Thank you very much Mr Nick Warner, Assistant Commissioner, Ben McDevitt, ladies and gentlemen. I want to thankyou, where ever you come from, whether from Australia or New Zealand or Papua New Guinea or Tonga or Fiji, all of the countries of the Pacific that have contributed this mission which has brought already a great deal of stability and hope to the people of the Solomon Islands.
We were invited here as friends by our friends in the Solomon Islands. I can say, speaking for the Australian community that the country is full of admiration for the work that you have done and I am sure that I speak for the communities of all the other contributing nations.
It';s not easy to transplant yourself from your home environment. It';s not easy to win the confidence of the local people, and that is only done if you have an appropriate mix of authority and cooperation and friendship and from what I have been told and it';s evident from what I observe, that this particular force has been able to do that very effectively indeed.
Although it has gone extremely well so far and has gone without too many undue incidents, I appreciate, as I';m sure you do, that it still continues to be a mission containing risks and dangers. I certainly don';t take things for granted and I know that you don';t, but I';m very confident that the leadership that you are receiving, both from Mr Warner, from the High Commissioner, from your Commanding Officer and from the Police Assistant Commissioner, Ben McDevitt. I know that you';re getting both the right kind of leadership, you';re being told what is involved you';re also, I think, understanding the very important mission that you';re undertaking because it';s very important for all of us in this part of the world to help each other.
When your neighbour gets in trouble you should always be willing to help your neighbour in a friendly way and this a cooperative effort, it';s not just an Australian effort, it';s not just a New Zealand effort or a PNG effort, it is a cooperative effort of all of the nations of the Pacific. And I was at the Pacific Forum meeting in Auckland the week before last and there was overwhelming support from all of the countries represented at that gathering for the Regional Assistance Mission here in the Solomon Islands. So can I just say again, particularly of course as Australian Prime Minister, to all of my fellow Australians who are here, thank you very much for what you';re doing in the name of our country and the way in which you once again demonstrate the professionalism and the skill and the commitment of the men and women of the Australian Defence Force as well as the men and women of the Australian Federal Police.
May I also say with equal emphasis and an equally heart felt way, to our friends from other countries in the Pacific, thankyou for joining us, thankyou for the cooperation that has been achieved and most importantly thankyou for the contribution you are making to restoring the law and order of this community, of giving the people hope.
I was certainly struck when I arrived with the obvious welcome and expression of, I suppose, collective thanks to me as Prime Minister of Australia for what has been done and I know that you';ve been experiencing that and all the messages I get are positive and once again all of you have brought enormous credit to your respective countries to the military forces and the police forces of those countries.
Good luck, you';ve done a great job and I know that that will go on.
[ends]