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Amici.
Vi ringrazio per l'invitazione gentile stasera.
L'Australia non sarebbe il paese che è senza italiani!
Lunedì vado in Italia: dove dirò io, che l'Australia sta unita con l'Italia, unita per l'Abruzzo!
TRANSLATION:
Friends.
Thank you for the kind invitation this evening.
Australia wouldn't be the country it is without Italians!
On Monday I am going to Italy: where I will say that Australia stands together with Italy, united for Abruzzo!
I am delighted to be here tonight, especially so close to my departure for Italy.
Melbourne is one of the great cities of the world and I have no doubt part of the secret lies in the sophisticated cultural imprint your community has made here.
Italian culture has permeated so much through our kitchens, restaurants, clubs, and sports grounds that it is sometimes hard to know where Australia ends and Italy begins.
When you travel around the world it seems there are only two counties that can produce a decent coffee - - and they are Australia and Italy!
It's difficult to picture now, so deep is Melbourne's love affair with coffee, but the first café to boast an espresso machine in the 1950s had crowds of tea-drinking locals queuing on the footpath to watch the quirky, steaming contraption in action.
Now in 2009, we are so at home with Italian food that we have taken a few liberties with some Italian culinary staples.
I am informed by the highest sources in the land that on the hit cooking show Master Chef the beloved Italian dessert Tiramisu was given a good Aussie make-over and turned into “Beeramisu” using chocolate stout.
It was a travesty for some, but a true cultural hybrid for others!
Perhaps no event has given Australians a better understanding of Italian culture than the 2006 World Cup ... as much as we claim it was a daylight robbery.
Apart from Cathy Freeman's final in the 2000 Olympics, no other event united Australians more than our team's win to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, and our subsequent games in Germany.
Now we understand why phones are left off the hook, why cafes shut, and why people take leave from work during the World Cup.
It's because Australians now love the world game too - almost as much as Italians do.
And we enjoy winning too.
I am probably getting into sensitive territory here with those of you who support Italy over Australia in the World Cup.
Perhaps I shouldn't mention that Socceroos Coach Pim Verbeek's target at next year's World Cup is to take Australia to the quarter-finals and improve on their performance in Germany three years ago.
Perhaps I won't quote late Australian legend Johnny Warren who famously once said that his country should stop wondering whether they would qualify for World Cups and instead should ask when they would start winning them.
Whoever we support in next year's World Cup, we all love the game, and we all agree that the World Cup should come to Australia.
Before I visit Italy, I will drop in on the President of FIFA, Sepp Blatter, in Zurich and explain to him what a fabulous venue Australia would be for the World Cup in 2018 or 2022.
And we all agree that when the World Cup is in Australia the Italian team - the Azzurri - will have a rapturous welcome here.
Football aside, it is clear that Italy and Australia are great friends.
Australia is rightly proud of its Italian heritage.
Nearly one million Australians claim Italian ancestry.
Nearly 200,000 Australians were born in Italy, while some 30,000 Australians live in Italy.
Italians have built a vibrant community - a community that continues its strong tradition of contributing to all aspects of our national life.
Your community here tonight helps to maintain the strong and vibrant link between Australia and Italy.
Now our two nations are looking to further develop our relationship.
That is one of the reasons I am travelling to Italy next week.
I will be attending international climate change meetings that coincide with Italy's hosting of the Group of Eight - the G8 - meetings in L'Aquila; the very region where the earthquake struck in April.
And I look forward to meeting again with Prime Minister Berlusconi and working on the common challenges we face.
Australia and Italy have many common aspirations and we can work together - be it bilaterally, regionally and globally - to achieve our shared goals.
Australia and Italy have strong historic ties and frequent high level contact.
I have spoken to Prime Minister Berlusconi on the phone a number of times this year and we worked closely together at the G20 Summit in London in April.
The Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, is also in frequent contact with his counterpart, Franco Frattini.
We have close ties between Italy and Australia in trade and investment.
Our cultural and educational links continue to grow.
And we work together on many international challenges.
Certainly we are both working to promote stability and security in Afghanistan
We have shared views on the big question of nuclear disarmament.
Italy's Former Foreign and Defence Minister Mr Antonio Martino is on the Advisory Board of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament we established.
Italy is an important partner for Australia in engaging with Europe through our Australia-EU Partnership Framework.
We also have a strong history of Science and Research collaboration.
And during my visit next week we will take the next step in that collaboration when Australia and Italy sign an agreement to provide for cooperation on the international Square Kilometre Array project - a cutting edge global project to build a group of radio telescopes to help us look into the deepest history of the universe.
For us, having the home of Galileo Galilei on our side would be very important!
And we are working together on the great challenge of climate change.
I am delighted that Italy is a founding member of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute that Australia has established.
Together we will work with other international partners on commercialising and deploying this critical technology to reduce carbon emissions.
All these links are important and bode well for the future.
But what makes two countries true friends are the personal connections between people.
Connections between friends and families.
That is the bedrock of modern Australia-Italy relations.
And when one of our countries has been dealt a terrible blow, the other is there to help.
It's what friends do.
It's why we are here tonight.
Australia was shocked by the horrific earthquake that hit the Abruzzo region and devastated L'Aquila on 6 April.
For many in Australia, this was not a natural disaster affecting nameless people in a far off land.
This was something far closer to home.
This disaster affected friends and family.
Because a significant number of Italo-Australians come from the Abruzzo region.
This disaster was as keenly felt, the losses as deeply mourned as a natural calamity on our own shores.
I called Prime Minister Berlusconi at the time to pass on the condolences of the people of Australia.
He warmly received Australia's offer to assist with the effort to rebuild L'Aquila.
You should be rightly proud of the efforts by the community here in Melbourne to support the people of Abruzzo.
It is a testament to the strength and generosity of our community.
It shows our strong commitment to maintaining vibrant people-to-people links between Australia and Italy.
I am delighted to be Patron of the Australia-Abruzzo Earthquake Appeal Fund.
I am especially appreciative of the National and State Committees' efforts to mobilise community support and raise funds to help the people of the region.
Just three weeks after the earthquake struck, Nicoletta and Ubaldo and others in the National Committee organised a radio-a-thon on Rete Italia, the national Italian radio station, and raised $300,000 in one weekend.
That was an outstanding effort!
The state community organisations have been working non-stop to raise money and fundraising events are still taking place as I speak.
I know many of you are listening on Rete Italia tonight to the live broadcast of this event.
I thank you sincerely for your efforts.
And I want to say that you are not alone in wanting to help the people of Abruzzo.
Where you make such an effort, the Government should also pitch in.
That is why I have decided that we will match the Italian community's fundraising efforts dollar-for-dollar up to a level of $1.5 million.
Next week I will have the privilege of visiting L'Aquila to see first-hand the consequences of the devastation of 6 April.
I will carry with me, on your behalf, a message of solidarity, support and goodwill - to the Abruzzesi and to their future.
I congratulate Nicoletta and the other organisers of this event, and thank all those attending for their generosity and commitment to helping with the reconstruction in Abruzzo and wish you all an enjoyable evening.