On behalf of the Government and people of Australia, I warmly welcome the announcement by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI in Cologne today that World Youth Day 2008 will be held in Sydney.
I congratulate Cardinal Pell, the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, the wider Catholic community and all those, including the New South Wales Government, who have worked so hard on the Sydney bid.
I am very pleased to have supported the bid. My Government will work with Cardinal Pell and his team and the New South Wales Government to make World Youth Day in Sydney a truly memorable event.
Australia looks forward with anticipation to the visit of the Holy Father and the youth of the world for World Youth Day in Sydney in July 2008.