Prime Minister Carney, Madame Fox-Carney, it is my great honour and absolute pleasure to welcome you and all the members of your delegation to our Parliament, on behalf of the people of Australia.
And I know I speak for every member of this place, when I say we are very much looking forward to your address.
It may help you to know that back in 1839, Britain sentenced 58 French-Canadians involved in the rebellion in Quebec, to be transported to New South Wales, and put to work, widening Parramatta Road, which goes through my local electorate in Sydney and past Canada Bay, in the electorate of the Member for Reid.
In 1854, it was a Canadian, Henry Ross, who stood in the centre of the Eureka Stockade at Ballarat and raised a new flag.
The iconic Southern Cross, a symbol of the miners’ struggle for justice.
In other words, Prime Minister, Canadian rebels with bold ideas have always been welcome here in Australia.
That is because our countries have always recognised something of ourselves in each other.
We are two societies enriched by Indigenous cultures and their love and connection to the beauty of our lands and our waters.
Commonwealth countries that have forged unique, proud and independent identities.
Democracies that did not just adopt the Westminster system – we made it fairer, stronger and our own.
Two nations that are at our very best when we look over our wide horizons.
When we look out to the world – and bring our values with us, as we engage with it.
The first Australian Prime Minister to address a joint sitting of the Canadian Parliament was our great wartime Labor leader, John Curtin.
Standing in your House of Commons on the 1st of June, 1944, just five days before Australians would help Canadians take - and hold - Juno Beach, Curtin looked to the future those brave men were fighting for.
How to secure a lasting peace, worth the winning.
How to build an economy and society worthy of the service, sacrifice and suffering of those who had kept it free.
And the role that Australia and Canada had to play in this.
Curtin said this:
“In a world where none of us is strong enough to stand alone, we shall discover how – and by what means – we can best stand with and for each other”
More than eight decades on - even in a new world order - that old test endures.
Technology is changing the nature of conflict and heightening the risk - and cost - of escalation.
And if ever nations such as ours had the luxury of imagining that distance alone kept us safe, those days are certainly gone.
The same Iranian Regime launching indiscriminate attacks on nations across the Middle East orchestrated antisemitic attacks on a synagogue and a small business here in Australia in 2024.
For us, as two democracies in an age of polarisation.
As two dynamic trading nations in a time of disrupted supply chains.
And as two middle powers in an era of strategic competition.
Australia and Canada must seek and create new ways to stand with – and for – each other.
Prime Minister, for all the comfortable ties of old affection, what makes the friendship between Australia and Canada noteworthy is what we do not share.
We do not share a border, a region, a hemisphere, or any market smaller than the global one.
Yet this makes the connection between our countries more meaningful, not less.
Because our co-operation, our partnership, is a positive choice – not a necessity.
When we work together it is on the basis of our shared convictions – not mutual convenience.
And when we do, when we stand in solidarity with the brave people of Ukraine.
When we work together to seize the economic opportunities of clean energy.
When we strengthen our defence industry co-operation, including through Australia’s biggest-ever defence export, the world-leading ‘Over The Horizon Radar’ technology.
And when we face-up to the urgent global challenge of climate change.
Because we know what it means for our unique environments, for our farmers and growers and producers and for our firefighters, who for decades have travelled between our nations to help each other in the toughest of times, and now face the prospect of their fire seasons overlapping because of climate change.
When we act together, we demonstrate to our citizens that government is not a passive institution, it is an instrument for positive change.
And what’s more, when we send a message to all those nations that look to us - as equals, as peers, as neighbours, and as leaders.
That they too have choice, agency and a part to play.
Because peace, security and prosperity are not the preserve of the great powers alone.
They are our common cause – and our collective responsibility.
Prime Minister, Australia and Canada are middle powers in a world that is changing.
We cannot change it back.
But we can back ourselves, back our citizens - and back each other.
And your visit reflects our shared ambition for Australia and Canada to do more together, at a deeper level.
To build on our shared strengths, from our resources and critical minerals to defence technology, to the investing power of our superannuation and pension funds.
Prime Minister, in this decade, where nearly every single challenge is a global one.
The distance between our two nations has never mattered less.
And the closeness of our values has never mattered more.
Together, let us seize the opportunities that the world holds for us.
You are very welcome here in our Parliament today, I thank you for your ongoing friendship and our regular dialogue. You'll be welcome in Australia always.