Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I'd made the point that I actually spent a bit of time with Prime Minister Feleti Teo and Foreign minister Paulson Panapa yesterday and today. That was the visit of the Tuvaluan leadership here to celebrate the opening of the mobility pathway. I have spent a lot of time in the Pacific with Pacific leaders and Pacific representatives and citizens, as have the Prime Minister and Minister Conroy. So we understand very clearly the experience of the Pacific. I often wish that Senator Cash and Senator Canavan would actually engage with representatives of the Pacific, because for them it's not a cultural issue; it's an issue of their everyday life. They see what is happening on the front line. For them it is not something that they dispute; they watch it happening, and they want assistance with it. (Time expired)