Message from David Holly, High Commissioner of Australia
26 January is Australia Day, a day when Australians around the world celebrate what’s great about Australia and being Australian. It is a celebration of the many wondrous things about our country.
On Australia Day, we celebrate Australia’s rich history, including honouring the first Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, whose continuing cultures are the oldest on earth. We celebrate our values, our democracy, our freedoms and our belief that we owe each other a fair go and the opportunity to realise our dreams. With our people coming from close to 200 countries, Australians are naturally international citizens, and we have strong friendships with people and nations across the globe.
Australia and Sri Lanka has been close friends and partners since before independence, strengthened by extensive bilateral cooperation and people- to- people links. This year we celebrate 73 years of bilateral ties between Australia and Sri Lanka. The diverse Sri Lankan community of over 170,000 people in Australia includes Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and Burghers who cont r i bute to all aspects of Australian life. At the same time, the diaspora community maintains close links with Sri Lanka, through their families, business and other linkages.
This longstanding friendship has been built on the foundation of strong people- to- people links, our shared values and increasingly our shared interests as Indian Ocean countries and in the Commonwealth. We have fast growing cooperation across a wide range of fields, including education, trade and investment, and efforts to combat transnational crime and address the security challenges in our region.
Australia was quick to assist the Sri Lankan Government after Easter Sunday terror attacks. This included direct support to those affected, support from the Australian Federal Police to Sri Lankan authorities in investigating the attacks, and assisting to strengthen security arrangements at Sri Lanka’s parliament.
I would like to state our deep appreciation of the support extended to Australia by the people and the Government of Sri Lanka in light of the ongoing bushfires. We are grateful for the sympathies and offers of support from Sri Lankans and the global community. To Australia’s many friends and supporters throughout the world who are asking, ‘ How can we help?’ we say: continue to buy Australian, visit Australia, study in Australia and invest in Australia.
As maritime neighbours in the Indian Ocean, Australia and Sri Lanka have many shared interests, including in regional security. The great spirit of cooperation that exists between the Sri Lankan tri- forces and the Australian Defence Force will be built upon in 2020. We remain strongly committed to working together to combat maritime people smuggling, prevent loss of life at sea and stop the exploitation of vulnerable people.
An increasing focus on areas of mutual interest has been catalytic in accelerating the strengthening and diversification of trade and investment between Sri Lanka and Australia. Sri Lankan businesses and skilled professionals are increasingly partnering with counter parts in Australia in commerce, trade and investment.
Australia cares about the future of Sri Lanka. We are committed to supporting the government and private sector to provide economic opportunities for all Sri Lankans. This partnership in development has been consistent for over 70 years.
It is with much enthusiasm that I look forward to working with the government and people of Sri Lanka to further build on our close ties. I am confident the friendship Australia and Sri Lanka share will only deepen and broaden as we move ahead together.