I am pleased to announce today the award of an Honorary Companion in the Order of Australia to Singapore Senior Minister and former Prime Minister HE Mr Goh Chok Tong.
On behalf of the Governor General, I will confer the award on Mr Goh at an investiture ceremony to be held at the Residence of the Australian High Commissioner in Singapore.
Mr Goh, who served as Singapore's second Prime Minister from 1990 to 2004, has made an outstanding personal contribution to the bilateral relationship between Australia and Singapore. Under his stewardship, Singapore vitally contributed to Australia's national interests by fostering Singapore's evolution into an effective, successful nation with a global outlook in the region, an achievement which has contributed positively to Australia's own strategic, political and economic interests.
Mr Goh's term in office as Prime Minister saw the development of bilateral relations to the point where Australia and Singapore are very close and effective partners in South-east Asia - strategically, in defence, trade and investment, tourism and education. He placed renewed and effective emphasis on our defence relationship which is now one of the closest defence partnerships we have globally. The benefits of that partnership have been highlighted by the strong cooperation between us on the ground to assist Indonesia in the wake of the terrible devastation wrought by the Indian Ocean tsunamis.
Mr Goh has been a strong and consistent advocate of free trade and economic liberalisation generally and has helped move the region towards closer economic integration, which has been of significant benefit to Australia. He was a key and effective advocate of the Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement which entered into force in 2003. He has been a steadfast proponent of Australian participation in the region, including for a free trade agreement between Australia, New Zealand and ASEAN, negotiations for which were launched at the ASEAN Summit late last year.
The award I will confer on Mr Goh today is in recognition of his eminent service to Australia-Singapore relations in these important fields.