and his deputy addressed a range of topics of bilateral significance, including efforts to combat climate change and the important role played by parliaments in maintaining strong connections between countries. Valuable talks were also held with Indonesian foreign minister, Dr Hassan Wirajuda. The delegation also attended the 20th anniversary of the Australia-Indonesia Institute at which foreign minister Wirajuda made the key speech acknowledging the valuable work done by the institute in building the relationships between our two countries.

At a parliamentary level, the delegation had informative discussions with the three speakers of the Indonesian parliament and with members of the Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia. This was a valuable opportunity to learn about the Indonesian parliamentary system and to discuss the many elements of parliamentary life shared with our Indonesian counterparts. Delegates who had previously visited Indonesia noted that the relationship had strengthened significantly in recent years—a view shared by a number of our hosts. Australia’s assistance to Indonesia in the wake of the 2004 tsunami and the losses suffered by both nations as a consequence of the 2002 Bali bombings were identified as factors that had served to deepen the friendship through shared awareness of tragedy. The very ability to raise and discuss difficult topics, such as the execution of the Bali bombers and Australia’s travel advisory in relation to Indonesia, was in itself seen as a positive aspect of the relationship.

The final leg of the delegation’s journey took us to the province of Central Kalimantan in Borneo, where we were able to take a firsthand look at some of the outstanding work being done under bilateral initiatives such as the Indonesia-Australia Forest Carbon Partnership and the Australia-Indonesia Basic Education Program. The delegation was impressed by the excellent flagship rehabilitation work being carried out in an area of previously cleared peatland forest in Sebangau National Park and by the labour of love being undertaken by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, which is reintroducing captive and orphaned orangutans to the wild. The chance to attend the official opening of Katingan Hilir 5 Junior Secondary School in the village of Kasongan Lama was a highlight of our visit. The new public school, constructed under the Australia-Indonesia Basic Education Program, can accommodate up to 240 students. It significantly enhances the educational opportunities for less well-off children in the Katingan District, which has had a lower-than-national-average secondary school enrolment rate.

In closing, on behalf of the delegation, I wish to thank the Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore, Mr Abdullah Tarmugi, and his staff; the speakers of the Parliament of Indonesia, Dr M Hidayat Nur Wahid of the MPR and his staff, Mr HR Agung Laksono of the DPR, and Dr Ginandjar Kartasasmita of the DPD. I would also like to thank Mr Doug Chester, Australian High Commissioner to Singapore, and his staff, including Dr Lucinda Bell; Mr Bill Farmer, Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, and his staff, in particular Dr Stephen Barraclough, Jeffie Cane and Emma Wilson; the delegation secretary, Ms Vivienne Courto; Fiona Way from the PRO; and our AFP liaison agent, Wayne Smith. On a personal note, I would like to thank my senior adviser, Christopher Paterson, for his guidance.

I commend the report to the House.

Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I rise to add my comments to those of the Speaker, as one of the delegates on the official parliamentary delegation to Singapore and Indonesia from 28 October to 8 November last year. The overall impression left by this time away was that our near neighbours share very common concerns with us in Australia and that this regular face-to-face communication between the government members of Singapore, Indonesia and Australia and also their senior officials is important. We were treated with great friendship and respect wherever we went. We really do appreciate the hospitality that was extended to us. At all times we felt that we were working together in a region of the world which is very challenged by climate change, by ecosystems under great stress and by the issues of urban congestion, traffic, water needs and the like. At all times our exchanges were friendly and frank, with no topics out of order and with everybody willing to explore and talk about issues that others might imagine are too delicate to even address.

In Indonesia, we travelled to central Kalimantan to observe the enormous challenges of rehabilitating burnt and drained peat based rainforest zones. This is an enormous area. It has been described as the ‘lungs of the world’, and it is under challenge regularly from fires. We are pleased that Australia has been providing some funding not only to try to help rehabilitate this area but also for technology, information and intelligence transfer. This journey away from Java, to a region far from the Indonesian capital, and to one of the most remote of the Dayak villages, also gave us a unique appreciation of the challenges of the distances in Indonesia. The tyranny of distance is often described as an Australian challenge alone, but it is also very much a challenge for Indonesia. They have to provide employment, health and education services to places where, in this case, only boat access is possible. When we reached this village, the Speaker participated in ceremonies and services in ways which were very much appreciated by the village headman. The hospitality extended to the Australians at that Dayak village left us with a lasting impression of shared humanity and a shared interest in the basics of life—access to education, health, good food and a healthy ecosystem.

