Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

It is my pleasure to also welcome Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak to the Australian Parliament. I thank the Prime Minister for his personal support for the important partnership between Australia and Timor-Leste. Timor-Leste and Australia are more than just near neighbours; we share a strong and a vibrant friendship. This relationship was forged during World War II when the people of Timor-Leste saved many Australian lives at great cost to themselves. One of those lives that they saved was my mentor Tom Uren who was captured on Timor along with other members of the Sparrow Force and other forces that were there during World War II. The Timorese literally put their lives on the line to save Australian lives. I know that, at the memorial at Marrickville Park in my electorate, there's a tribute to the courage of the Timorese.

Our friendship has grown even stronger in the decade since, particularly since independence. In 2019 I was very honoured to visit Dili with then Prime Minister Morrison for the 20th anniversary of the independence referendum. It took enormous sacrifices for Timor-Leste to achieve its sovereignty, and I want to acknowledge that today as well as the efforts by leaders since then to make democracy work. Today, with this visit, the Prime Minister and I reaffirmed the bond between our nations and our commitment to deepening it further. We have discussed defence and economic cooperation, labour mobility and our joint commitment to security and prosperity of the region. We know that important projects, including the Greater Sunrise project that we discussed today and I discussed with Woodside last week when I was in Perth, are important for the future development of Timor-Leste.

I am incredibly optimistic about our future. Timor-Leste has a lot of friends in Australia, and everyone in this chamber can be counted upon as part of that. Again, I thank you, Prime Minister, for bringing your delegation here today. You are very, very welcome.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

See this speech in context