Tonight I will travel to the United Kingdom with four Pacific Heads of State and their delegations to commemorate the life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Australia was pleased to offer transport to London to 10 Pacific island countries which are members of the Commonwealth and share Australia's deep and historic connections to the organisation.
I will accompany the distinguished representatives of Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu to the United Kingdom.
They are Governor General of Papua New Guinea, H.E. Sir Bob Dadae, Governor General of Solomon Islands, H.E. Sir David Vunagi, Governor General of Tuvalu, H.E. Tofinga Vaevalu Falani and Head of State for Samoa, H.H. Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II.
The Queen visited every Pacific member of the Commonwealth during her reign. Her Majesty's first visit to Australia in 1954 was the final leg of a tour which started in Fiji in 1953 and included Tonga and New Zealand. The Queen first visited Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu (then New Hebrides) in 1974, Samoa in 1977, and Nauru, Kiribati and Tuvalu in 1982.
The Australian Government is pleased to help facilitate Her Majesty's wish that Pacific countries have the opportunity to join other Commonwealth nations to mourn the loss of the Queen and honour her life of duty and service.
