During their visit to Australia and meetings in Canberra, the members of the delegation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, headed by the Assembly Speaker, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, talked to Harry Jenkins, Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Hogg, President of the Senate, Julia Bishop, deputy leader of the opposition and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Steven Smith, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Tony Zappia, president of the Australia-Serbia friendship group, Laurie Ferguson, Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and David Hawker, Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

In all the contacts and meetings, the NARS delegation brought up issues important for the development of bilateral relations between Serbia and Australia, among them: liberalisation of the Australian visa regime, the need to sign both a Social Insurance Agreement and Health Insurance Agreement, development of air transport, tourism, Australian investment into Serbia, development of educational, cultural, sports and all other forms of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

The NARS Speaker held a lecture at the esteemed Australian Institute of International Relations on: “Serbia and European Integration”. The gathering was attended by a wide auditorium which exhibited a particular interest in the subject by participating in the discussion.

On the same day, the delegation members met with the Serbian diaspora (representatives of the Serbian Sports Centre – Bonering, representatives of Serbian clubs from New South Wales, the Bishop of Australia and New Zealand Kyr Irinej, the Mayor of Fairfield and NSW Parliament member Nick Lalich). In her address, the Assembly Speaker stressed that this was the first visit to Australia and the Serbian disapora on such a high level in 30 years. She informed them of the goals of this visit to Australia, as well as the topics discussed in the Australian Parliament important for both the two countries’ relations and specifically for the Serbian diaspora in Australia.

On the second day of its stay in Australia, the NARS delegation appeared on SBS TV and radio station where the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia gave a 30-minute interview.