- U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton poses for a photograph with
New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully and Australian Parliamentary
Secretary Richard Marles at the Pacific Islands Forum in Rarotonga,
Cook Islands, August 31, 2012. [State Department photo by Ola Thorsen/
Public Domain]
Meets With Staff From Supporting Embassies
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Maniua Beach Hotel
Rarotonga, Cook Islands
August 31, 2012
Thank
you so much, Ambassador, and thanks to all of you. I can’t tell you how
much I appreciate your support on this trip. This is not a typical trip
where you go to Wellington and Christchurch and Auckland. This took a
lot of effort by everyone, and I’ve very grateful to you.
I want
to thank the Ambassador for his leadership here at the mission, and also
each and every one of you, both Americans and New Zealanders alike for
helping us deepen and strengthen the already important bonds between the
United States and New Zealand.
I thought it was very important
that I come to the Pacific Islands Forum to really demonstrate
unequivocally the importance that the Obama Administration and our
government placed on sustainable relationships with the Pacific Island
nations. It’s been great being here, everybody has a smile, they’re all
waving, they’re all enthusiastic about us being here, and I couldn’t
ever imagine.
But I know how challenging it was to actually do
this from long distance, and then once you got here. So a special word
of thanks on behalf of myself and the entire American delegation. We
brought in ambassadors from three other countries, we have the commander
of the Pacific Command, commander of the Coast Guard Command based in
Hawaii, so we have a full complement of American officials who are here
that you are supporting, and we’re grateful to you.
And finally,
people often say, “Well, you know, New Zealand, that’s got to be an
easy, great place to serve.” But after earthquakes and challenges that
you have faced just in that time I’ve been Secretary, I want you to know
how much we know that your work is important, because it’s not only the
bilateral relationships, it’s partnering with New Zealand and Australia
to enable us to really have a strong, lasting presence in the Pacific.
And that is what all of you are doing. I mean, there’s not much we can
do to improve the health of New Zealanders or Aussies, but there’s a lot
we can do working together to improve the health of the Pacific
Islands. And same goes true for education, for economic development, and
so much more. So I’ve already had great meetings with my counterparts
from New Zealand and Australia, and we’re going to continue to build on
that firm and very solid foundation.
So with that, let me just shake a few hands. Why don’t you all just come on by and introduce yourselves and say hello?
