Rockdale-Bint Jubayl Sister City Agreement
Page: 14712
Mr THOMPSON (Rockdale) [5.29 p.m.]: Last Sunday I returned from a self-funded two- week visit to Lebanon with a delegation of citizens and councillors and officers of Rockdale City Council. The main purpose of our delegation's visit was to formalise a sister city agreement between Rockdale and Bint Jubayl, a town and region in south Lebanon. The delegation travelled extensively throughout south Lebanon and had a very busy schedule attending official meetings, inspections and functions. Rockdale is a very multicultural district and virtually all corners of the world are represented there. The majority of our local Lebanese community came to Australia from south Lebanon, many from the Bint Jubayl region. The delegation met with numerous dignitaries and visited schools, hospitals, rehabilitation clinics, orphanages, institutions for the disabled, churches and mosques. I will mention a few of the meetings attended by the delegation.
We visited the ancient city of Sidon and had a meeting with the mayor and his officials. We also had discussions with their counterparts in the city of Tyre and attended official functions with local members of Parliament. In Bint Jubayl we attended a reception hosted by the District Governor. That was just one of a series of events in which we were involved in Bint Jubayl. There were also tree-planting ceremonies and the official signing of the sister city agreement. We visited two schools in that town and delivered to the primary school a letter from the principal of one of my local schools, Athelstane Public School. This will initiate closer contact between the children of those schools, and possibly the broader communities in Australia and Lebanon.
Our delegation visited the notorious Al Khiyam prison where political prisoners were incarcerated during the Israeli occupation. We heard of gross acts of inhumanity, including torture, that had taken place in that gaol, and we met several of the surviving victims. The Red Cross held a welcoming function for us, which was attended by many of the local voluntary organisations and other local citizens. In the village of Ain Ebel we met the Maronite Bishop in the 800-year-old Church of the Assumption. On another day we met the Deputy Governor of Nabatiyyeh and we inspected a great school there which, like a number of other institutions, is run by the Amal organisation. We also had meetings with the Governor of Baalbek, the Ministers and members of Parliament.
Mr George: Can I go next time?
Mr Moss: Provided you pay your own way.
Mr George: I always pay my own way.
Mr THOMPSON: The honourable member for Lismore would be more than welcome. In Beirut we inspected the massive Solidere project, which involves the rebuilding and renovation of the centre of old Beirut, and we had discussions with the project manager and planner. We also had a meeting with the mayor of Beirut city. The head of the Higher Islamic Shi'ite Council greeted us also and we had an interesting meeting with him in the company of Mr Jamil Hanna of the Australian Embassy. During a visit to the Armenian sector of Beirut, the Borj Hammoud district, we met with a representative of the Armenian patriarch and later with the mayor and local council officers. A memorable event was our time spent with the Al-Mabarat organisation. Its founder, Sayed Fadlallah, greeted us and later we attended a dinner organised in our honour by the Al-Mabarat Foundation. This organisation operates a whole range of institutions in Lebanon, including schools, orphanages and hospitals.
Overall, our visit to Lebanon was most enjoyable, but it was also hard work. Our time there coincided with the first anniversary of the south's liberation from Israeli occupation. Evidence of the occupation was everywhere. The destruction was enormous and the people had clearly suffered greatly. There is a huge number of orphans and disabled men, women and children. When the Israeli forces finally withdrew just 12 months ago, they left behind about 150,000 landmines scattered throughout the region. Of course, landmines are indiscriminate and many innocent people, including children, have been killed or maimed. I also want to mention our delegation's visit to Qana in south Lebanon.
On 18 April 1996 an estimated 800 civilian people were sheltering at a United Nations peacekeeping base in Qana. On that day, Israeli artillery shelled the base, killing more than 100 innocent men, women and children and wounding a further 100-odd. A subsequent UN investigation suggested that the UN base had been deliberately targeted. This terrible event sent shock waves around the world and certainly made an impact on the Lebanese community, especially in my electorate where families and friends of many of the massacre victims live. It was, therefore, with both pride and sadness that on 21 May I joined with Rockdale City Council Mayor Shaoquett Moselmane in laying a wreath on the massacre memorial in Qana. A further highlight of our visit to Lebanon was an audience with His Eminence Cardinal Sfeir. The Australian Ambassador, Mr John Fennessy, joined us on this occasion, as he did on some of our other meetings in Lebanon. His advice and assistance, and that of his officers and staff at the Australian Embassy, were greatly appreciated by me and all the other participants in the delegation.
Mr MOSS (Canterbury—Parliamentary Secretary) [3.34 p.m.]: I note that the honourable member for Lismore interjected during the contribution made by the honourable member for Rockdale, asking whether he could go next time. I interjected that he could go provided he paid his own way. Honourable members will note that the honourable member for Rockdale indicated that this was a self-funded trip. For that reason it will not get any publicity. No-one will know about this trip because the honourable member, like many members who go on trips, paid his own way. That never gets mentioned in the media. The honourable member represents many people who come from Lebanon. By going to Lebanon he has gained a greater knowledge of that land and a greater appreciation of the culture of the Lebanese people, which will enable him as the local member to serve his constituents more effectively in the future. I congratulate him on his initiative in going to Lebanon and seeing first hand the country where so many of his constituents come from.