Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I present the report of the Australian parliamentary delegation to the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum and to Papua New Guinea, which took place from 15 to 25 January 2006. I seek leave to move a motion in relation to the report.

Leave granted.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

The delegation to the APPF and Papua New Guinea included the member for Mitchell as leader, Senator McEwen and the member for Kingston. I was deputy leader of the delegation. In preparing for the APPF, the delegation was conscious of the substantial contributions of previous Australian delegations to the annual APPF meetings. For this reason, and because the APPF is important for us as an assembly of members of national parliaments in this region, the delegation was keen to ensure it participated as actively as possible at the meeting. As the report shows, the delegation did continue that substantial contribution to the work of the APPF.

Chapter 1 of the delegation’s report contains a general discussion of the role and operations of the APPF, and chapter 2 provides a detailed review of our participation at the January meeting and that meeting’s outcomes. The agenda for the meeting covered a range of subject matters that are relevant to our region. Broadly, these were political and security issues, economic and trade issues and cooperation to address regional issues of common interest.

In preparation for the meeting, the delegation proposed resolutions on three of the agenda items. These were international terrorism, on which I spoke, poverty alleviation and the Millennium Development Goals, on which Senator McEwen spoke, and pandemic disease, on which the member for Mitchell spoke. The member for Kingston spoke on cooperation on empowering the economies of developing and least developed countries.

As well as speaking in the plenary forum, the delegation participated in the work of the drafting committee throughout the meeting. The drafting committee had an extensive meeting program, often running in parallel to the plenary forum. At its meetings, the drafts of all proposed resolutions were negotiated until it was agreed they were in a state that could be put to the plenary forum for final consideration and endorsement.

Although there was a very full formal program for the APPF, the delegation was able to participate in several other meetings in Jakarta. Chapter 3 of the report discusses these parts of the delegation’s program. One particularly interesting meeting was a visit, arranged with the help of the embassy and staff of the World Food Program, to a program project in East Jakarta. AusAID supports this project, which provides nutritionally enriched biscuits each day to young children at school. Without these biscuits, the children are likely to be malnourished.

It was a great experience to visit this project. The children seem to enjoy the biscuits and the discussions that their teachers have with them about nutrition and health. The delegation found the visit to be rewarding, as we were able to speak to the children, teachers and other members of their community as well as to the WFP staff. The dedication and optimism of the teachers and the WFP staff was extremely impressive. After we visited the school, we spent some time walking around the community. Meetings such as this provide a unique opportunity to gain an understanding of the lives of ordinary people and to express to them our goodwill and interest in their future.

At the conclusion of the APPF meeting, we travelled to Papua New Guinea, where we began our program with a visit to the Bomana War Cemetery near Port Moresby. The sight of so many Australian war graves brought home to us the historic links between our country and Papua New Guinea. We had a number of valuable meetings in Port Moresby and were fortunate to visit Goroka, Kundiawa and Mount Hagen. It was important for us to see something of the provinces and go beyond Port Moresby. To see first-hand the difficulties faced by the local people—for example, in transport and infrastructure—was very valuable for us. To see the natural beauty of the highlands landscape was also a great experience.

Although our visit to Papua New Guinea was brief, we met a diverse range of people. These people included patients and their families at regional hospitals, businesspeople, workers in a coffee factory and their families, medical researchers, staff of NGOs and colleagues from provincial parliaments and the national parliament. We were fortunate to have discussions with a number of Australians who choose to live and work in Papua New Guinea. Their understanding of their adopted home and respect for its people and culture left a strong impression on us.

Chapter 4 of the report outlines the meetings in which the delegation participated in Papua New Guinea. I would like to emphasise that at each of those meetings—whether they were formal parts of the program or otherwise—we were welcomed with friendliness and openness. Certainly we heard about some of the difficulties facing our neighbours there; but we were also left with the impression that there are leaders and members of communities with sufficient capacity, energy and motivation to ensure a more secure, prosperous future for the people of Papua New Guinea.

Before I conclude my remarks, I want to acknowledge a number of people who contributed so much to the delegation’s visits. None of us will forget the hospitality we received in Jakarta from the President, the Speaker, and the Governor of Jakarta, as well as the friendliness of people we met informally around Jakarta. Nor will we forget the welcomes we enjoyed at each stage of our visit to Papua New Guinea.

The delegation was ably assisted by the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, in particular by the ambassador, Mr Bill Farmer, and by Steven Barraclough. We appreciated very much the comprehensive briefings and assistance that were provided. In Papua New Guinea we received great assistance from the high commissioner, Mr Michael Potts, and from Tim Paterson and Solstice Middleby. They gave close attention to our program and arrangements to ensure that we were well informed and able to observe and discuss the impact of some of the current issues in Papua New Guinea and its relationship with Australia.

I also want to acknowledge and thank the staff of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Parliamentary Library and the Parliamentary Relations Office, who gave us great assistance with briefing material, advice and travel arrangements. During both our visits the delegation was accompanied by Mr Phil McDonald of the Australian Federal Police. His presence and advice were welcomed by all of us. I wish to thank my fellow members of the delegation. Throughout a demanding program we worked cooperatively. We are grateful for the opportunity to establish links with our colleagues from parliaments around the region, particularly those from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. We are equally grateful for the opportunity to exchange views with ordinary members of communities in both places.

Finally, on behalf of the delegation I wish to extend a sincere and heartfelt thank you to Ms Catherine Cornish, the delegation secretary. She was absolutely worth her weight in gold; she was a diamond, and we thank her very much for her efforts.

