Prime Minister, I want to thank you, and Jodie. Thank you, colleagues, for your graciousness in hosting myself and my colleagues here. You have more than reciprocated for the hospitality we extended as part of the G7, and, to repay the debt, our door is always open to you and anyone from Australia to visit Canada.

I’ll remind you, on June 13, the Socceroos are playing in Vancouver, so I’ll be there to welcome you off the plane for – having seen them in action in the fall – a great victory at that point.

It was a deep honour to address the Australian Parliament today. Thank you very much for extending that invitation.

Canada and Australia are close partners.

Our Armed Forces train together and exchange information.

Trade exceeds $6 billion annually – and this figure continues to increase.

We are Westminster-style federal parliamentary democracies.

We have many things in common – a common heritage. But what distinguishes our partnership, our friendship, is how we have built on those foundations.

And now, in a more uncertain, a more divided world, Canada and Australia are middle powers charting our own course with confidence, ambition, and partnership.

We’re doing that together because we’ve grown up together. And with an ocean between us, we don’t see each other as often as we’d like, but whenever we do, like family, it feels like no time has passed.

In times of need, we look out for each other – in exchange of firefighters, on the battlefield.

It is on these foundations we’re building.

Canada is building partnerships abroad. In just under one year, we’ve signed 20 new economic and security partnerships across four continents. But in that mission, all those partnerships are not created equally. We turn to our most trusted allies, Australia, first and foremost amongst them – those who share our values of democracy, freedom, and sovereignty.

In my first week as Prime Minister, we spoke and announced our partnership on the world-leading Over-the-Horizon Radar system developed by Australia, to detect, deter, and defend against threats in Canada’s Arctic.

Since then, our governments have worked on several key initiatives.

As the Prime Minister just referenced, Australia helped launch the G7 Critical Minerals Production Alliance, a group we’re reinforcing today.

In November, we launched a trilateral partnership with India on AI and innovation – a partnership we accelerated this past week in India.

So, whether it’s trade, security, critical minerals, or getting Vegemite back on the shelves, Canada and Australia are getting big things done, together.

And now, here in Canberra – for the first bilateral visit by a Canadian Prime Minister to Australia in nearly two decades – we are elevating our partnership across energy, critical minerals, defence, AI, and investment.

We know that middle powers must work together to build our sovereignty in these key strategic sectors.

We’re also building our defence capabilities across the next generation. With drone surveillance, aircraft, cyber, AI.

We’re developing sovereign AI capabilities, so we’re not caught between the hyperscalers and the hegemons.

And in a world where access to capital is increasingly weaponised, we’re leveraging our pension funds and our supers to be a force multiplier.

Yesterday, when I was in Sydney, I had the opportunity to meet with some of Australia’s largest institutional investors, including the IFM, who announced their intention to invest up to $10 billion in Canada. Two sovereign nations, two proud democracies.

Prime Minister Albanese, as you said in the Chamber, we may look to different skies – the North Star in our hemisphere, the Southern Cross in yours. But as you said today, we are at our very best when we look over our wide horizons. For when we do, we find a partner who shares our history, our values, and our ambitions to build.

Thank you very much.