Australian Greens Host Asia Pacific Delegates

The Australian Greens are hosting Green Party representatives from across Asia and the Pacific from May 17-24. This is an initiative to share knowledge and experiences across the region so as to assist emerging Green Parties and new Green Parties.

The 22 delegates, 12 men and 10 women, are from 11 countries and are participating in a study tour in both Sydney and Northern NSW. Countries represented on the tour are; India, Indonesia, Japan, Lebanon, Mongolia, Nepal. Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Taiwan, and the Solomon Islands. They are joined by representatives from the Australian Greens and NSW Greens.

The delegates have met in NSW Parliament House with Senators Maureen Faruqui and David Shoebridge and MLA Jaime Parker. A visit to the Grayndler office was also a highlight and the delegates offered their support for our work in the lead up to the July 2 election campaign. Senator Lee Rhiannon hosted a reception for the delegates at her Sydney office on May 18. Senator Rhiannon holds the  overseas development portfolio in Federal Parliament.

The Australian Greens will be organising activities to meet local Green Party groups in NSW. Greens NSW and Australian Green guest speakers will also share their knowledge and skills on specific topics ranging from developing policy to research and campaigning skills and planning, and the role of women in parliament. Climate change is key for many of these countries and they will also hear from specialists on issues such as climate change and how they can address these issues back in their home countries.

A key part of the tour is that study tour delegates will also be hearing of one another’s experiences in their own countries so as to expand our knowledge base of what can be achieved in these countries, sometimes under very difficult circumstances. The Australian Greens will also learn of the experiences, challenges, and successes of the work undertaken within our own region and to strengthen ties with our nearest neighbouring Green Parties.

The next leg of the Australian Greens study tour is to NE NSW, another hotspot of support for the Greens in Australia. We look forward to learning from the experiences for a rural electorate.

“As a Co-convenor  of the Asia Pacific Greens Federation, I consider this tour as an opportunity for emerging parties across region, it empowers new parties and helps them to become active and visible.” – Liaquat Ali Shaik, Pakistan Green Party

05/21/2016 – 06:00