Australian Office

2015 Australia Day HOP Speech

2015 Australia Day Speech

“An Australian Journey”
 

(Left to right) Mr Gary Walker, Australian Office Representative Catherine Raper, Mrs Kao, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrew Kao

 

Your excellences, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, friends of Australia, I wish you a good evening. Da jia hao! Or as we say in Australia: g’day.

It’s my pleasure to welcome you all to our Australia Day reception. I would particularly like to acknowledge the generosity of our sponsors; my sincere thanks go to ANZ Bank, China Steel, Clinico Inc, Formosa Plastic, I-mei Foods, Taiwan Broadband Communications and TECO Electric and Machinery Company. I would like to extend my appreciation for their contribution to making this evening such a success.

Today, on this Australia Day, millions of our citizens are celebrating back home. It is the middle of summer and outside barbecues and beachside activities are always popular.

We view this day as a celebration of Australia’s tolerant and diverse society. The actual date commemorates the establishment of a British settlement in Sydney in 1788. So when you hear this date, you might think Australia is a young nation. But our history and our identity have been thousands of years in the making.

Just like the ancient Chinese saying,

千里之行, 始于足下

“a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”, the theme of tonight’s reception is “an Australian journey”.

You will see that we took our inspiration for this theme from our special exhibition at the entrance “Yiwarra Kuju: The Canning Stock Route”.

This evening, in Taiwan, I am pleased to have the opportunity to walk you through “an Australian Journey”.

The Australian Journey is a journey of discovery.

Around 50,000 years ago, the first travelers made their way by boat to the land that we call Australia today, establishing what many say is the oldest continuous living culture on Earth. Australians are rightly proud of our rich Indigenous heritage.

Later, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the continent of “Terra Australis” became a focus of European maritime exploration.

Since then people from every corner of the Earth, including many from Taiwan, have made their own personal journey to Australia to make their home there, becoming a united people sharing this one amazing land.

The Australian journey is a journey of recognition and reconciliation.

Australians understand the importance of recognising our past, seeking reconciliation and laying the cornerstone for a future that embraces all Australians.

Tonight, our exhibition, “Yiwarra Kuju: the Canning Stock Route”, perfectly captures an intercultural and inter-generational story of community, collaboration and reconciliation through the eyes of Indigenous people and told through painting.

The Canning Stock Route shares some characteristics with Taiwan’s historic Nénggāo high mountain trail, first used by the Taiya for trade between Puli and Hualien, and later used by Taipower to convey electricity.

The Canning Stock Route is a track that runs from Halls Creek in the Kimberley region of Western Australia to Wiluna in the mid-west region, cutting across three deserts. It was conceived in 1906 as a way to move cattle from remote areas to markets in Perth and elsewhere, and involved the building of 54 wells to provide water along the route. You can see impressions of these wells in some of the artwork. At 1,850km long, it is the longest historic stock route in the world.

However, Indigenous Australians had already lived on this land for a very long time and used the natural water sources. The route crossed the territories of nine different Aboriginal language groups. The stock route, and the people and stock it brought with it, interrupted these people’s cultural and social life and connection to Country. At the same time, it made it easier for Indigenous people to travel back to traditional lands.

Australia’s journey of reconciliation is an on-going one, and includes supporting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and working on ways to address Indigenous disadvantage.

The Australian journey is a journey of diversity.

Like Taiwan, today’s Australian culture is enriched through the cultural identities of the Indigenous people and the millions of subsequent settlers.

Like Taiwan, today’s Australia is an open, democratic and diverse nation. Over the past 227 years, the Australian concept of a ‘fair go’, our traditional commitment to equality, has transformed Australia into one of the most livable countries in the world.

In these respects I am fortunate that I can learn from, and share with friends with similar values in Taiwan.

The Australian journey is a journey of trade.

Just as the Canning Stock Route drove Australian cattle to market, Australia relies on international trade and investment to keep our economy strong and our people in jobs. And we know that broad trade liberalization is the best way to maximize these opportunities.

Taiwan is an important partner for Australia on trade, our 7th largest merchandise export market and 14th-largest source of merchandise imports in 2013. The scale of our partnership was never more evident than earlier this month, when I visited China Steel in Kaohsiung and saw the massive mounds of Australian coal and iron ore, ready to be made into Taiwan steel.

The Australian journey is a journey of partnership.

Australia and Taiwan also encourage people-to-people contacts in areas such as the arts, culture, education, science, tourism and sport.

This year, we are glad to have Taiwan work together with Australia under the “New Colombo Plan”, which will bring over 50 outstanding young Australian students to study and undertake internships in Taiwan over the next year, and enhance their understanding of Taiwan, our partnership and the region.

Today I am honoured to stand here with you to celebrate Australia Day and to contemplate the future journey we embark on together: a journey to strengthen ties between our peoples, to pursue opportunities for prosperity and to reaffirm the strong and enduring friendship between Australia and Taiwan. I look forward to the journey.

Thank you very much. Xie xie. Gan xia.


Catherine Raper
Representative of the Australian Office

26 January 2015