Jessica Collins (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to warmly congratulate Papua New Guinea this month on celebrating its 50th anniversary of independence. Papua New Guinea achieved full independence on 16 September 1975. The celebrations ushered in a new dawn of a new age for this remarkable country. Dignitaries officiating the ceremony, including then Prince Charles, joined the inaugural prime minister of Papua New Guinea, 'Grand Chief' Sir Michael Somare, who is recognised as father of the nation, or papa blo kantri. In his historic address at the first independence celebration, Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare declared:

I wish to remind all that this is just the beginning. Now we must stand on our own two feet and work harder than ever before. We are indeed masters of our own destiny

Papua New Guinea's journey to independence came from within. Despite its internal challenges since independence, Papua New Guinea has pressed on with determination to chart its own course. Australia has been privileged to share this journey with our northern neighbour through trade, tourism, sport, education and people-to-people links. Our people enjoy a very special bond. We share a rich past, and in World War II Aussie diggers fought as brothers in arms with PNG's fuzzy wuzzy angels to keep our nations free. The bond between us on the battlefield is immortalised in the Australian War Memorial as well as in our national memory.

In his address to our parliament last year, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape, reminded us that Australian and Papua New Guinea are joined at the hip. We remain family and stand shoulder-to-shoulder in our democratic values and our vision for a thriving Pacific.