Parliament of Australia Parliamentary Delegation to New Zealand Tuesday 5 April 2016 to Friday 8 April 2016 Commonwealth of Australia 2016 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License. The details of this licence are available on the Creative Commons website: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/. Members of the Delegation Leader of the Delegation The Hon Tony Smith MP Speaker of the House of Representatives Member for Casey, Victoria Liberal Party of Australia The Hon Luke Hartsuyker MP Member for Cowper, New South Wales The Nationals Mr Graham Perrett MP Member for Moreton, Queensland Australian Labor Party Senator Catryna Bilyk Senator for Tasmania Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate Australian Labor Party Officials Mr Peter Banson Advisor to the Speaker of the House of Representatives Ms Julia Agostino Delegation Secretary Mr Oliver Whitehead Executive Assistant Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives (NZ) Mr Peter Guinness Visits and Events Organiser Visits and Ceremonials Office Department of Internal Affairs Ms Alanna Mackay First Secretary Australian High Commission Introduction Background In February 2016, the Speaker of the New Australia and New Zealand are natural Zealand House of Representatives, the allies with strong trans‐Tasman Right Honourable David Carter (Speaker connections. Migration, trade and Carter), invited the Speaker of the defence ties, keen competition on the Australian House of Representatives the sporting field, and strong people‐to‐ Hon Tony Smith MP (Speaker Smith), to people links have helped shape a close visit New Zealand at a suitable time with and co‐operative relationship. a parliamentary delegation. Hundreds of thousands of Australians Speaker Smith was pleased to accept this and New Zealanders cross the Tasman generous invitation and led a each year as tourists, for business Parliamentary delegation to Wellington, purposes, or to visit family members. New Zealand from 5 April to 8 April 2016. Over 647,000 New Zealand citizens live in Australia, while there are around 65,000 The Australian delegation also included Australians in New Zealand. Mr Graham Perrett MP, the Hon Luke Hartsuyker MP, and Senator Catryna Freedom of travel is facilitated through Bilyk. the Trans‐Tasman Travel Arrangements (TTTA) of 1973, which allow Australians Members of the delegation met with the and New Zealanders to visit, live and Prime Minister of New Zealand, the Right work in either country without Honourable John Key, Speaker Carter and restrictions. other Members of Parliament. New Zealand and Australia continue to Much of the discussion during meetings share a close and productive relationship focused on the very strong and positive and have fought side by side in successive relationship between Australia and New military conflicts. New Zealand almost Zealand and their respective parliaments. joined Australia in Federation in 1901 and maintains close political contact with The delegation also visited important Australia. At a government‐to‐ cultural sites, including the Pukeahu government level, Australia's relationship National War Memorial Park and the Te with New Zealand is the closest and most Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Ara Whanui comprehensive of all its bilateral during which a traditional Maori relationships. welcome was performed by students. Prime Ministers hold annual formal talks and Foreign, Trade and Defence Ministers meet regularly. New Zealand ministers and government officials participate with their Australian federal and state counterparts in relevant Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meetings, which span the domestic policy agenda and support the COAG. The Australian and New Zealand Prime Ministers hold an annual Leaders’ Wellington, April 2016 Meeting, as part of a commitment by 1 both governments to the importance of ties between Australia and New Zealand the relationship and an intention to as well as broader strategic issues of strengthen links further, especially domestic and international significance. through deeper economic integration. It is worth noting that Australia and New The most recent Australia New Zealand Zealand also share a strong bond due to Leaders’ Meeting was held in Sydney on the ANZAC tradition. Recognition and 19 February 2016. The main outcomes of commemoration of the ANZACs is that meeting was the reinvigoration of especially important to the relationship the bilateral relationship and the between the two nations. announcement of a Pathway to Citizenship for those New Zealand Welcome reception and dinner citizens, resident in Australia for at least Speaker Carter hosted a cocktail function five years and who have contributed in his official