This weekend Australian Prime Minister, the Honourable Tony Abbott MP, will make his first official visit to Malaysia. The visit reaffirms the close and longstanding friendship between Australia and Malaysia.
Just over fifty years ago, as Malaysia celebrated its inaugural national day, the then Prime Minister of Australia, Sir Robert Menzies, expressed his hope for the relationship between our two countries. He said, “we must all work together, think together, be willing to understand each other and to help each other”.
This year, perhaps more than any other, has seen our nations realise this hope.
Sadly, tragedy and atrocity has brought us closer together. Australia mourns with Malaysia following the crash of MH370 and the downing of MH17. The worst of times of times is bringing out the best in our countries.
The search for Flight MH370 is the biggest in history and we are continuing to work together. Australia will spare no effort. We will not rest until we have done everything we can to find MH370.
On the other side of the world, we are doing everything in our power to ensure that the downing of MH17 is thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators of this atrocity brought to justice.
Through these difficult months, I acknowledge the help, support and leadership of Prime Minister Najib. We continue to work together so that a measure of peace can be given to the families and friends who have lost loved ones.
During this visit, Australia also hopes to strengthen the deep trade and investment, education, cultural and security ties between our countries.
Trade and investment between our countries is strong and continues to grow, to our mutual benefit.
Malaysia is now Australia’s ninth largest trading partner with two-way trade in goods and services in 2013 reaching almost A$18 billion. Two-way investment stands at over A$26 billion.
The entry into force of the Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement on 1 January 2013 was a significant step forward and we continue to build on this progress with more trade between our countries. Increased trade results in more investment, more jobs and more prosperity for both countries.
One of the hallmarks of the bilateral relationship has been education. Over the years more than 300,000 Malaysians have studied in Australian universities. As well as the 21,000 Malaysian students currently studying in Australia, another 20,000 students are enrolled at Australian universities in Malaysia.
Australia has much to offer the world; we also have much to learn, especially from Asia.
From next year, the first Australian students will travel to Malaysia to study and learn under my government’s New Colombo Plan. Studying in Malaysia will deepen the knowledge of students as well as deepen their understanding of life in Malaysia.
While Australia’s diplomatic presence in Malaysia was established almost 60 years ago, our shared history stretches back to World War II when Australian soldiers fought in defence of Malaya. Our involvement in the Emergency from 1950 to 1963 is the longest continuous military commitment in Australia’s history. During the Confrontation between 1965 and 1966 Australia also provided troops to support Malaysia.
In more recent and peaceful times, our defence relationship has matured under the auspices of the Five Power Defence Arrangements. It is now one of Australia’s most enduring and important defence relationships.
Our law enforcement and national security agencies also work closely together and have made substantial progress in countering common security threats, including people-smuggling and human trafficking, terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Across almost every field, Australians and Malyasians have demonstrated a proven capacity to work together. Our people-to-people linkages are deep. Most Malaysians have a personal Australian connection or have visited Australia as a tourist or student. At the same time, more Australians are seeing the depth and wonders of Malaysia – as well as the opportunities that closer ties provide.
Looking forward, I feel a great sense of optimism about the future trajectory of our bilateral relationship. Over the years, we have built a broad, deep and dynamic relationship underpinned by shared interests, common values and tremendous good will between our people. It is a relationship that will only strengthen.