Thank you very much Ambassador, Your Grace, the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr Cesar Virata the new landlord of the Embassy, and can I say how delighted I am to renew my acquaintance. He and I knew each other as fellow attendees of the Asian Development Bank when he was Finance Minister of the Government of the Philippines and I was the Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia. We were equals then. He has now ended up as my landlord. That';s got to tell you something. But Mr Mayor, ladies and gentlemen, it';s a great pleasure that the opportunity to open these new Embassy premises comes during my visit to the Philippines.
It';s an opportunity to emphasise how important is our relationship, to remind ourselves that it was in 1946 that the first Australian diplomatic representative through a consulate-general was opened here on behalf of Australia. And Australia and the Philippines have been close friends and close partners for a very long period of time. The opening of that consulate-general in 1946 followed of course the liberation of the Philippines during World War II. Subsequently we were associated together in the South East Asia Treaty Organisation. There have been strong links through the Colombo plan and many other regional associations. And today we are joined together by many personal links, with more than 100,000 Australian citizens owing their heritage to the Philippines. The common cause we make in the fight against terrorism and our common recognition of the need to address the challenges of poverty and alienation and deprivation, which are to be found in many parts of the world, and not least of course here in the Philippines and other parts of the region.
I have had the opportunity over the past 24 hours or more of very extensive discussions with the President of the Philippines. Those discussions have been very comprehensive. We have made some important announcements in relation to joint activity against terrorism. I believe that our economic association can be made stronger. I welcome the announcement made regarding a coal quota from Australia to the Philippines. We have established a joint panel to deal in future with difficulties that may arise, particularly in the area of agricultural exports, and I know that is an important issue for the people and the Government of the Philippines. And we';re also very conscious of the importance of such issues as distance learning in parts of the Philippines and we in Australia, because of our size, know quite a bit about distance learning, and we can turn some of that expertise I hope to the benefit and the assistance of the people of the Philippines.
Finally can I say a word about the circumstances under which the diplomatic representatives of Australia operate in different parts of the world at present. Terrorism brings a particular threat to diplomatic personnel and as Prime Minister I';m very conscious of that, and I want to take this opportunity of saying to all of the members of the Australian diplomatic staff – both Australians and locally engaged staff – that the Government does understand that and we admire very much the professional way in which you carry out your duties in challenging circumstances. We are very much alive to that and the Government will continue to do all it can to ensure that your job is made not only, as I know it is very rewarding, very productive, but also is conducted in the most secure circumstances that it can be. Diplomatic missions are inevitably in this age of terrorism a particular target. That fact has to bluntly faced and bluntly stated and that';s one of the reasons of course why we';re gathered here today in this particular building. But I did not want the opportunity to go by without addressing some of those remarks very directly to those employed by the Australian Embassy.
And can I thank you Ambassador for the wonderful arrangements that you have made, and your staff have made, for my visit. It has been excellent. It';s been a very productive visit. I think it has added to the warm relationships between our two countries, and it';s therefore appropriate in that spirit that I conclude my remarks by declaring open these new premises. Long may they be a focal point for the further improvement of relations between our two countries.
Thank you.
[ends]