Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the report of the Australian Parliamentary Delegation to the Republic of Korea from 28 February to 4 March 2010.

It is my privilege to present this report on the Australian Parliamentary Delegation to the Republic of Korea from 28 February 2010 to 4 March 2010. The report is very comprehensive, and I want to pay my respects and express my thanks to Jeffrey Robertson of the Parliamentary Library and to congratulate the Parliamentary Library for their assistance and information. I wish to also thank Ambassador Sam Gerovich and his staff for their outstanding professionalism and support. In addition I wish to express on behalf of the delegation our thanks to Meredith Horne, who is the Adviser to the President of the Senate, Senator John Hogg.

The representatives from the delegation were ably led by Senator the Hon. John Hogg, President of the Australian Senate. Also present on the delegation were Senator Alan Eggleston from Western Australia, a member of the Liberal Party of Australia; Mr Steve Georganas, the member for Hindmarsh in South Australia, from the Australian Labor Party; me, the member for Blair in Queensland and a member of the Australian Labor Party; and Mr Tony Windsor, the member for New England in New South Wales, an Independent.

The delegation was warmly received by the parliament and politicians of the Republic of Korea. Our relationship with the Republic of Korea, commonly known as South Korea, was forged in war and fostered in peace. Korea is a very important trade and cultural partner for Australia. We play Korea in football—we call it soccer here in Australia; they call it football over there—which they are fanatics about. We also participate in many cultural exchanges with the Republic. We participate as middle powers in the G20 and other international fora. Korea is an extremely important trading partner for Australia. Korea’s list of principal export destinations in 2009 had Australia at No. 14. Korea’s list of principal sources of imports had Australia at No. 5. We are a stable and secure supplier of iron ore and coal to their wonderful industrial precinct.

I am indebted to Macquarie Investment Management, particularly for the analysis by John Walker AM, Chairman of the Macquarie Group of Companies, which was quite wise on how Korea has moved. Korea has really progressed wonderfully well from what he described as ‘the perspiration economy’ from 1960 to 2000 to ‘the aspiration economy’ from 2000 to 2008 and, from 2009 onwards, to what he terms ‘the inspiration economy’. We went to the Hyundai car plant in Ulsan as well as the POSCO steelworks at Pohang. Representatives from what are now called, in the new political paradigm, the mining states—Queensland and Western Australia—were particularly interested in Australia’s contribution, through the supply of iron ore and coal, to the second largest steelmaker in the world.

We started our delegation at the appropriate place, in my respectful opinion, and that was at what is known colloquially as UNMCK—the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan. A strong affinity can be felt through the mutual sacrifice evident in that cemetery, where 281 Australian servicemen are buried. It was a very moving time for all of us, and certainly when I laid a flower on the grave of a Brisbane airman who was only a teenager when he died it really moved me to tears.

We have developed a significant relationship with the Republic of Korea. We are fostering the free trade agreement, which will help us, and our security is linked with Korea. The delegation advanced Australia’s interests, and I thank all those involved.