Mr ROBERT BROWN(1.34 p.m.) —by leave—I present the report of the Australian Parliamentary Delegation to Poland, Hungary and Potsdam (Germany) in September-October 1996.

The parliamentary delegation which visited Poland and Hungary in September and October 1996 was led by the President of the Senate, Senator Margaret Reid. I had the privilege to be the deputy leader of that delegation. Other members of the delegation included Mr Neil Andrew, the member for Wakefield in this chamber, Senator Alan Ferguson, a senator from South Australia, and Senator Michael Forshaw, a senator from New South Wales. So it is apparent that the delegation was well balanced.

The delegation consisted of members from both chambers of parliament. It consisted of members from both the major parties within the parliament. The delegates represented two Australian states and the Australian Capital Territory. In addition, the composition of the delegation indicates clearly that it contained people with diverse interests who could, in a balanced and diverse way, contribute to the purposes and the objectives of the delegation.

I pay special tribute to the President of the Senate, Senator Margaret Reid, for the great dignity and competence that she brought to her leadership of the delegation. My feelings were shared by the other delegates and by the people who accompanied us. We were proud to be led on that delegation by Madam President. The way in which she was received at all levels and in every place reflected great credit on her and also indicated the degree of appreciation of the people with whom we spoke in the places that we visited. This was the first official delegation that Senator Reid has led since becoming President of the Senate.

I also sincerely congratulate the other members of the delegation, whom I have already identified by position and name. If the parliament needs confirmation of the commitment of members of parliament from all parties and from both chambers when they represent the interests of the parliament and of Australia overseas, let me assure them absolutely that that delegation showed such commitment.

The first priority of all delegates on all occasions was to serve the interests and objectives of the delegation, the parliament and Australia. They carried out those responsibilities admirably. They were dedicated. It was obvious from the response of the people we met that they were also very impressed with the quality of the delegation and the way in which issues were raised.

I also wish to record a very special thanks from the delegation as a whole to the delegation secretary, Evelyn Kearns, and the senior adviser to the President, Mr Fred Peppinck, both of whom accompanied the delegation. Their assistance was outstanding. In the case of the secretary, the arrangements that Evelyn Kearns made and that she ensured were in place contributed in a very major way to the successful conclusion of the delegation. Her assistance, and the assistance of Mr Peppinck, in the drafting of the report which I have now presented to the parliament were also of very great value.

The extent to which and the way in which the delegation was received, and the importance which was placed on the delegation in Hungary, Poland and Potsdam in Germany, is indicated by the level of people who were able to meet with the delegation. For example, we met at some length with the following people: the President of Poland, the Prime Minister of Poland and the President of Hungary.

We met with members of the parliaments in those countries, with ministers and bureaucrats, and with leaders of the private sectors in each of those areas, as well as with officers in our overseas posts and private citizens. The hospitality and the courtesies that were extended to us as representatives of the Australian parliament were simply outstanding.

I also make a special reference to the spouses who accompanied the delegation. In particular, I mention Tom Reid, the husband of Madam President. This was the first time I had had a chance to get to know Tom Reid well, and I am pleased I did. He is a great fellow, and the other spouses who accompanied the delegation were great company and outstandingly supportive. While the spouses probably had a greater opportunity than the delegates to look at the areas of Poland, Hungary and Germany that we had the privilege of visiting, their first commitment—absolutely, on all occasions, everywhere—was to the delegation and to the purposes of the delegation. I thank each of them, and I thank them collectively for the level of their commitment.

The delegation to Poland and Hungary took place within the context of Australia's need to refine the development of the relationships between Australia and those countries in the wake of the collapse of communism and the disintegration of the old Soviet bloc. Poland and Hungary, as major countries within the old Soviet bloc, have only had about six years in which to undertake what to them has been quite a remarkable transition.

I do not want to overemphasise the ease or the facility with which that transition has taken place. For example, the fact that recently Lech Walesa, who was the leader of the revolution in Poland and became its first president, was defeated by the young Aleksander Kwasniewski, who had been a member of the previous Communist Party government, indicates that there is a great deal of concern about some of the traumas associated with the nature of that transition.

There was no attempt on their part to conceal from us some of the difficulties involved. For example, in answer to a specific question which was asked frequently, they said that the main difference between the material and living circumstances of the people of Central Europe in 1986 compared with 1996 is that they are worse off. There is unemployment. Living standards have fallen. There have been shortages. There have been difficulties.

There are problems as a result of the breakdown in the traditional, historic, recognised discipline associated with centrally planned economies. As the discipline and social cohesion associated with those types of circumstances have gradually broken down, there has been an increase in serious crime and street crime. They are matters of importance to those countries because they are a result of the transition through which they have gone.

Many people would be of the opinion that a different model could have been adopted for the transition, but it is now a matter of historic reality that the model which those countries adopted was a model of their choosing. The problems associated with it are among the problems which they now face.

The development of Australia's continuing relations with those countries will depend upon the extent to which and the way in which we can develop our trading relations and the way in which Australia can find investment opportunities in those countries as those countries look for investment. It is not just a matter of Australia, for example, taking an interest in those countries in an exploitative way. They are seeking investment.

The process of privatisation, in Hungary, for example, has been more on the basis of finding private sector buyers for existing industries. In Poland it has been more on a voucher type basis for the sharing and disbursement of public sector enterprises. In Hungary, for example, 30 Australian firms are now involved in joint ventures, with a total investment value of something in excess of $A400 million. So important opportunities exist. Both countries were very pleased with the extent to which Australia had shown an interest in developing investment in those countries, but they were disappointed that we had not yet been able to develop our trading relations to the same extent.

