Prime Minister and Mrs Obuchi, other ministers of the Japanese Government and other distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Can I say first of all on behalf of my wife and myself and all of the other members of the Australian party how very grateful we are for your great courtesy and your great hospitality. Not only in affording us this splendid dinner tonight but also the friendship that you have extended to us since we arrived from Australia last night. The relationship between Australia and Japan does have a very special quality. It is a magnificent model to the rest of the world of how two countries with vastly different cultures and very different histories can come together and achieve through the pooling of their common objectives and their common goals a great and broadly based friendship.
Japan is Australia s best customer.
We value your custom. We strive on all occasions to be reliable suppliers. We like to provide good after sales service and if there are any customer complaints we like to hear about them. But the relationship is more than an economic relationship. It is also a deepening cultural and political relationship.