Vote Of Thanks To The Hon Julie Bishop MP

VOTE OF THANKS TO THE HON JULIE BISHOP MP

ANDREW PENN

On behalf of everybody this evening, it is my pleasure to offer a vote of thanks to the Foreign Minister Julie Bishop for her sobering, confronting and very prescient speech. Thank you for sharing an insight into your world and giving us all a window into the role of a Foreign Minister dealing with some of the challenges that we all look at in 2015.

As Premier Baird said, one of the things the Minister is most noted for is her compassion. It is fitting, therefore, that you updated us all on the unfolding tragedy in Nepal and Kathmandu. You also talked about the executions in Bali, and that senseless loss of life.

It is also fitting that you also recognised the 100-year anniversary of the ANZAC landings, and the many lives lost in the First World War. These included more than 2000 employees from the old Post Master General, now Telstra, who supported the war effort by providing communications expertise. It was with the same compassionate but also sharply analytical mind and determination that you spoke about the toxic mix of ideological and pathological influences which I think we all find hard to comprehend as we look at many conflicts around the world today. How do we tackle the challenges of addressing those threats at the same time as fighting for privacy, and fighting for independence?

At Telstra, we are only too aware of the dilemmas and the challenges of balancing those issues against competing questions about where privacy is important, what metadata we keep, and how do we protect privacy and cyber security in today’s world. What you did not mention Foreign Minister is the one thing I know you believe in passionately. That there is also hope in the future. The role that you play supporting business in the Asia-Pacific region, representing business around the world as well, is also to be noted. It is by investing for the future that we can all be very positive about the future.

One of your signature policies is an example of this – this is the new Colombo Plan. The vision of this plan is to lift Australia’s knowledge of the Indo-Pacific region, to build leadership and foster, first of all, links and institutional relationships. It does this by offering internships and mentorships and creating connections between business and talented young Australians, through their universities and their governments. It is through education and the support of initiatives like this over the government level and at a business level that we can look to the future with hope, not withstanding some of the desperate challenges we see in the world today.

We can all be thankful that we have such a talented and compassionate Foreign Minister supporting us and leading the way for Australia.

Would you please join me in thanking Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.