Prime Minister Gillard visited the Royal Palace to
express her condolences to Her Majesty the Queen Mother Norodom
Monineath and His Majesty the King Norodom Sihamoni upon the death of
His Majesty the King Father Norodom Sihanouk. The King Father was a
towering figure in Cambodian history: he oversaw Cambodia’s independence
and its development as a modern state. He played a significant role in
global and regional relations. He was integral to the negotiation of
the Paris Peace Accords signed in 1991.
Australia’s former
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Gareth Evans, worked closely with the King
Father and other Cambodian leaders to draft the Accords. Australian
General John Sanderson led the military component of the United Nations
Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), which oversaw the election
of a new National Assembly in 1993 and the promulgation of Cambodia’s
current constitution. Since then Australia has assisted Cambodia’s
development in many fields.
Prime Minister Gillard also attended
the Seventh East Asia Summit (EAS) Leaders’ Meeting chaired by Prime
Minister Hun Sen. The EAS is the premier body bringing together the ten
member states of ASEAN and its eight key dialogue partners (Australia,
China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the
United States of America) to discuss the political and security issues
facing our region, as well as advancing practical initiatives. Cambodia
and Australia can work together in the EAS to create a prosperous and
stable region.
Leaders discussed maritime security, encouraging
ASEAN members and China to develop a Code of Conduct for Parties in the
South China Sea and emphasising the need for the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea to abide by United Nations Security Council
resolutions on peaceful use of nuclear power. They also called for
further cooperation on finance, education, environment, energy, disaster
management and pandemic diseases.
Australia was especially
pleased that the Leaders adopted a declaration calling for intensified
work to stop the spread of drug resistant malaria. We hope this
initiative will save many lives in Cambodia and neighbouring countries.
Australia’s
participation in the EAS illustrates our long standing, close relations
with ASEAN. Australia became ASEAN’s first dialogue partner in 1974.
We have extensive trade, people-to-people and development cooperation
links with ASEAN.
Australia’s role in the EAS also reflects our
strong bilateral relations with each of the ASEAN member states.
Australia is the third largest bilateral aid donor to Cambodia. This
aid is making a real difference to the lives of poor Cambodians. All of
our development assistance is provided in the form of grants which do
not have to be repaid by the Cambodian government. We work in health,
agriculture, infrastructure and law and justice.Australia is the second
largest donor to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.
Australia
and Cambodia cooperate in areas such as de-mining and assisting people
with disabilities. Through our scholarship and volunteer programs we
build the capacity of Cambodians and strengthen people-to-people ties.
Our
two countries are forging partnerships in the fields of defence and
transnational crime. We work together to stop people trafficking and
smuggling, to counter terrorists and to fight illicit drug smuggling and
children’s sexual exploitation.
With so many shared national interests, it is not surprising that Australia and Cambodia enjoy an enduring partnership.
Penny Richards is currently the Australian Ambassador to Cambodia
4 comments:
Dont vote for Julia GIllard. She is often seen laughing, toasting and cheering whenever she is with Hun Sen.
Julia Gillard was not the first ever Australian PM to visit Cambodia. Harold Holt visited in 1967 and Paul Keating in 1994 or 1995. The Ambassador should do her homework.
Australia has done a good job in helping Cambodia, with the peace initiative that led to the peace agreement on 23 October 1991.
I remember Paul Keating visited Cambodia around early 1994, but only for 24 hours I think. Yes, I Googled and found that PM Harold Holt visited Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea in around March 1967. Yes, the ambassador should have done her homework first.
You can clearly see, this Ambassador is clearly a supporter of the Australian Labour government and a supporter of the Hun Sen government.
Last year, while another ECCC judge, and international lawyer resigned their position because of political interference from the Hun Sen government. Julia Gillard government decided that it was the best time to praise the Hun Sen government by sending Bob Carr to Cambodia, along with the millions of dollars of tax payers money, speaking of political progression and freedom of expression.
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