South Lawn
(October 25, 2023)
8:55 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Please have a seat. Thank you.
Well, good evening, everyone. The Prime Minister and I and Jodie and members of the Australian delegation, distinguished guests: Jill and I are honored to welcome you tonight to celebrate the historic bonds between our two nations that's been going on for 72 years now — an alliance.
During World War Two, more than 150,000 American troops were based in Australia to fight in the Pacific Theater. And to ensure they were prepared to navigate Down Under, they — each one of them was given a manual entitled — and here's what it was entitled, "Instructions for American Servicemen in Australia." I'd like to read it. (Laughter.)
PRIME MINISTER ALBANESE: It could be dangerous.
THE PRESIDENT: Not all of the tips hold up today, but I thought one of them was pretty good, and this is a quote from it: "You'll find the Australians… haven't much respect for stuffed shirts, their own or anyone else's." (Laughter.)
Well, I've learned that my trip Down Under as well as becoming friends with the Prime Minister. No wonder we get along so well. (Laughter.)
Another tip from the manual not only stands out but stands up, quote: "Australians have been in all the hotspots wherever the going — whenever the going has been tough." End of quote. And that's a fact, they have been.
You know, that commitment — (applause) — that commitment to face tough challenges, that courage to fight for a better future, that is what has always brought America and Australia together.
I saw this growing up with my grandfather, Ambrose Finnegan, who lost his son in the Pacific in World War Two. He would literally straighten his shoulders every time Australia — the country Australia was mentioned. He'd just straighten up, straighten his shoulders.
I saw it when my own son — Major Beau Biden in the National Guard, spent a year in Iraq — told me how he could always count on Aussies to have his back. That's a fact. That's what he had said; he meant it.
And, you know, that Ode Remembrance promise: "At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them." Period.
Look, folks, today that bond first forged on the battlefield has grown to capture the full range of human ingenuity.
Australian and American workers are building the future together. Australians and American students are — are innovating together. Australian and American engineers are working together to support Artemis missions to return human beings to the moon and from there to Mars.
And as I saw when I visited Australia in 2016, Australians and Americans are driving cutting-edge research to end cancer as we know it — and we will — research that has only grown with Australia teams recently mapping 949 cancer cell lines across 40 types of cancers.
Ladies and gentlemen, a great deal of the history of our world will be written in the Indo-Pacific in the coming years. Australia and the United States must — must write that story together.
We must continue to advance freedom, security, and prosperity for all; continue the vital work of both our nations of building strong partnerships, of upholding nation-to-nation commitments and — to Native peoples; continue to defend the values of great democracies — freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and freedom from fear; and continue to build a future worthy of our highest hopes even when it's tough — especially when it's tough. For we know that's when it matters the most.
Mr. Prime Minister, today our two nations meet the future, emboldened with a confidence all that's come before. That's what built our confidence: all that has brought us here and all that Australia and America are — innovative, courageous, loyal, unwavering, bold of heart, and resolute of spirit. Determined that tomorrow will be better than today. It'll be the most — it'll be more than just. It'll be more free, more fair, and for all people, because we have the power to make it so.
