Mr FORREST(12.44 p.m.) —It was a privilege to represent the parliament on the delegation to Europe and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland—along with Senator Watson, who led the delegation; the member for Calwell (Dr Theophanous), who has just spoken; the member for Bruce (Mr Griffin); the member for Ballarat (Mr Ronaldson); and Senator Shayne Murphy. The member for Calwell has made reference to lack of agreement on some of the issues, but I think that is what parliamentary delegations should be all about. I was quite proud, even though we could not agree on some very essential issues which he has alluded to, that we equipped ourselves well in a number of forums throughout the European Union and showed that democracy is robust, alive and well in Australia.

There was a number of highlights from the visit, and I was very pleased to have the support of the full delegation in mounting Australia's case on the common agricultural policy of the European Union. I acknowledge the active and avid support I had from the members of the Australian Labor Party in the delegation. I am very pleased to let them lead the argument for the constituency that I represent, which finds it very difficult in these days of pursuing a level playing field in terms of world trade to have to compete in a world market with very heavily subsidised commodities.

This message was certainly heard by the parliaments of Europe and the assemblies that we attended. We wait with avid interest for progress in that regard. It is interesting to read that the new Prime Minister of Great Britain—who is on record as saying that he believes common agricultural policy is a rort—is intent on removing unfair, inequitable world trade practices. So we wait with great interest to see whether the impact of our visit over there has any effect on the momentum in that regard.

One of the things I would like the parliament to be aware of is the enormous respect we found right throughout Europe when we visited the many Commonwealth war graves and commemorative assemblies. One of the real emotional highlights for me was an evening visit to Ypres, where we visited Menin Gate. It was a very special privilege to lay a wreath at Menin Gate with all of the members of the delegation. It was a very touching moment for me because, while we stood there, I was thinking of my maternal grandfather who served in the British army and was badly injured in the gas attack at Ypres. I think the most moving thing was the enormous respect that is held for Australians because of the sacrificial contribution that was made right across Europe in the first great war and again in the second. There are monuments everywhere. We found enormous respect from the Belgian, French and the people we met there.

There are three buglers who play at Menin Gate and have been doing so faithfully for nearly 50 years in remembering the contribution that has been made by Australian troops. So we—the whole six of us—were very proud to represent the Australian parliament at some very special commemorative ceremonies during the busy agenda of the delegation.

I will refer to the things that the member for Calwell has mentioned. It is true that we have some difficulty achieving any level of consensus on two vital issues. The first is the need to include core labour standards in the new tranche of negotiations that will take place in respect of the World Trade Organisation.

As someone who represents a constituency that has suffered somewhat badly so far in terms of trade negotiations on the multilateral arena, I was very concerned not to have clauses in any new arrangements that can be manipulated. That is the position that I took. I disagreed with members of the government on the delegation, but I am not sorry that we could not agree because it allowed us an opportunity to debate those matters. I think there are adequate forums for core labour standards to be—(Time expired)