Wednesday, 31 July 2024

Statements on tabled papers and petitions

Department of the Legislative Council

Report 2022–23

Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (17:08): I rise to speak on the annual report 2022–23 of the Department of the Legislative Council. We in this place are very privileged to be able to come in and debate on matters of importance with the expertise of our wonderful clerks, attendants and other officers. As with other states across Australia, Victoria enjoys a twinning relationship with other Commonwealth parliaments in the Pacific. In our case, that is Fiji, Nauru and Tuvalu. It was wonderful to join with my colleague Ms Lovell from this place and Hūhana Lyndon MP from the New Zealand Parliament in a parliamentary induction for Tuvalu’s new MPs following their election earlier this year. This was the first time such an induction program has taken place in Tuvalu, so it was it was extra special to have 15 of the 16 Tuvaluan members of Parliament in attendance to exchange discussions and ideas with us, including Speaker Iakoba Taeia Italeli and Prime Minister Feleti Penitala Teo. Among the many topics we discussed were the role and detailed function of standing committees and private members bills and motions. The attitude of the MPs and their willingness to embrace new ideas was impressive, to say the least. We too learned much in return from them. We in this country are fortunate to have good neighbours like Tuvalu. Indeed it was a special opportunity for us to learn too of some of the challenges facing our colleagues and friends in this part of the South Pacific.

It would be imprudent to talk about Tuvalu without acknowledging what is almost certainly its biggest issue: Tuvalu is at the epicentre of our world’s climate crisis. It is expected to be one of the first countries in the world to be submerged by rising sea levels. Current predictions show that may happen as soon as the year 2100. Indeed already now, when there is a king tide event on the island of Fongafale, in the Funafuti atoll, home to around 7000 of the nation’s 11,000 people, the waves are so strong that they cross from the Pacific right over the entire landmass to fall into the lagoon on the other side. Visiting Tuvalu is a stark reminder that the decisions that we make in places like this have a dramatic impact on people many thousands of kilometres away. Treaties such as the Falepili Union, signed between our nations, will provide a pathway for Tuvaluans to migrate to Australia to escape rising seawaters, but it is abundantly clear that the best solution for this nation would be for them not to have to leave at all.

The Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project, or TCAP, is an exciting program which is showing much promise. As well as building sensitive anti-erosion measures on some of the outer islands, it involves a large-scale land reformation program at the west of Fongafale, the main island. The first major stage has recently been completed, and Ms Lovell, Ms Lyndon and I got to walk onto the new land, which sits several metres above and several hundred metres across the existing coastline. This land will be ready to be built on in 12 months, and its promise, when realised, will hopefully lay the groundwork for much larger ambitions to extend TCAP across an area of several square kilometres, offering an opportunity for Funafuti to relocate and to remain. I would like to acknowledge the people leading TCAP as well as the many workers at Hall Contracting, an Australian company currently delivering it, for graciously having us onsite. Special thanks to Hannah Wilson, a bright young woman who is the senior project engineer, who showed us around.

Our visit was also a very special opportunity to immerse ourselves in Tuvaluan culture. On our final night Hūhana and I had the opportunity to attend a cultural celebration of the islanders of the outer island of Nukulaelae, from which a couple of dozen of islanders had just returned from representing Tuvalu at the FestPAC festival. We were very privileged to see that same performance again ourselves. I would like to especially thank Seve Paeniu, one of Nukulaelae’s MPs, for his warm invitation and hospitality there as well.

The parliamentary induction program was funded by the UN Development Programme, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the New Zealand Parliament. I take this opportunity to thank them and also in particular our UNDP facilitators Thomas Gregory and Komal Khushboo, with special thanks also to Warren Cahill, a former clerk of the New South Wales Legislative Council, for his expert guidance and support. It was a real honour for us to take part in this program. Also, particularly thanks to both the PM and the Speaker for their leadership in running this induction. I am very excited to see the work that is going to come from Tuvalu’s parliament, and I think we can expect to see big things and big ideas emanating from them. I look forward to doing my bit to nurture the friendship between our two great parliaments and our two great cultures.