Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

A lot has been going on in parliament this week, but I think some other quite significant recent achievements should not pass without note. I am talking about the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in my home city of Perth at the end of October. Tonight I thank the wonderful people of Perth for doing such a fantastic job in hosting that event, particularly the many hundreds of volunteers who assisted. They had a great diversity of roles, from driving and greeting people at the airport to hosting people. In most instances people would have assumed that such people were paid, but in fact they were not. They were very worthy, terrific volunteers who put themselves forward to participate in those roles. They did such a fantastic job. It was a real pleasure to interact with so many of them in the course of the week. They were wonderfully professional but also very proud and friendly in showing off our wonderful state of Western Australia. It was a great event for Perth.

Many people question the place of the Commonwealth in the world but I, for one, as a result of this experience, certainly do not. CHOGM brought together representatives from 54 nations across six continents. I believe it is an important alliance when it comes to facing issues in the world. The theme for this year's CHOGM was 'Building National Resilience, Building Global Resilience'. It reflected a range of concerns across the Commonwealth of Nations and its people.

What was also important about the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was that there were a number of other programs running in conjunction with it. They included the Commonwealth Business Forum, the Commonwealth Youth Forum and the Commonwealth People's Forum. These programs are particularly significant because without civil society, without global business and—clearly—without our young people the Commonwealth does not work. The fabric of the organisation is not just about governments; it is about its people and the networks we have among each other. I was delighted to be able to participate in parts of the Commonwealth People's Forum. The People's Forum aimed to raise the profile of the issues that civil society advocates for within the Commonwealth. They had a very successful meeting with the foreign ministers and were able to put their views forward. The People's Forum enabled people to learn from each other about important issues within the Commonwealth. There was a great amount of discussion between civil society organisations, culminating in key issues being raised at the meeting with foreign ministers. They raised really important issues such as the forced early marriage of girls, the impact of the criminalisation of homosexuality in many Commonwealth countries and the impact that that criminalisation is having on HIV transmission.

There were many other issues discussed, including the impact of colonial laws inherited from Britain on property rights and, indeed, the negative impact that had in particular on women and indigenous peoples throughout the Commonwealth. In a sense, some have not really reformed their laws in the way that nations like Australia have, where we now have native title and have taken the sexism out of our property laws. It is important to note that the legacy of being part of the Commonwealth has not always been great and that those are historical issues which many nations still struggle with. That is why civil society is so important. Civil society plays a key role in advancing the issues and interests that citizens of the Commonwealth want to address.

The Commonwealth will grow in relevance if it listens to its civil society organisations and responds to the issues that they raise. Civil society challenged heads of government to respond to a range of critical issues at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. I am pleased that CHOGM made good progress on some of them, but there was not progress on all of them. Many of them, such as a framework for the Commonwealth to address human rights, are critical questions.

To me this experience underscored the significance of civil society organisations networking and working together internationally. They are the drivers of good democratic practice, human rights, development and health right across the globe. Australia really should play a role now and into the future, when it works within Commonwealth organisations, to strengthen the participation of civil society in those organisations. Indeed, as I look up to you, Mr President, I recall the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association general meeting that took place in the building a few days ago. I am reminded of our own role as parliamentarians in participating in the Commonwealth and of the importance of our personal connections with civil society organisations, both here in Australia and overseas. We have much work to do to advance the interests of the Commonwealth. As parliamentarians we have a key role to play, and we have a forum through the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to do that.

The People's Forum was organised by the Commonwealth Foundation and hosted by the Western Australian Council of Social Service with the support of the Australian government and the Western Australian government. I commend the Western Australian government for the amazing level of work that it did in putting this event on. I congratulate everyone involved in the People's Forum and particularly the Western Australian Council of Social Service. I was very pleased to see CHOGM address important issues such as global food security, climate change, transparency in extractive industries and health care with, importantly, an emphasis on maternal and reproductive health. The polio campaign that has been going on around the globe had a fantastic win with a major announcement, supported by Australia, of funding to eradicate polio globally. Polio affects a number of Commonwealth countries. Polio has been eradicated from most of them, but we really need to now do that last bit to eradicate polio around the globe. It can be done. Now I believe we have the financial backing, thanks to the commitment of Australia and other countries, to do that. I think that is a wonderful thing.

I was very proud to hear our Prime Minister speak of the commitment of leaders to strengthening the Commonwealth, particularly the commitment of the Commonwealth to an earlier and more constructive engagement where countries are diverting from the path of democracy, the rule of law and human rights through the provision of criteria for action and a graduated measure that the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group can take in responding to situations of concern around the Commonwealth where human rights and democracy start to fail. It is an important reform that has been attempted on previous occasions but has failed. I think it is really important that this reform means not chucking countries out of the Commonwealth as a very last resort but helping nations respond as they start to have difficulties.

The eminent persons group put forward a number of reforms which the Commonwealth heads of government have in part responded to. I believe the Commonwealth should consider and indeed support a great many of the worthy issues put forward by that group, including the decriminalisation of homosexuality and other important human rights issues.

The position of women and girls in the Commonwealth was also a significant agenda item for civil society, the youth forum and the heads of government meeting. I was delighted to attend when the Prime Minister led a panel of distinguished female leaders, including the Prime Ministers of Trinidad and Tobago and Bangladesh, to discuss how to achieve gender equity in leadership positions across the Commonwealth. It really was a wonderful discussion.

As a republican I have no hesitation in expressing my excitement at seeing her Majesty the Queen. She is the Queen of the Commonwealth after all. There are plenty of republics in the Commonwealth and they all recognise the Queen, just not as their head of state. As Michael Kirby said: 'History has gifted to us an organisation that has brought together two billion people. In a world with so many divisions we need to make sure that organisations like the Commonwealth retain their relevance.'