About the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

Australia Region

Australia is one of the founding members of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). There are nine Australia Region branches: Australian Capital Territory; Commonwealth of Australia; New South Wales; Northern Territory; Queensland; South Australia; Tasmania; Victoria; and Western Australia.

The Australia Region Management Committee for the CPA comprises representatives from each of the branches and meets on an annual basis to consider the forward program of activities for the CPA in the region. This includes regional conferences, which are usually held in conjunction with the Pacific Region of the CPA. Queensland is currently the chair of the Australia Region Management Committee. The Chair rotates annually among the Region’s branches.

Three Regional Representatives from each CPA Region sit on the CPA International Executive Committee. The current Australian representatives are: Senator Hon Sue Lines, President of the Senate (Commonwealth Parliament of Australia), Mark Shelton MP, (Tasmania) and Hon Pat Weir, Speaker (Queensland).

The Australia Region also has a Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Steering Committee comprising one female parliamentarian from each branch. The Committee plans the work of CWP in the Region. The current Chair of CWP Australia is Hon Kate Doust MLC from the Legislative Council of Western Australia. More information on CWP Australia Region can be obtained from the CWP website.

CWP Australia Region
President

Senator the Hon Sue Lines
President of the Senate, Commonwealth Parliament of Australia

Senator Lines has been a Senator for Western Australia since 2013. She was elected the President of the Senate on the day of the opening of the 47th Parliament.

Senator Lines is the first female Labor President of the Senate and becomes the second only female President following the election of Liberal Senator Margaret Reid in 1996.

In her time in the Senate, President Lines has represented Australia at the United Nations Women’s Forum in New York City, delivered statements as national delegation leader at the Women Political Leaders Reykjavik Global Forum, produced reports calling for gender equality at the Inter Parliamentary Union and, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

Mark Shelton MP

Mr Mark Shelton MP
Member of the House of Assembly, Parliament of Tasmania

Mr Shelton was first elected to the House of Assembly in March 2010 as the Member for Lyons.

Since his election to the House of Assembly in 2010, Mr Shelton has held a number of positions in the Liberal Government including:

  • Former Speaker of the House of Assembly (2021-2024);
  • Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly and Chair of Committees;
  • Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier;
  • Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development;
  • Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Management; Minister for Local Government; and
  • On numerous committees including the Tasmanian Parliament Privileges Committee, Government Business Enterprise Estimates Committee, Integrity Committee, Community Development Committee, Firearms Committee, Public Works Committee, the House of Assembly Restoration Bill Committee, Parliamentary inquiry into the sale of TOTE and was the only Opposition member ever to chair an Estimates committee in the history of the Tasmanian Parliament.

He also held the shadow portfolios of Police and Emergency Services, Sport & Recreation, Racing, Consumer Affairs, Forestry and Regional Development in Opposition.

From 2003 to 2010 Mr Shelton was the Mayor of the Meander Valley Council. He is also a former TAFE and Adult Education teacher in automotive studies.

Pat_Weir

Hon Pat Weir
Speaker, Parliament of Queensland

The Hon Patrick Weir was appointed Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in on 26 November 2024. He has been the Liberal National Party member for Condamine in the Queensland Legislative Assembly since 2015.

Kate-Doust

Hon Kate Doust MLC
Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Australia Region

Kate Doust was first elected to the Legislative Council of Western Australia in 2001 . Ms Doust was elected President of the Legislative Council in May 2017, the first woman to be elected as President of the Legislative Council in Western Australia. As the first woman Presiding Officer of the Parliament, she introduced International Women’s Day Celebrations to the Parliament and the establishment of a family room for members and staff of the Parliament of Western Australia.

Kate is the inaugural winner of the Commonwealth Parliamentarian of the Year Award 2022, in recognition of her long parliamentary service as well as working to promote women and people with disabilities in her community. The award also recognises her contributions to the work of the CPA (including acting as a Mentor during programmes), her commitment to the diversity of her community, the work she has undertaken in addressing and combatting domestic violence, and her approach in embracing innovation and new ideas in the Parliament of Western Australia. Kate has a keen interest in supporting women in the workplace and is a champion for women in science and technology.

