I wish to acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of the land we are meeting on today.
I would also like to acknowledge our hosts from the Australia-Latin America Business Council, the Chairman Mr Richard Andrews and the CEO Ms Kim Prior, and our distinguished guests many including:
Assistant Minister for International Education, the Hon Julian Hill MP, the Dean of the Latin American group, Ambassador of Uruguay, Dianela Pi, and the other ambassadors present here today.
I grew up in Maroubra – about 300 kilometres from here, in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney.
It is a place where the ebb and flow of the waves sets the pace of life from sunrise to sunset – surfing, swimming, diving, coast walks, fishing.
It is a pace of life I have known since I was five years old.
I have surfed the waves at Maroubra Beach, just as my father did. And as his father did before him.
Living on the coast we feel a connection to water, and a love of the sea. And everything that comes with it.
It's a love we share with the countries of Latin America.
Countries with long coastlines, and a culture of surfing nearly as long as humans have been swimming in the oceans.
It's even said that surfing was invented on the North Pacific coast by pre-Colombian cultures, nearly 4000 years ago.
The first official World Surfing Championship was held in Peru in 1965 – with Peruvian surfer Felipe Pomar taking home the men's title.
Beating an Australian – Nat Young.
In Latin America, surfing is not just a sport, or a hobby – it's a way of life.
I think that's something we have in common.
And it is a great way we can continue to get to know and understand each other – whether it's surfers from Latin America coming to our shores, or our surfers to theirs or through the scholarships we have supported to young Peruvian surfers through "Proyecto Sofia" – started by three-time world surfing champion Sofía Mulánovich.
And it's not just surfing.
Tourism and travel, study, working holidays, or business all allow us to meet face to face, build trust and understanding, and share our culture, experience, knowledge, and family.
It's this sort of personal connection that forms the foundation of our relationships with the counties of Latin America.
Connections which are more and more important as we look at each other from Sydney to Santiago across an increasingly contested Pacific Ocean and with a mind to the same opportunities.
Including opportunities together, in trade, and investment.
The Latin America and Caribbean region has a combined GDP of over US$7.1 trillion – higher than the countries of ASEAN combined.
There are currently around 300 Australian companies active in Latin America with investments totalling over $27 billion.
The global energy transition is driving demand for the copper, and other critical minerals and rare earths abundant in Latin America – and with it, Australian investment in the region.
Projects like BHP's copper mine in Chile – the world's largest.
Or Rio Tinto recently being selected to partner in two major lithium projects across Chile's salt flats or the entry of Australian rare earths companies Meteoric, 7 and Centaurus into Brazil.
These projects have a multiplier effect – with Australia's world-leading mining technology and services helping to ensure more efficient, competitive, sustainable and responsible projects in the region.
We also see growing Australian investment in other sectors – toll roads, airports, and energy and water infrastructure.
Be it Rubicon Water in Chile and Mexico, or Macquarie in Mexico and Brazil – Australian investment is working to improve water efficiency and management, and lock in supply for farmers, industry, and community.
And investment from Latin America is growing here – particularly in mining, and agriculture.
As we diversify our agricultural exports and education sector, Latin America is a key partner.
Outside of Asia, Latin America is now the largest source region for students coming to study in Australia.
Students come here because they recognise our expertise in sectors like mining and METs, infrastructure, and green energy.
Students like Mireya Ayna Quispe from Peru, who as winner of Peru's Bicentennial Generation Scholarship, plans to come to Australia to study a Masters of Engineering Science Management.
She says she has long dreamed of studying infrastructure development in Australia so she can return to her community and use her skills to lead projects in sustainable water management and improve the quality of life for the people in her hometown.
Students also come here and stay, and become part of our business ecosystem.
Like Ricardo Mendoza, who came from Colombia to study in Brisbane and Melbourne.
He applied his entrepreneurial learning to found the business, Cheeky Foods.
His business started with a small order of frozen native Latin American fruit juices which expanded to over 300 products stocked in warehouses across multiple states to become Australia's leading importer and distributor of authentic Latin American and Colombian food products.
I think it's safe to say his imports have helped to ease any homesickness felt by the growing diaspora of nearly 300,000 people born in Latin America – and who now call Australia home.
This is a number which has doubled in the last ten years – and which shows no sign of slowing as people continue to come here for business, investment, study, work – or just for a great surf.
They come here, and become part of the community to which you also belong.
A community which is deepening the understanding, trust and personal connections between us, and which grounds our relationship as we look to do more with each other.
Thanks to events like today, these connections are only getting stronger.
Thank you, and have a great night.