PRIME MINISTER:
Mr President, welcome to Australia.
As we discussed you came here previously in 2012, but this is your first visit as President.
When you came in to the building, into my office just a few moments ago and signed the guest book, you paid tribute to the 42 Australians who paid the supreme sacrifice in freedom’s cause defending the freedom of Afghanistan and fighting, as have 18,500 Australians, to keep the world free from terrorism.
A global struggle and your resolute determination to stand up for freedom to defy the terrorists is one that we admire, continue to support.
As I said to you in our meeting we will continue our military commitment to Afghanistan, now into 2018. We will continue to do that. And, of course, we have a ongoing substantial contribution to your defence budget and we have a substantial aid program.
We are working on many important agendas. Economic development – a subject in which you are of course a world expert and it is good to see you have a Minister for Water, a Minister for Mines and a Minister for Agriculture among your distinguished delegation. These are all areas that are absolutely critical to Afghanistan’s development.
We also applaud your commitment to greater transparency in Government, to eliminating corruption and the way in which you have set out to liberate women and girls to ensure that they have access to education and to all of the opportunities that have been denied them under the rule of the Taliban.
So, Mr President, welcome. We have a lot to discuss. We welcome all of your delegation here and we trust that this will be a very productive visit to Australia.
PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN:
Mr Prime Minister and your Australian colleagues, thank you for receiving us and thank you for those kind words.
I would like to thank not only the men and women in uniform, but I would also like to thank the Australian taxpayers. Over a billion dollars in commitments have been made – very generous of Australians.
I would like to thank you for your leadership.
What brings us together is shared values on which you stand. Afghanistan is committed to live under a constitution, to ensure the rule of law becomes the embodiment.
As you have often said, terrorism is a technique – if you are to overcome this technique, we need to differentiate ourselves and what we differentiate as is the citizen based approach. A global set of partnerships, a regional understanding that we realise that our fates are linked.
I would like to pay tribute again to Australians throughout the 20th century and the 21st century – you’ve always assumed a burden of responsibility when you’ve not been directly threatened.
Your sacrifices across the 20th century and now in Afghanistan, I was just at the War Memorial where a special wing is dedicated to Afghanistan and that shows that values can bring people together.
Where we have the ultimate cause in common, which is the freedoms that have been gained so hard to 18th, 19th and 20th centuries need to be preserved and that we’re willing to join hands, to join forces and to differentiate.
I would like to thank the Australian assistance for its focus on governance. The Australian technical assistance, Mr Prime Minister, is among the very best in the world. It is facilitating, it is focused on system building, on monitoring, and what they have done, two of your experts in economic governance have had a fundamental impact.
And when I was Finance Minister, and [inaudible], really made a contribution that is truly enduring and we look forward very much.
Thank you for the affirmation of your support through to 2018. Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for your leadership. And my heartiest thanks as the Leader of Afghanistan to the Australian people and to your armed forces who are second to none in courage, whose determination, whose valor and whose sense of international obligation is exceptional.
It is great to be with you.
[ends]