One simple example which was developed by members of the delegation who have rural backgrounds, rural interests, was the recognition of the opposed weather and seasonal patterns between the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. Surely, that would lend itself to some type of integration as far as our rural industries are concerned. It would ensure a continuing supply, both to them and to us, of many of those products throughout the whole of the year. I understand that consideration is being given to those types of issues.

The fact that they are now moving very strongly towards market based economies has necessitated an interest in the possibility of developing investment. They are concerned about growth, about some of the obvious inadequacies and problems that have arisen in the process of that transition. But, overall, there is a very clear determination on the part of those countries to pursue and to secure a much closer integration with the West.

To a very large extent, that is historical. Both Hungary and Poland are members of the OECD. They are two of the more recent member countries to join the OECD. They are now looking towards membership of the European Union, the EU—originally known as the Common Market—and they are also seeking membership of NATO. They are looking to the West for their economies and their future defence arrangements—their security arrangements.

By the turn of the century or shortly afterwards they will become members of the European Union. That means that they must necessarily at this stage take the opportunity to adjust their economies so that they are more in accord with the economies of the European Union. By doing that, when the time comes for them to join the EU the transition will be simple. They will just move in in a legal sense rather than seek to adjust their economies to move in in an integrated economic sense. They are in the process of doing that now.

I do not want to take up too much time but there are a couple of things that I do want to mention in relation to those two countries. Everyone knows that the position which they occupy in Central Europe has placed them in a sense at the crossroads of many of the great historic traumas that have taken place in European history. For example, as a result of the agreements that were reached after World War I, Hungary finished up with only about 30 per cent of its previous territory. The old Austro-Hungarian Empire had been a political, military and economic entity in Europe of enormous importance. Today's Hungary has a population of about 10 million and Poland has a population of about 40 million.

However, the determination of the people of those countries to retain their identity and to forge their way into the future is inspiring. For example, when I saw Old Warsaw rebuilt, I realised the amount of destruction which had been wrought on Warsaw by the Nazi war machine during World War II. I had no idea of the extent of the devastation. When the people of Warsaw were under siege, Nazi Germany urged them to capitulate but they refused to do so. Nazi Germany then said they would destroy the city. In effect, the people of Warsaw had said, `Do your darnedest'—and the Nazi war machine did destroy the city.

The people of Warsaw, the Polish people, said, `We will rebuild Old Warsaw as it was'—out of the rubble that they salvaged from its destruction. Old Warsaw stands there today—what a remarkable monument to the courage, the sacrifice, the determination and the pride of those people—as a symbol of the finest elements of the human spirit.

In Hungary, we had the great pleasure and privilege of visiting the Hungarian parliament. It was designed to be completed in 1896, which was the 1,000th anniversary of Hungary as a nation. We were there at a time when they were celebrating their 1,100th anniversary at that magnificent parliament house in Hungary, on the shores of the Danube. This is a beautiful parliament house and a parliament house that Australia is proud of, as it should be, because it is ours. I have always said to people that the Australian Parliament House is the best parliament house in the world. But in terms of the adornment and the sheer beauty of a parliament house, that parliament house in Budapest must be without equal.

When we spoke to the President of Hungary, he asked Madam President if she would take the opportunity, while we were in Budapest, to place a red rose in the hand of the monument of Imre Nagy. He was the President of Hungary at the time of the Soviet invasion in 1956, and following that he was executed.

The present President of Hungary was his friend and colleague and comrade. He was imprisoned as well. He is now the President of the new Hungary. So we did take the opportunity to do that. It was a very moving experience, as I am sure you would appreciate, Mr Deputy Speaker.

After Hungary and Poland, we went to Potsdam in the state of Brandenberg, in what is geographically, I suppose, East Germany but before was also in a sense politically East Germany, in order for Madam President to officially open the Centre for Australian Studies, which this parliament has endowed.

I see the member for Cunningham (Mr Martin) nodding his head. As a former Speaker of this parliament, he, together with the former President of the Senate, and with the support now of Mr Halverson, the Speaker of this chamber, and Madam President, Senator Margaret Reid, in the Senate, made an outstanding effort. It was an outstanding effort on the part of all of you, Stephen. There is great appreciation for the establishment of that centre at the University of Potsdam; it is well placed and well resourced. We have indicated that we want the states to come in and support that, as well. It was very well received. We had people attending the official opening from as far away as England, apart from ourselves.

Mr Martin —I am sorry I could not make it.

Mr ROBERT BROWN —We were sorry you could not make it, as well. Let me say though, through you, Mr Deputy Speaker, to the member for Cunningham, the former Speaker, that there were people there who asked if I would convey their appreciation to you and the former President of the Senate for the contribution that you made to establishing that. So while you were not there, there were people who saw you there in spirit.

I commend the report to all those people who might be interested in examining the way in which we related to those areas. I am not suggesting that that report necessarily covers all of the issues—it certainly does not—but it is a report which I can commend to any people in Australia who are interested in those places.

I mentioned Evelyn Kearns and Fred Peppinck. I should also mention all of those people who contributed in any way: people in our posts overseas, those people here in the Parliamentary Library and within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the ambassadors of Poland, Hungary and Germany and their staff, and their posts here. I am not going to go through all of them; that would be quite silly. But we have identified them at the back of the report. There are pages of those people who contributed towards the success of that delegation. We are very grateful to them, and they made it possible for us to do what this parliament expected of us. And I hope we did it with credit, Mr Deputy Speaker.