Mr GRIFFIN(12.49 p.m.) —It is a pleasure to be here today to speak on the report of the delegation which went to Europe and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland last year. I think the delegation was quite successful. Certainly, from a personal point of view, it was a tremendous opportunity to get an insight into what is occurring in modern Europe. It is an area that is going through a great deal of change with the collapse of the Soviet bloc and with the process of the European parliament and other intergovernmental arrangements looking at a range of different ways to proceed into the future in a way to avoid tension and provide greater cohesion across a number of nation states.

As has been said, the delegation in Europe had a number of problems with several issues which related to the question of the framework agreement between Australia and the European Union and to the question of core labour standards. However, I would like to stress today that in general terms I think the delegation worked well together and put forward a positive face for Australia in those institutions. There certainly were those disagreements. I have some concerns over the question of what has happened since then with respect to these issues, particularly the change in the framework agreement. I think it is a situation where those issues could have been handled a bit differently by the government, but so be it.

It certainly gave me an opportunity to better understand some of the concerns that Australians have, particularly those in the rural sector, on the question of trade with Europe. I think it is fair to say that a number of members of the delegation, particularly those representing rural constituencies, very strongly fought the fight on behalf of Australia's agricultural sector with respect to problems with the common agricultural policy.

As was mentioned earlier by the deputy leader of the delegation, the member for Calwell, (Dr Theophanous) the question of the OECD was also present in our minds. I, too, would concur that the actions by the new Secretary-General of the OECD, Mr Donald Johnston, provide an opportunity for an improvement in the OECD in terms of its relevance to the member states. I think some of the ideas which he has could be picked up by the government and by this parliament in a way which would lead to a situation where the OECD became an even more relevant forum for Australia, providing some information which would be of even greater relevance and usage in the planning and development of our own economy.

The member for Mallee (Mr Forrest) also mentioned the situation of Menin Gate at Ypres. As an Australian who is very proud of his heritage, I think the situation that we found going through the fields of Flanders and the various battlefields was that there was a disgusting loss of life in those places, particularly during World War I. The circumstances around the ceremony at Menin Gate were extremely touching.

I had an added advantage over my colleagues in that I had met with the gentleman who was the President of the Menin Gate Committee. He organises the nightly commemoration ceremony. He said to me at a reception in Brussels that, if I would like a memento of the Ypres campaign, he would give me a piece of shell that was from the actual battlefield. I said that would be wonderful and promptly thought that would be the last I would hear of it. When we were at the very touching ceremony, a young man came up to me and presented me with a small package. I opened it to find a shell, which now holds pride of place in my home. The number of names has certainly brought home to me the horrible loss of life that occurred at those times. Hopefully, we will never see that again.

I briefly want to touch on Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which I know the member for Calwell wished to but was unable to because of the time available to him. The state of play in Northern Ireland was something which confused the delegation. It was said by some, `If you understand what is going on in Northern Ireland, then you really should just be confused because the fact is that it is incredible and impossible to understand the circumstances there.'

I am encouraged by some recent developments in terms of the British election result and am hopeful that there will be some improvements there. With respect to the Republic of Ireland and the question of trade and industry policies, I think there are examples there which could be and ought be taken on board by this government in order to get a conscious, coherent industry policy.

I would like to thank Andres Lomp, the secretary to the delegation, and all those who assisted the delegation in its travels. I think the report provides a basis for some real action that could be taken by government. I hope it will do so. I would also like to note the fine example of concern shown by the member for Ballarat (Mr Ronaldson) about swans in Strasbourg. (Time expired)