Extract from ABC News
Ursula von der Leyen is the first female world leader to address Australia's federal parliament. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
In short:
The president of the European Commission has urged democracies to band together against a "brutal" world as she addressed Australia's parliament.
Ursula von der Leyen also warned that Australia's geographic distance no longer protected it and said "getting China right" was a strategic imperative.
What's next?
The European Commission leader said Australia and Europe must rearm and decarbonise to try and break economic and energy dependencies on China and Russia.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has struck a grim tone during a landmark address to federal parliament, saying democracies must band together in the face of a "brutal, harsh and unforgiving" world that has been turned "upside down".
The president also declared that Europe and Australia must rearm and decarbonise as they try to break economic and energy dependencies on China and Russia.
"The world we live in is brutal, harsh and unforgiving. It feels upside down. What we knew as certainties are in question," she said.
She also alluded to the strategic chaos stoked by US President Donald Trump's administration, saying Europe recognised it needed to embrace a more independent strategic posture.
"The comfort blanket of yesterday is ripped away. It is confronting," she told the joint sitting.
"But the world we are living in is also a more honest one. We are saying out loud what has changed and how we are changing."
The European Commission president — who was the first female world leader to address federal parliament — said Australia's distance from the rest of the world no longer protected it, or provided any meaningful barriers to its relationship with Europe.
"Distance is no longer a protection or a luxury. The world has changed, but we get to choose how to shape our responses," she said.
"While we have not always maximised this potential, our kinship has always bound us. And our cultures have always understood one another."
Ursula von der Leyen, with Anthony Albanese, says world democracies must stick together. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
'Getting China right' is imperative
Ms von der Leyen said the "unimaginable" sight of North Koreans "fighting Ukrainians on European soil" was a powerful symbol of how authoritarian regimes were increasingly banding together against democracies.
And she celebrated the new security partnership signed by the European Union and Australia, saying it would help bolster defence industrial cooperation.
"As our adversaries adapt to cooperate together, we too must respond together," she said.
"Because when we stand side-by-side we are stronger."
The president warned that China's vast exports were undercutting Europe's economic model and forcing it towards de-industrialisation, urging Australia to back its efforts to rebalance global trade.
"Both the threat to our supply-chain security and the shock to our industrial base need urgent responses," she said.
"These are responses we can only devise together. For both Europe and Australia, getting China right is a strategic imperative."
Australia has agreed to liberalise access to critical minerals for Europe under a free trade deal unveiled today, and Ms von der Leyen said the suite of agreements would bring real strategic benefits to both sides.
"We cannot be over-dependent on any supplier for such crucial ingredients. And that is precisely why we need each other," she said.
"Our security is your security. And with our new security partnership, we have each other's backs."
She also said that decarbonisation and green energy was a "defining pillar" of the new free trade agreement, saying climate change was "ravaging Europe" and taking steps to cut pollution was "hard-headed commonsense".
"We all know what we are seeing is more severe. Dorothea Mackellar wrote of Australia's droughts and flooding rains affecting your sunburnt country," she said.
"But the point is these climatic events have become more frequent and more intense. And it is our common responsibility to find solutions to power the planet we leave our children."
No comments:
Post a Comment