A delegation of Members of the European Parliament recently visited Australia to learn of Australian practice and build relationships with their Australian parliamentary counterparts.

During the week-long visit, the delegation met with the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson (pictured above) at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.  Dr Nelson was the former Australian Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union before commencing his new role as Director of the Australian War Memorial.

A visit to Port Lincoln in South Australia to inspect tuna and oyster farming methods was a key feature of the program for the eight delegates, representing the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria and Finland. 

Hosted by the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), the delegation were given an overview of the seafood industry in South Australia and briefed on the principles of Fisheries and Aquaculture Management and research development, before inspecting the sea based farms and land based processing facilities.  Due to the concerns of over-fishing and the subsequent reduction in catch quotas in Europe,  South Australian fish and shellfish are the largest Australian fish exports to Europe.

Left to right Mr David Martin MEP (United Kingdom), Mr Emilio Menendez Del Valle MEP (Spain), Mr Giles Chichester MEP, Delegation Leader (United Kingdom), the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson, Director of the Australian War Memorial, Ms Regina Bastos MEP (Portugal), Ms Monika Panayotova MEP (Bulgaria), Ms Elisabeth Jeggle MEP (Germany), Mr Hannu Takkula MEP (Finland), His Excellency Mr David Daly, Ambassador of the European Union in Australia and Mr Roger Camilleri.
Photo courtesy of the Australian War Memorial (Photographer – Kerry Alchin)