2017 Australia Day Reception Speech
Catherine Raper
Representative, Australian Office, Taipei
5 January 2017
Minister David Lee, Minister of Foreign Affairs;
Your Excellency Vincent Siew, former Vice President;
Your Excellency Lien Chan, former Vice President;
Secretary-General of the National Security Council Joseph Wu;
Secretary-General of the Legislative Yuan Lin Chih?Chia;
Minister without Portfolio John Deng;
People First Party Chairman James Soong
Honourable legislators;
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear friends, 大家好 (hello everybody)!
Come join me on a journey of discovery! A discovery of people, places and possibilities.
For journeys of discovery are very much at the heart of the connections between Australia and Taiwan.
Each year, over 20,000 young Taiwan people embark on their own journey of discovery to Australia as working holiday makers. 160,000 Taiwanese in total have taken an Australian working holiday since the start of the bilateral program in 2004.
The over 13,000 enrolments by Taiwan students in Australia each year make Australia the second most popular study abroad destination for Taiwan students. Nearly a quarter (23.4%) of Taiwanese students who pursue their degrees abroad do so in Australia. Our MOU on Vocational Education and Training brings a further valuable dimension to our education relations.
On top of this there were over 113,000 visits by Taiwan people to Australia in 2015/16, an increase of 30 per cent over the previous year. In a nice complementarity, Australia and Taiwan are each the 13th largest tourism source of the other.
And with the recent signing of further liberalised air service arrangements between Australia and Taiwan, the sky literally is the limit! The amended arrangements provide for unrestricted capacity for flights between Australia and Taiwan, as well as open code share and intermodal services. There are already 20 weekly direct flights and these new arrangements provide scope for further expansion.
Today's Australia Day reception celebrates these journeys of discovery. Australia Day is actually on 26 January, but we are holding it a little early this year as many of you will be busy celebrating the Chinese New Year holidays on that date.
Today's event is made even more special through the generosity of our sponsors; my sincere thanks go to ANZ Bank, China Steel, Chinese Petroleum Corporation, Clinico, Formosa Plastic, I-Mei Foods, Macquarie Group, Taipower, Telstra and TECO Electric. I would like to extend my appreciation for their contribution both to this reception and to the Australia-Taiwan partnership.
Over the past three years I have been on my own Journey of Discovery in Taiwan. I am pleased to report that I have travelled the length and breadth of the beautiful island of Taiwan, with my invitation last August to join the Amis Harvest Festival in Hualien a particular highlight.
I have also in recent months visited each of Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, marking my own personal journey to each of the constituent parts of the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, as Taiwan is known in the World Trade Organization. Australia and Taiwan are close partners in both the WTO and APEC. Taiwan is also an important bilateral partner for Australia on trade, our 9th largest merchandise export market and 15th largest source of merchandise imports in 2015-16.
The New Colombo Plan is also bringing young Australians to Taiwan. Since Taiwan became a part of the Australian Government's New Colombo Plan in 2015, over 300 outstanding Australian students have travelled to Taiwan to study and undertake internships. This year, we are excited to welcome 118 Australian students to Taiwan.
There are further promising opportunities for cooperation under both Australia’s National Innovation and Science Agenda and Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy.
A particular feature in relations between Australia and Taiwan continues to be our Indigenous cultural exchange. Last August, I had the privilege to witness President Tsai Ing-wen make her landmark apology to Taiwan's Indigenous peoples, paralleling the Australian Government's own apology in 2008.
Later in the year B2M, an Indigenous R&B band from Australia's Tiwi Islands, made their own journey around Taiwan, introducing Taiwan people to their music and culture and learning about Taiwan's in return. B2M kindly gave their permission for us to play their music today - on condition that “people have to dance”! So if you have the urge to dance to either our wonderful live band The Steve Smith Jazz Trio or the B2M recording, please don't hold back! We need some photos to send to B2M.
In these ways, I am proud to report that our friendship continues to grow and prosper. As the Chinese saying goes, 一步一腳印, we should work steadily and take one step at a time in order to make solid progress. With the support of everyone here, I am certain we will continue on that journey to strengthen ties between our people, to pursue opportunities for prosperity, and to reaffirm the strong and enduring friendship between Australia and Taiwan.
As you enjoy the high-quality Australian beef, lamb, wine and beer on offer today, I invite you to view the special video we will screen throughout the event. This video highlights some of our activities at the Australian Office over recent years as we continue along the journey of friendship between the peoples of Australia and Taiwan.
We also invite you to take photos, or ask our photographer to help take a photo of you, with our backdrop outside the room.
And if you’d like to taste more Australian-style cuisine, please visit the Café at Far Eastern from 6-15 January, where Australian Guest Chef Cameron McLeod from Shangri-La Hotel, The Marina, Cairns will be presenting some of his favourite dishes.
In a neat parallel to a returning boomerang, I hope you will enjoy our hospitality and take back a lot of joyful memories with you today. I am honoured to be with you to celebrate Australia Day and our journey of discovery. May 2017 be a year we can look back on with pride and satisfaction.
Thank you very much.
