Solomon Islands Parliamentary Twinning Program

The Hon. AILEEN MacDONALD (22:15:30):

The New South Wales Parliament has a partnership arrangement with the parliaments of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and the Solomon Islands. The twinning program was initiated by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in 2007 and is an opportunity to enhance relations, exchange information and learn from each other. In the last week of October 2022, I was part of a delegation that travelled to the Solomon Islands to rekindle the twinning program. I travelled to the Solomon Islands for five days with the President, the Hon. Matthew Mason-Cox; the Assistant President, the Hon. Rod Roberts, MLC; Stephen Bali, the member for Blacktown; Melanie Gibbons, the member for Holsworthy; and Susan Want and Jenelle Moore from the Legislative Council team. A full program of events was laid out before us and we were very busy.

For context, the Solomon Islands is a group of islands approximately 2,000 kilometres north-east of Australia in the south-west Pacific. It is estimated to have a population of 720,000 mostly Melanesian, Polynesian, Micronesian, Chinese and European people. It is also very hot and humid. Its national Parliament comprises 50 members, four of whom are women. As November is Small Business Month, and I am passionate about women in business, I highlight one of the businesses we visited during our stay. The B-17 Dive and Beach Bungalows is an ecotourism business established in 2015. The owner and operator, Edith Chottu, partnered with Australia's private sector development program, appropriately called, Strongim Bisnis. This $32 million program delivers projects in seven different sectors, including tourism and also women's economic empowerment. Edith had a vision for a resort that would meet with the minimum standards and classification for tourism accommodation. As a strong Solomon Islander woman living with a disability, she wanted to ensure that her resort was one of the first disability accessible resorts in the country.

Edith was assigned a business adviser through the Strongim Bisnis program to work with her to develop her operation. She was able to upgrade existing facilities, including extending and improving the dining and conference space and making bungalows disability accessible, develop new tour and menu options, complete an audit of bookkeeping and financial management systems, invest in marketing via product promotion, design a new logo and signage, and promote disability inclusion through employment opportunities. Australian investment in the partnership was approximately $125,000.

Past barriers that have made women vulnerable include challenges and risks such as violence, sexual assault, access to finance and having their decision-making rights controlled by others. I heard about this firsthand when I met with the Solomon Islands National Council of Women, which I will talk more about another time. Incidentally, the council's vision is "women as equal partners in the development of Solomon Islands". In light of the vision and the mission and knowing the barriers and challenges Edith faced, it was particularly pleasing to see her overcome them, especially as she also has the challenge of living with a disability.

Through the Strongim Bisnis program, Australian Aid supports women, youth and people living with disabilities to assist with access to finance and training to help them become leaders in the tourism sector. That results in a more inclusive and sustainable industry. Edith showed courage, resistance, persistence and a strong commitment to her vision and her ability to work in partnership with Australian Aid through the Strongim Bisnis program. I wish her well, as one small business woman to another. Edith is incredibly proud of what she has achieved. I can still picture her beaming smile as she showed us around her operation and talked about what it was, what it had become and the other plans she has. She had a hand up, not a handout.

‍