Zoe McKenzie (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This week we have spent much time in discussion of Australia's relationship with Europe, one in which I've had a deep interest for almost 40 years. I lived in France in my teens and studied in Germany in my 20s, and in this way I say France got a piece of my heart and Germany a piece of my head sufficiently early for both places to feel a bit like home. In both lands I developed a fascination for language and for culture, and, as so many Australians know, speaking another language is a door to curiosity and tolerance—a magical power to stand in different shoes and to sit comfortably with diversity. Those experiences also made me profoundly grateful for home—Australia's egalitarian spirit, its levelling self-deprecation, its spectacular generosity and good humour, its bounteous beauty and the vastness of our breathtaking landscapes.

This week we took a moment to reflect on Australia's most enduring and consequential relationship—that is, our relationship with Europe, built on a shared history, shared sacrifice and a shared future vision of what democracy ought to look like. We are the proud custodian of the longest uninterrupted culture on earth. But the story of modern Australia began in the traditions, the languages, legal systems and faiths of our European founders and the generations which followed.

Europe's gratitude to Australia is profound and still practised daily. When the world descended into catastrophe in 1914, Australia answered Europe's call. Of our less than five million Australians at the time, we sent 416,000 to war, and 60,000 never came home. Thousands remain lost in the mud of the Western Front and in the skies over France and Belgium. Recently I walked through the Commonwealth war graves in Ypres with Angus Campbell. You cannot get a better guide. Angus was born in Rosebud Hospital, a man of the peninsula who has served our nation in war and in peace and now serves as our ambassador in the European Union. We are still sending our best to Europe to serve.

Today's relationship between Australia and Europe is mature and multifaceted. We are united by democratic values, the rule of law and a belief in the fundamental dignity of the individual. We are trading partners, research collaborators and together contribute to international institutions which, despite their many imperfections, remain worth defending and reforming. We share today's battles not just in Ukraine but in rebuilding a rules based international order, resisting those who test boundaries and fighting against economic coercion, foreign interference and extremism.

Our region is no longer peripheral to European strategic thinking. As I saw on a recent trip to NATO, what happens in our sphere of influence affects global trade and stability, and Europe now understands this. The ties between Australia and Europe are old and deep, forged in the crucible of shared loss and renewed through decades of shared prosperity. This week, we remembered we have rebuilt shattered civilisations together before and, in the future, we can meet the defining tests of this century.