May I begin by acknowledging that we celebrate Africa Day, the 54th anniversary of the founding of what we now recognise as the African Union, on the lands of the Ngunnawal peoples, and paying our respects to their Elders past and present.
Your Excellencies the Governor General and Lady Cosgrove, the Honourable Julie Bishop, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Your Excellency the Dean of the Africa Group and Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia, Mr Nabil Lakhal, Your Excellencies Members of the Diplomatic Corps, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
It is a pleasure to join you all this evening. It is a tribute to the quality of African diplomacy and your personal capacities that you represent the wonderful diversity of Africa in such a cohesive and united way.
You would all agree that the tragedy that struck Manchester the evening before last has cast a pall over the entire global community a pall that is sadly familiar to many of you given Africas continual exposure to acts of terrorism.
We are as united in our sorrow as we are in our determination to defend the values of freedom, equality, compassion and tolerance. We stand with the United Kingdom in this, as we do with all nations that share our respect for our common humanity.
These are the values that have allowed Australia to enjoy a remarkable continuity in our foreign policy. The development of sound and cordial relationships between Australia and the nations of Africa is something about which we are justifiably proud.
In our Parliament, and in our community more broadly, these relationships are deeply personal. Two of my Labor colleagues, Anne Aly and Peter Khalil, were born in Egypt, while my new Senate colleague, Lucy Gichuhi, is from Kenya.
The times in which we now live are placing unanticipated demands on our governments as we learn to deal with the disruptive forces that are now at play in the broad international environment.
Central to the response of the global community is the continued need for agreed international rules. And to that end, all members of the global community must be engaged in negotiating and promulgating those rules.
This, I think, brings into focus three quite different areas for international action and cooperation.
First, there must be an even more active and engaged role for the UN and its agencies. It is for that reason that Labor supports the governments bid for Australia to sit on the United Nations Human Rights Council. I certainly hope that your governments see their way clear to supporting Australias candidacy.
Second, there is a ongoing, desperate need for greater international effort to alleviate poverty and to stimulate economic development in the less fortunate nations of the world. I look forward to a day when there is a greater agreement across our community and our Parliament for greater levels of international development assistance.
And third, there is the shared challenge of climate change and as a former Minister for Climate Change that is something dear to my heart.
Many of your nations are facing shrinking lakes, drought, famine and increasing desertification. The potential impact on peoples lives is shocking, as is the impact on the environment in which they live. Our two fabulous continents face real risks, and if only for reasons of intergenerational equity, we need to work together to tackle climate change as a matter of the greatest urgency.
We look forward to working with all of you on these matters.