AN AMBITIOUS proposal for a new sports diplomacy mission dubbed ‘Team AusPac’ was tabled in Federal Parliament today, aimed at deepening ties between Australia and Pacific island countries.

Chair of the Australian Parliament’s Trade Sub-Committee, Ted O’Brien MP, announced the proposal which forms part of a Parliamentary Inquiry report entitled ‘One Region, One Family, One Future’.

"Australia and Pacific island countries display an affinity for one another which goes well beyond our shared geography and common geostrategic and economic interests," Mr O’Brien said.

"It may not be at the pointy end of international affairs, but you should never underestimate the importance of people to people relations which is a great strength of Australia’s relationship with Pacific island countries.

"And sport is one of the key ingredients."

Team AusPac would be an initiative spearheaded by the Australian Government, in partnership with relevant sporting organisations, and include the creation a special program for Pacific island athletes as part of the Australian Institute of Sport; an expansion of the number of sports to receive special focus under the PacificAus Sports program beyond netball, football and rugby union and league; a capacity building program for sporting coaches and trainers, and; support for a team from a Pacific island country to enter the National Rugby League (NRL) competition.

"Team AusPac would also maximise opportunities for Pacific island countries to be closely associated with, and actively participate in, the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Australia," Mr O’Brien said. He was Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s personal representative on the bid team that recently secured the rights for Brisbane to host the 2032 Games.

In all, the Inquiry’s report made five recommendations proposing that the Australian Government:

• prioritises its support for the Pacific region to recover from COVID-19 by increasing development assistance, providing vaccine coverage, assisting in the event of COVID-19 outbreaks and assessing opportunities to restore international trade and travel
• prioritises activation of greater trade and investment by considering measures and reforms to the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations, making it easier for Pacific islanders to access the Australian market, supporting further research into trade and investment, supporting the establishment of National Standard Bodies, supporting the Pacific Quality Infrastructure Initiative, promoting pilot investor tours to Pacific island countries and expanding Australia’s kava commercial importation pilot
• improves travel and mobility between Australia and countries of the Pacific region by establishing a Pacific travel bubble subject to health advice and processes, investigates potential for improving infrastructure, introduces a Pacific Business Travel Card, and improves labour mobility arrangements
• works towards deepening people-to-people ties between Australia and countries of the Pacific region through sport, churches and media – for example, through a new program called ‘Team AusPac’
• maximises opportunities for Pacific island countries to be closely associated with, and actively participate in, the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Australia
• recognises the important role played by Australian states and territories in our relationship with Pacific island countries – in particular, the state of Queensland – and analyses the outcomes of this report within a Queensland context, undertakes a feasibility study on expanding the services of a Pacific-focused office of Department of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade in Queensland, and engages the Queensland Government and relevant local government authorities to work collaboratively on aspects of this report. 

"After 56 submissions and eight public hearing and roundtables with the diplomatic representatives of the Pacific island nations, I am confident that this report helps answer our questions and that our five recommendations are worthy of adoption by the Government," Mr O’Brien said.

The full report can be viewed at: www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Foreign_Affairs_Defence_and_Trade/TradewithPacific/Report.

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THE Indigenous Affairs Committee has today presented its report on Indigenous participation in employment and business.

The report makes recommendations to enhance Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in the Australian economy.

Chair of the committee, Julian Leeser MP, said, "One of Australia’s most important economic and social policy goals is to improve the economic participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Having a job or running a business can be life changing.

"Witnesses told the committee during the inquiry that owning a business gives people greater freedom, choice and independence. It can provide pride, purpose, a legacy, and a sense of achievement. Many of those sentiments are also true about having a job," Mr Leeser said.

The report notes the great success of the Federal Government’s Indigenous Procurement Policy (IPP) but that improvements could still be made. These include performance measures that go beyond just the number and value of awarded contracts to include employment outcomes and skills transfers for Indigenous people, the use of company profits and the ability of business to attract commercial contracts.

Mr Leeser said, "As the IPP becomes an established part of the culture of Commonwealth agencies, it is important to ensure the policy continues to serve its purpose of driving economic development and employment."

The other central theme of this inquiry was the sustainable employment pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including a lack of access to relevant training, lack of culturally safe workplaces, a low availability of mentoring for young Indigenous job seekers, having a police record, and few long-term job opportunities.

