Governor-General Reverend Sir David Tiva Kapu.
Prime Minister the Honourable Matthew Wale.
Honourable Ministers and Members of Parliament
Distinguished guests
Church and community leaders
Ladies and gentlemen
On behalf of the people of Australia, it is my great honour to congratulate you and your country on 48 years of independence.
We gather today to commemorate those whose vision made independence possible, half a century ago.
To celebrate the change and progress those five decades have brought to the life of your nation and the lives of its citizens.
And to dedicate ourselves to building on what has gone before us.
To realising a future of greater opportunity, stability and prosperity for all.
It is an ongoing source of pride for Australia that we were the first country to formally recognise Solomon Islands through the establishment of diplomatic relations.
And that occurred on the 7th July, 1978.
Day one.
Because Australia already knew the kindness and the courage that lived in these lands.
We had learned this amidst the devastation of war.
And we had pledged to remember it always in peace:
The bravery, skill and sacrifice of Scouts and Coastwatchers.
And the selfless humanity of Solomon Islanders who risked their own lives to rescue and shelter Australian sailors and airmen.
Australia was proud to count Solomon Islands as a friend long before your first day as a member of the international community.
And we are proud to have Solomon Islands as a neighbour, a partner, a friend and a cherished member of the Pacific Family, every day.
It is fitting that 12 members of the Australian Army Band are performing together with the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force Band.
Learning from each other and moving forward together, in harmony.
Friends
Independence for Solomon Islands was formalised by an act of British Parliament but independence was brought to life by a thousand different acts of leadership, imagination and co-operation, from the people of these islands.
Because the sovereignty of independence is not a condition that one country can bestow on another.
It is a right and a responsibility.
Sovereignty, stability, prosperity and peace are not born of one moment in time.
They are built, maintained and secured down the generations.
Not just in the high principles of global forums but in the universal building blocks of a good life.
A healthy family, a secure home, a safe community.
The opportunity of education and the dignity of work.
The connections to region, culture and the great blue Pacific.
These are the continuing acts of independence that bring power, progress and sovereignty to individuals and nations alike.
I have been impressed by Prime Minister Wale's vision to build a better life for each and every Solomon Islander.
And as we celebrate the past, we look forward to the future.
A future with a stronger, peaceful and more prosperous Solomon Islands.
As you continue your journey we also look to our own shared future, negotiating a new comprehensive treaty that will bring our great countries even closer together.
Forty eight years ago today, the Union Jack was respectfully lowered and a new flag was raised.
A flag shaped by the nation it served:
The green of its forests.
The gold of its sands.
The blue of the ocean that all our Pacific family call home.
And the stars that have guided the people of these lands for tens of thousands of years.
Long may the flag of Solomon Islands fly.
Happy Independence Day.
Tagio tumas.
