Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will welcome the Prime Minister of the Republic of Vanuatu, the Honourable Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau, and Madame Ellene Kalsakau to Australia from 14 - 16 February.
Australia and Vanuatu are strong partners based on a shared commitment to a prosperous, peaceful, resilient region.
This will be the first official visit to Australia by a Prime Minister of the Republic of Vanuatu since 2018.
Today, the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister received the final Defence Strategic Review (DSR) report.
Authored by former Minister for Defence, His Excellency Professor the Hon. Stephen Smith and former Chief of the Defence Force, Sir Angus Houston, the Defence Strategic Review is an independently led examination of Australia’s defence force posture, force structure and capabilities.
Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met for the first time and held bilateral talks on 15 February 2023 in Canberra. The Prime Ministers celebrated the long-standing partnership between Australia and Vanuatu and discussed the two countries’ work together on shared challenges and their mutual efforts to support a peaceful, prosperous and resilient Pacific region.
CHARLIE PICKERING, HOST: Now to political news in Victoria and former union official Mary Doyle will be Labor's candidate in the Victorian seat of Aston which will soon go to a by election. When Liberal MP Alan Tudge resigns, but as exciting as a shiny new candidate, is the Federal Government has headaches on multiple fronts. Inflation is persistent, interest rates continue to rise and, and really bite for homeowners. And yesterday, we heard news that the unemployment rate has also gone up.
VOICEOVER: I present the honorable Anthony Albanese Prime Minister. Albanese, Albanese.
MATT ACTON, HOST: Prime Minister is on, good morning mate.
PRIME MINISTER: Hey, how you going? The Eagles want their royalties.
ABBY COLEMAN, HOST: We only played a little grab, we know the limit.
STAV DAVISON, HOST: We cut it before we've got to pay.
HOST: We take it to the limit.
PRIME MINISTER: Very sensible.
Welcome back.
It feels like we never left. Well I didn’t.
It is good to be back here and it’s good to be back here on this side of the partyroom meetings.
In 2022, since May, we’ve certainly hit the ground running.
But 2023 will be the year of further delivery on our commitments for a better future.
If you look at what we put in place in 2022, we have already extensively carried legislation which is already making a difference.
On the 1st of January, cheaper medicines began, the first decrease in 75 years.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: We’ll be making some comments firstly on the tragedy in Türkiye and Syria, before then going on to the press conference. Can I extend Australia's deepest sympathies and condolences to the families and communities that have lost loved ones. We have seen thousands of deaths, and tens of thousands of injuries through this tragedy.
I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging, and I thank Aunty Violet for her Welcome to Country.
It is a particular honour to be here with you today, and I thank Georgina and UN Women Australia for their leadership.
International Women’s Day is part of a long history of women’s activism. And it has always been imbued with a deep understanding that the greatest weight that words can carry is the difference that they can make.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: It's very good to be here this morning at UN Women Australia Breakfast for International Women's Day, which of course is coming up. I'm very proud that the Government that I lead has taken action to extend Paid Parental Leave to six months, that we're making early learning cheaper to increase women's economic participation and to boost productivity. That as of the first of February, Australian women now have access to 10 days paid Domestic and Family Violence Leave. These are practical measures which are making a difference.
ALICIA PAYNE, MEMBER FOR CANBERRA: Good morning. I’m Alicia Payne, the Federal Member for Canberra and it's my great pleasure this morning to be here at MOCCA in Manuka with the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, the Minister for Education, Jason Clare, and the Minister for Early Childhood, Anne Aly. And I want to say a huge thank you to Kara and the team here at MOCCA for welcoming us again to their beautiful centre, and to the children who we had such a lovely play with Lego this morning.