Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

On indulgence, Mr Speaker, just quickly: I want to thank the minister for his answer and thank him for the recognition of what was a very significant event last night. Obviously, he's a Sydney Swans supporter, which is why he was happy to move on from the other event on the weekend—for some reason he didn't like that game! Last night was a celebration of the friendship between our two countries and there is no more important period in history where our two countries need to come together, and James Marape is a particularly dear friend of our country. Bryan Kramer and other ministers were there last night, and we've worked very closely with all of them over a long period of time. The fact that our Prime Minister has extended an opportunity for Prime Minister Marape to travel with him to Tokyo for Mr Abe's funeral is to be recognised as well. The depth of the friendship is necessary. And through sport, as the minister points out, it is a common language and an opportunity for us to develop and grow even further the relationship between our two countries. It was a great night. It was a little one-sided by about 70 to four in the results in each of the games, but, nonetheless, it was a celebration of a great friendship.

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