Early morning on May 18, there were quite a number of people gathered around the registration table on the second floor of the JW Marriott Hotel Seoul. Amid the enticing aroma of freshly brewed coffee, Korea Foundation staff briskly checked the list of attendees and handed out name tags to guests. As people steadily filed into the hall, the tables were fully occupied quite soon. It was indeed a rare opportunity for leaders of Korean society to listen to a presentation by a veteran parliamentarian of the Asia-Pacific region: Harry Jenkins, speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, who was visiting Seoul to attend the G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Conference.

Responsibilities of Regional Parliaments

The Honorable Harry Jenkins was greeted with a hearty round of applause. He looked pleased though slightly startled at the large audience. As he acknowledged, Mr. Jenkins’ appearance at the forum itself seemed like a reflection of the deepening bilateral relationship between Korea and Australia, which have developed over half a century of formal diplomatic relations. Brief welcoming remarks by KF Executive Vice President Hahn Young-hee opened an amicable dialogue session.


At the outset of his presentation titled “Australia’s Evolving Inter-Parliamentary Relationship with the Asia-Pacific,” Mr. Jenkins declared the “dawn of the Asia-Pacific century” in view of the region’s continued demonstration of strong economic growth outperforming other regions of the world. While everyone in the hall was pleased to hear his declaration, Jenkins went on to note that a strengthening of the bilateral ties between Korea and Australia, as the region’s middle powers, would be necessary to fully capitalize on the upcoming Asia-Pacific century. Then, he immediately questioned how much the audience and further the region overall are actually prepared to lead this new century.

In particular, Jenkins drew attention to the fundamental roles and responsibilities of the region’s parliaments and parliamentarians in regard to rallying community support to address difficult and complex issues. As a long- serving member of the Australian Parliament, he said that parliaments and parliamentarians need to be well informed about such issues as the environment, security, trade, and nuclear disarmament. He observed that parliamentarians are required to have up-to-date information because new and emerging issues often involve international perspectives and require a coordinated multilateral approach. Discovery of such issues, he contended, would enable the parliament of each nation to provide an appropriate legal framework and to ensure that governments provide effective administration, including inter-governmental negotiations.

Although highly complex issues can now be more thoroughly evaluated thanks to the development of advanced technology, parliamentarians must continue to discuss newly emerging issues with their constituents and engage in more frequent inter-parliamentary dialogue. Without sufficient interaction and dialogue among parliamentarians of the region, the issues will tend to remain local and fail to realize the global perspectives needed to facilitate international coordination. For example, Jenkins mentioned the Australian government’s initiatives and his interaction with his legislative counterparts of Pacific island countries in efforts to address the serious rise in ocean levels, asylum seekers, and related matters. He furthered noted his country’s ongoing initiatives for dealing with the region’s security situation, especially in regard to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament throughout the region. In order to achieve meaningful outcomes, he called on parliamentarians to build a broad-based consensus at the regional, national, and local levels by capitalizing on parliamentarian accountability mechanisms.

Parliamentary Cooperation

In order to develop a multilateral consensus and coordinated measures, it will be necessary to recognize the importance of all parliaments throughout the region, Jenkins said. And since a number of their regional neighbors are still dealing with relatively fragile social and political structures, he urged the parliaments of Korea and Australia to demonstrate their leadership by providing assistance for regional parliamentarian interaction and exchange of parliamentary leaders. In that regard, he said, the recently issued joint statement by Korean President Myung-bak and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, calling for efforts to expand bilateral exchange of parliamentarians, represents a meaningful step in the right direction.

In order to more deeply analyze issues of mutual concern among parliamentarians, Jenkins emphasized the importance of involving parliamentary committees. His focus on parliamentary committees is based on his conviction in their ability to develop recommendations for administrative and legislative reforms. Since many of today’s issues require global cooperation to formulate policy solutions, he encouraged Australia’s parliamentary committees to interact more closely with their counterparts in other regional parliaments.

Along with commending the coordinated support of the Australian Political Exchange Council to help build relations between the future leaders of Korea and Australia and to facilitate their mutual engagement, Jenkins praised the Korea Foundation’s efforts to boost parliamentary relations through an MOU signing with the council. He also expressed his gratitude to the Foundation for its invitation for him to speak at the forum.

Jenkins concluded his presentation by reiterating his confidence in the future of the Asia-Pacific region in view of the commitment of Korea and Australia to jointly assist the other parliaments of the region, encourage parliamentarian engagement, and build coordinated consensus to address global issues. Furthermore, he pledged to render full support to the Korea-Australia FTA in the process of the Australian Parliament’s deliberation and ratification.

Jenkins’ presentation was timely and appropriate for the current situation facing Korea and the region, especially in light of heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. To effectively resolve the security issues surrounding the two Koreas, it will be necessary for the respective parties, including regional parliaments, to maintain an open-minded and persistent attitude while continuing dialogue in line with internationally coordinated actions. Against this backdrop, stronger partnership relations between Korea and Australia should be a high priority of both countries.

Seo Jung-soo, Professor
Department of International Commerce
Keimyung University