Speaker Trevor Mallard has canned his trip to Asia because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaker Trevor Mallard has canned his trip to Asia because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Trevor Mallard has canned the annual Speaker's Tour amid the growing uncertainty about the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Speaker of the House was set to take at least three MPs on a trip to Japan, Malaysia and Thailand for various engagements with top officials, businesses and organisations.
Mallard told the Heraldthe two-week trip during the Easter recess was a valuable contact-building opportunity but ultimately postponed it indefinitely in light of the rising coronavirus uncertainty.
National MPs Melissa Lee and Maureen Pugh and Labour MP Duncan Webb were among those set to go on the trip but Mallard let them know on Tuesday that it had been postponed.
It's now unlikely to go ahead until at least after the election, Mallard said.
He made the call because of embassy advice that the number of meetings Japanese officials are holding is falling and because the Australians - who were the joint hosts - pulled out of an organised Anzac ceremony in Malaysia.
It was also further complicated by Malaysia currently not having a government, he said.
"And while we think the Speaker will probably continue because we're invited by him, it could get complicated.
"So I just thought that rather than make a last-minute decision in two or three weeks to cut it or have other people cut it, it's better to postpone it now."
Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard with gorillas in Rwanda during a previous Speaker's Tour. Photo / Facebook
The Speaker was also conscious about potentially infecting MPs with Covid-19 and that the self-isolation requirements would likely change between now and the end of April.
"We certainly wouldn't want to be the cause of it spreading."
The canned trip included meetings with high-ranking and up-and-coming officials, scholars, meeting other Speakers, exporters to New Zealand and workplace visits to a fish market, a hydrogen project and a forestry park.
Meetings with the Japanese organisers of the Rugby World Cup and Olympics were also on the cards, Mallard said.
"So people are disappointed but also realistic."
The annual taxpayer-funded trip has been controversial in the past with other tours wracking up bills of more than $160,000.
Mallard said the criticism usually comes in election years because too often the tours included MPs who were retiring so he's now drawn a line in the sand to only invite politicians who weren't at the end of their career.
"A big part of this is building contacts for the future."