The CWP network provides a means of building the capacity of women elected to Parliament to be more effective in their roles, improving the awareness and ability of all Parliamentarians, male and female, and encouraging them to include a gender perspective in all aspects of their role - legislation, oversight and representation and helping Parliaments to become gender-sensitive institutions.

Tesch

Ms Liesl Tesch AM MP
Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) Network Regional Champion

Ms Tesch is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, elected to represent the seat of Gosford in the 2017 election.

Ms Tesch became an incomplete paraplegic after a mountain bike accident at the age of 19..

She competed in her national wheelchair basketball team at five paralympics, winning three medals, and was the first woman to play the sport professionally.

She took up sailing in 2010, winning gold medals at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Paralympics.

Before entering politics, Ms Tesch worked as a high school teacher. In 2010, she co-founded Sports Matters, a charity that promotes sport for people with disabilities in developing countries.

The CPwD network was established by the CPA to support Parliamentarians with disabilities to be more effective in their roles and to help improve awareness of disability issues amongst all Parliamentarians and parliamentary staff.

To find out more about the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) network, please click here.

International

The CPA is an international community of Commonwealth Parliaments and Legislatures working together to deepen the Commonwealth’s commitment to the highest standards of democratic governance and parliamentary practice. The Association is made up of over 180 legislatures divided up between nine geographic regions of the Commonwealth: Africa, Asia, Australia, British Islands and Mediterranean (BIM), Canada, the Caribbean, the Americas and Atlantic (CAA), India, the Pacific, South-East Asia. Each region engages in its own programme of activities. It offers a vast opportunity for Parliamentarians and parliamentary staff to collaborate on issues of mutual interest and to share good practice.

The CPA includes Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP), which encourages female representation in parliaments and consideration of gender issues within CPA programs and activities. A steering committee for the CWP, comprising one representative from each region, plans the forward work program of the CWP. The current Chairperson of the CWP Steering Committee is the Hon. Dr Zainab Gimba MP, Federal Parliament of Nigeria.

World_Map

The CPA comprises nine regions: Africa; Asia; Australia; British Islands and Mediterranean; Canada; Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic; India; Pacific; South-East Asia.

9 Regions

180 Branches

54 Countries

17000 Members

About

Senator the Hon Reginald Farley, JP

President of the Association
President of the Senate of Barbados

Role of the President
The President of the Association is typically the Presiding Officer of the next CPC host Branch. They act as the honorary head of the Association and their duties are to preside over the CPA General Assembly and to Chair the Elections Committee.

Vacant



Role of the Vice-President
The CPA Vice-President is typically the Presiding Officer of the host branch of the next but one Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference.

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Hon Christopher Kalila MP

Chairperson of the CPA Executive Committee
Zambia


Role of the Chairperson
The role of the Chairperson is to be a spokesperson for the Association at relevant forums; provide leadership and direction to the CPA Executive Committee; and provide ongoing support and guidance to the CPA Secretary-General.

Carmel_Sepuloni

Hon Carmel Sepuloni MP

Vice-Chairperson of the CPA Executive Committee
New Zealand

Role of the Vice-Chairperson
The position of CPA Vice-Chairperson is for a term of one year and the holder is also a Member of the CPA Coordinating Committee. The CPA Vice-Chairperson is chosen from within the CPA Executive Committee and the Member remains as a Regional Representative for their CPA Region.

Treasurer

Hon Shri Anurag Sharma, MP

CPA Treasurer
Lok Sabha, Parliament of India

Hon. Shri Anurag Sharma, MP is a Bharatiya Janata Party politician and Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha, Parliament of India from the Jhansi-Lalitpur constituency of Uttar Pradesh. He was first elected in 2019.

Role of the CPA Treasurer
During the 65th CPA General Assembly which took place at the 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Canada, Members of the CPA endorsed the appointment of Hon. Shri Anurag Sharma, MP (India Union) as the new CPA Treasurer (2022-2025).

The CPA Treasurer, who is a Member of the Association nominated by the CPA Executive Committee, is appointed for three years by the General Assembly and works with the CPA Secretary-General and the CPA Headquarters Secretariat to monitor the finances of the Association. The CPA Treasurer also joins the Trustees board of the Association and oversees the Working Capital Fund and Conference Assistance Fund.

hon-zainab-gimbav2

Hon Dr Zainab Gimba MP

Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP)
Member of the Federal Parliament of Nigeria

Hon. Zainab Gimba is currently the Chairperson of the CWP Africa Region. She started her public service career as a Lecturer, in the Department of Public Administration, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria in 2002. Before entering Parliament, she had from 2011-2018 served as Commissioner in charge of Poverty Alleviation and Youth Empowerment, Universal Basic Education Board and Water Resources in Borno, Nigeria. Her public service was rewarded when her people elected her in 2019 to the Nigeria House of Representatives.

