 From the people and government of Australia to the people and government of the Philippines Congratulations on your Independence Day Mabuhay Many Filipinos will be celebrating today the 12th of June by proudly displaying the Philippine flag I'm sure that across Australia Filipinos will be celebrating Independence Day with you today The Philippines and Australia are both young nations. We have a shared history of democracy General Emilio Aguinaldo declared your independence in 1898 While Australia's Federation was achieved in 1901 And we have a shared aspiration for peace for freedom and cooperation across our region From the late 1890s onward Filipino migrants have done so much to strengthen Australia as a multicultural nation Back then around the time of the Philippine Revolution Filipinos came to northern Australia as pearl divers Today Australia's Filipino community is over 200,000 strong and Filipinos are in Australia's as doctors nurses accountants and engineers and are contributing strongly to many other walks of life These working professionals in the Philippines and overseas are the Philippines modern heroes. I Believe Jose Rizal and Emilio Aguinaldo would be very proud indeed of your successes We also congratulate the Philippines on the reforms you have undertaken under the administration of his Excellency President of Benigno Simeon Aquino the third The Aquino administration has achieved balanced budgets and judicial reform It has passed legislation extending basic education and reproductive health rights And it has negotiated a framework peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front The success of these reforms can be measured by your recent economic growth Last year in Sydney, Australia a new statue of Jose Rizal was unveiled We were honored that President Aquino himself was able to unveil that statue during his state visit to Australia. I was privileged to be among those present Earlier in 2012 Australia's Governor-General, Her Excellency Quentin Bryce had visited the Philippines Governor-General Bryce met with President Aquino With beneficiaries of the Aquino administration's conditional cash transfer program and visited a flood-prone community into Geek City Following these visits we look forward to building on our close relationship with the Philippines over the years ahead Australia and the Philippines have now enjoyed close relations for nearly 70 years Over time those relations have grown closer and closer Through trade, aid and security cooperation, Australia contributes where we can to the prosperity and stability of the Philippines Australia's development assistance to the Philippines has increased substantially over the past decade Australia is now among the top three donors to the Philippines with development assistance worth around 5.3 billion pesos per year In fields such as basic education and governance, Australia strives to help our Philippine partners to improve the standard of service delivered to the Philippine people I'm particularly proud that Australia has been in a position to provide assistance to the Philippines following Typhoon Pablo and other recent disasters We have worked closely with Philippine and UN agencies in the modern spirit of Bayanihan for no country in the modern era can stand alone So congratulations to the Philippines on your day of independence Australia, its government and people look forward to continuing our close relations in the years ahead Mabuhay