Mr JOHN MILLS (Wallsend) [5.52 p.m.]: In the last week of July, between two reportedly sparkling and sunny Sydney weekends, 22 remarkable New South Wales people comprising doctors, nurses and health professionals took part in the Eyes on Tibet—Yunnan 2005 mission. They performed 312 cataract operations in five days in remote areas of Yunnan Province in China, at Jinping in the south, which is close to the Vietnam border, and Weishan in the west. The operations were performed on patients who could not afford such operations in China. Most could not afford the bus fare to their nearest hospital and most were from ethnic minorities. All the professionals provided their services free of charge. I reiterate that there was no charge and I congratulate these outstanding medical people on, first, their humanitarian spirit; second, their generosity in giving their time and their talent; and, third, their commitment to the finest tradition of health professionals in restoring sight to those who could not see and who, because of their poverty, were most in need.

I urge honourable members to take great notice of this example of the good works, charity and social conscience of these New South Wales specialist doctors, nurses and other health professionals. We should cite the positive example of the Eyes on Tibet mission to counterbalance negative comments about health workers. The mission was organised by the Australian Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China [ACPPRC], whose president, Mr William Chiu, also served as mission president. Approximately $A350,000 was raised, mainly in Sydney, to cover the costs of the mission. The medical team gave their services free of charge. All necessary equipment was purchased here and taken to Yunnan. Later it was left behind to assist ongoing health services in remote areas of China.

This is the third successive year in which an Eyes on Tibet mission, organised by the ACPPRC, has successfully restored sight to impoverished people in remote regions of China. Two previous missions were carried out in Tibet and Sichuan Province. The former Premier and Minister for Citizenship, Bob Carr, recognised the humanitarian and generous nature of this project by launching the first mission and opening a photographic exhibition in Parliament House on the mission's return. But the heroes of the mission are the members of the medical team who come from Sydney and regional New South Wales. There were seven eye surgeons from New South Wales. The chief surgeons were Dr Kerrie Meades of Sydney and Dr Lisa Cottee of Lismore. The honourable member for Lismore, who is in the Chamber, would probably know Dr Cottee. The surgeons from Sydney were Dr David Ng, Dr Christopher Brown, Dr Geoffrey Painter, Dr Michael Newman, and Dr Gary Schiller from Taree-Forster. The other doctors were Dr David Scott, an anaesthetist from Lismore, and Dr Alf Schebesta, an anaesthetist from Sydney. General practitioners who were members of the medical team were Dr Ven Tan and Dr Tony Goh from Sydney.

There were 11 nurses and professional staff who also were members of the team and they were Ms Patricia Quah, a nurse from Sydney; Ms Rosita Ang, an administrator from Sydney; and Mr Seng Quah, an engineer and instrument specialist from Sydney. Other team members were Ms Beverley-May Sainty-Jones, a nurse from Sydney; Ms Michelle Courtney-Harris,rolex replica watches an orthoptist from New South Wales; Ms Kath Mears, a nurse from Taree; Ms Deborah Yu, an optometrist from Sydney; Ms Maggie Chen, a nurse from Taipei; Ms Michelle Johnson, a nurse from Sydney; Ms Melinda Kremer, an orthoptist from Taree; and Ms Kerry Legg, a nurse unit manager from Sydney.

In addition, three specialist surgeons and one specialist nurse from China joined the operating team: Dr Lin Ray-Ann from Taipei, Dr Wu Lei from Chengdu, Dr Cha Guo-Ming from Weishan People's Hospital in China and Ms Zhou Li, a nurse from Chengdu. It is important to thank the people who were members of the team appropriately. Other nursing and support staff from Weishan and Jinping hospitals assisted in the operations. I applaud the generosity of those who donated the much-needed funds. The budget for Eyes on Tibet—Yunnan 2005 included the supply of the latest medical equipment and all the consumable items that were taken on the mission, the pre-operation and post-operation check-ups, hospital accommodation and transport for patients, and air fares and accommodation for the medical team.

Funding for the Eyes on Tibet—Yunnan 2005 mission has been sourced from generous donations by Austcorp, Keddies, Medlab, Alcon Laboratories, Click Press and other business and individual supporters, from fundraising dinners and appeals in both Australia and overseas. Supporters included members of the Asia-Pacific Friendship Group of this Parliament. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the co-organisers of the mission, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China and the organisers, the ACPPRC, the Yunnan Provincial Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the National Committee for Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese of the People's Political Consultative Conference. I say, "Well done!" to these generous and humanitarian people for saving the sight of poor people in China.

Mr GRANT McBRIDE (The Entrance—Minister for Gaming and Racing, and Minister for the Central Coast) [5.57 p.m.]: I support the comments made by the honourable member for Wallsend and commend him on bringing to the attention of the Parliament the great humanitarian work carried out by a team of volunteer medical practitioners comprising doctors, nurses, technicians and others who provided great humanitarian service to our neighbours. I emphasise the importance of the mission in building better relationships between Australia and countries in Asia. That is an element that is often neglected. I know from personal experience in Asia that Australia's humanitarian aid attracts enormous credit and creates enormous goodwill toward Australia which transfer to Australia's bilateral relations with Asian countries and bodes well for relationships with them in the future. I ask the honourable member for Wallsend to pass on my congratulations to all members of the mission who made the journey on behalf of Australia to provide great service to people of another country.