Anne McEwen (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also wish to speak to the report of the parliamentary delegation to the 14th annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum in Jakarta and the bilateral visit to Papua New Guinea. Like Senator Sterle, I would like to extend my thanks to all the people who assisted with preparation for the trip, including the staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Parliamentary Library and the Parliamentary Relations Office. I echo his sentiments about the delegation secretary, Catherine Cornish. She worked tirelessly throughout our program, kept us entertained with her endless good humour and made sure the delegation was always well briefed and ready for anything.

I also acknowledge the dedication and patience of our Australian Federal Police officer, Mr Phil McDonald. He is currently serving in Timor Leste, and I am sure Senator Sterle will join me in wishing him a safe and speedy return. While in Indonesia, we were also greatly assisted by Mr Nando of the APPF liaison office in the Indonesian house of representatives.

It was indeed a privilege to be able to travel to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea as a member of the Parliament of Australia. It was my first occasion to travel overseas in that capacity, and I believe it was very appropriate that my first trip overseas was to the nations of the Asia-Pacific region—all countries that are close to Australia’s history and integral to our future.

The visit was particularly timely, as it occurred just prior to the release of the government’s aid white paper, and many of the issues discussed with representatives of the governments that we met during our visit are dealt with in the white paper. We were given the opportunity to visit AusAID-supported projects in both Jakarta and Papua New Guinea. To witness first-hand Australia’s aid program in both countries and to hear the sometimes frank views of parliamentarians and local officials from countries that receive Australian aid was very useful in terms of ensuring that, as politicians, we have a realistic and practical view of our aid relationships with our near neighbours.

As Senator Sterle said, the objectives of the APPF are, broadly, to promote better regional cohesion and cooperation between the 27 member nations of the forum. The report outlines the contributions made at the forum and in the drafting and plenary sessions by the Australian delegation, so I will not reiterate those, but I certainly call those matters to your attention. I note that during the APPF meeting the representatives of Chile were very pleased to be able to announce that, on 15 January 2006, Michelle Bachelet was elected as President of Chile. She is the first woman elected as president of that nation, and she is a single mother with three children. Given that women’s participation in politics was one of the matters for discussion at the forum, this was welcome news, and Australian delegates offered their congratulations to the Chilean delegation.

I acknowledge the hard work of the other members of the delegation: Mr Alan Cadman, who was leader; Mr Kym Richardson, the member for Kingston, in my own state; and Senator Sterle, who was deputy leader of the delegation. Compared with some other nations, Australia sends a relatively small delegation to this important forum. Given the leading role we take in assisting with negotiations and finalisation of resolutions, there was much work to be done.

As Senator Sterle has said, apart from the formal business of the forum, the delegation visited a World Food Program in a Jakarta school. We also met with young Australian and Indonesian Islamic activists, who were participating in the Australian Muslim exchange program, at a function hosted by the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, His Excellency Mr Bill Farmer, and Mrs Farmer. The support provided by the ambassador and the embassy staff was exemplary. They ensured that we had plenty of opportunities to broaden our understanding of the very important relationship between Australia and Indonesia. The less formal opportunities to engage with other member countries at the APPF were many, and I am sure none of us will forget the singing entertainment provided by the President of Indonesia, the Speaker of the house of representatives of Indonesia and the Governor of Jakarta at the salubrious functions they hosted for all the delegates.

In Papua New Guinea the delegation made the most of its short time. The high commissioner, His Excellency Mr Michael Potts, and the staff of the high commission—particularly Ms Solstice Middleby and Mr Tim Paterson—ensured that we met a wide range of political and community leaders both in Port Moresby and, as Senator Sterle said, in the regional areas of Goroka, Mount Hagen and Kundiawa. Travelling by car along Papua New Guinea’s major ‘highway’ from Goroka to Mount Hagen brought home to us the enormous problems faced by our neighbours, whose economic and social wellbeing is frustrated by not having basic infrastructure—like navigable roads.

Our visit to the AusAID part sponsored AT Projects facility near Goroka showcased some examples of provision of basic services using low-cost, local and innovative solutions. One example we saw was the utilisation of the talents of a young Indigenous woman architect, who had designed a respite facility for people suffering from AIDS. This facility, using traditional design and local materials, was able to be constructed with local labour and would provide comfortable and warm accommodation for one or two AIDS sufferers and their carers in a village setting.

As we know, Papua New Guinea is facing a crisis with the highest incidence of HIV-AIDS in the Pacific region, and some estimates indicate that the rate of infection will increase by between 15 and 30 per cent annually. Assisting Papua New Guinea to acknowledge, confront and respond to the potential HIV-AIDS epidemic is one of the great challenges facing our two countries. And, of course, the people of Papua New Guinea are disproportionately affected by easily preventable diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria, a fact that was highlighted by our visit to the hospital in Mount Hagen, where those two diseases are major reasons for hospitalisation. As Senator Sterle said, we were fortunate to visit other places in Papua New Guinea, including the Coffee Industry Corporation and a coffee processing plant where the differences in health and safety standards between our two countries were, unfortunately, patently obvious.

It was particularly pleasing to meet on her own turf Dame Carol Kidu, the only female member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea and, I know, a friend of many in this parliament. It was a privilege to visit her home in Port Moresby and to meet the participants in a project she sponsors where young offenders learn how to propagate and sell garden plants at a local market, thereby earning a legitimate income through employment which offers them hope and respect.

The opportunity to meet with representatives of the Australia business council and local politicians gave our delegation an insight into the future prospects for Papua New Guinea’s economic future, particularly in the areas of mining, gas export and tourism development. There was hope and optimism from all those people for the future of Papua New Guinea, although the need for political stability was echoed by everyone we met.

Finally, like Senator Sterle I would like to make mention of the fact that we did visit the Bomana War Cemetery. I had been there before but it is always a salutary place to visit, to remind oneself of the cooperation of the people of Papua New Guinea and the assistance that they gave to our troops during World War II. I commend the report to the Senate.

Question agreed to.