Strengthening Australia-Thailand parliamentary ties
This week, Australian Speaker of the House of Representatives the Hon Milton Dick MP visited Bangkok for a series of high-level meetings to strengthen parliamentary links between Australia and Thailand. It was the first ever official visit by an Australian Speaker to Thailand.
Speaker Dick met Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, further building on the strong momentum following the Prime Minister’s official visit to Australia last week.
“Australia values Thailand as an important regional partner and longstanding friend,” Speaker Dick said.
“Our relationship is grounded in decades of cooperation and reinforced by strong links between governments, institutions and communities. I saw this firsthand this week, from my discussions with young party officials about democratic governance, to exchanges with inspiring Thai women leaders from across the political spectrum.”
While in Bangkok, Speaker Dick also met with Speaker of the House of Representatives H.E. Mr Sophon Zaram and President of the Senate H.E. Mr Mongkol Surasajja. He also had engagements with officials from the Election Commission of Thailand and First Deputy Speaker Mallika Jirapunvanit, who recently visited Australia with a high-level parliamentary delegation.
Australian Ambassador to Thailand Pablo Kang said parliamentary engagement was an important pillar of the bilateral relationship.
“Parliamentary collaboration and regular exchanges help to reinforce the strong institutional ties and people-to-people links that underpin the Australia-Thailand Strategic Partnership,” Mr Kang said.
“We share valuable exchanges through the Thai-Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group, and Australia and Thailand are also both members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. This year also marks the 70th anniversary of Australia’s formal IPU membership.”
The IPU is the global organisation of national parliaments, which has 183 member parliaments. It facilitates parliamentary diplomacy and empowers parliaments and parliamentarians to promote peace, democracy and sustainable development around the world.
