My name is Brett Mason, and I'm the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Ladies and gentlemen would you please welcome Her Excellency the Honourable Quentin Bryce,
Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, accompanied by the Honourable Julie Bishop,
the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
It's my very great pleasure to welcome you to this very special event today to launch the pilot program of the government's signature
foreign policy initiative: The New Colombo Plan.
Please welcome the Minister.
I'm absolutely delighted that you are able to join us here in the Great Hall of the National
Parliament for the launch of an initiative of the Coalition Government that we believe
will not only transform the educational experience of young Australian undergraduates, but will
transform Australia's engagement in our region. I extend a special welcome to our representatives
from the four pilot locations who are here today; from Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
And I'm absolutely delighted that the governments of those locations have agreed
to be part of the pilot program in 2014. There will be a prestigious scholarship program
for periods of study between one semester and one year, an innovative mobility grants
scheme for short-term and semester study, up to a maximum of one year. I'm pleased to
announce that the top-ranked New Colombo Plan scholar in each location, in each year, will
also obtain the additional prestige of becoming a New Colombo Plan Fellow.
Next year, we expect to award about 40 12-month scholarships, ten in each location, and to
award a range of mobility grants for around 700 Australian undergraduates across the four
pilot locations. The program will be open to Australian undergraduates
aged 18 to 28 at all Australian universities. And the key to this program will be the internships,
or similar mentorship, or practical work experience arrangements.
As I have visited the region in recent months, and spoken about the new Colombo Plan, I have
been really thrilled by the response to the issue of the internships and those opportunities.
The new Colombo plan is an ambitious, but a long term venture. We're starting with a
pilot phase so that we can test the model and review and refine the program ahead of
its broader roll out across the region in 2015 and beyond. We will establish a steering
committee to advise us, chaired by the secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Peter Varghese, and co-vice chairs, Kevin McCann and Professor Sandra Harding, who are
both with us today. I believe that the guests gathered here today
understand and appreciate very well the power of learning exchange and the benefits it will
bring to Australia. And I know that the power of education, and
of learning, is also important to our very special guest here today, her Excellency the
Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Honourable Quentin Bryce.
It therefore gives me great pleasure to announce today that her Excellency the Governor General
has agreed to be the official patron of the new Colombo Plan. Your Excellency, thank you
for doing us and the Australian people this honour.
[Applause] My friends, good afternoon. What an auspicious
occasion this is. I am deeply honoured by the invitation to be patron of the new Colombo
Plan. It has the potential to affect many aspects of Australian national life, learning
research and collaboration, obviously, but also professional cooperation, economic linkages
in business, trade and investment, and the conduct of our diplomacy.
In an international context, and especially in Asia, personal connections are valuable
currency. The new Colombo Plan will open the way for
young Australians to share [indistinct] opportunities and to engage with Asian societies in a meaningful
and lasting fashion. My friends, this is a marvellous scheme and
I look forward to watching our young people embrace it as befits the curious, adventurous,
and outward looking nation that we are. Thank you, my friends.
[Applause] It's now my pleasure to invite the Honourable
Tanya Plibersek, Acting Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Foreign Minister and
International Development, to the stage to make some remarks.
[Applause] Thank you so much, Brett, and thank you to
the Minister, Julie Bishop, for inviting me today. I thank you also, Your Excellency,
the Governor-General, for agreeing to be the patron.