 My name is Brett Mason and I'm the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Ladies and gentlemen, would you please welcome Her Excellency the Honourable Quentin Bryce, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, accompanied by the Honourable Julie Bishop, the Minister for Foreign Affairs. It's my very great pleasure to welcome you to this very special event today to launch the pilot program of the Government's Signature Foreign Policy Initiative, The New Colombo Plan. Please welcome the Minister. I'm absolutely delighted that you are able to join us here in the great hall of the National Parliament for the launch of an initiative of the Coalition Government that we believe will not only transform the educational experience of young Australian undergraduates, but will transform Australia's engagement in our region. I extend a special welcome to our representatives from the four pilot locations who are here today, from Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. And I'm absolutely delighted that the governments of those locations have agreed to be part of the pilot program in 2014. There will be a prestigious scholarship program for periods of study between one semester and one year, an innovative mobility grant scheme for short-term and semester study up to a maximum of one year. I'm pleased to announce that the top ranked New Colombo Plan scholar in each location in each year will also obtain the additional prestige of becoming a New Colombo Plan Fellow. Next year, we expect to award about 40 12-month scholarships, 10 in each location, and to award a range of mobility grants for around 700 Australian undergraduates across the four pilot locations. The program will be open to Australian undergraduates aged 18 to 28 at all Australian universities. And the key to this program will be the internships or similar mentorship or practical work experience arrangements. As I visited the region in recent months and spoken about the New Colombo Plan, I have been really thrilled by the response to the issue of the internships and those opportunities. The New Colombo Plan is an ambitious but a long-term venture. We're starting with a pilot phase so that we can test the model and review and refine the program ahead of its broader rollout across the region in 2015 and beyond. We will establish a steering committee to advise us, chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Peter Vargas, our Co-Vice Chairs, Kevin McCann and Professor Sandra Harding, who are both with us today. And I believe that the guests gathered here today understand and appreciate very well the power of learning exchange and the benefits it will bring to Australia. And I know that the power of education and of learning is also important to our very special guest here today, Her Excellency the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Honourable Quentin Brice. It therefore gives me great pleasure to announce today that Her Excellency the Governor-General has agreed to be the official patron of the New Colombo Plan. Your Excellency, thank you for doing us and the Australian people this honour. My friends, good afternoon. What an auspicious occasion this is. I am deeply honoured by the invitation to be patron of the New Colombo Plan. It has the potential to affect many aspects of Australian national life. Learning, research and collaboration, obviously. But also professional cooperation, economic linkages in business trade and investment and the conduct of our diplomacy. In an international context and especially in Asia, personal connections are valuable currency. The New Colombo Plan will open the way for young Australians to share the same exhilarating opportunities and to engage with Asian societies in a meaningful and lasting fashion. My friends, this is a marvellous scheme and I look forward to watching our young people embrace it as befits the curious, adventurous and outward looking nation that we are. Thank you my friends. It's now my pleasure to invite the Honourable Tanya Plibersek, Acting Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development to the stage to make some remarks. Thank you so much Brett and thank you to the Minister Julie Bishop for inviting me today. I thank you also your Excellency, the Governor-General, for agreeing to be the patron.