I am very pleased to be part of the “Hear Me!” Program at Parliament House.

The “Hear Me!” program is an educational program developed and delivered by the Parliamentary Education Office to reach out to our students living in remote communities.

The “Hear Me!” program has been developed specifically for the students in our 77 remote community schools. It develops the idea that Parliament, although based in Perth, is a place where distant voices can be heard. This is an important issue I feel strongly about. As a member for regional WA, I am keen to improve connections between Parliament and our people living in rural and remote Western Australia.

A series of interactive activities have helped students develop an understanding of representative democracy - having a say and being heard.

Students are encouraged to express what it is they value in their community, what concerns them and what they would like to see changed, improved, or left the same.

Students recorded, either through words or drawings, their ideas onto a calico scroll. The scrolls were presented to myself and to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Hon. Grant Woodhams. We have displayed the scrolls outside the Premier’s Office in Parliament House for all members of the Parliament of Western Australia.

Schools who have participated to date include La Grange Remote Community School (Bidyadanga), Djarindjin-Lombadina Remote Community School, Sacred Heart School (Beagle Bay), Luurnpa Remote Community School (Balgo Hills), One Arm Point Remote Community School, Derby District High School, John Pujajangka-Piyirn Remote Community School (Mulan), Kururrungku Catholic School (Billiluna), Kalumburu Remote Community School, Oombulgurri Primary School, Birlirr Ngawiyiwu Catholic School (Ringer Soak), Wanalirri Catholic School (Gibb River), Wananami Remote Community School (Mt Barnett), and Dawul Remote Community School (Doon Doon).

I was pleased to host a Scottish Parliament delegation visited to the Parliament of Western Australia in October.

The visit was especially significant because these were the first Members of the Scottish Parliament to visit Australia since the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999. The cross-party delegation, which was led by Conservative politician Ted Brocklebank, included Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary for Health, Ross Finnie; Labour Member for Highlands and Islands, Rhoda Grant; and Sandra White, from the Scottish National Party.

One of the main focuses for the delegation was to learn more about minority governments and coalitions from the Western Australian experience.

The visit also provided the opportunity for the members of the Legislative Council Environment and Public Affairs Committee (which considers petitions) to hear first hand of the experience of the Scottish Parliament with “E-Petitioning”. E-Petitions are under consideration by the Legislative Council, so the timing of the visit proved very useful as three Members of the delegation had recently served on the Scottish Parliament Public Petitions Committee.

The Clerk Assistant (Committees), Mr Paul Grant briefed the delegation on the Legislative Council committee system. The delegation was also able to observe an Estimate and Financial Operations Committee hearing.

The delegation Provided a presentation about the Scottish Parliament’s Festival of Politics for Members, which has gained international interest. The delegations reflections on the progress made in the first 10 years of the new Scottish Parliament, including its innovative public engagement programs was particularly interesting.

I was privileged to meet with the Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the Commission of European Communities, Mr David Daly.

The joint meeting with the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Hon Grant Woodhams, was important because it was the first Official Visit to Western Australia by his Excellency. Mr David Daly, who is originally from Dublin, was appointed as Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the Commission of European Communities in January 2009.

The purpose of the visit was to help improve the mutual understanding and information between the EU and Australia. The EU and Western Australia share a very special relationship; not only does 70% of the population of Western Australia have European ancestry but the EU is also the largest source of foreign investment in Australia. Western Australia’s merchandise exports to the EU account for approximately $8.9 billion, with key export items being gold, nickel, and iron ore, which are some of our State’s key mining commodities.

The EU and Australia have comparable democratic parliamentary systems of government, so it was interesting to listen to Mr Daly’s take on how the EU is dealing with security policies.

The EU is also Australia’s largest scientific partner, so Mr Daly was very interested in WA’s involvement with the Australian and New Zealand Square Kilometre Array (anzSKA). The SKA aims at helping us learn about the evolution of the universe. The State Government of WA, together with CSIRO, has established a candidate core site in WA and is building the Australian SKA Pathfinder.