Your Parliament - Your Voice 6 April 2012

“Your Parliament – Your Voice”

From the Office of the Speaker

Commonwealth Day – “Connecting Cultures” – Report from the Norfolk team from London

 

Thank you to Tennille Christian, Tim Gatehouse and Leah Christian for the great report you have provided on your participation in the Commonwealth Day activities in London as Norfolk’s representatives.  We hear Tennille had the opportunity to meet Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh which must have been pretty special for her.  Here is their report:

“On Monday 12^th March 39 young adults aged between 17 and 30 from 19 commonwealth nations arrived at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) to learn more about the Commonwealth and different roles and responsibilities within the Parliamentary system.

There were many inspirational speakers throughout the day. Mr Liam Laurence Smythe, Clerk of Journals at House of Commons came in to discuss his role not only on a day to day basis in keeping records of the house but also in relation to the “connecting cultures” theme by helping to choose topics for Select Committees that will open discussions across a broad range of people. We also had talks from Kate Hoey, MP for Vauxhall and Andrew Rosindell, MP for Romford who came to discuss what being an MP involves and how to balance out the demands of parliament as well as being an accessible point of contact for constituents and a good team representative for their party and the best way to connect all of these aspects.

We got to tour through the Houses of Parliament and learn about the two different houses and representatives in each house as well as some of the interesting rules, regulations and methods that occur within this beautiful building. We returned back to the CPA to hear a talk from Ms Sukey Cameron who is the UK Representative for the Falkland Islands it was particularly interesting hearing her speak and discuss not only her roles and responsibilities but to hear about the Falkland Islands opinion on the current disagreement between Argentina and the UK that has been top news over the past few months in the UK. We were also lucky enough to speak with Ms Cameron during the lunch break who advised she was a big fan of Norfolk and has been over a couple of times to visit.

After Lunch we went to Westminster Abbey for the Commonwealth Day Observance non denominational service. Her Majesty the Queen was present and was joined by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Countess of Wessex. The service began with the performance of the song “Stronger as One” by Robert Harthorne which was specifically commissioned for Commonwealth Day 2012. The service was interlaced with beautiful songs including moving performance of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah and talks from people right across the globe and ended with prayers from the religious leaders of multiple faiths.

I [Tennille] had the pleasure of receiving an Invitation to the Commonwealth Secretary-Generals Reception in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen at Marlborough House. The reception brought together many interesting people of the Commonwealth including the High Commissioners of Barbados, St Lucia, Jamaica and Nigeria as well as the CEO of the Commonwealth Games Federation Mike Hooper who asked me to pass on a Hello to Tommy Lloyd and Dennis Sterling as well as anyone else he knows. The highlight of the reception was when I was lucky enough to meet and talk with both Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip.

Overall the Commonwealth Day by the CPA was both an educational and enjoyable day that any young islander should apply for next year as it is a truly amazing experience.”

Australian Region Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Steering Committee is to visit Norfolk Island 13 to 16 April 2012 for its annual planning meeting.  The Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians group is commonly referred to as the CWP.  The CWP was founded by women delegates at the 1989 plenary conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (the CPA) so that women at future CPA conferences could discuss ways to increase female representation in Parliament and work towards the mainstreaming of gender considerations in all CPA activities and programmes. In 2004, the group was formally recognized in the CPA Constitution and its elected Chairperson added to the CPA Executive Committee.

The CWP Steering Committee Australian Region comprises a delegate from the Commonwealth of Australia CPA Branch, and from each State and Territory CPA Branches in the Australian Region.  Mrs Rhonda Griffiths MLA is the delegate for Norfolk Island on the Steering Committee.  A busy schedule of meetings and activities have been arranged for the Committee and we thank His Honour the Administrator and Mrs Pope for hosting a reception for the CWP during their visit; this activity will also afford a representative group from the Norfolk Women’s’ Forum the opportunity to meet the visiting delegation at this reception.  A more comprehensive report on the visit will be given in next week’s issue of Your Parliament Your Voice.

To read the Notice Paper, Programme, Minutes of Proceedings and legislation tabled in the House go to www.info.gov.nf. Issued from the Office of the Speaker on 6 April 2012 and posted on the blog site http://yourparliamentyourvoice.blogspot.com