For immediate release 8 July 2016

Regional Presiding Officers Conference in Tonga

The Speaker, Rt Hon David Carter, will represent the New Zealand Parliament at the 47th Conference of Presiding Officers and Clerks being held in Nuku’alofa, Tonga from 10 – 14 July, 2016.

The annual conference, attended by Presiding Officers and Clerks from Australian and Pacific parliaments, is an important forum for knowledge sharing and professional development for the participants.

“Presiding Officers and Clerks from Australia and the Pacific present papers on a broad range of parliamentary issues and discuss parliamentary practice and procedure in their respective parliaments. This kind of inter-parliamentary dialogue and interaction is an excellent learning opportunity for the participants, enhances relationships between the region’s parliaments, and increases the parliamentary and procedural knowledge of all those involved.”

The Speaker will present a paper titled "The challenges of protecting parliamentary independence" during the conference.

The New Zealand Parliament is supporting attendance from Cook Islands. Alongside the conference two Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) meetings will be held to support regional engagement within the Commonwealth. In addition to these meetings, the Secretary-General of the CPA, Mr Akbar Khan, will attend the conference following his two day visit to Wellington on 7 – 8 July. This is the first time Mr Akbar will have the opportunity to address CPA Pacific Region Branches as a group since the beginning of his tenure on 1 January 2016.

ENDS

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