Original text
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: Your Majesty, it is an absolute honour to welcome you to Australia. We had a very good meeting last year in New York, where we discussed the full range of issues confronting not just our nations, but confronting the world and humanity. Unfortunately, some of those are of course, still going because we do live in a time of increasing global uncertainty, particularly with ...
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: Your Majesty, it is an absolute honour to welcome you to Australia. We had a very good meeting last year in New York, where we discussed the full range of issues confronting not just our nations, but confronting the world and humanity. Unfortunately, some of those are of course, still going because we do live in a time of increasing global uncertainty, particularly with the escalating conflict in the Middle East. We share your condemnation of the Houthi attacks against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And we mourn the tragic loss of life that we have seen. We have consistently called for de-escalation in the region. It's never been more important for countries to work together in the interests of international security. We're building on our defence and security cooperation, our support for humanitarian efforts, and the cooperation that we have on resources and energy. We also have a proud history of working together on issues such as counter terrorism and countering extremism. I look forward to advancing that work in the discussion that we're going to have today. And I know that you've already had a range of meetings here in Australia. And I was so pleased that you could accept the invitation of our Governor-General to visit Australia. I myself had a wonderful visit to Jordan many years ago now it must be said. But you play such an important role in the region, and your personal leadership is also something that I want to express my admiration for. In your part of the world – we live in here, an island continent with no land borders, your situation is far more complex in that part of the world, and the role that you play in being an advocate for peace and security is an absolutely critical one. HIS MAJESTY KING ABDULLAH II IBN AL HUSSEIN, KING OF THE HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF JORDAN: Prime Minister, thank you very much. On behalf of myself and my delegation, I express tremendous thanks for the hospitality we have received back in your country. As you say, this is a relationship that's been out there for many, many years. I'm deeply proud of the interaction between Australia, especially as you allude to the challenges that we're having globally, but specifically, I think in our part of the world. And historically, obviously, your country has had an enormous presence, and I think through this visit, a great opportunity for us to be able to advance among those subject areas in the right direction. As you alluded to, military and intelligence, we have an amazing relationship that can only get stronger. I do hope that we'll have you back in Jordan sometime soon, and I believe that all of us have a lot of work to do in trying to de-escalate the challenges in our region. Obviously navigating these sorts of problems to be able to figure out how we can bring people closer together. So, I'm glad to be here and look forward to discussion.
Speech Brief