Mr SHORTEN (Maribyrnong—Leader of the Opposition) (12:11): I thank the Prime Minister for his words, and on behalf of the opposition I extend a very warm welcome to our honoured guests. Prime Minister Sogavare, welcome to Australia. I'm grateful we had the chance to speak earlier today. It's always gratifying to meet an opposition leader who's made it to prime minister. Today in Canberra we recall the HMAS Canberra, a Royal Australian Navy heavy cruiser, sunk at Ironbottom Sound, Guadalcanal, 75 years ago last week. Eighty-four Australians in her crew, including the captain, were killed as they sought to screen the landing operations of US marines. Prime Minister, the ship named for our capital was lost in battle near yours. And it's no exaggeration to say that in the Second World War Australians and Solomon Islanders changed the course of world history. Seventy-four years ago, in August 1943, a Japanese destroyer rammed and sank a US patrol torpedo boat. The commander and his crew swam to a small island but found no food or water. So the commander and one of his shipmates, already exhausted, swam to a larger island. As they walked along the beach, the two American survivors encountered two Solomon Islander scouts in their canoe, Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, who had been dispatched by an Australian coastwatcher, Warrant Officer Arthur Evans, who had seen the US vessel explode. In desperate need of rescue, the commander carved a message in a coconut for the two men to pass on. It said, 'Native knows position. He can pilot. 11 alive. Need small boat.' Finally, the 26-year-old American lieutenant from Massachusetts carved his name: Kennedy. President John F Kennedy kept that coconut on his desk in the Oval Office. He invited the men, an Australian and two Solomon Islanders, who saved his life, to his inauguration, and later wrote to them as President saying they would always have a special place in his heart. Seventy-four years ago, Solomon Islanders helped someone in need: in pidgin, they helpim fren. Fourteen years ago, Australians went to do just that. Today we salute the end of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands. Fourteen years, 15 partner nations, billions of dollars of investment, tens of thousands of personnel deployed, with one objective above all: to help a friend. And today we also mark a beginning: the beginning of a new chapter for your nation, for our two countries' friendship, and for the security of your people and our region. We're looking forward to new opportunities for a new generation. We honour all those who made it possible. I join with the Prime Minister in remembering the four Australians who died in the course of this long endeavour: Private Jamie Clark, 3RAR; the two Australian protective service officers from the AFP, Adam Dunning and Ronald Lewis; and civilian adviser Tony Scriva. I'm sure that for their families, their comrades and all who knew and loved these men seeing RAMSI in the news again today will perhaps be a little hard. Our hearts go out to them. One of Australia's greatest foreign ministers, Gareth Evans, once said the essence of the Australian peacekeeper, wherever they went, was 'an admirable willingness and capacity to just get the job done, and to do it irreverently, cheerfully, unshirkingly, and in a way that is intolerant of bulldust in any form and totally instinctively egalitarian'. Australian peacekeepers aren't just respected by those whom they serve alongside for their courage, professionalism and skill; they're also held in genuine affection by the communities in which they serve. There is a quality of cheerful openness that comes to the fore when dealing with Australian peacekeepers in the execution of their mission: no stuffiness, no stiffness, no standing on ceremony, but, indeed, a genuine engagement with the country and the people and a sense of egalitarian respect that all builds a spirit of partnership and cooperation. That sense of shared endeavour of working together, peacekeepers and people, was so central to the success of RAMSI. In 2003, after five years of escalating aggression and conflict between ethnic groups, which is described as 'the tensions', the Solomons was as close to becoming a failed state as possible. Gun crime was out of control and law and order had broken down, with almost nothing being done to prevent crime, or prosecute or punish offenders. In the words of RAMSI's final special coordinator, Quinton Devlin: … state institutions were simply not functioning or operating at the barest minimum level. The prison officers, for example, had opened the doors of the jail and walked away. So, while citizens lived in fear for their safety, corruption, extortion and bribery had bankrupted the nation. In less than five years, the GDP had almost halved. To the great credit of Prime Minister John Howard and his government, Australia acted. Australia showed genuine regional and global leadership, with 14 