rooms to welcome the significantly to Australia. delegation to the New Zealand Parliament. All New Zealand MPs were Australia and New Zealand cooperate invited to attend and meet with the closely in the international arena and in delegation. Speaker Carter then hosted regional bodies, such as the Pacific dinner for the delegation and several Islands Forum, APEC and the ASEAN MPs at a local restaurant. Regional Forum. The Australia, New Zealand and ASEAN free trade The delegation enjoyed the opportunity agreement, AANZFTA, entered into force to meet with so many parliamentary on 1 January 2010. colleagues to continue strengthening the parliament‐to‐parliament relationship. Both Australia and New Zealand cooperate closely in pursuing World Meeting with HE Peter Woolcott, Trade Organisation (WTO) goals, notably through participation in the Cairns Group Australian High Commissioner – a coalition of 19 agricultural exporting The Delegation received a briefing from countries seeking the liberalisation of the High Commissioner regarding areas trade in agriculture. of economic importance to New Zealand including agriculture, tourism and New Zealand has made valuable services. contributions to security in areas of high priority to Australia, notably in East Discussion also focused on comparisons Timor, Bougainville, Solomon Islands between the New Zealand and Australian (RAMSI), Iraq and Afghanistan. parliament and politics, including the differences in electoral systems, as well The Australia New Zealand Leadership as the trans‐Tasman exchange of people Forum (ANZLF) is an important annual between the two countries and some of private sector‐led event which brings the immigration challenges that arise as a together a diverse group of leaders from result. business, government, and community sectors to contribute ideas on developing Meeting with Leader of the the bilateral relationship. Opposition, Andrew Little, and Assistant Speaker, the Honourable The Forum examines and debates Trevor Mallard MP economic, defence, political and social During this meeting discussion focused 2 largely on economic issues, including the letter of invitation to Speaker Carter for a following: reciprocal delegation to visit the challenges present in the Australian Parliament in the future. manufacturing sector; the need for economic Meeting of the Social Services diversification and the challenges Select Committee, chaired by Mr this presents; and Alfred Ngaro MP development and support of The delegation attended a meeting of the niche industries, such as Social Services Select Committee (the horticulture and technology. Committee) and was welcomed by the Chair, Mr Alfred Ngaro MP. The group also compared operational aspects of the parliaments and the In the New Zealand Parliament, select makeup of the Houses of Representatives committees work on behalf of and report and Australian Senate. their conclusions to the House. Similar to Australian parliamentary committees, Meeting with Right Honourable select committees may ask the public for David Carter, Speaker of the House input during the course of considering a of Representatives, Honourable bill or inquiry. Chester Burrows, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, The Social Services committee considers matters relating to housing, senior Lindsay Tisch, Assistant Speaker of citizens, social development, veterans’ the House of Representatives, affairs, and work and income support. Honourable Trevor Mallard, The committee consists of ten members Assistant Speaker of the House of from across the parties. Representatives and Mr David Wilson, Clerk of the House. The committee explained their process for the benefit of the delegation and invited questions and discussion. Speaker Smith outlined the Australian Parliamentary committees, including joint and select committees, and provided some information about the Senate Estimates process. He then called on Senator Bilyk to outline Senate committees. Some of the interesting differences Photo: Delegation members with (left to right) Honourable included that the New Zealand Trevor Mallard, Right Honourable David Carter, Honourable Chester Burrows, Lindsay Tisch. committees can conduct their own inquiries, but do not often do this. In Speaker Carter formally welcomed the addition, MPs generally do not sit on delegation and the visitor's book was more than one or two committees. This is signed by members of the delegation. in contrast to Australian senators who often sit on a range of committees. In response, Speaker Smith presented a 3 The committee heard from the Minister system. Thus, the very elaborate for Social Services, the Hon Anne Tolley chamber which previously housed the who presented an issues paper in relation Senate is no longer in use