The Federal Government currently has two major employment services available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander jobseekers: Jobactive which covers most of the Australian population and the Community Development Program (CDP) in remote areas. In addition, Vocation Training and Employment Centres (VTEC) work with Jobactive and CDP providers to help match, mentor, and place longer-term unemployed jobseekers.

The committee noted that the government was changing its employment services policy for all Australian jobseekers with the New Employment Services Model to commence in July 2022. At the same time the government has announced a new remote jobs program to replace CDP in 2023, to be codesigned with Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islander communities.

The committee has made recommendations in relation to these new programs, including a national Indigenous Jobactive provider; greater collaboration and integration between Jobactive and VTEC; more incentives to place people into jobs long term; and better alignment with Jobactive and CDP activity requirements.

Mr Leeser emphasised the committee’s views in the report: "There should be more community leadership in the design of activities under CDP; and a focus not on welfare, but on part-time work for part-time pay given the realities of the thin labour markets in remote Australia. There should also be a focus on the development of locally generated entrepreneurial activity."

The report makes 17 recommendations to government and can be accessed and downloaded from the inquiry website.

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THE Joint Standing Committee on Treaties has recommended that the Federal Government ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement.

"RCEP is a significant achievement. Accounting for almost one-third of the world’s population and GDP, it is anticipated RCEP’s broad membership and simplified trading standards will facilitate growing supply-chain integration and closer regional economic integration," Committee chair Dave Sharma MP said.

"As a regional free trade agreement lead and centred around the Association of South East Asian Nations, RCEP also helps anchor and reinforce ASEAN’s leadership role in the development of regional norms and standards.

"RCEP will make it easier for Australian exporters to the region, providing a single set of rules and procedures to navigate."

In its report the committee also emphasised its concern about the military coup and human rights deterioration in Myanmar. The committee stressed the importance of continuing to pursue the restoration of civilian, democratic rule in Myanmar as a priority.

The report can be found on the Committee website, along with further information on the inquiry.

Other RCEP signatories include the 10 nations of ASEAN, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand.

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THE LATEST exploration data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is out, and it’s great news for Queensland.

The state’s total exploration expenditure for the past financial year has risen by 11 percent to reach $708 million, compared with $638 million in 2019-2020, which is Queensland’s strongest result since 2014-15.

Queensland Resources Council (QRC) chief executive Ian Macfarlane said very strong September and March quarters had more than made up for a slight drop in expenditure in the June quarter.

“These latest figures show our explorers have managed to continue to expand their exploration programs over the past 12 months in spite of Covid-19's impact on their ability to recruit skilled workers and source equipment from overseas and interstate,” he said.

“This demonstrates the continuing strength and ingenuity of the resources sector, which benefits every Queenslander in terms of job opportunities and our industry’s ongoing economic contribution to the state budget.”

The good news coming out of today’s ABS data continued, with Queensland petroleum exploration expenditure up 27 percent over the past financial year to reach $296 million.

Minerals exploration expenditure experienced a more modest rise, increasing by two percent year-on-year to reach $412 million.

Queensland Exploration Council (QEC) chair Kim Wainwright said the stand-out areas of exploration expenditure for Queensland minerals were gold, which experienced a 43 percent jump, and copper which rose 20 percent compared with 2019-20.

Selected base metals expenditure – which includes copper, silver, lead, zine, nickel and cobalt – was up 10 percent on 2019-20, although coal exploration expenditure fell by 20 percent.

Ms Wainwright said despite the fall in coal expenditure, the recent surge in metallurgical and thermal coal prices and a two percent increase in the June quarter exploration expenditure are signs of better news to come.

“The QEC looks forward to seeing stable growth in exploration expenditure in future quarters and this positivity reflected in our Exploration Scorecard Sentiment Survey, which will be released in December,” she said.

About QRC and QEC

The QRC is Queensland’s peak body for coal, metal and gas explorers, producers and suppliers across the resources sector. It contributes $1 in every $5 to the state economy, supports one in six Queensland jobs, supports more than 15,000 businesses and contributes to more than 1,200 community organisations – all from 0.1 percent of Queensland’s land mass. The QEC is the QRC's exploration arm.

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