Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the report of the Australian parliamentary delegation to the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste from 28 October to 1 November 2018, and I ask leave of the House to make a short statement in connection with this report.

Leave granted.

I'm pleased to present the report of the parliamentary delegation to the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. Ms Sharon Claydon, the member for Newcastle—she is also in the House and will make a short statement when I finish—Senator Pat Dodson, Senator Rex Patrick and I visited Timor-Leste from 28 October to 1 November last year. We were able to pack a lot into our short visit, which was fascinating and very worthwhile. In addition to meetings in Dili, we had the opportunity to visit Balibo and some rural areas in the west of the country.

We met with a wide range of people in the parliament, the government and the non-government sectors. We heard many views on the current issues in Timor-Leste and what has already been done to further the relationship between the two countries, which continues to grow. We were pleased to visit soon after agreement was finally reached on a permanent maritime boundary between Australia and Timor-Leste. This was a turning point in our relations and has been welcomed by both governments.

As a young nation still emerging from conflict Timor-Leste faces many challenges. One of the biggest is to build and diversify its economy. This includes creating employment and other opportunities for its youth, as 74 per cent of the population is under 35 years of age. We were pleased to see the great benefits that well-targeted Australian support can have for Timor-Leste's people, including the highly successful Seasonal Workers Program, projects delivering clean water and roads to rural communities and measures to combat violence against women, which Sharon will talk about.

This year, 2019, marks the 20th anniversary of Timor-Leste's independence and, therefore, also the 20th anniversary of Australian-led military intervention there. Twenty years on, the bonds and spirit of friendship between the two countries remain very, very strong. We encourage Australia to continue focusing on supporting Timor-Leste at the government level and also through the extensive people-to-people links that we share.

On behalf of the delegation, I would like to extend a warm thanks to the many people we met and spoke to during the visit. I would also like to thank the ambassador, Peter Roberts; the second secretary, Carolyn Skorupa; and all the staff at the Australian Embassy in Timor-Leste for their excellent assistance to us. I commend the report to the House.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I was very, very pleased to be able to take part in this important delegation from Australia to Timor-Leste. I thank the chair of the delegation, the member for Flynn, for his indulgence in allowing me to speak after him. A big thank you to Shennia, who provided some terrific on-ground and post-trip secretariat support to pull this report together, and to my colleagues from the other place, Senator Patrick Dodson and Senator Rex Patrick.

It was an important time for Australia to undertake this visit in the wake of the maritime boundaries treaty that has been struck. I'm very pleased that we have arrived at an agreement around those maritime boundaries. That has been a longstanding issue of hurt between our two nations that is on the way to resolution now. I bring back a message from Timor-Leste, and that is about a certain keenness to see the respective legislation in both our parliaments ratified with haste. They would like to see that done as soon as possible.

I would also, in this very limited time, like to flag some of the work that I was able to do as part of the delegation there. The chair mentioned earlier the important meetings we undertook in terms of some local initiatives to combat violence against women and children. It's an issue that Timor-Leste women and, indeed, men in their culture are taking very seriously, and they are trying to make inroads. As we in Australia know, trying to make those cultural changes is hard work. It's really hard work, yet it is really important and none of us can give up on doing that.

I acknowledge that this week we actually have in this House a delegation from the Timor-Leste women's caucus. I know that many people here have had an opportunity to meet with them. The delegation met with this women's caucus, which is a cross-party caucus in the Timor-Leste parliament. You may be interested to know, Acting Deputy Speaker Andrews, there is a legislative quota for women in the Timor-Leste parliament. They have a very strong and formidable presence. There are seven parties that make up the parliament there, and six of them have women. There is one party that only has a sole representative, and he's a man, so he can't have a woman on the caucus. Together, the caucus are resolute in their determination to bring about important changes for women, for their children and for people with disability, who are often primarily in the care of women in Timor-Leste. A huge thank you to them for their generous spirit, which they showed us in our meeting. I'm so delighted.

I would like to acknowledge the former foreign minister, Ms Julie Bishop, who helped set up the initial exchange project that is underway now. I'm pleased that the government has chosen to provide some assistance through DFAT to ensure that that happens. There will be some terrific women from this parliament now partnering with the Timor-Leste women parliamentarians to ensure that program is carried on.

I think the delegation report covers many of the big issues and messages that we wanted to bring back to the Australian parliament. I'd like to very briefly touch on some other meetings that I had outside of the work of the delegation. While I was there, through the assistance of APHEDA, I had the opportunity to have some meetings with the Working Women's Centre of Timor Leste and some of their partners. One project that the working women's centre highlighted to me—and one that I would like to note in this parliament—is the work that they are doing around bringing about some significant legislative changes to protect domestic workers in Timor-Leste. This has become quite a big issue, particularly in Dili, where it is found that most of the women working as domestic help come from one specific district, which is a very poor part of Timor-Leste, where women have very low levels of education and are very vulnerable to exploitation. I want to take this opportunity to salute the Working Women's Centre of Timor Leste for the work they are doing on that issue and for the work they're doing with the parliament. They've negotiated some important changes in the legislation that would give some protection around wages and working conditions for the poorest and most vulnerable women in the Dili community.

I'd also like to say thank you to APHEDA's country manager in Timor-Leste, Elisabeth de Araujo, who welcomed me and the Australian Ambassador to Timor-Leste, Peter Roberts, and was able to provide me with some introductions to a range of other important NGOs and unions working in the area. I'd quickly like to acknowledge the work of the KSI, which is representing a group of farmer organisations and helping them to get organised to work as a collective towards having a national voice for farmers in Timor-Leste. When so many people are living on farms there, that's a really important piece of organising work being undertaken by the KSI in Timor-Leste.

I'd also like to acknowledge the General Workers Union, who have been in existence for about 10 years now. They are supporting many of the Timorese seasonal workers who travel to Australia. They come here for three to six months for work placements. The General Workers Union is providing pre-departure briefings for those men and women, providing advice on union memberships and workplace rights here in Australia. That is critical to ensuring that that Seasonal Worker Program can proceed. It's a very successful program, but making sure people are aware of their rights in Australia is critical to ensuring they are not subject to workplace exploitation here. We have a responsibility to ensure that's happening. I salute the work of the General Workers Union in ensuring as much as they can in Dili that workers are well prepared.

Finally, I would like to thank the Australian ambassador, Peter Roberts, for taking some time out of an incredibly busy schedule to accompany me on those meetings. I think it was an opportunity for the Australian embassy to connect with a number of other organisations working in and around Dili, doing important work to strengthen the safety of women and children, to ensure safe and fair workplaces and, indeed, to ensure the social and economic wellbeing of the Timor-Leste people. I think any work that the Australian government can do to lend support on that front is work well done for our closest neighbours. In that post-treaty environment, that is one way in which we can ensure that the bonds between Timor-Leste and Australia remain strong.