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

on indulgence—I want to thank the Prime Minister for his fine words and extend a very warm welcome to our most honoured guests here in the chamber today. Prime Minister Manele, to you and to the foreign minister, as well as the delegation, it was an honour to meet with you earlier today. Thank you very much for prioritising your visit here to Australia. It means an enormous amount to us, and it's a continuation, of course, over many decades, of the relationship between the Solomon Islands and Australia. You are family to us, and we very much appreciate the engagement that you have undertaken with us.

There is an opportunity, regardless of any change of politics on either side of the relationship, for a continuation of an abiding friendship that must always continue between our two nations. I want to say thank you very much for the advice that you gave us in relation to the mobility scheme and the way in which that benefits your economy and the way in which we can work together to make sure that there's not a brain drain but is, nonetheless, a transfer of skills, a remittance and an engagement on a people-to-people link. That is very important for our economy, it's important for yours and we hope that that can be a strengthened and deepened part of the relationship.

I want to endorse the words of the Prime Minister and—as I conveyed during the course of our bilateral meeting, Prime Minister—we very much believe in the Pacific Island Forum, the pre-eminent body. We also very much believe in the way in which the Pacific family can come together and can work out differences, can provide that security and the economic underpinning of the continued growth of both of our nations, as well as many of our dear friends and partners within the region. I know that the work of the Australian Federal Police continues and that is important. It was when we were in government and it is under this government. It will be an enduring feature of the relationship into the future as well. That is important because the Solomon Islands is a peaceful nation. It very much has a focus on domestic stability, and we want to be a partner with you in that regard, and in many other ways as well.

I know that, in your first speech as Prime Minister, you said:

I will discharge my duties diligently and with integrity. I will at all times put the interest of our people and country above all other interests.

They are commendable words, and I want to say thank you very much for your commitment. It demonstrates the foundation of successful leadership, when you make that commitment in your opening remarks. I want you to please go away from this place knowing that, on a bipartisan basis, we speak as one. I hope you can convey the message back to your cabinet that when you meet in Australia there is no difference between government and opposition, in terms of the strength of the messages that we've conveyed to you and the conversations that we've had with you, in a most respectful way, and that we appreciate that very much.

Can I say that tonight, as the Prime Minister rightly pointed out, is one of the cultural highlights in the Australian calendar—the State of Origin game. There's a large part of this parliament, the gallery and the Australian public watching who have no idea what we're talking about, because they're from states who don't follow rugby league as closely as we do. But it is not too late. You were, truly, diplomatic in your presentation, but it is not too late to change allegiance. If that's important to you, I can bring my tie up and we can exchange ties as part of a cultural exchange to further deepen the relationship!

You are a great friend. You are a great supporter of this relationship. You are a most honoured guest and welcome friend here in this parliament.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

See this speech in context