nations joining the RAMSI task force. Undoubtedly, there were rough edges and early concerns at the commencement of RAMSI. But RAMSI endured and prevailed, smoothing those rough edges and answering those questions. Under successive governments on both sides, Australia and RAMSI partner nations disarmed the militia, destroyed thousands of illegal weapons, arrested hundreds of criminals and brought corrupt officials to justice. But we also built the infrastructure of peace and progress. We brought back development agencies, banks and investors who had walked away. We opened the way for truth and reconciliation. Hand in hand, we helped our friends restore integrity to the institutions of a democratic state, from the parliament to the justice system and to the public service. Just as importantly, we rebuilt trust and confidence in those institutions so the people didn't feel that the law could only be enforced by taking it into their own hands. Restoring order is also about restoring normality so families can go to work, shop in the market, spend quality time with their families and friends, worship in peace, play and watch sport. It's a story that Prime Minister Sogavare told me earlier when I asked him whether soccer or futsal was more popular. He was pleased to inform me that Elliot Ragomo, who is the captain of the Solomon Islands' national futsal team, is now a hero to a generation of fans. Indeed, the Brazilian club Minas Tenis is currently processing his international transfer, which makes him the first citizen of any other nation to play in the Brazilian professional futsal league. He is, I suggest, a symbol of a nation re-emerging: confident, unified and ready for the world stage, and ready for a more prosperous future with quality investment, extending beyond the sounds of chainsaws and logging. Even when military operations wound down in 2013, Australia and RAMSI nations continued to provide training, advice and assistance for a new civil society. It's a measure of the way RAMSI went about its work that it maintained the consistent support and affection of Solomon Islanders. It is now regarded around the world as the global standard for a successful international intervention. RAMSI demonstrated what Australian leadership can achieve in the region as a responsible, outward-looking and engaged middle power. In our region, all 15 partner nations showed what we can achieve when we work together. The men and women who have made up the Australian contingent over the past 14 years—our military personnel, our police and our civilian governance and program experts—have fulfilled the very best traditions of Australian peacekeeping and humanitarian and nation-building effort, and they have rightly earned the thanks of two grateful nations. A month from now, on 14 September, the Governor-General will dedicate a new memorial on Anzac Avenue. That day marks the 70th anniversary of Australia's first peacekeeping mission—the Chifley government's decision to support the Indonesian people against the Dutch colonial power. Since then, over 50,000 Australians have contributed to more than 60 United Nations and multilateral operations—from Kashmir to the Middle East, from Siberia to Sudan and from Cambodia to Timor-Leste. Through seven decades of uncertainty and threats Australians have answered the call for help and served the cause of peace as readily and successfully as any nation in the world. As the former commander of an international force, it's fitting that General Cosgrove dedicates this new tribute to the service and sacrifice of Australians who fought to prevent war, and who knew that true peace was not the absence of tension but the presence of justice. That memorial will stand on Anzac Avenue, reflecting the equal place of honour that our peacekeepers deserve in our history and our commemorations. But the true memorial to Australia's peacekeepers is not found in the soil, and it's not carved in marble or marked on a monument. The most eloquent and enduring tribute to our peacekeepers is the kids in Honiara going to school—some of the children are actually named Ramsi in tribute. It is families safe in their homes at night no longer listening fearfully for gunfire. It's a new, restored police force facing the hard test of protecting the community and serving justice. It's a strong and functioning democracy representing its citizens. Prime Minister Sogavare, the memorial to our peacekeepers and their endeavours is in the hands of your people. It's in the future your nation chooses to make for itself—the society you are building, and the opportunities you are extending to the next generation. Australia's message today to your honoured delegation, as our partners and our friends, is to honour the men and women of RAMSI by remembering their example, and for all of us to live up to it. So, in the words of your national anthem, in a spirit of 'joy, peace, progress and prosperity', let us all 'brothers be', from 'shore to shore'.