Speech at the official opening of the Australian Chancery in Amman

Amman

Speech, check against delivery, EO&E

12 December 2010

Let me say some things about Australia and our engagement with this wonderful country.

As you know our diplomatic relations with Jordan go back some 35 years. And in that period of time we have had a diplomatic mission here on the ground in Amman, and that is why it is good today to have the opportunity to launch, albeit a little bit late, and officially open the Australian Chancery here in Amman.

This is an important relationship for Australia. It goes back a long, long, long time — well before the establishment of diplomatic relations.

I think we're familiar here, one and all, with the history of the Australian light horse and their work with those who participated in the great Arab rising of 1916 — 1918. This was our very first chapter of our engagement with the independent Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Of course our political relations with the Kingdom are in first class working order. I spent the morning with the Foreign Minister and I will leave here to be received for an audience with His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen.

This is a good relationship, we are doing good things together in the world, we are doing good things together here in Amman.

More broadly across of course the wider fabric of the Middle East, Jordan and Australia have an active interest in bringing to conclusion the Middle East Peace Process.

You cannot be in Jordan but be reminded again of the continued longstanding interest of the Palestinian people to have a place to call home, a State to call home, an independent Palestinian state.

In Australia our position for decades has been a two state solution. One an independent and secure state for Israel but in its neighbour, an independent and secure Palestinian state. And these core objects lie at the very heart of Australian diplomacy and foreign policy and I will be deeply engaged in these questions in the year which lies ahead.

The last this I would say is that more broadly for the good people of Jordan; many, many, many Jordanians find their way to study in Australia each year. We have thousands of Jordanian students in Australia and we have tens of thousands from across the Arab world each year. And the message I would just send back to Jordan and more widely across the Arab world is that these students are very welcome guests in our midst. We take them all as members temporarily of the Australian family, we are pleased that they chose to study in our parts of the world.

They join the ranks of hundreds of thousands of students from China, from Japan, from Indonesia, from the Middle East from Latin America; all creating human bridges, between our country, a multicultural country and countries such as this, a long way from our shores.

For those of you who have worked here for a long time as members of the locally engaged staff, I would like to say some particular things.

We on the diplomatic side come and go. The Ambassadors come and they go. The Australia-based diplomats come and they go. What is really important for us is the fact that those of you who serve here as members of our local staff, you remain. You provide a continuing thread of services to the good people of Jordan, in whatever capacity; whether it's dealing, as I spoke with the young lady in the corner there, with our commitments to the refugee communities in Jordan or those who are dealing with the consular needs of Jordanian Australians or those who are dealing with those who wish to migrate to our shores.

Can I say to each and every one of you, it is so important to us that you are dedicated members of our Australian team here.

So thank you for those of you who have served as long as 15 years — and I said I wouldn't mention that again. For those who have worked for shorter periods of time because you are so much part and parcel of the Australian effort in this part of the world.

So it is good to be here. It is good to be on my first visit to the Hashemite Kingdom.

I will terrify you all by saying it will not be my last. You're likely to have me on a more regular basis here and in other capitals across the region as we tackle the large challenges that lie before us in the year ahead.

So thank you for your hospitality this morning. Thank you for enjoying the Melbourne weather outside. For those of you who have not been to Melbourne, this is a perfect Melbourne day and slightly toastier than my experience there.

Let's have a cup of tea together and celebrate this important occasion.

Thank you Ambassador.

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