The delegation allowed us to meet with like-minded, recently elected and veteran members of parliament and the parliamentary leadership in both countries. We were, as the Speaker has said, particularly honoured to meet with the President of Indonesia, His Excellency Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President, His Excellency Jusuf Kalla. Meeting with the speakers and deputy speakers of both countries’ parliaments was also a great honour.

An objective of the delegation was to renew links between Australia and Indonesia and Australia and Singapore, and their national parliaments in particular. We also aimed to gain an appreciation of contemporary political, economic and social issues, to review the bilateral relationships between Australia and Singapore and Australia and Indonesia with a view to furthering growth in trade and investment with Singapore and, finally, to gain a greater appreciation of the strategies being adopted by Singapore and Indonesia in dealing with the global economic situation. In Singapore, we also focused on their sustainable potable water strategy—an issue that challenges us in most of our capital cities—and in Indonesia, as I said, we gained an insight into the work of AusAID and some NGOs in relation to providing new schools in needy areas and also the peatland rehabilitation in Kalimantan.

Singapore is Australia’s largest trade and investment partner in ASEAN and our fifth largest trading partner globally. More than 1,300 Australian companies are operating in Singapore, and our investment in Singapore is approximately A$17 billion. My youngest daughter and her family are now resident in Singapore, and I have been there very recently. I am in awe of how they are managing, despite the global downturn, to keep confidence in their business sector and to work actively and positively towards their downturn being very short. Singapore is committed to maintaining regional political and economic security and enjoys access to Australian military training and land and base facilities for exercising. This has helped to forge close strategic and long-lasting relationships. This was discussed in detail with our Singaporean counterparts. Of particular interest to me were the industrial relations and man-management issues relevant to the one million guest workers who are a feature of Singapore’s construction, outdoor maintenance, and domestic and childcare sectors. Given that Australia has just initiated its first pilot of a guest worker program, Singapore’s experience was very informative and relevant to us.

Singapore, as a small city nation, has also been challenged to capture and recycle its population’s water needs. While the technology to treat sewage to potable standards is not new, the way that Singapore has debunked preconceptions about the desirability of mixing treated effluent in their reservoirs and making it a very clean, sustainable potable supply provides, I think, a lesson for the rest of the world, particularly for Australia. The education of their school population about the need for them to recycle and use all of their water was very interesting and gave us valuable lessons about how we need to progress in Australia with using recycled water for potable needs as well as industrial use.

In Indonesia, we travelled from the capital, Jakarta, to central Borneo, or Kalimantan, and we were able to share in the joy of opening a new school, funded by the Australia-Indonesia Basic Education Program. The opening of any school is a joy—but particularly so when it is in outback Kalimantan. It was a special privilege to be there and to see the facilities. These are facilities which in Australia would still be considered very basic; however, with the students’ willingness to learn and teachers who are totally committed, there is no doubt that the education outcomes of that school will be excellent. I think all Australians should be proud that that program is continuing.

Our Indonesian counterparts did not hold back their concerns about Australia’s travel advisories and the fact that they continue to be in place in relation to travel in Indonesia. They were concerned about their continuing impact and that some tourists do not look beyond the official advice. In the case of the education program, it meant that there was less capacity for teacher exchanges, or indeed student exchanges, between Australia and Indonesia. I know this is a work in progress in our government’s ongoing diplomatic work with Indonesia.

I also want to talk briefly about the challenging work involved in the peatlands, or what were tropical rainforests, in what they like to call the ‘lungs of the world’ in Kalimantan. It is distressing to see that recent pressures with palm oil prices have led the Indonesian government to rethink some of their targets for the further clearing of rainforest in this area—this has been reported in the last few days. We were hugely encouraged by the efforts of the locals and our AusAID funded NGOs, who were trying to find new ways to deal with the ongoing draining of these peatlands—the draining which has led to the drying out of the peat which in turn has led to its great vulnerability to fire.

I also have to say that the orphaned orangutans tore at our heartstrings. We could all have taken them home. There were about 500 or 600 of them. They are a challenge to rehabilitate in what remains of the forest there.

I left that delegation with a renewed understanding of how important our cross-party relationships are. As Labor and Liberal members of that delegation and with the Speaker as our leader, we worked absolutely as a team. We were committed together to building these relationships. I think that is always a very important part of such delegations, and one that worked particularly well on our delegation to Indonesia and Singapore. I want to thank our Speaker, who was a superb leader who often had to participate in  ceremonies which were very foreign to him, in Dayak villages and other places involving eggs and assorted other activities—anthropologically, very interesting! He did us proud. I know we left both Indonesia and Singapore with mutual respect and a greater understanding as a result of this delegation. I seek leave to move a motion in relation to the report.

Leave granted.

I move:

That the House take note of the report.

Question agreed to.