Centenary Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

It is hard to believe that it is almost a month since I returned from London where as Speaker and delegate for the Norfolk Island, I attended the Centenary Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (the CPA). My visit to London included my attendance at the Annual General Meeting of the United Kingdom-Norfolk Island Friendship Group at the House of Commons. This group was formed as a result of a CPA visit to Norfolk Island in 2008 by Mr Andrew Rosindell, the member for Romford in the UK Parliament since 2001. It is Mr Rosindell’s huge interest in the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, both current and former, which led him to visit Norfolk in 2008 to learn more about us. It was my pleasure as the guest speaker at this meeting to have the opportunity to speak about Norfolk to those attending.

2011 marked the centenary year of the CPA which was inaugurated in London in 1911 and I joined some 700 Commonwealth Parliamentarians and parliamentary officials in London to mark the occasion. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is composed of the Parliaments and Legislatures in 53 of the 54 Commonwealth nations and their overseas territories. It has a membership of more than 16,000 parliamentarians of national, state, provincial and territorial Assemblies.

HRH The Princess Royal attended the opening ceremony of the centennial Commonwealth Parliamentary Association annual conference, at which she read a message of welcome and encouragement from Her Majesty The Queen, Patron of the CPA and Head of the Commonwealth. Our picture (above) shows the Lord Speaker the Rt Hon. Baroness Hayman giving the vote of thanks to HRH The Princess Royal. Our picture below show the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod escorting HRH The Princess Royal out of Westminster Hall

This years Conference theme was “Reinforcing Democracy”.

As always the Small Countries Conference which runs over two full days prior to the main conference provides the most value for Norfolk Island and I was pleased to be able to contribute meaningfully in discussions on many of the issues addressed.

Small countries are those with a population of 400,000 or less. The topics for discussion this year were -

a)Commonwealth initiatives in handling migration issues

b) Countering threats to the Stability of Small Democracies

c) Women as Agents of Change in Small Societies

d) Strengthening Democracy in Small States: Youth Leadership Training, Citizen Involvement and Parliamentary Reform

I had particular interest in topics a), c) and d); and was pleased to not only be able to share with other small nations how our hybrid form of governance currently works; but also to speak with pride about our very active Youth Assembly and the very real and influential role it can, and does play in local issues about which they feel strongly. This generated genuine interest, and questions being asked by delegates, particularly by the Falkland Islands as to how they might mirror our Youth Assembly in their country and I note that my contribution in this debate has already been reported in the Falkland Islands news.

As mentioned in Your Parliament Your Voice of 12 August 2011 discussions have begun with the Isle of Man under the cultural agreement to work on how our respective educational establishments can work together to exchange ideas, ultimately with a view to an exchange student scheme. The Isle of Man is probably the first jurisdiction to give the vote to people of 16 years of age which would seem a clear indication of the value they place on their young people. Our Youth Assembly is now considering how they can link up with other Commonwealth Youth Assemblies/Youth Parliaments in small Commonwealth countries through social and other media, and we will keep you informed as we take this exciting initiative forward.

By necessity my report on the CPA Conference this week needed to be brief but I believe it clearly demonstrates that we should never underestimate the value of networking with other small jurisdictions, jurisdictions that have had similar problems to ours such as down turn in tourism and contraction of their economies as is happening to us here on Norfolk today; the value of being able to discuss with them how they have successfully addressed their problems cannot be understated.

Issued from the Office of the Speaker on 26 August 2011