Good afternoon, everybody.

Standing here in this lovely spring light as the sun begins to set, I’m so, so delighted that you are here at the beginning of this very important program.  

Of course, I want to start by acknowledging the traditional owners of this land, the Ngunnawal people, and pay my respects to their Elders, past and present. I also acknowledge any Ngunnawal people here today, all First Nations people connected to the lands of the ACT and surrounding region, and all First Nations Australians joining us from across the country. I pay my respects to your Elders, your lands, your country, and, of course, to everyone from the Pacific—the places you represent and the heritage you bring to this week of Emerging Leaders.

I want to acknowledge your grandparents, your parents, and those yet to come. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see you here and to understand where Australia sits in the Pacific—and what it means to have Pasifika together in this space.

Tonight, the most important people here are the members of the Emerging Leaders Program. We also welcome alumni from previous years who are now group leaders. It’s wonderful to see you return, slightly older but still young, guiding those who are just joining the program. I hope you come back to Government House many times in the future.

I acknowledge the Hon. Dr Anne Aly MP, Minister for International Development—a person I admire deeply for her wisdom and experience—and Mr Jason Wood MP, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific. It’s so important that both government and opposition are represented because our relationship with the Pacific matters across the Parliament.

There are many, many members of our diplomatic corps here tonight, including:

• Mr Andrew Needs, High Commissioner for New Zealand
• Her Excellency Camilla Solomon, High Commissioner for Nauru
• His Excellency John Kali, High Commissioner for Papua New Guinea. We share a great love of the Sydney Swans. I read a story when I met you and your Prime Minister, that you were almost in the draft for the Swans in 1974.
• Mr Curtis Tuihalangingie, Acting High Commissioner for Tonga
• Mr Ernest Sumptoh, Acting High Commissioner for Vanuatu

And many others from the diplomatic community, as well as representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade who support this program.

I also want to acknowledge Tim Costello—a dear friend for many years. It’s very special to have you here tonight.

Government House is a place of peace and belonging, where everyone is welcome. It’s not my home; it’s a place I work and live in as Governor-General, but I think of it as a home for all who come here. We have some very important Pasifika and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artifacts in the house— given to me or to previous Governors-General. We treasure these gifts as symbols of deep friendship with our Pacific neighbours. They represent the people, histories, cultures, languages, and communities that are the strength and beauty of all Pacific nations. Please take time to explore the ground floor after the formal proceedings. I hope you find parts of your stories, and over time, I hope to add to the stories as I come and visit your countries.

As Australia’s 28th Governor-General, I’ve welcomed leaders from Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, and Tonga over the past 16 months, and I look forward to many more visits. Tonight, you bring the youth and fresh ideas of the Pacific into this space. Engaging with our Pacific family will be a focus of my term, particularly through the lens of young people—their hopes and dreams for the Pacific and the world.

I hope this week gives you the opportunity to listen, learn, and share insights. Your creativity and aspirations are our shared future. I’ve been following your social media posts over a number of months, and was struck by words from Joyce Tangi, Pacific Diaspora Team Leader, at the end of last year’s summit. Joyce described the summit as a place for young people wanting to dream together, learn together, and stand in solidarity. She called it a wonderful space of growth, where participants were hopeful and courageous. Courage, she said, is needed to step outside your own box and hear those around you. That perfectly sums up what I hope for from this year’s summit.

Now I often meet young Australians who demonstrate that same ambition to drive change in partnership with communities worldwide, especially First Nations communities. Congratulations on the energy you’re investing in yourselves as leaders in going above and beyond, out of the box, and sharing your knowledge and skills for the benefit of your communities today—and for all our tomorrows.

In the next week, as you meet with key decision makers and diplomatic representatives, you will share a vision for our shared regions that they need to hear. I suspect they'll be listening to you, in addition to you learning from those current leaders. I want to celebrate and thank the coordinating work that's undertaken by the supporters of the Pacific Australian Emerging Leaders Summit. Of course, Micah Australia, who I got to know when I was involved in the Council for International Development, a very important organization. And, of course, the Pacific conference of churches. I know the DFAT people worked very hard to support this program. Many of you who actually support the program are here tonight. I want to thank you all for the work that you put in to making sure that we highlight young people's leadership, amplify youth voices as vital contributors to our regional dialog. It's what will change the world.  

I know that the ties that bring young people together as brothers and sisters from communities right across the Pacific will nurture and sustain the bonds between our nations as we face the important and quite difficult challenges ahead that you are aware of. And your vision is totally compelling. Young people's vision always is.  

You want to see healthy environments empowered by young people and flourishing communities enjoying self-determination where no one is left behind. We should all want No One Left Behind. It's founded on the values of partnership, inclusion, self-determination, and that word I love, which is stewardship, not just leadership, but stewardship. You put our interconnectedness as people and communities, a Pacific family, at the heart of your friendships, you actively listen to each other. Some of the adults could learn a lot from active listeners that you don't just wait to talk. You imagine standing in the shoes of others. You empower the experiences of those that may not have their own voices. Your framework for a shared future is a very impressive statement of the challenges you face, how your community will be impacted. But what you say you can do in the face of all of that, I'm sure the conversations that you will have will reveal rising social harm, climate change, ecological destruction and challenges to sovereignty. They are real for you.  

These are not abstract concepts. As young people, you know the effect that will have on future generations, but it is through conversation, active listening and commitment to action that those challenges can all be met as young people who have always defined our futures.  

Now, when I was sworn in, I promised to put care, kindness and respect at the centre for that to be everything I do, and I say it like this, care for each other, care for those that do the caring of others, care for our continent (in this case, let's extend it to the Pacific), our environmental riches, the things that have sustained us forever, care for civics and institutions, but most importantly, care for the way we discuss the really tough issues of our time, the important ones, without rancour, anger, judgment or violence, always with respect.  

Now I see the values of care, kindness and respect embedded so powerfully in the cultures of the Pacific and First Nations Australians, where family, collectivism, consensus, reciprocity and humanity shape the interactions in every sphere of life, values that resonate profoundly in this country, as I say, in 65,000 years, the gift which has always been shared with us so generously. These are the values that sit at the heart of the Pacific. Advancing peace, stability and prosperity is a symbol of our enduring faith in the importance of building our shared future together.  

So I'll finish up now just by saying I know you have all brought your listening ears and open hearts to this dialogue. And as someone who has always believed in the power, insight and hopes of young people, I very much look forward to learning about the outcomes of your important conversations. I'll be watching the social media posts so I can learn more and use your words to understand this week. I also want to say this time, though, that while you're fostering relationships of mutual respect and trust with one another, and you will meet people who are very important this week and important components in your life, as leaders, current leaders, current decision makers and policy makers, I think the most important things that will happen this week are the big friendships that will last the decades ahead, things that you will learn as you bring your full selves to the front, and you are the leaders of the Pacific that we need in the decades ahead.  

That starts with your leadership in the program that lies ahead, being led by those who've been here before. That you bring your open heart, your clear eyes and your wonderful belief in the future as a Pacific neighbourhood that cares about each other, and I want to wish you all the very best for your time together.