This year, Australia Day falls during Tết, so it marks a special occasion in both countries’ calendars. On this special occasion, Ambassador Andrew Goledzinowski shared his thoughts with Việt Nam News about Australia’s values, achievements of Australia-Việt Nam diplomatic relations in 2022 and prospects for 2023.

Today is Australia Day, and the theme this year is Reflect. Respect. Celebrate. Australia Day is a day when we celebrate contemporary Australia and all the things we love: our diverse society and landscape, our creativity, our democracy, our openness and freedoms and our remarkable achievements and people. It's also a time to reflect on and learn about our national journey, including the ongoing history, traditions, and cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Our First Peoples are the traditional custodians of our lands and waterways and have a fundamental role in the great Australian story – a story which began over 60,000 years ago.

Notably, this year, Australia will vote to amend our Constitution to recognise Indigenous Peoples, and to establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to our Federal Parliament. This change will be an important chapter in Australia’s history, and one that will help to build stronger relationships of trust and mutual respect between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other Australians.

As well as reflection, Australia Day is also an opportunity to consider how we can make Australia an even better place in the future.

Ambassador Andrew Goledzinowski (middle) and Ms. Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative (left), at the handover ceremony of five refrigerated trucks and a further 4.2 million Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine doses from Australia to Việt Nam at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hà Nội on October 21, 2022. Photo courtesy of the embassy

Our international partnerships are an essential part of that future, and I’m very optimistic. We have a new government in Australia that is active, ambitious and regionally-focused. This bodes well for the future of our relationships with the Southeast Asian region generally and with Việt Nam specifically.

This year we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of diplomatic relations between our two countries. The anniversary is a significant milestone in our relationship, and we will reflect on and celebrate our many accomplishments over the past five decades and consider how to most effectively shape our relationship to take advantage of new opportunities.

A highlight of the recent visit to Australia by Chairman of Vietnam’s National Assembly Vương Đình Huệ was the announcement, made during a meeting with our Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, of the intention to elevate our relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP). This will be a highly significant development in our bilateral relationship that will place our countries in the top tier of our bilateral partners and reflects our high levels of mutual trust and respect.

We expect the CSP will enhance cooperation across the breadth of the Strategic Partnership and establish cooperation on new and emerging challenges, such as climate change and energy transition. Climate change presents great risk to all nations, but the transition towards cleaner more affordable energy also presents economic opportunities which our two nations can embrace. We are ambitious for what we can achieve together with Việt Nam in this area.

At the same time, we will continue our work in priority areas including trade and investment, education and peacekeeping. There is significant potential for Australia and Vietnam to take our trade and investment relationship even further, and I look forward to working closely with counterparts in business and government over the coming years to continue to implement initiatives under the Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy (EEES) to achieve these goals. I also look forward to further strengthening our Peacekeeping Partnership, and to seeing Việt Nam take on a still more active and constructive role in global peacekeeping operations.

Ambassador Andrew Goledzinowski attends Defence Expo 2022 and tests a bridge simulator from an Australian company on December 8, 2022. Photo courtesy of the embassy

As well as all these positives, we are facing some notable issues and challenges, such as growing strategic competition in our region, Russia’s war in Ukraine and challenging economic conditions. It is at times like these that we look to our friends and partners, like Việt Nam. We’re pleased to see an increase in strategic trust between our countries, and we are continuing to work closely on peacekeeping and other areas to help maintain global peace and security and uphold international rules and norms. We know we are stronger together and we look forward to growing our cooperation over the coming years.

My first few months in Việt Nam have been busy and exhilarating. I’ve been so warmly welcomed by the Vietnamese, and I thank you all for that. I look forward to meeting many more of you across the country in the coming year and am excited for what the future will bring.

I wish all the Australians in Việt Nam and back in Australia a happy Australia Day. VNS