We look forward to welcoming you down in Australia for the Quad meeting in May. I’m sure it will be a very successful visit and this is our fourth meeting in, I haven’t yet been prime minister for a year – so, we’ve been in very regular contact and developed a personal friendship and relationship of trust, as well, which is something that should be there between our two great nations.
And today what we’ve really done is just to demonstrate a next chapter in our history together.
John Curtin, one of my great Labor prime minister predecessors during World War II, said famously, ‘We turn to America, we look to America in our time of need.’ And ever since then, we have stood side by side and today, I think, is very important, very significant, that you have agreed for just the second time in history to share this technology.
And I think it will make a difference in advancing security and stability in the region. But also we, of course, share a common interest in rebuilding manufacturing in our respective countries.
And we see this is a very much an economic plan, not just a defence and security plan. This hi-tech manufacturing capacity that we’re building will be really important going forward.
When we talk about national security, we have shared your language about climate change being a national security issue as well which is of course the entry ticket into credibility in the Pacific in particular.
We have spent our first year in office really rebuilding relationships in the region based upon our action on climate change. Your inflation reduction act is the most significant piece of legislation ever on climate. We’re trying to also deal with the challenge which is there.
We so much look forward to welcoming you and Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Kishida down to Australia in just a couple of months now. And then I look forward to being at Apec as well, you’re hosting that later this year. So we’re going to see a lot of each other on an ongoing basis.
