What a wonderful occasion. What a historic occasion. Prime Minister, welcome.
Shalom Chaverim.
This demonstrates the deep friendship between our two countries.
And we have among us so many leading Australians, and you have brought a delegation of your colleagues from the Government of the State of Israel and business leaders but I want to particularly acknowledge former Prime Minister John Howard, Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten, many state and federal ministerial and parliamentary colleagues, the Australian Ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma, Israel’s Ambassador to Australian Shmuel Ben-Shmuel – welcome all.
As Bibi and I were just discussing, this is a big mishpocha here and we are delighted to be here.
This morning Lucy and I had great pleasure in welcoming the Prime Minister of the State of Israel and his wife Sara to Australia.
It’s good to have you back. This is your third visit, you said, but your first as a serving Israeli Prime Minister and the first Prime Minister of Israel in office to come to Australia.
The last time you were here your children were small and you had great adventures here, loving our country, seeing it - Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef. You know Australia well.
And you know, and we know, that Australia and Israel are firm friends, a relationship forged in the crucible of history, anchored in shared values, buttressed by strong community ties and given vitality by the optimism and the enterprise of our two young nations – we both know our best years are ahead of us.
It is almost 100 years since the charge of the Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade captured the town of Beersheba from the Ottoman Turks in the fading daylight of the 31st of October 1917.
This year, in October, we will be commemorating that event, coinciding with the 100-year anniversary, in recognition of its role as one of the foundations of our relationship.
And then, in 1947, so determined was our foreign minister HV Evatt to see the UN’s partition resolution carried that Australia has been described as a midwife at the birth of the State of Israel.
Our two nations share a commitment to freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
And we share the rich cultural inheritance of the Bible which has formed and framed our values, our history, our literature.
Both our nations are successful multicultural societies - immigration nations.
Now, many are quick to point out Israel’s shortcomings - none more so than Israelis perhaps - but we should never forget that the establishment and maintenance of this remarkable nation, threatened with destruction again and again, is truly a modern miracle.
And in a region where freedom and the rule of law is rarely found, Israel continues to maintain its robust democracy with a free press and a culture which would always prefer to challenge, rather than defer to authority.
The threats Israel faces, not only to its existence, but to its very right to exist, are all too real.
What other nation in the world is confronted with such a challenge not just to its borders, but to its very legitimacy.
Australia supports Israel’s right to defend itself and its citizens, within secure borders so that they can enjoy the peace for which its people yearn.
Indeed, with Australian Defence Force personnel serving as UN peacekeepers along three of Israel’s borders, and having done so for many years, our commitment to Israel's security is tangible and resolute.
We want to see peace between Israel and the Palestinians, through a negotiated, two-state solution.
But we recognise that a durable settlement can only be achieved if the security of Israel is assured.
Used to the vastness of our continent, Australians are always shocked to see how small a space Israel occupies, how tenaciously it stands, back to the sea, a stone’s throw from its foes.
Our hope is that Israelis and Palestinians alike will, in the words of the 34th Psalm, not simply seek peace, but pursue it.
And this time, may be a good opportunity to do so, with so many larger and more intractable conflicts in the region, and with Israel’s contribution to regional stability more widely recognised.
We stand with Israel as we always have - an all-weather friend, as committed as we are consistent.
My Government will not support one-sided resolutions criticising Israel of the kind recently adopted by Security Council.
And we deplore the boycott campaigns which are designed to de-legitimise the Jewish State.
In addition to the peacekeepers on Israel’s borders, our forces are making, as you know, a substantial contribution to the coalition effort to destroy ISIL, Daesh and its so called caliphate.
We look forward to continuing and enhancing our defence and security engagement.
And both of us have committed to strong cyber security strategies, key elements in our national security, just as it is in delivering the resilience and integrity of all the digital platforms on which our 21st century economies are built.
Now Bibi and I first met in Israel in 2004 where I had been meeting with leaders in technology, science and investment.
Whether it was the elaborate water system of Herod’s fortress on Masada or the desalination plant at Ashkelon, whether it was the ancient streets of old Jerusalem or the boardrooms of Tel Aviv, I could see that throughout its history the greatest natural resource of Israel has been the brilliance and the enterprise of its people.
And perhaps in this century more than ever.
So we have been delighted, as Prime Ministers, to further expand the strong people to people links between our nations.
We have already seen a bilateral agreement to enhance air links and welcomed a Working Holiday Visa arrangement that promotes greater flows of our young people visiting each other’s country.
If plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery, Israel should be very flattered as all of us seek to emulate the innovation success of Israel - the original Start Up Nation.
Indeed, we didn’t just buy the book - we put the author on the board of Innovation and Science Australia!
That’s why my Government has established an innovation Landing Pad in Tel Aviv – the second of five that we have established globally – which is helping Australian entrepreneurs and investors connect with Israel’s deep innovation ecosystem and otherwise soak up the chutzpah, the readiness to challenge authority, that is as thoroughly Israeli as it is Australian.
And not just start ups, giants including Telstra, CBA and NAB, for example, have all established partnerships in Israel in order to stay abreast of, and invest in, emerging and disruptive technologies.
We will strengthen these links when we sign an agreement on Technological Innovation and Research and Development, providing a framework for our scientists, engineers and businesses to create the jobs and industries of the future.
Israel, for example, represents one of the more important export markets for Australian-made Cochlear ear implants in absolute terms, due to the subsidies made available by the Israeli Government.
Australian venture capital firm Square Peg Capital set up an office in Israel in late 2015, to lead a $60 million investment round into Tel Aviv-based Fiverr, a global online marketplace.
And we’ve already, Bibi and I, have already spoken to a number of Australian business leaders who are investing in Israel and who are bringing Israeli partners to invest here.
Many Israeli companies are playing an increasing role in our technology ecosystem.
Checkpoint—inventors of the firewall.
Business intelligence specialists, Verint.
And of course, with water, one of my great passions, Netafim, who pioneered drip irrigation.
Solar hot water company, Chromagen and water conservation and management experts, Takadu.
Medical research, so important to the future of us all, so important to the lives of Israelis and Australians and indeed people all around the world.
Giants, the Garvan Institute and the Weizmann Institute have partnered to established a centre for cellular genomics in Darlinghurst which will open this year.
And the Hebrew University and the Universities of Sydney and New South Wales have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on medicinal cannabis research. And you will have seen the announcement that the government there in that very important issue today.
Now, Prime Minister, I know that one of the greatest imperatives of the Jewish tradition is tikkun olam – the obligation of every person to seek to make the world a better place.
And you could not imagine modern Australia without the brilliance, the enterprise and the generosity of Jewish Australians so many of whom are here today.
Whether it is literature or science, politics or law, business or medicine, art or war, Jewish Australians have made a contribution vastly out of proportion to their small numbers.
And none more so than Sir John Monash, born in Melbourne, the son of Polish Jewish parents, migrants to Australia.
The finest general on the Western front, Montgomery called him.
100 years ago next July, and for the first time, Australian and American troops went into battle together, at a place called Hamel – they were led by Monash. His brilliance secured the victory which turned the tide to end the Great War.
In your presence, Prime Minister, I salute our Jewish community and I thank them for helping make our remarkable nation what it is today.
Thousands of miles separate Australia and Israel, but the ties that bind, the values we share, embodied here, in this great assembly, bring our nations closer together than ever.
Welcome to Australia, Prime Minister.
And I will add just one final word from the 122nd Psalm - Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.”
Thank you
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