Majestades
Es un gran placer para mi darles la bienvenida en nombre del pueblo de Australia - sobre todo en el dia de San Juan Bauttista.
Las relaciónes entre Australia y España son mas de cuatro cientos años.
Con vuestra visita, podemos mirar adelante al rediscubrimiento de Australia de los españoles.
Your Majesties
It is a great pleasure to welcome you on behalf of the Australian people - especially on the day of St John the Baptist.
The relationship between Australia and Spain is over 400 years old.
With your visit, we can look ahead to the rediscovery of Australia by the Spanish.
Both our nations are ancient yet modern.
Yours has a rich history stretching back across the millennia of Europe.
Through our Indigenous people, ours is a history of the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
And we share some important history too.
Just over 400 years ago two Spanish explorers - Fernando de Quiros and Vaez de Torres - sailed to the Pacific Ocean near Australia.
The stretch of water between Australia and Papua New Guinea is now called Torres Strait in honour of the Spanish navigator.
Nearly 200 years ago (in 1821) the first Spanish settlers came to what was then a relatively new British colony called New South Wales.
And before the first Spanish settlers, there were those most famous of Spanish Australians, the merino sheep.
My forebears arrived in Botany Bay on the Second Fleet in 1790.
They beat the merino sheep - Spanish by origin, but who came to Australia by way of South Africa - by less than 10 years!
So our shared history is long.
It entered a new phase in the 1960s when a new group of Spanish migrants came to Australia.
Like others from nearly every nation on earth, the Spanish migrants made Australia their home.
They brought with them the famous Spanish zest for life.
And they have added enormously to our nation - to our sporting, cultural, culinary and business life.
The Spanish community is an integral part of modern Australia - a part of that we, and I think Your Majesties, can be proud of.
Australia and Spain share more than history though.
Both of our nations also bring together a modern story of democracy and development; and of contribution to international affairs.
Your Majesties are renowned patrons of democracy, having overseen, for more than three decades, Spain's enduring transformation into one of the world's great democracies.
As modern democracies and market economies, Australia and Spain share a common commitment to advancing human rights, to promoting strong and effective global institutions, and supporting a prosperous, peaceful, secure future.
Our countries have worked together for many years to promote these goals in multilateral institutions, particularly within the United Nations. I have met Prime Minister Zapatero on many occasions and worked with him closely on international challenges.
Australia looks forward to this continuing collaboration with Spain as we live up to our responsibilities as nations committed to fostering new, higher levels of international commitment to tackle the intractable challenges of our times: the global economic downturn, climate change and poverty alleviation.
Australia and Spain also have a shared strategic outlook on international issues.
We are committed to working towards common security goals, including international stabilisation efforts in Afghanistan.
Australia has recently increased our military and civilian commitment to Afghanistan from 1100 to around 1550.
Australia welcomes Spain's recently announced increased troop commitment to Afghanistan through NATO's International Security Assistance Force.
We also welcome Spain's decision to send additional troops to provide security during the presidential elections in Afghanistan.
Just as merino sheep once served as a link between Australia and Spain, it is now our common values and our commitment to making a global contribution that serve as the platform for a strengthened relationship between our two countries.
I'm confident the strong interest Australians have in Spain will continue to grow, particularly following tomorrow's official opening, by Your Majesties, of the Cervantes Institute in Sydney.
Named after the great Spanish author, Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) - one of giants of world literature, famous, of course, for his literary masterpiece, Don Quixote - the Institute will be a great boost for the study and appreciation of Spanish culture and language in Australia.
We are also pleased that so many of your students each year choose to study in Australia - they are welcome guests in our country.
The bilateral relationship between our two countries is strong, cooperative and increasingly ambitious.
We welcome that these common aspirations are now reflected in the Joint Action Plan signed earlier today.
Australia is particularly keen to work closely with Spain in the lead-up to your country's EU presidency in the first half of 2010.
Your Majesties, today you are very welcome guests.
Can I conclude by thanking you for your visit, and conveying to you, on behalf of the Government and the people of Australia, the warmest regards of our nation.