It's wonderful to be here in Singapore. And I thank Foreign Minister Balakrishnan for the warm welcome, once again, back to Singapore. Australia and Singapore are strategically aligned. We share values and we share a relationship of trust between each other. And that is why it's so important that at difficult times in the world we can rely upon each other. We provide about 32 per cent of LNG to Singapore. Singapore provides about 26 per cent of refined fuel for Australia. This is an important relationship at a time where fuel security is on the agenda, right around the globe due to the conflict in the Middle East. This relationship is more important than ever. And I'm really looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong tomorrow. We are good friends. We have an important relationship. We have a green energy partnership. We have so many protocols in place between our two nations.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what are you hoping to achieve on the ground here in Singapore?
PRIME MINISTER: Just a reinforcing of the relationship which is there. This is a relationship of trust and of mutual interest as well. We know that it is in both of our countries' interests to engage with each other to make sure that we are both reliable suppliers, and our word means something. And we have each other's word and indeed we have each other's back at this time.
JOURNALIST: And with a fragile ceasefire now in place is the worst of the fuel security crisis behind us?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, the conflict in the Middle East will have a long tale even if the ceasefire holds. And we want to see a permanent ceasefire in the Middle East. We want to see peace in the Middle East, and we want to see a resumption of normal economic activity. But even if that were to occur then there would still be a difficult period ahead with pressure on supply because you can't just turn back the tap immediately of security. There's been substantial damage in the Gulf and that will have consequences for a period of at least months ahead. Thank you.
