Mr HARTSUYKER (Cowper) (10:51): I take this opportunity to thank the member for Braddon for his leadership of the delegation and also thank my co-delegates the member for Gippsland, the member for Swan and the member for Reid. I think it was a very valuable trip and I would like to reflect on some of the key recommendations, particularly the first three. Recommendation 1 is that the Australian government, through Australia's diplomatic network, support the establishment and maintenance of alumni associations for students from Asia who have studied in Australia. Recommendation 2 is that the Australian government more actively promote the existing available education opportunities and support available for Australian students studying in ASEAN countries. And recommendation 3 is that the Australian government should consider providing access to funded scholarships for Asian students to study at Australian universities, perhaps as partnerships between the government and the private sector. I think if I was left with one key message from the trip it is the importance of education not only in assisting countries develop but also in creating stronger links with our Asian neighbours. I reflect on my own university days, back in the seventies, which were quite some time ago now. At that time there were many students who were studying under the Colombo Plan. No doubt many of those students have gone on to senior roles within their countries, but the lack of an alumni association means I have lost track of those students. I do not really know where they are now, unfortunately, but there was a very strong relationship back in the seventies between the local students and the Asian students who were studying under the Colombo Plan. Recommendation 1 would go some way to ensuring that those links developed are maintained over the years ahead. Education is an important factor. When we look at our aid budget, we do a great deal with that spending. Education is a very cost-effective way of delivering improvements in foreign countries and—whilst we all like to see improvements in infrastructure, health services and so on and so forth—it is always a challenge for Australia, many miles away, to effectively administer and implement those objectives from a long distance. But, with education, we have the ability to control and deliver services on a very cost-effective basis that we know will benefit those countries greatly. It will not only benefit the countries themselves but, as in the days of the Colombo Plan, benefit Australia by not only having Asian students exposed to Australia's way of thinking but also giving our local students who may not have had the opportunity to travel to Asia yet the opportunity to be exposed to the thoughts, aspirations and objectives of students from Asian countries. I would like to see, particularly in relation to recommendation 3, a consideration of a greater focus on funded scholarships, either government funded or through the private sector. I think the private sector does, as this recommendation indicates, have an important role to play. We can have no better ambassadors from this country than students who have studied here over an extended period of time, who have had interface with Australian students and who appreciate our customs and where we are coming from. It is a great opportunity that should not be missed to further enhance our involvement in Asia through providing hundreds if not thousands, I would hope, of delegates for Australia—Australian ambassadors who will go back to their own countries and tell the Australian story. I think we can in the future have far closer relationships with those Asian nations through the mutual benefit of study. The ability to improve the productivity of a country through the exposure of our institutions, our forms of governance and our forms of commerce would be invaluable, particularly in the case of Vietnam, a country which, as the member for Braddon said, is about to take off. There would be no better way of achieving that take-off than providing an additional avenue for Vietnam to obtain highly skilled young people who can use our way of thinking to the benefit of their country. I take the opportunity to thank the other members of the delegation and again thank the member for Braddon for his great work in leading the delegation. It was a very useful trip. I think it certainly enhanced bilateral relations between Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore and Australia, and I look forward to seeing the implementation of the recommendations contained within the report, particularly in relation to education. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Grierson ): Order! The time allotted for statements on this report has expired. Does the member for Braddon wish to move a motion in connection with the report to enable it to be debated on a future occasion?