Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives

For immediate release: 11 December 2016

New Zealand MPs attend Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Annual Conference

A New Zealand parliamentary delegation, led by Paul Foster-Bell MP and including Poto Williams MP, Jan Logie MP, Kelvin Davis MP and Scott Simpson MP, will join over 600 MPs from across the Commonwealth for the 62nd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) in London, United Kingdom this week.

The Speaker, Rt Hon David Carter, said CPC was an opportunity for New Zealand parliamentarians to discuss important issues with their international colleagues, and to address democratic and developmental challenges faced by many Commonwealth parliaments and countries.

“The CPA is a professional organisation of parliamentarians, representing around 30 per cent of the world’s population, who share a commitment to strengthening representative parliamentary democracy. New Zealand MPs regularly advocate for, and assist, smaller parliaments (particularly in the Pacific) to become more effective and accountable to their constituents, and I am sure the New Zealand delegation will again feature prominently at this years’ conference” he said.

The theme of this year’s conference is “A Collaborative Commonwealth: Unity, Diversity and Common Challenges”. As part of CPC, Paul Foster-Bell will represent the Pacific Region on the CPA’s Executive Committee, and Poto Williams will represent New Zealand and the Pacific at the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Steering Committee, as Pacific Region Chair.

The New Zealand delegation will also take part in a series of panel discussions, debates and workshops on key issues, which include the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, fostering freedom of religion, meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, ending violence against women and girls (the impact of social media), and the radicalisation of young people and how this challenge is being dealt with across the Commonwealth.

The conference runs from 11 – 17 December 2016.

ENDS

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