Mrs ELSON (5:18 PM) —by leave—I present the report of the Australian Parliamentary Delegation to Finland and Germany from 7 to 19 April 2002, and seek leave to make a short statement in connection with the report.

Leave granted.

Mrs ELSON —A parliamentary delegation visited Finland and Germany between 7 and 19 Apri1 2002 and undertook a series of meetings, inspections and discussions on issues of current relevance and importance. The central objective of the delegation's visit was to renew and reinforce the existing good relations between the Australian parliament and the Finnish and German parliaments. The delegation was headed by the President of the Senate, the Hon. Margaret Reid, and comprised senators Winston Crane and Sue Mackay, and members of the House of Representatives Mr Michael Danby, Mrs Margaret May and me.

The delegation's program in Finland, from 7 to 12 April 2002, was hosted and arranged by the Finnish parliament. The delegation held meetings on a range of political, economic and social issues with the President of the republic, the Speaker of the parliament, members of the Finnish parliament, the Speaker of the Sami parliament, the Prime Minister, government officials, and civic and business leaders.

The delegation's program in Germany was hosted and arranged jointly by both chambers of the German parliament, the Bundesrat and the Bundestag, and included visits to Berlin and the new German states of Brandenburg and Thuringia between 13 and 19 Apri1 2002. In Berlin the delegation met with members of the Bundestag and Bundesrat, the President of the state parliament of Berlin, and senior members of the ministry and the civil service. The members of the delegation participated in a very informative forum on German--Australian collaboration in science, education, IT and the arts, arranged by the Australia Centre. The delegation visited Potsdam, the capital of Brandenburg, and Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia, to meet with members of the state parliaments and ministers responsible for European affairs. The delegation was shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic shooting of many students and teachers at a high school in Erfurt just one week after our visit there. The leader of the delegation wrote to the President of the state parliament to express our deep sorrow and sympathy.

I would like to extend my personal thanks to the German government for the special arrangements made that allowed us to visit the Allied war cemeteries. I would like to take a moment to recount a personal highlight. It is a measure of the enduring gratitude we have for those who have served our nation in war. I appreciate that these arrangements were made for us to visit one of the Allied war cemeteries in Berlin. For it was there that I had the honour to lay a rose at the grave of Flying Officer Michael Corcoran of Canungra. Flying Officer Corcoran paid the supreme sacrifice during the Second World War. I take this moment to remember a young man—one of many—who served Australia bravely, and whose memory we respect and honour. It was a moving experience, and we were all impressed with the way the cemetery was beautifully maintained. In a wonderful footnote, I published a photo of this visit in my local newsletter and was contacted by Flying Officer Corcoran's sister, who still resides in my electorate. She was very pleased to be able to see the final resting place of her brother, which her family had always wondered and worried about. I will be meeting with her shortly to give her photos and videos of the memorial.

During the delegation's visit to Finland, the Speaker of the parliament, Mrs Riitta Uosukainen, was presented with a formal letter from the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives inviting her to visit the Australian parliament. In Germany, the delegation presented letters to the presiding officers of the Bundestag, President Wolfgang Thierse, and the Bundesrat, President Klaus Wowereit, inviting them to visit the Australian parliament. The delegation is pleased to note that President Wowereit was able to respond almost immediately and visited us in May this year.

The delegation is indebted to many people in Canberra, Germany and Finland for the success of their visits to both countries. A full list of those to whom we wish to express our gratitude is included in the report. But today I would like to especially thank the leader of the delegation and President of the Senate, Margaret Reid. I have no doubt that the rest of the delegation would want me to thank her on behalf of them. Margaret is a delightful person who shared responsibilities equally with all of us, and under her leadership we gained so many valuable experiences and opportunities whilst, at the same time, we learnt much about the true value of professional, diplomatic relationships.

I also extend our thanks to the President of the Senate's very helpful private secretary, Don Morris, and I would like to place on record our thanks to delegation secretary, Wayne Hooper, who was always friendly and readily at hand with any information that we required. Wayne is a credit to his profession. Thanks also to the staff of our embassies in Berlin and Stockholm and to Dr Ditta Bartels, Managing Director of the Australian Centre in Berlin. The delegation is indebted to the governments of Finland and Germany for the opportunity to meet with a variety of government, business and community members and to be given the opportunity also to experience the beauty of both of their countries. We have gained many wonderful experiences to last us a lifetime.