Mrs SULLIVAN (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs)(12.52 p.m.) —I present the report of the Australian Parliamentary Delegation to Thailand and Laos and to the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organisation (AIPO) General Assembly, September 1997.

First of all, it gives me great pleasure to table this report. There are a number of things I want to say about the report and about the delegation. There are a couple of things I need to say at the outset. At the time I led this delegation I had no idea that I would later be appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. It is of course appropriate for parliamentary secretaries to lead parliamentary delegations. However, I led this delegation in my capacity as a private member of the House of Representatives.

On the delegation's return, as its leader I had circulated a draft report relating to the visits for consideration by all members of the delegation. A number of recommendations were added to the draft report at a meeting I was unable to attend. I was aware that recommendations probably would be added at that meeting I could not attend, but I was unaware of the nature of them. In any event, I would not have intervened in their content. These recommendations, however, could be seen to fall within my area of official responsibility, particularly since they refer to Australia's aid program.

One of the responsibilities of the delegation leader is to present a report, which I have done, including recommendations supported by members of the delegation. I just want to make the point that my discharging of my delegation duties in this way should not be taken as identifying me officially with those recommendations. That statement should also not be taken as my trying to walk away from the recommendations.

At the very beginning I should express a number of thanks and a number of other comments, because on past performances I have run out of time and not done it properly. I am particularly pleased that we have been able to present this report so soon after the return of the delegation—only some five weeks later, including three sitting weeks. For that, I thank the secretary, John Carter, and also my colleagues on the delegation.

I was anxious to table this report, Mr Speaker, just as I am sure you were anxious to table the IPU report, which you have just tabled. We all know that in the last couple of weeks of sitting there tends to be a bit of a logjam of reports and they do not get the time and attention that they might otherwise get. So I was very keen to get it tabled today so that other members of the delegation could speak.

That said, I have to mention that, unfortunately, the honourable member for Aston (Mr Nugent) could not be here today. I know he hopes to speak to it at a later time. I wanted to make that point just so that nobody thought the fact he was not here to speak meant that he was taking the report lightly because I know he does not. So I thank the secretary, John Carter, for the efforts he put into getting the first draft report to me quickly and for picking up on all our amendments.

I want to thank my colleagues the honourable member for Lyons (Mr Adams), who was the deputy leader of the delegation, the honourable member for Aston, the honourable member for Riverina (Mr Hicks) and Senator Mark Bishop for their support and their company on the delegation. Whilst on occasions it was a physically trying delegation, that is in no way a reflection on our hosts or the things we were doing. It is a fact that, when a group of disparate people get put in one another's company for a few weeks, sometimes there is the odd little rub, but I think I can say that this was a pretty happy delegation. In my comments I also want to mention the spouses who came. They were contributing members of the delegation and very helpful. All in all, it was just very nice to have them there for their company and the contribution that they made.

Thanks also have to go to those Australian officials whom we encountered in the course of this delegation for the contribution they made. First of all, I mention our consul in Denpasar. The AIPO conference was not held in the capital city of Indonesia, the country hosting it. I think that, in some ways, some members of the delegation may have been a little disappointed—lovely as Bali is, and Nusa Dua in particular. When members travel to another country, they appreciate the opportunity to meet with officials who may only be accessible to them in the capital city. However, thanks to our consul in Denpasar, a program of visits to various aid projects that Australia has in Bali was arranged for the delegation, and we met with a number of people involved in those projects. That was a benefit of the conference not being held in Jakarta.

The ambassador to Laos arranged a totally splendid program. Roland Rich has now been posted back to Canberra, but he was in the last week of his posting to Laos when we visited. I am sure that, when he found out the timing of the delegation, the thought must have crossed his mind that the last thing he really needed in his last week in Laos was a group of parliamentarians visiting the country. Nevertheless, he was superb in everything he did, as was the whole embassy and the program they had arranged for us.

The ambassador accompanied us for a good part of our journeys through Laos. We did travel a lot because we were looking at several aid projects that Australia has in Laos, and he was extremely generous with his time away from his own office and his own affairs for those several days.

Our ambassador to Thailand was called back to Australia for a meeting during the time that we were there, although he was in Thailand when we arrived, so we did get to meet him. Excellent ambassador though he is, I cannot say a lot about him in relation to our delegation, except to thank him and the embassy for everything they did to contribute to arranging our program and seeing it through to fruition.

In the short amount of time now left to me, I want to make a few comments. Whilst I said earlier that the AIPO conference was not held in the capital city, I do want to urge my parliamentary colleagues to go to AIPO conferences. Unlike most delegations and conferences, there is an opportunity at an AIPO conference to really get to know the delegates from other countries. Whilst this is essentially an ASEAN parliamentary conference, there is quite a list of countries which also go as observer countries. Over the period of the visit and because of the time one spends in one another's company, which would not happen if it were in a capital city, one has the opportunity to really get to know members of parliament and officials from other countries.

This is the fourth AIPO conference that I have attended. As well as urging colleagues to go to AIPO conferences, I urge them to go again. If you go more than once, the ASEAN parliamentarians are persuaded that you really take this exercise seriously. In other words, they do not think you are attending just because the conference is in a pleasant place like Bali. They think you are going because you really want to get to know them, get to know about ASEAN countries, get to know about the things that concern them and get to know about them in a deep way, as you can at this particular conference. I do strongly urge attendance. I became aware the second time I went to an AIPO conference that there is significant benefit for our country and our parliament in repeat visits, even if one does not go in consecutive years.

Now my time is indeed very brief. I have about one minute each to speak about Laos and Thailand, but I am sure other members of the delegation will fill lots of the holes I have left.

Laos was to me somewhat of a surprise package. I did not go with any preconceptions, but I was unaware of just in what high regard Australia is held in Laos. We have had a continuous diplomatic presence there for the last 50 years. We have a very significant business community there and we also have a very significant aid program. The people in government certainly are very aware of Australia's contribution to Laos and the role of Australians in Laos. We were very warmly welcomed. I should mention Dr Bhountham in particular. He was the leader of the Lao National Assembly delegation which looked after us and he accompanied us a lot of the time on our program as well.

Finally, I will make a very brief reference to Thailand. One could say much about Thailand, but I am particularly mindful of some of the things that were said by members of the delegation which tabled the report previous to this today and of how moving they found their visit to El Alamein. I have to say that my visit to Hellfire Pass was an extremely moving experience for me. I do recommend to all Australians that they go there, see this place, pause, and think a little about the many allied soldiers—but, in particular, the many thousands of Australian soldiers—who died in that place and see what it was they were doing that led to their death. In so doing, they can get an understanding of what enormous sacrifice was involved from the Australians who served in World War II as they attempted to defend our wonderful country. (Time expired)