Fatima Payman (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I'm pleased to speak to the report of the Australian parliamentary delegation that participated in the 145th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly, which took place in Kigali, Rwanda from 11 to 15 October 2022, as my colleague Senator Reynolds has already outlined. It was an absolute privilege to be representing Australia on the world stage along with the House Speaker, Mr Milton Dick MP; Dr Gordon Reid MP; Mr Warren Entsch MP; and Senator Linda Reynolds. Delegates from various countries were quite impressed by Australia's demonstrating its multiculturalism and the cultural and age diversity representation in its elected members to parliament.

As a young parliamentarian at the IPU, I had the opportunity to participate in the assembly's general debate on the theme of gender equality and gender-sensitive parliaments as drivers of change for a more resilient and peaceful world. In my speech I made the point that while women make up 54 per cent of all parliamentarians and comprise the majority of the Australian Senate—which is a great achievement for women in Australia—we are not finished. However, we need to do more to address the barriers that stand in the way of young women seeing politics as a legitimate career option and parliament as a place where they will be welcomed, valued and encouraged.

Dr Reid and I also took the liberty, as young parliamentarians, to make the I Say Yes to Youth in Parliament! pledge because we believe that young people deserve a seat at the decision-making table and need to represent the youth demographic, who often fall through the cracks and whose groundbreaking ideas that ought to be listened to remain with them.

Attending the IPU assembly provided an opportunity for Australian parliamentarians to participate in the various IPU committees, to meet international colleagues through bilateral meetings, which Senator Reynolds has already outlined, and to consider matters of mutual interest—for example, the collective effort of many democratic countries standing in solidarity with Ukraine to endorse the resolution calling for condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine and of the subsequent annexation of territories, in defence of the territorial integrity of all states. This resolution emphasised the call for an immediate end to the Russian military occupation of sovereign Ukrainian territory, the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity, the acknowledgement of its internally recognised borders that extend to its territorial waters and the rule of international law. There was further condemnation of the serious violations of human rights perpetrated in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv and other regions of Ukraine.

The resolution reinforces the creation of courts with special jurisdiction to investigate possible aggressions perpetrated and to hear cases of war crimes and human rights violations committed on Ukrainian territories. It was really good to see the resolution calling upon all parliaments across the world to raise awareness among state authorities and civil society of the need to contribute to a solution to the humanitarian crisis involving the migration of six million Ukrainian citizens as refugees, to encourage the support and cooperation of the international community in the process of reconstructing Ukraine and to recognise that the war is impacting energy supply, and thus we need to establish a commitment to climate change reduction targets. Justice needs to be restored and I'm proud to say that the Australian delegation wholeheartedly supported the resolution.

This trip to Rwanda allowed me to appreciate the importance of the IPU in bringing together parliaments and parliamentarians, in promoting peace, democracy and sustainable development and in providing a forum for Australian parliamentary representatives to contribute to global discussions. It also provided an opportunity for the Australian delegation, skilfully led by Mr Speaker, to work towards the advancement of issues of interest to Australia. In this regard I draw particular attention to the work of Senator Reynolds who, on behalf of the Australian delegation, successfully secured support for a proposed resolution to prevent orphan trafficking and orphanage tourism.

I thank the secretariat for their incredible work, along with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Parliamentary Library.

Question agreed to.