 It is a great privilege to be here. Can I acknowledge Professor Jean-Paul Pastorell and Professor Saïr Awadi and to say to all of you, thank you very much for being here today to speak with me. I hope that there is some translation required. As I said, it is a great privilege to speak today at the Pacific Way Conference celebrating your 50th anniversary next year. And you may know that many of the participants at that first conference in 1973 went on to become Prime Ministers or Presidents of their countries or Secretaries-General of what is now known as the Pacific Community. So next year we'll see 50 years of drawing together all spheres of Pacific society of academics, journalists, faith leaders and civil society advocates. 50 years of creativity, of resilience and of leadership. 50 years of working together to ensure your voices and perspectives are heard. So I'm going to start today with a quote from Sir Michael Sumare. So part of the Pacific a little bit closer to Australia than where we are today. Sir Michael Sumare, the Prime Minister from Papua New Guinea, said in 1974 at the Pacific Island Forum, Papua New Guinea acceded to this forum with the strong desire to contribute and support the forum members in the needs of our region. We are not here to rock the boat but add another sail in order that our voyage to that glorious destination may be reached. And it was Australia's Prime Minister Bob Hawke who said at the forum 11 years later in 1984 the task of identifying regional solutions to regional responsibilities is amongst our most important responsibilities. So Australia has been a member of the Pacific Island Forum since its inception and as a founding member we have been part of this journey with you. It is a real honor to be here in French Polynesia for the first time as Australia's Foreign Minister. It is my 12th visit to the Pacific since the Australian government was elected in May. Twelve visits since May is an expression of the priority the new Australian government attaches to this region. Later today I will have a pleasure of opening the Australian Consulate General in Papuete. This makes Australia the only country in the world with a diplomatic presence in every Pacific Island Forum member country and territory. There is no clearer demonstration of our commitment to the Pacific as a whole. And as a member of the Pacific family we are committed to working with all in the Pacific to achieve our shared aspirations and to tackle shared challenges and every at every step we will be guided by Pacific priorities. Like those articulated in the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and endorsed by forum leaders this year. This strategy has been described by Pacific leaders including Prime Minister Bhani Marama as the North Star. It is a vision for the Pacific's economic, environmental and strategic future written by and written for Pacific nations and their peoples. And at its heart it has a simple concept that the Pacific knows best what its priorities are and that the Pacific knows best how to achieve them. Our region faces many challenges and when I was most recently at the Pacific Island Forum leaders meeting in Fiji they talked about the three C's triple challenges of climate change, COVID and contest. The most pressing of these is the existential threat of climate change the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and well-being of the peoples of the Pacific. So powerfully articulated in the bio declaration of 2018. COVID-19 has set back development gains and contracted economies across the region. Many Pacific economies including French Polynesia rely heavily from tourism income and the shutdown during the pandemic or reduction from international borders of closures had a very substantial economic effect. And because the region was so effective in keeping COVID out with so many countries forced to keep their borders closed for longer it is this region which has been slowest to recover in 2022. And of course the economic recovery is further hampered by global economic volatility and food security and energy crises driven by Russia's illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine. Increase in the debt servicing burden will further exacerbate fiscal and economic challenges for Pacific countries. In fact public debt in the Pacific is expected to double by 2025 compared to 2019. This impacts on the lives of Pacific Island people on the health education and social well-being of families and we know the biggest impact is felt by those who are already most vulnerable particularly women and girls and people living with disability. But when it comes to climate action Pacific nations have led the way for a long time. You have called on us to act we have heard you and we have responded. So Australia has already enshrined in law a much more ambitious carbon emission reduction target net zero by 2050 and 43 percent this decade. So within the decade 83 percent of Australia's energy supply will be renewable. And we want to bid to co-host a future UN conference of the parties with Pacific Island countries who have led the way for so long and who have so much to lose. We are also boosting our support for the Pacific region to address the climate emergency and achieve their development goals. So today I am pleased to announce that in the Australian government's first budget since the election which will be released next Tuesday we will increase our overseas development assistance budget by $1.4 billion over the next four years. This includes 900 million of additional development assistance to the Pacific over the same period. Assistance which will directly support action in the region to strengthen climate resilience including on climate science and renewable energy. We know how important regional funding is to all foreign members including French Polynesia and how this additional assistance will benefit the region as a whole. We will ensure we continue to provide direct budget support to reduce fiscal distress ensuring critical government services such as health and education continue to be delivered and restoring connectivity through the region through aviation links is critical to the pandemic recovery and through that additional assistance our Pacific Flight Connector program we will continue to facilitate the movement of people and goods around the