RAMSI Special Coordinator James Batley has congratulated Australia on its National Day, 26 January.

Mr Batley said RAMSI would always be a regional operation, but Australia’s support – in the form of both personnel and of finance – was of fundamental importance to RAMSI’s operations.

He said RAMSI’s origin could be traced to the meeting between Prime Minister Kemakeza and Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard in Canberra in June 2003.

Since the arrival of RAMSI in July 2003, many hundreds of Australians from many walks of life had participated in RAMSI. In fact, RAMSI had promoted much closer links between Australia and Solomon Islands.

“Australians who have worked in RAMSI have been enriched by the experience. They have taken home with them very fond memories of their time in Solomon Islands, and many have been active in maintaining links with Solomon Islands since their return home. So both countries have benefitted from the connection through RAMSI.”

Mr Batley said the Australian Government’s support for RAMSI in the long term was clearly demonstrated in last year’s Australian budget which provided a commitment of $A840 to RAMSI over the next four years.

Mr Batley also noted the many high level visitors from Australia in recent years, including Governor General His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery, Prime Minister John Howard, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, and many other senior figures.

He said RAMSI enjoyed bipartisan political support in Australia and he was confident that support would be maintained as long as the people and the government of Solomon Islands continued to welcome RAMSI in the spirit of friendship and good neighbourliness.

The countries that make up the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands are Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.