Statement to Preparatory Conference for the 6th United Nations
Alliance of Civilizations (UNAoC) Forum
Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Doha
Tuesday 29 April 2014
(Arabic greeting)
I would like to say ‘shuhkran’ to the Government of the State of Qatar for hosting this important meeting, and in particular for the presence and direction of His Excellency Mr Al-Nasser and His Excellency Dr Al-Mohannadi. And I would agree with Dr Al-Mohannadi that the UNAoC needs to be an action-oriented forum, which is why Australia earmarked its contribution to the UNAoC Trust Fund specifically for projects in the Asia-Pacific region.
Australia, as a moderate, multicultural society, is committed to promoting interfaith dialogue, particularly in our own region of the Indian Ocean / Asia Pacific. 40 percent of all Australian citizens were either born overseas, or had one or both parents born overseas. I count myself in that statistic. The three most widely spoken foreign languages in Australia now are Mandarin Chinese, Italian and Arabic, and earlier this year the first ever Islamic Museum of Australia opened in Melbourne. There are over half a million practitioners of the Islamic faith in Australia, and growing rapidly.
It is important to recognise that interfaith understanding has tangible benefits in countering extremism and promoting friendly
relations among nations.
We have worked particularly closely with the Republic of Indonesia in establishing and supporting the six Regional Interfaith Dialogues that have been held since 2004.
This year’s Annual Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations is a good opportunity to promote the work of the AoC in our region and align its work with other regional initiatives, particularly the Regional Interfaith Dialogues and other activities Australia has been involved with, such as the grassroots interfaith dialogue activities we have supported in the Philippines, involving local community groups, non-government organisations and religious leaders, especially in the southern island of Mindanao. The Australian Government has also recently launched what it calls a New Colombo Plan, with over 300 Australian undergraduate students from 24 universities undergoing exchanges and work placements in Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong. The number of participating countries in the Plan is expected to expand considerably in the future.
Australia is pleased that its close neighbour Indonesia is hosting the event in Bali in August and that the theme will be “Unity in Diversity”, Indonesia’s national motto.
I look forward to an update later today from the Director-General on planning for the Forum, especially the activities that will focus on youth and education.
To conclude, Australia intends to remain active in promoting interfaith dialogue in global forums such as this and I thank you Mr Chairman for giving me the opportunity of participating in this conference over the next two days.