Date Posted: July 05 2023

52nd Presiding Officers-Speaker & Clerks Conference (POCC) 2023

MEDIA RELEASE

SI Governor General hosts welcome reception for Pacific Parliaments

(Sunday July 2, 2023)

The 52nd Presiding Officers and Clerks' Conference is now underway in Honiara, Solomon Islands (SI) after the Governor General H.E Sir David Vunagi hosted a welcome reception at Government House last night.
Sir Vunagi in his official speech encouraged participants to make the most of the conference and challenged them to continue to work together in addressing the challenges facing parliaments in the region.
"Parliamentary twinning partnerships is one such initiative that is of great value and one which I hope, you will continue to support," he said. The offical opening cermony will take place today at the SI Parliament House's Chamber and Gallery, where more than 50 Presiding Officers/Speakers and Clerks from 18 parliaments in the Pacific Region including Papua New Guinea, Australia (Federal and State) and New Zealand are attending.
The PNG Parliament is represented by Assistant Speaker Hon. Johnson Wapunai, MP and Clerk of Parliament Kala Aufa who will be presenting Jurisdiction Reports, attending Twinning Meetings with the Queensland Parliament and contributing to dialogue during panel sessions on promoting and enhancing the institutional roles and effectiveness of parliaments in the region.
Another key event for this conference will be the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Australia Region and Pacific Region Management Committee meetings which will be held on Tuesday July 4th, 2023 at Parliament House.
The other participating countries apart from the host SI, include parliaments from Nauru, Vanuatu, Bougainville House of Representatives, Tuvalu, Tonga, Kiribati and Congress of New Caledonia.
 

Authorised by Kala Aufa, Clerk of Parliament

« Back to News