She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree and Master of Public Administration from the University of Maiduguri and a PhD in Public Administration and Policy Analysis from the University of Abuja. Hon. Gimba has received many awards and recognitions from professional and Trade Union bodies for her service in community development and empowerment of vulnerable women.

Role of the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP)
The Chairperson of the CWP was elected for a three-year term at the CWP Business Meeting at the seventh triennial conference of the CWP that took place in Halifax, Canada as part of the wider 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in 2022.

More information on the CWP and its governance structure can be found here .

valerie-woods-speaker

Hon Valerie Woods, MNA

Chairperson of CPA Small Branches
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize

Role of the CPA Small Branches Chairperson
Under CPA election rules only delegates from CPA Small Branches to the next Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference will take part in the vote to elect a new CPA Small Branches Chairperson. The election of the new Chairperson of Small Branches takes place at the CPA Small Branches Conference due to be held as part of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference.

Of the over 180 Branches of the CPA, forty-three Branches are classified as ‘Small Branches’ which are defined as jurisdictions having a population below 1 million people. The CPA Headquarters Secretariat works closely with CPA Small Branches in all Regions of the CPA to identify their unique needs and requirements in parliamentary strengthening, development and cooperation.

More information on the CPA Small Branches network and its governance structure can be found here .

Laura_Kanushu_Opori_Uganda

Hon Laura Kanushu Opori

Chairperson of Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD)
Parliament of Uganda

Hon. Laura Kanushu is a Ugandan lawyer, politician and legislator. She represents people with disabilities in the Parliament of Uganda, where she is a member of the National Resistance Movement (NRM). Her career as a human rights advocate has focused especially for people with disabilities and she is the Executive Director of Legal Action for People with Disabilities (LAPD). She is an Executive Member of the Uganda Women's Parliamentary Association (UWOPA) as the people with disabilities representative.

In the Parliament of Uganda, she is a Member of the Committee on Rules, Privileges and Discipline and she is also a Member of the Gender Labour and Social Development Committee.

Role of the CPwD Chairperson

Hon Laura Kanushu, MP (Uganda) was elected as the CPwD Chairperson at the CPwD Regional Champions meeting held in the margins of the 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Halifax, Canada in August 2022. In the same year, the CPwD Chairperson also became an Officer of the Association and a Members of the CPA Executive Committee.

CPA_Secretary-General

Mr Stephen Twigg
Secretary-General of the CPA

Stephen Twigg was appointed as the 8th Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and took up this position from 1 August 2020.

The CPA Secretary-General, Stephen Twigg is a former UK Parliamentarian, who was previously elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom as a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2005 (Enfield Southgate) and from 2010 to 2019 (Liverpool West Derby). During his parliamentary career, he held several senior positions including Chairperson of the International Development Select Committee, Minister for Schools and a range of Shadow Front Bench roles.

Prior to his parliamentary career, Stephen Twigg studied at Balliol College, Oxford University, where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He became the youngest President of the National Union of Students in 1990-92 and was then elected as a Local Councillor in the London Borough of Islington. Following the 2019 General Election, Stephen Twigg was instrumental in setting up the International Parliamentary Network for Education and was actively involved in parliamentary strengthening with both Global Partners Governance and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD).

Role of the Secretary-General
The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is the Chief Executive Officer of the Association and, in that capacity, administers its affairs and manages the staff of its CPA Headquarters Secretariat.

They are primarily responsible for representing the Association and promoting its aims and objectives; maintaining close links with the CPA Branches and CPA Regions, and providing advice and guidance on their activities and management; acting as Secretary to meetings of the CPA Executive Committee, the General Assembly and the Plenary Conference, and undertaking such other duties as are assigned by the General Assembly, the CPA Executive Committee or its Chairperson.

More information on the CPA at the international level can be obtained from the CPA HQ website

CPA International