Mr WILKIE (12:36 PM) —I rise to speak in support of Report 65 and the recommendations made by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties. I support the remarks of the chair, the member for Boothby, and particularly welcome the recommendations supporting ratification of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air. I want to make some remarks about some of the other treaties mentioned. The review made a number of findings in relation to the benefits for Australia of entering into specific treaties and the issue surrounding each treaty action. The committee supports binding treaty action for the eight treaty actions reviewed. The majority of the proposed treaty actions serve to strengthen political, diplomatic, security and social ties between Australia and treaty parties, as indicated in individual treaty chapters in the report. There are, however, instances where the committee process is negated for national security or interest reasons.

A recurring issue of reviews is the impact on the process of review by proposed treaties when the national interest exemption is invoked by the government. An example where the national interest exemption was used is the Enhanced Cooperation Agreement with Papua New Guinea. The agreement enabled the deployment of Australian police and other officials to deliver assistance to Papua New Guinea. Subsequently the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea ruled that the agreement was in breach of the Papua New Guinea constitution and subsequently Australian police and other officials were withdrawn from Papua New Guinea. Regardless of the outcome in this case, the committee acknowledged the urgent need for the agreement to be in force prior to the treaty action being tabled in parliament and parliamentary consideration of the agreement. However, this outcome highlights the view that it would be beneficial to the committee, and indeed to the Australian parliament, if in these circumstances an urgent briefing could be provided on such agreements by the minister. The committee has recommended accordingly.

The committee also looked at a number of other treaties which I will speak about. The Agreement on Bilateral Cooperation between the Government of Australia and the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand will strengthen political, diplomatic, security and social ties between Australia and Thailand through cooperation and information exchange. The agreement also establishes a Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation, which will meet biannually at the ministerial level to review progress on cooperative activities identified in the agreement. The commission would also continue to strengthen ties between Australia and Thailand by identifying further areas for potential cooperation.

The committee supports the Termination of the Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the Slovak Republic on Trade and Economic Cooperation. Accession to the EU requires a country to terminate existing bilateral agreements. This treaty action will allow the Slovak Republic to accede to the European Union. The committee also supports the Agreement on Social Security between the Government of Australia and the Government of Malta. The agreement is part of a network of existing social security bilateral agreements and is similar to others that we have with other countries. It will provide access to certain Australian and Maltese social security benefits and limited portability of these benefits between the countries. The Beijing Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer recognises the environmental and human health problems resulting from the damage to the ozone layer. The amendment aims to diminish this damage by committing parties to a reduction of the consumption of substances that harm that ozone layer.

I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to the committee secretariat, who put in untiring efforts to help get these matters dealt with and brought before the parliament. They make a fantastic contribution, and it should be recognised.

The SPEAKER —The time allotted for statements on this report has expired. Does the member for Boothby wish to move a motion in connection with the report to enable it to be debated on a future occasion?