The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has visited Australians serving in Afghanistan at the beginning of her first international trip since becoming Prime Minister and thanked them for their hard work and dedication on behalf of all Australians.
In Tarin Kot she met with members of Combined Team Uruzgan, including personnel from the Australian Defence Force, Australian diplomats, AusAID officials, Australian Federal Police and the Special Operations Task Group and confirmed the Government's ongoing commitment to the mission in Afghanistan.
The Prime Minister paid tribute to the professionalism and dedication of Australian personnel and honoured the 21 soldiers who have lost their lives during the deployment.
Ms Gillard received briefings from local commanders on progress against the insurgency, the training and mentoring of the Afghan National Army 4th Brigade in Uruzgan, police training and on Australia's support for development and improved governance in the province.
While there are significant security, development and governance challenges ahead, Australians are making a difference in Afghanistan. The training and mentoring of the 4th Brigade will allow a progressive transition of responsibility for security to Afghan forces.
The Prime Minister later travelled to Kabul, where she met with the President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, who thanked the Prime Minister for Australia's continued commitment. The Prime Minister congratulated President Karzai on the first fully Afghan-led elections since 2001.
She met with the President and a number of Afghan Government Ministers for discussions before having a private dinner with President Karzai.
Ms Gillard underscored Australia's intention to continue working with the Afghan Government to help meet its objectives to improve security, governance and development across the country and reiterated Australia's expectations of the Afghan Government in the process.
Ms Gillard also met with the Commander ISAF, General David Petraeus, and discussed the International Security Assistance Force's (ISAF) strategy in Afghanistan. General Petraeus confirmed that all elements of the US-led surge in Afghanistan were now in place and was being given time to complete its mission.
They discussed ongoing plans for ISAF and the Afghan Government to continue working on a transition to an Afghan-led security responsibility over the coming years and that this would be a focus of discussion at the NATO/ISAF Leaders Summit in Lisbon in November.
The Prime Minister will have further discussions on Afghanistan, including the transition to Afghanistan-led security, when she meets NATO Secretary- General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in Brussels on 4 October.
The visit was part of Ms Gillard's first international trip since becoming Prime Minister. She will also stop briefly in Zurich to meet with FIFA President Sepp Blatter to discuss Australia's bid for the 2018 and 2022 Soccer World Cup.
Ms Gillard will then travel on to Brussels where she will attend the ASEM conference where she will be among 46 world leaders from Europe and Asia to discuss trade and security.