region. We also know that investing in women and girls has a powerful effect on economic growth and well-being which is why our government will restore the target of 80% of all Australian development assistance to address gender-based issues and at the broader level we are supporting Pacific economies to grow to unlock opportunities and boost connectivity to priority sectors which includes support for infrastructure to the Pacific and Timor-Leste through the Australian infrastructure financing facility for the Pacific. A facility which will grow from through and a half billion to four billion dollars to support grants and loans and additional funds to strengthen project and risk management capabilities. We are increasing investment in climate infrastructure through the Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership. Now Australia recognises that as a major lender in the region we have a responsibility to ensure that Australia is a partner that won't impose unsustainable debt burdens. That's why amidst global economic headwinds and rising interest rates we will offer concessional lending and grant assistance to ensure Pacific partners can continue to deliver infrastructure projects that are sustainable that are transparent and that meet international standards. We will obviously continue to work with partners like the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank to support productive quality assets built and maintained with local content and labour. These new steps are in addition to the Australian Government's commitment to expand our labour mobility programs with participating Pacific countries and Timor-Leste and our commitment to establish an Australia Pacific Defence School and to double the aerial surveillance component of our maritime security program to help tackle illegal unreported and unregulated fishing. Maritime security and the protection of fisheries is so important in this region. In fact, French Polynesia's leadership on protecting our oceans is just one way of the example that you and other Pacific members have used your voice and lived experience to shape the global debate. What I'd say to you today is the region can best never navigate our shared challenges when we do it together. Through organisations like the Pacific Island Forum, the Pacific Community and Technical Agencies, you see unified, strong, inclusive Pacific Regional Organisations like the Pacific Island Forum are critical to maintaining and strengthening Pacific Regionalism. Together the Forum family has made great strides on the pathway to unity across the region. We are all sovereign nations and territories but we freely come together through the Pacific Island Forum to solve problems together to build a region which is peaceful, which is prosperous and resilient where the sovereignty of all nations, large and small, is respected and where the responsibility for Pacific security remains in the hands of the Pacific. I acknowledge the vital contribution that France makes in support of Pacific priorities and as a Pacific country France has a stake in the peace and prosperity of the Pacific and it brings a unique understanding of the region. It is a voice for and an advocate for the Pacific including its leadership on Pacific issues within the EU. As with all of Australia's partners we will continue to work with France to advance our shared Pacific priorities and if I can give you a practical recent example you will recall the volcanic eruption and tsunami in Tonga in January just you. Alongside Pacific partners France Australia and New Zealand coordinated our essential humanitarian support through the France FRANZ agreement which has just marked its 30 years 30 30th year of cooperation in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. We are also working with other groups such as partners in the Blue Pacific and Inclusive Group founded by Australia Japan New Zealand the United Kingdom and the United States that will work with the Pacific Island Forum and its members to pull our collective strength to back the 2050 strategy and Pacific priorities. We understand that Pacific Island priorities and interests have to be the heart of all that we do in the region. So I'm a long way from home but I would say this to you we share an ocean and we share values we share dreams and we share a future and the connections we share across communities our families and our cultures forged and strengthened by institutions like the University of French Polynesia are central to how we envisage our partnerships with the countries of the Pacific. We've seen this with our scholarships our Australia Awards and Australia Award-specific scholars who build networks between their home nations and Australia throughout the region and Australia is a better place thanks to the contributions of our Pacific diaspora in the arts business agriculture social services academia or sport. These connections stretch back through time the people of the Torres Strait in the northern part of Australia or above northern Australia in particular share close cultural historical links to the pacific at the home as the home of the oldest Chathand okay it's okay i'm glad this happens in every country in the world they've given up we're home to the oldest continuous culture in the world we're home to over 300 different ancestries half of Australians are either born overseas or have a parent who's born overseas and i'm one of them i was born in Malaysia we want to share the full story of Australia and who we are with the pacific starting with our first nations perspectives and experience we are continuing a journey of reconciliation with our first nations Australians we are seeking to enshrine what we call an indigenous voice to the parliament we will appoint Australia's and inaugural first nations ambassador who i hope will be a frequent visitor to the to the pacific and foster cooperation between first nations and pacific communities in areas such as health security environmental management and climate change the future we share is bright and we will be stronger and more resilient if we face our shared challenges together together stronger together so i thank you for having me here today as we work together guided by the pacific way guided by the wisdom of pacific voices to build the pacific of the future together thank you very much