Page 2989 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 15 September 2015
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Visitors
MADAM SPEAKER: I wish to welcome to the chamber the Taiwan youth ambassadors along with representatives of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office located here in Canberra. I understand that the youth ambassadors gave a very impressive performance at the National Gallery yesterday evening, and I wish you well on your visit to Australia.
Legislative Assembly delegation to Taiwan
Report by Speaker
MADAM SPEAKER: Members will be aware that recently I led an Assembly delegation to Taiwan. The other members of the delegation were Dr Bourke, Mr Wall and my senior adviser. We travelled at the invitation of and as guests of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canberra. Its representative is Dr David Lee, and I acknowledge and thank Dr Lee and his director, Mr Frank Lee, for the work they put into arranging the visit and managing the itinerary.
On 4 August I made a statement to the Assembly that I had determined that this trip was Assembly business. In making that statement I undertook to report on the delegation, and I do this now. Members, this visit to Taiwan was most beneficial and created important people-to-people links. In recognising Australia’s one China policy, it is important also to recognise that Australia and Taiwan are important trading partners. Creating these links helps to strengthen the relationship Australia has with Taiwan.
The delegation met with a range of Taiwanese officials, visited a company developing innovative solar energy technology and experienced Taiwan’s culture by visiting a number of important tourism destinations. One rather unfortunate incident during our visit was that my senior adviser sustained injury in an accident, but even that had a silver lining in that the delegation was able to view the workings of Taiwan’s emergency services and hospital system at first hand. I am pleased to report that my senior adviser is now well on the way to recovery.
This report contains a number of recommendations for the government to consider and facilitate, and I will write directly to the Chief Minister about these issues as well. These recommendations seek to further strengthen our ties with Taiwan and to create opportunities for trade, cultural exchange and people-to-people links.
Finally, I thank representatives of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office and their colleagues in Taiwan for inviting members of the Assembly to visit Taiwan. It was a very busy but interesting and productive tour. For the information of members, I present the following paper:
Assembly Delegation to Taiwan—17-23 August 2015—Delegation report.
DR BOURKE (Ginninderra), by leave: As we heard last month, members of the ACT Legislative Assembly, including me, went on a delegation to Taiwan. The delegation visited examples of Taiwan’s cultural and technological prowess including the
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