Salaam Alaykum.
Ahlan wa Sahlan si Australia.
Today is a day of historic significance.
Your Excellency, your visit is the first ever by a Prime Minister of your country to Australia. It is therefore a day of great celebration. It is a day which has become therefore a great symbol of all that your country has achieved in the face of great turmoil in recent years, that we can now welcome you to Australia.
This building in which we meet is the symbol of Australian democracy and it is proper that we should host you here because you represent through your personal courage a continuing but increasingly successful struggle to establish a democracy in a place that was the cradle of civilisation.
Many of us in Australia studied the history of ancient Mesopotamia, studied the history of Ur of the Chaldees, the history of what was called the Fertile Crescent. To see this modern state and democratic state of Iraq emerge from such and ancient and revered history to join the society and community of nations today is indeed a good and a great thing.
Mr Prime Minister, I met you for the first time in Baghdad in December 2007, shortly after I came to office. Your own personal courage in acting against the Shia militia in 2008 was a turning point in convincing the people of Iraq that you led a government for all Iraqis.
Your and nation and its people have been through extraordinary difficulties and your leadership has been a critical element in helping your nation overcome these difficulties.
Of course great challenges still lie ahead. Just this week we have seen in Baghdad terrible, terrible suicide bombings. We and all countries of the world condemn all such terrorist acts and admire you, Prime Minister, for your continuing courage in standing up to these terrorists.
And I can say Prime Minister that in the midst of continuing challenges in your country, the Government and people of Australia particularly appreciated your sending your condolences and those of the Iraqi people following the recent tragic bushfires in Victoria.
Prime Minister, I am pleased that you have been able to visit Australia so we could discuss today how Australia and Iraq can work in the partnership in the years that lie ahead because I think the time has come for Australia and Iraq to begin a new phase in our relationship.
Through our discussions today, we are settling the framework for a new relationship that is broadly based and not simply focused on military and security relations.
That is why today we agreed to enhance cooperation in six key areas - what we described as the six new pillars of the Iraq-Australia relationship. Agriculture, resources and energy, trade, public health, training and research and of course security.
And I am pleased that our officials have been busy at work today since you and I in our discussions this morning agreed that these would be the six pillars of the new broadened relationship between our two countries, our two economies and our two peoples.
I am pleased that this evening, following dinner, we will both sign the document which our officials have worked on today.
By my calculation this agreement has been concluded within eight hours of its conception - that may be a record in global diplomacy, which says something about the speed with which global diplomacy normally operates.
Prime Minister, I was particularly pleased today that we agreed to enhance our cooperation in agriculture.
Iraq as we know is an ancient home of farming.
It is at the heart of the Fertile Crescent that saw great developments in agriculture that spread throughout the world.
Today Australia too is a proud innovator in agriculture and given that we both face dry climates, we have much to learn together and we have much to gain from working together.
We already have 120 Iraqi students in Australia on scholarships learning about world's best practice in livestock management, in environmental management and in agricultural administration.
Our aim is simple - to provide a group of specialists for your country with the skills to develop a strong agricultural sector.
It is an important part of our development assistance cooperation with your nation. It is also, I believe, an important foundation for the commercial relationship in agriculture between our two countries as well.
Prime Minister, your desire for your country to obtain food security for your people is understandable, legitimate and one to be supported. We in Australia wish to be partners with you in securing that ambition for your country and for your people.
Today we agreed on a new $17 million program that adds another strand to this cooperation, this cooperation in agriculture.
At the same time, we are also looking to develop our economic links more broadly.
Australia and Iraq can do a lot more together. Australian resource companies can help Iraq develop its natural resources and Iraqis are welcome to learn from what expertise we have to offer.
Furthermore we also have expertise in design and construction in many areas.
This evening, Prime Minister, I was pleased to be able to introduce to you representatives of the Australian design and construction industry who have already tendered successfully and hopefully in the future will tender successfully again for the construction of public hospital facilities in your country, as you build your public health system.
We also look more broadly for greater cooperation in the overall area of education, training and research. At the high-tech end of the spectrum Australian firms have also much to offer our friends in Iraq.
Whether it is in the field of border surveillance or health systems, Australian firms are world beaters in their fields. There is ample scope for greater economic and trade relationships between our nations, and our two economies.
Prime Minister your nation has been through troubling times. But under your leadership, it is emerging into a much brighter future. And you are to be congratulated for it.
Before we spoke of our aspirations for our wider region - yours in the Middle East, ours in East Asia and the Pacific but more broadly in terms of our engagement with the world.
Our common aspiration was expressed in an Arabic expression which runs something like this - Al-Sadieq wallah adu waheed. Which for the fluent Arabic speakers in the Australian parliament of whom there are none, hence my confidence in saying what I just said, means ‘to have 1,000 friends but not a single enemy'. This is a great aspiration for a government leader and for a leader of a new democracy in so troubled a region as the wider Middle East.
Australia wants to be a partner with you, Prime Minister, and a partner with the people of Iraq in building that future. These are not just fine diplomatic sentiments as you would expect on a formal state occasion, these are very much the practical aspirations of the Australian Government and the Australian people in working with you in the new six pillars of our economic relationship, this new phase in the Iraq-Australia relationship.
Today we took important steps towards achieving that goal.
We now have a framework for our vital work together in the future.
Prime Minister I thank you for your cooperation and please know this -personally and to members of your delegation, you are indeed welcome guests in our country, Australia.
I thank you.