Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I seek to make a statement on indulgence.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Indulgence is granted.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 4 November in the United States we saw an example of the greatness of democracy at work. The people of the United States exercised their democratic right and elected the 44th President of the United States. It is estimated that up to 130 million Americans cast their votes. The majority of them voted for Barack Obama. Forty-five years after Martin Luther King dreamed of an America where men and women would be judged not on the colour of their skin but on the content of their character, the people of the United States have made that dream a reality. On behalf of the government, I want to extend to the President-elect our congratulations. Senator Obama was elected for the message of hope that he brought to the people of America. But equally it is a message of hope for the world.

We face many great challenges in the 21st century: the global financial crisis, climate change and international security. For the international community to tackle these challenges, we will need the continued leadership of the United States into the future. We are confident that Senator Obama will provide that leadership. We are also confident that the strength of the relationship between Australia and the United States will continue to prosper and to develop. Our alliance has been strong and continuous under 13 Australian prime ministers and 12 American presidents, Labor and Liberal, Republican and Democrat. Our alliance transcends politics.

When Senator Obama is sworn in as President of the United States on 20 January next year the Australian government will be ready to work closely with the new administration to build on the strong foundation that already exists in terms of security cooperation, to respond together to the great challenges of the global financial crisis and the ensuing downturn in the global economy and to forge a new international consensus on climate change. In the months ahead, Australia looks forward to continuing to work closely with President Bush and his administration on the many immediate challenges that we share, most critically the global financial crisis, on which the President’s continuing leadership remains important.

Senator Obama’s victory is historic. The Australian government looks forward to building a partnership with the new administration which will reinforce the vital and natural ties that have always existed between Australia and the United States, ties that serve both our peoples and both our governments so well.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on indulgence: on behalf of the opposition, I join the Prime Minister in congratulating President-elect Barack Obama on this historic election victory. The Prime Minister referred to Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech given 45 years ago. A speech it was; but in truth it was a prayer. Dr King said that he looked forward to the day when his little children would be judged not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. When Dr King gave that speech, the 44th President of the United States, as he shortly will be, was only two-years old. He was not one of Dr King’s children, but he was the child of that prayer and the child of those dreams. And what magnificent dreams.

Who among us would have ever thought that we would see the day a black man was elected to be President of the United States, a nation that has been riven by so much racial tension, so much violence and so much hatred. It has risen above all that and affirmed the greatest democracy in the world, affirmed the strength of its diversity and affirmed its confidence in its democracy. And in so doing it has defied all of the critics who said that it was a racist nation and who said that its marbled halls of power were not open to black people, to people from minorities in the United States. It has truly been a magnificent day.

We join with the government in congratulating President-elect Obama. Our countries have so much in common. It is not simply that the United States is the world’s leading democracy; it is not simply that it is our greatest ally; it is not simply that it must take the leadership role in so many of the great challenges facing the world—the global financial crisis, climate change, the war against terror and all of those great challenges. What we have in common, which Barack Obama personifies, is that we are two nations that define themselves by commitment to common political values. There is no person who can look into the mirror and say, ‘That is an Australian face,’ or ‘That is an American face.’ The United States is a nation of choice, a nation of immigration—just as our nation is. It is in that diversity that we find our strength. In that sense, Barack Obama reflects that diversity that is so key to our nation as well as his. In many respects, he is as much a citizen of the world as he will shortly be the first citizen of his nation. We share the great hope and optimism that President Obama will answer another call of Dr King, and that is to let freedom ring around the world.