Pacific speakers put heads together to overcome obstacles

They have a big chair in front of Parliament and what they say in the House

But according to David Wilson, who is the Clerk of the New Zealand Parliament, being the President is a lonely job.

"You do not have any other colleagues doing the same job," he said.

"For us to have professional development, to share ideas with people who have similar experiences, it is useful to meet."

In a windy winter week, dozens of speakers and clerks from the parliaments of the region – the Federated States of Micronesia, Australia , Solomon Islands and Tonga – met. in Wellington

They attended speeches, workshops, seminars and luncheons, meeting around a tea and biscuits to share their experiences in order to glean new ideas to take home

. the Cook Islands, whose flowers brightened the cream and brown of the windowless corridors of the New Zealand Parliament.

"As a deputy, I have always considered speakers and clerics as people sitting in front of the parliament," she said. "For Ms. Matapo, how a parliament communicates what it does for people to care about what is happening especially interests them.

Ms. Matapo, who is the MP for Mangaia, said the Cook Islands Parliament had to work harder to involve communities in politics – especially women, youth and those in isolated islands.

"If you are from an isolated isolated North or South Island, not" To fill this gap, we need to find ways to connect with people, because some people see us as people who make a lot of noise in parliament. "

The theme of this year's rally was inclusivity: how do parliaments in the region become more accessible, representative and family-friendly?

New Zealand speaker Trevor Mallard has a lot of work Delegates said work will continue in the Pacific. 9002] In many countries, women's representation is poor and parliaments do not have the resources to broadcast television sessions or to create highly interactive websites and applications, not to mention Virtual Reality tours [19659010]. He imposed the Westminster parliamentary system

David Wilson said the rally was not about New Zealand and Australia trying to preach on how a parliament should be run.

"We have certainly learned challenges and shared ideas," said Mr. Wilson

"[But] we are also aware that there is a huge variation in the size of some of these institutions and in the resources they have, and I think that's why the Acting Secretary of the Vanuatu Parliament, Leon Teter, said that it was an opportunity to learn from the rules and practices – and how a parliament can run smoothly

He said While Vanuatu had experienced decades of public service reforms, the parliament of Port Vila was largely untouched.

Mr. Teter said that it allowed for pressure before the political crisis of 2016, when the government was dissolved.

"It was sad that [the] the Vanuatu parliament went through this scandal, but currently we have some discussions to carry out, I would say, a small reform regarding the parliament, "said Teter.

"I heard that the government would bring amendments this year."

For Leon Teter, he stated that the knowledge gained by other parliaments will prove useful when the time comes come for these reforms.