State Luncheon for the President of Timor-Leste

May I begin by greeting everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand: in English, Māori, Cook Island Māori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language.   Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is the afternoon (Sign)

May I specifically greet you: Your Excellency, Dr Jose Ramos-Horta, President of Timor-Leste; Your Excellency Hernani Coelho, Ambassador of Timor-Leste to New Zealand; Mr Jose Turquel, Foreign Policy Adviser to the President; Your Excellency, Tim McIvor, Ambassador of New Zealand to Timor-Leste; Simon Murdoch, Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade; John Hayes, Chair of  Parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defence Select Committee; Major General Lou Gardiner, Chief of the New Zealand Army; Assistant Commissioner Grant Nicholls of the New Zealand Police; Peter Adams, Executive Director of NZAID; Rt Hon Helen Clark, former Prime Minister; Dr Andrew Ladley, United Nations Senior Expert Mediator; Graham Fortune, former NZ Secretary of Defence; Mel Smith, former Ombudsman; Professor David MacDonald, Adjunct Professor at Victoria University and former Auditor-General; Paul Sinclair, Head of the International Defence Relations Branch of the Ministry of Defence on behalf of the Secretary of Defence; and Dick Grant, Executive Director of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

And in the context of today's luncheon, may I add the greeting: bon dia.

Your Excellency-I want first to register thanks for your first visit to us as President of your country.  I have the privilege to declare that to you on behalf of all New Zealanders.

While New Zealand is a young nation, Timor-Leste is an even younger nation-one of the world's youngest, in fact. Your Government and people are still hard at work building the institutions and mechanisms of statehood, and we wish you well in that endeavour.

Although the history and traditions of our two countries are very different, we have one very important point in common. We are both committed to the principles of democracy.

We know, Your Excellency, that Timor-Leste's freedoms have been won with even more difficulty. New Zealanders have followed closely the trials of your country as it has emerged from colonialism and occupation.

We have seen the people of Timor-Leste labour together to build a nation, and an economy that will sustain it.

And, Your Excellency, we know full well the sacrifices that you, personally, have made in the cause of Timor-Leste's democratic future.

I would like to say to you today that New Zealand will continue to support the values you have stood for in your efforts to cement Timor-Leste's place in the world.  I hope you will agree that New Zealand and Timor-Leste are old friends. New Zealand first put up its hand up to support your nation in 1999, both before the referendum and in the dark days that followed.

We have stayed to support the people of Timor-Leste ever since. New Zealand has been a part of every international and United Nations mission deployed on Timorese soil.

Since that first UN mission, hundreds of New Zealand soldiers, police officers and other public servants have served alongside their Timorese equivalents.

Our main defence presence in Timor-Leste today is a 150-strong light infantry company that serves alongside Australian troops as the International Stabilisation Force. This ANZAC grouping has been in place since the violent upheavals of 2006, and New Zealand is proud of the work they are doing.

Earlier today you presented some of our soldiers, and a New Zealand Police officer, with Timor-Leste Solidarity Medals. We, and they, thank you for the honour.

While we welcome the opportunity to help provide security for your people, it will be a happy day for Timor-Leste when this force is able to bid you farewell.  

New Zealand's presence in your country is not restricted to our army, of course. We have 25 police officers attached to the UN Mission in Timor-Leste, UNMIT.

You are no doubt well acquainted with our Ambassador, Tim McIvor, who is here today, and his staff. The Embassy is the base not only for our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade staff in Timor-Leste, but also for our national development assistance agency, NZAID.

Your Excellency, distinguished guests, there are a great many ties between Timor-Leste and New Zealand, and they have involved a great many people. The New Zealanders who have lived and worked on Timorese soil form a constituency for Timor-Leste that reaches much further than one might suppose.

Your Excellency, we can surely see this level of concern for Timor-Leste in the high level of public interest here in your own visit. I know, too, that you have been eagerly sought out by a number of our leading journalists, and that you have been on radio this morning as well as addressing meetings.

Please be assured, then, that Timor-Leste has a friend not only in New Zealand, but also in a great many New Zealanders. It is these personal connections that will ensure our two countries remain close long after the need has passed for our soldiers and police officers to help guarantee security. 

Your Excellency, and your delegation, it is with equal measures of warmth and enthusiasm that we receive you in Aotearoa New Zealand and I register the hope that you have a happy and profitable visit.

Hau hein katak ita gosta hela ita nia vizita ba Nova Zelandia.

I hope that you are enjoying your visit to New Zealand.

On that note I will close in New Zealand's first language, Maori, by offering greetings and wishing you good health and fortitude in your endeavours. No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa.

To view more images from the State Welcome, click here.