Xie Xie
Gan Xia
2017 澳洲國慶酒會雷家琪代表中譯文
李部長
蕭前副總統萬長先生
連前副總統戰先生
國安會吳釗燮秘書長
立法院林志嘉秘書長
鄧振中政務委員
親民黨主席宋楚瑜先生
各位立法委員
各位大使、代表、貴賓，女士及先生
親愛的朋友，大家好！
在此敬邀您和我一同開啟這趟發現之旅 – 一趟連結人、地方與機會的旅程。
這趟發現之旅同時也是連結澳洲與台灣的核心。
每年，超過20,000名台灣年青人以打工度假者的身分開啟他們的探索澳洲旅程。自從雙邊於2004年開始實施打工度假互惠計畫，已經有超過160,000名台灣青年參與這項計畫。
同時，每年有超過13,000名台灣學生選擇註冊就讀於澳洲的學校，使得澳洲成為台灣學生第二嚮往的留學國家。將近四分之一 (23.4%) 的台灣學生選擇到澳洲留學。我們的職業教育與訓練合作瞭解備忘錄亦更進一步為我們的教育系統增加更有價值的面向。
另外，在2015/16年間有超過113,000 台灣觀光客到澳洲旅遊，與前一年相比增加了百分之三十。從互補的關係來看，澳洲與台灣是彼此第13大的觀光客源。
近期所簽訂的航空服務協議修改文件更讓我們的天空沒有邊界! 這項協議將提供澳洲至台灣境內各點班次容量不限，以及放寬共用班號限制並增加複合運輸條款。目前每周已經有廿個直航班次，而這項協議可望進一步增加航班。
今天的澳洲國慶酒會慶祝這些發現之旅。澳洲國慶日實際上是一月廿六日。我們今年特地提前慶祝，因為您也許會在那天忙碌地歡慶農曆新年。
今天的活動也因為我們的慷慨贊助者而更加精采。我要在此特別感謝澳盛銀行，中鋼公司，中油公司，柯林儀器，台灣塑膠工業股份有限公司，義美食品，麥格里資本有限公司，台灣電力公司，澳大利亞電訊以及東元電機。我想在此感謝他們在今天酒會和澳洲台灣夥伴關係中所作的貢獻。
在過去三年，我也親自開啟了個人在台灣的發現之旅。我很高興在此分享，我已幾乎踏遍台灣這個美麗寶島的每個角落。去年八月我應邀參加花蓮阿美族豐年祭的活動，更是我的旅途的亮點之一。
過去幾個月我也到了澎湖，金門，馬祖，讓我個人的旅程遍及台澎金馬個別關稅領域，也就是台灣在世界貿易組織 (WTO) 的會員名稱。澳洲和台灣在 WTO與 APEC中是緊密的合作夥伴。台灣是澳洲重要的貿易夥伴，不僅是我們在2016年間第九大的貨物出口市場，也是我們第15大的貨物進口來源。
新可倫坡計畫也將澳洲年青人帶往台灣。自從台灣於2015年參與澳洲政府的新可倫坡計畫，超過300優秀的澳洲學生已經旅行到台灣研習及從事實習工作。今年，我們很期待能歡迎118位澳洲學生來到台灣。
另外，澳洲政府的國家創新與科學計畫，以及台灣的新南向計畫也為雙邊合作提供了更多有希望的機會。
澳台關係中一項很重要的元素就是我們的原民文化交流。去年八月，我很榮幸地見證了蔡英文總統代表政府對原住民表達的正式道歉，就如同澳洲政府在2008所作的道歉。
去年下旬，B2M，來自澳洲提維群島 (Tiwi Islands) 的R&B 原民樂團，旅行到台灣，與台灣的朋友相互學習彼此的音樂與文化。B2M 很大方地讓我們今天播放他們的音樂，前提是「大家要跳舞 !」所以倘若您想跟著我們傑出的爵士樂團 Steve Smith Trio 或 B2M 的音樂一起跳舞，請不要客氣！ 我們還得寄給 B2M 幾張照片呢！
在這些旅程中，我很驕傲地分享，我們的友誼持續成長、茁壯。如同中文諺語所述，一步一腳印，我們應當以穩健、一步一腳印地前進。因著在場每一位貴賓的支持，我很確定我們將延續這趟旅程，深化雙邊人民的連結、邁向繁榮、並重申澳洲和台灣間持久的友誼。
您今天將可無限享用高品質的澳洲牛肉、起士、美酒及啤酒。我也邀請各位貴賓欣賞今天活動進行中將會播放的影片。這段影片摘錄了在過去數年間澳洲和台灣人民增進友誼的旅程中，本澳洲辦事處所舉辦過的活動。
我們也敬邀各位貴賓和我們會場外的背板合照，或讓我們的攝影師幫您照相留念。
另外如果您想要品嘗更多澳洲美食，請在一月六至15日間造訪遠企飯店的咖啡廳，來自澳洲凱恩斯香格里拉酒店的客座廚師 Cameron McLeod 將親自帶來一些他最喜歡的料理。
如同迴力鏢帶來的意象，我希望每一位貴賓在今天能盡情享用我們的招待並帶回許多美好的回憶。我很榮幸能與您一同慶祝澳洲國慶日以及這趟發現之旅。我衷心期許 ，2017年將能成為我們在未來能帶著滿懷驕傲與滿意回首的一年。謝謝大家。