Mr JULL (1:01 PM) —On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, I present the committee's report entitled Review of Foreign Affairs and Trade portfolio annual reports 2001-02 together with evidence received by the committee.

Ordered that the report be printed.

Mr JULL —This report comprises a review of annual reports for 2001-02 of relevant portfolio agencies. The review was conducted on behalf of the full committee by three of its subcommittees: foreign affairs, trade and human rights. The Defence Subcommittee's report of its annual report review was tabled earlier. The review is the second that the committee has undertaken. Annual reports of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade portfolio agencies stand referred to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade for any inquiry the committee may wish to make in accordance with a schedule tabled in the House by the Speaker.

The committee decided early in this parliament to conduct reviews of relevant annual reports primarily with a view to making an active contribution to the processes by which the parliament holds the executive and its agencies to account. Its first review examined the annual reports of 2000-01 from the Department of Defence, DFAT, AusAID and Austrade. It held two public hearings as part of its review: one convened by the Defence Subcommittee and the other by the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee. The reviews were wide ranging and gave the subcommittees the opportunity to survey policy and operational and management issues, to seek status reports on key issues of interest and to follow up issues canvassed in earlier committee reports.

For the second review, the committee decided to focus on the performance of agencies in delivering outcomes rather than focusing on subject matters of interest. The committee also decided that the reviews should concentrate on a limited number of issues rather than the broad sweep approach of the previous year. The subcommittees elected to develop separate programs of review.

The Foreign Affairs Subcommittee held a half-day public hearing and called representatives from DFAT, AusAID and the Australia-Indonesia Institute. DFAT's annual report of 2001-02 described the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the US as having had far-reaching consequences for DFAT's work in delivering consular and passport services. The subcommittee acknowledges this impact and commends staff for their dedication at the time of the crisis and since. Although the Bali bombings occurred outside the period of this review, the committee considers it appropriate to also acknowledge the undoubted impact of this crisis on staff and to express appreciation to all those involved in responding to that situation.

Not surprisingly, the issue of travel advisories received considerable attention. DFAT advised that it was working closely with the travel industry, particularly travel agents, as a means of disseminating travel advice. We look forward to hearing of any developments in this area. Other matters examined in this review included support for businesses, services to state and territory governments for overseas visits programs, support for policing in East Timor and the Virtual Colombo Plan. We also examined the annual report of the Australia-Indonesia Institute with a view to achieving a broad understanding of the scope of the institute's work, which is also of relevance to our current inquiry into Australia's relationship with Indonesia.

Before passing the baton to the Chair of the Trade Subcommittee, the Hon. Bruce Baird, for comments on the reviews conducted by the Trade Subcommittee and the Human Rights Subcommittee, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the agencies involved in this exercise. The review exercises that the committee has undertaken in the course of this parliament signal the committee's interest in enhancing its scrutiny role. It is an important process and one that the committee will continue to develop.