The Pacific Parliamentary Partnerships program is “one of the best examples anywhere in the world of parliaments cooperating and working together,” Australia’s Governor-General Quentin Bryce has told Australian and Pacific Presiding Officers and Clerks at a reception she hosted in their honour in Canberra.

The reception was held as part of the 44th Australian and Pacific Presiding Officers and Clerks Conference organised by the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly.

The Governor-General noted that Pacific Parliamentary Partnerships is “training staff on an international level, working with Presiding Officers and individual MPs to meet their different needs, all with the aim of reinforcing parliaments, and developing the number and capacity of women parliamentarians throughout the region through the Women’s Partnership”.

“The theory of parliamentary practice is one thing,” the Governor-General said. “But it is the face to face contact, the sharing of ideas and experiences, looking at challenges and finding solutions together, that really makes the difference.”

Australia’s Governor-General Quentin Bryce speaking at Australian and Pacific Presiding
Officers and Clerks reception. Photo courtesy of www.gg.gov.au