NSW LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY WELCOMES THE TOKYO GOVERNOR TO NSW PARLIAMENT

JOINT MEETING IN THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY WELCOMING THE TOKYO GOVERNOR TO NSW

 

NSW PARLIAMENT, SYDNEY

TUESDAY, 6 FEBRUARY 2024

Good afternoon, everybody.

 

To our Japanese guests here today: Konnichiwa.

 

It is my great pleasure to welcome Her Excellency, the Governor of Tokyo, Ms. Yuriko Koike to New South Wales Parliament.

Governor – Tokyo isn’t just one of the great cities of the world, it’s also one of the friendliest.

 

I hope you are feeling just as welcome here in Sydney as hundreds of thousands of Australians feel when they visit Japan.

 

You have travelled here to celebrate a significant milestone between our two people.

 

The 40^th anniversary of Tokyo New South Wales standing side by side as sister states.

 

That’s forty years of friendship and cooperation.

 

All secured on a lasting foundation of peace.

When we first signed this agreement, back in 1984, the Premier on our side of the table was a man named Neville Wran.

 

Soon afterwards, he made a point of visiting Japan, to christen the deal.

Now, two noteworthy things happened on that trip.

 

The first was that he experienced an earthquake in downtown Tokyo.

Which was a reminder of the danger and the adversity people in your city face on a regular basis.

 

The second was a happier event, he attended a ‘Koala wedding’ at the Tokyo Zoo.

 

Now for our Japanese guests in the audience, I want to be clear:

This is not a regular event for Australians.

 

We don’t tend to spend our weekends attending koala weddings, or kangaroo birthday parties for that matter.

 

But in this case, we were sending a delegation of koalas over to Japan – so Neville Wran was there to see them reunited.

 

Now Koalas sleep for about twenty hours a day –

So it wouldn’t have been the liveliest of wedding receptions.

 

But as an act of marsupial diplomacy, it clearly did the trick.

 

Because for forty years now, our relationship has gone from strength to strength.

 

This agreement was set in motion by trade and commerce.

 

It was deepened by our shared global interests.

 

But in the end – it’s the ties between our people that have allowed this relationship to blossom.

 

We’re now people who know each other, on a personal level.

We enjoy each other’s company.

 

There was an article recently in the Australian Financial Review that asked the question:

 

‘Why are all your friends in Tokyo right now?’.

 

And it’s not just anecdotal, the numbers back it up.

 

According to data from Expedia, Tokyo recently overtook Bali as the most popular tourist destination for Australian travellers.

 

And of course Japan is our largest export market.

 

Our second largest two-way trading partner.

 

A trading relationship worth more than $46 billion a year.

 

Ever since Robert Menzies opened up trade with Japan in 1957, our economies have complimented one another.

 

Australian resources have fuelled Japan’s industrialisation.

 

Which in turn has supplied Australian consumers with essential goods.

It’s been a winning model, for more than 65 years.

 

And right now, we have a chance to update that model for the twenty first century.

 

To give it new meaning, in light of new challenges and new problems.

The renewal of our Sister State Agreement presents that opportunity.

 

Not only to reaffirm the initial principles, but to modernise them.

 

Both our states share a vision of net zero, powered by clean energy.

Between us, we’ve got the brains, the resources, the knowledge and I believe the willpower to get there.

 

I want applaud the Governor for the role she is playing in Japan’s transition to renewables.

 

This is an area where we can help each other –

Supporting our mutual efforts to build a cleaner, cheaper energy system.

 

For that and many other reasons, I’m happy Governor has travelled across the world to be with us this week.

 

Governor Koike is a formidable leader.

 

The first ever female Defence Minister of Japan.

 

Then the first female Governor in the history of Tokyo.

 

Steering a city of 14 million people through COVID, while at the same time opening and running the Olympics games.

 

As the largest provinces in our respective countries, each with a major city at its heart, we’ve got much to learn from each other.

 

Meetings like this can only help us do that.

 

As I said – this relationship has flourished because of the connection between our people.

 

Visiting each other, working together, offering help when needed.

In that spirit, I offer our state’s condolence to victims of the recent tragedies that have been experienced in Japan.

 

The Noto Earthquake – which claimed 240 lives across your country.

It’s important that we acknowledge these recent natural disasters because four years ago, our state was experiencing the worst bushfires in living memory.

 

Whole communities were fleeing for their lives.

 

Towns were burning to the ground.

 

Many people in our state were in grave danger.

 

But from a distance of almost 5,000 miles, the people of Japan heard the call.

 

Sending more than 80 military and civilian personnel to Australia.

 

Bringing masks and medical supplies to the front line.

 

Coming in with lifesaving equipment wherever assistance was needed.

As the captain of the Japanese mission told the Australia media:

 

‘We took on this mission in gratitude of the support we received from the Australian force that were dispatched to Japan in the Great East Japan Earthquake’.

 

That is what friendship looks like.

 

And this is what our relationship between our two peoples mean.

That’s how far we’ve come.

 

So thank you, Governor, for visiting our state.

 

You are very very welcome here.