Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Hansard source

Madam Acting Deputy President Stephens, I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge your longstanding work on the Senate Foreign, Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee. This afternoon, Senator Stephens, you have earned: you have made a speech, you are now in the chair and you are about to make a final contribution. It is a good chance to say that.

I also want to take this opportunity to make a short statement about the value of the parliamentary delegation program, which celebrates the work of committees in this place and which reinforces the valuable work that parliamentarians do in a committee focus. This program goes out to the committees of the Senate and encourages them to bid for the opportunity to visit other countries and to work with other parliamentarians to develop their skills. Over the years, this has provided amazing value to so many committees in this place. I acknowledge the work that we have heard about this afternoon by the foreign affairs, defence and trade committees. They beat out a very strong bid from the community affairs committee.

In terms of this process, several years ago, as a community affairs committee, we were able to benefit from going to New Zealand and looking at the issues around mental health. The work which we have heard about this afternoon from both you, Senator Stephens, and Senator McEwen looked at what you were able to do as members of the committee, working with parliamentarians in both New Zealand and Vanuatu, through this process. Again, this was reinforcing the sharing of skills and experience and, most particularly, reinforcing the role of committees—parliamentarians across parties looking at issues of value, not just to the Senate but to the wider community. So I felt this was a fine opportunity to say that.

In terms of the process, we will hear much more over the years about the way this program operates. I think it is something that must be retained. We learn so much from it. I look forward to other strongly competitive bids amongst the committees of the Senate to ensure that this knowledge is effectively used and that the kinds of issues we have heard about are taken outside parliamentary debate into aspects of learning and working together.

Question agreed to.