(Acknowledgements Omitted)
Can I say how wonderful it is to be back on a university campus.
Thank you to the Rector, lecturers, and students of Can Tho University for welcoming me so warmly.
And I've been told that more than 10 per cent of teaching staff here have degrees from Australian universities – I am amongst friends!
Now, before becoming a Member of Parliament and then a Cabinet Minister in the Australian Government, I was a Professor at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia, the same university where I received my PhD.
And as many here know committing to undertaking a PhD is not an easy task.
You devote yourself to an issue that will need to sustain your interest for years, for thousands of hours, for thousands and thousands of words.
For me, I was craving answers to a scourge which was destroying nations – the scourge of terrorism.
I wanted to know how to define terrorism, how to understand it, and what response should and could be.
The more people I spoke to, the more students I taught, the more articles I wrote, the more conferences I attended ... the more I got a sense of how much everyone else wanted to understand and overcome this challenge too.
It is this shared drive to understand and find answers that makes academia so addictive, and so important.
And there are so many challenges ahead that countries need to understand and overcome.
And one of the biggest – and of one the most existential challenges ahead for us all – is climate change.
The Mekong Delta is on the front line of this crisis, and you are all feeling the impacts of climate change already.
From more frequent and severe disasters, to rising sea levels, saline intrusion and shifting weather patterns.
Climate change is threatening the security of Vietnam's rice bowl, as well as the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable.
If we want to mitigate these impacts, to protect the Delta's ecosystems and environment, to safeguard the food security and industry of a nation.
We need more collaboration and conversation between people who also want to understand and overcome this challenge.
We need more innovation. We need to reach scale with the solutions we know that work.
And this is a research topic this university is renowned for.
And that brings us to the reason we are gathered here today – to officially inaugurate the Australia Corner at Can Tho University.
It's part of our Aus4Adaptation program with Vietnam – bringing together Vietnamese and Australian stakeholders to help the Mekong Delta adapt to climate change.
There's a lot of existing research and knowledge in this space already – much of it coming out of this very university.
Aus4Adaptation and the Australia Corner aim to help these solutions reach scale, and make sure the benefits are felt across the Mekong Delta.
The Australia Corner will be more than a space. It will be a living hub of knowledge and collaboration.
It will enable the sharing of learnings on climate adaptation.
The translation of research into practical outcomes for institutions, communities and individuals.
The replication of effective solutions across the Mekong, and then globally.
The Australia Corner will bring together students, researchers, scientists, businesses and future leaders from Can Tho University and Australian institutions.
It will foster connections that will find the next breakthrough solutions for climate adaptation in the Delta.
Connections which build on Australia's long-standing partnerships in the Mekong Delta.
From agricultural research and investment, to innovation and education.
Australia has worked side-by-side with Vietnam for decades.
We have worked with local communities, businesses, researchers and institutions to support sustainable and inclusive development over many decades.
In fact, under the Mekong-Australia Partnership, Monash University is already working with Can Tho University on ways to make this campus more climate resilient – such as through rain gardens and water retention systems.
Australia will continue to partner with Vietnam to respond to the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow, including on climate change.
Today, I am pleased to also officially launch the second phase of Climate Resilient by Nature, a program funded through our Mekong-Australia Partnership and Climate Resilient Communities investments.
This next phase of Climate Resilient by Nature will restore 1,750 hectares of the region's most critical freshwater ecosystems while securing climate-resilient livelihoods for nearly 2,000 vulnerable residents in Dong Thap and Tay Ninh.
It will introduce innovative livelihood models like floating rice and integrated lotus-fish farming, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and restore wetlands, while also boosting local incomes.
And it will show that when the right people are brought together, when they innovate, and share, and collaborate, they can together find answers.
And there'll be no better place to do all of that than the Australia Corner right here in Can Tho University.
Thank you. Xin cam on.