CDI's Ongoing Support for Pacific Island Engagement in the
Australasian Study of Parliament Group Activities

CDI Deputy Director Quinton Clements participated in the annual Australasian Study of Parliament Group (ASPG) conference at Parliament House in Brisbane, Queensland from 10 to 12 July 2008. The conference theme was Parliament and the People: Participation, Representation and Engagement. A large group of Australian and New Zealand current and former parliamentarians, parliamentary officials, journalists and academics attended the conference, and CDI sponsored the attendance of two parliamentarians and two officers from Papua New Guinea (PNG) to this conference. They were:

• Hon. Jamie Maxtone-Graham MBE MP, Member for Anglimp South Wahhi & Parliamentary Leader of the PNG Country Party, National Parliament of PNG;
• Hon. Hilary Laris, Member for Tsitalato Constituency, Autonomous Region of Bougainville House of Representatives;
• Mr Pais Otima, Research Officer, Committee Secretariat, Autonomous Region of Bougainville House of Representatives; and
• Mr Simon Ila, Acting Deputy Clerk, National Parliament of PNG.

As part of an arrangement with the ASPG and the Queensland Parliament, CDI also sponsored a two week attachment program for Mr Otima and Mr Ila with the Queensland Parliament following the conference.

CDI continues to support the ASPG in its goal of actively pursuing a process of engagement with the parliaments of the Pacific by sponsoring the participation of Members of Parliament and parliamentary officers from Pacific Island countries in the group’s annual conferences and associated programs. Prior to 2008, CDI sponsored delegations from Solomon Islands and Fiji in 2006 to the ASPG conference in New Zealand, and in 2007 we sponsored the attendance of delegations from PNG, Bougainville and Solomon Islands at the ASPG conference in Adelaide, and the participation of two parliamentary officers in a two week attachment program with the South Australian, Commonwealth and ACT parliaments.

CDI is also supporting the Queensland Parliament in building its relationship with the National Parliament of PNG as part of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) initiated twinning arrangement between the two parliaments. During the conference, Mr Clements and the PNG delegation met with the Speaker of the Queensland Parliament, Hon. Mike Reynolds AM MP, and the Deputy Clerk, Mr Michael Reis, to discuss a range of initiatives to be undertaken as part of the twinning arrangement.

Click on these links for more information:

Pacific Island Engagement in the Australasian Study of Parliament Group Activities | Brisbane | July 2008
	Conference and Attachment Report by Mr Pais Otima, Research Officer, Committee Secretariat, Autonomous Region of Bougainville House of Representatives
	Conference and Attachment Report by Mr Simon Ila, a/Deputy Clerk of Parliament, National Parliament of PNG
	ASPG 2008 Conference: Parliament and the People: Participation, Representation and Engagement
	Australasian Study of Parliament Group (ASPG)
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	CDI Sponsors Pacific Island Engagement in ASPG Conference & Parliamentary Attachment Program | Adelaide | August 2007
	Fiji Parliamentary Graduates Participate in the 2006 ASPG Annual Conference | Wellington | September 2006
	CDI to Collaborate with Queensland Parliament | October 2007