Australia Unlimited / Council for Arab Australia Relations Reception
Australian Embassy Residence, Abu Dhabi
Monday 14 April 2014
Thank you all for coming this evening. Tonight is meant to be a mostly informal occasion for some relaxed networking, as we mark the end of this year’s Australia Unlimited program in the UAE.
I had planned just to say a few short words of welcome tonight. But then I changed my mind. Given this is the wrap up event, I would like to acknowledge a few people. Firstly, my wife Rebecca. Very important as I sometimes forget to do this and I haven’t seen much of her lately.
Secondly, Andrew Robb, Minister for Trade and Investment. As humble public servants we in the Embassy and Consulate-General are here to do the bidding of our ministers and hopefully to offer frank and fearless advice when required. But I must say that this job is so much easier when the minister is clearly engaged, enthusiastic, committed and, importantly, a decent and good person to deal with.
And he’s got stamina. Over the past two days, he’s posed in front of the Asian Football Confederations Cup with Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the UAE Minister for Youth Culture and Community Development; signed an MOU on Higher Education and Scientific Research with UAE Minister for Higher Education Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan; held two major press conferences; hosted an investment infrastructure roundtable; took part in an education seminar following the opening of Australia Unlimited in Dubai; handed to UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan a diplomatic note confirming the entry into force today of our bilateral agreement on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy; talked up expanded civil aviation links with Chairman of Emirates Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum; outlined Australia’s investment priorities with Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Managing Director of ADIA and Mohammed Al Shaibani, the CEO of the Investment Corporation of Dubai; and last but not least had two meetings with his counterpart Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, the UAE Minister of Economy.
Thank you Minister for visiting us, good luck in Riyadh and look forward to your next visit to our shores.
I would like to acknowledge Andrew Stoner MP, the Deputy Premier of the Great State of New South Wales and the Minister for Trade and Investment. This is his second visit to the UAE in two years and he’s always also very engaged and committed.
Could I also give a nod to Robert Hill, the former long-serving member of parliament and minister in the Howard Goverment, and a former Australian Ambassador to the United Nations in New York. It’s been great to have him on the program and we have valued his contribution enormously.
Talal Yassine, the Chairman of the Council for Australia Arab Relations. The Council hosted today’s forum on the nexus between food, water and energy and is also funding most of this event tonight. I must say the nexus between food, water and energy was brought home to me pretty clearly over these past two days. Without much time to eat and drink I certainly felt my energy levels dropping!
Could I acknowledge the ten members of Federal parliament, both from the House of Representatives and the Senate, Liberal, National and Labor Parties, who are here tonight, courtesy of their visit to the UAE hosted by the Government of Abu Dhabi. I hope and trust you got the glitz and glamour tour and look forward to catching up again tomorrow night.
To my friend and colleague Gerard Seeber, the Australian Consul General for Dubai and the northern Emirates Senior Trade Commissioner for Austrade across the Middle East and North Africa: Gerard and I arrived in the UAE about the same time two years ago and we were talking about how we could raise the profile of Australia in the UAE which we felt needed a bit of a boost. We needed to be proactive. We
couldn’t just sit on our heels and rely on the fact that the UAE likes Australia and Australians so our commercial interests would just take care of themselves by osmosis. The Australia Unlimited campaign is his vision and - together with his fantastic Austrade staff - also his implementation. I think with all the media
coverage, the networking and the substantive discussions we have brought Australia to the forefront. Thanks Gerard and good luck in Saudi.
The sponsors - our Platinum sponsors Aconex and Qantas; our Gold sponsors Navitas, the Government of Victoria and SP Jain; and our networking reception sponsor Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
Finally, I wanted to give a big vote of thanks to all my Embassy staff and especially to my Deputy, Kim Debenham, for doing such a fantastic job organising Minister Robb’s visit. Kim has made such a great contribution since commencing at the Embassy this year.
Thank you all.