2018 Australian Sustainable Development Goals Summit

Today I am pleased to open the second Australian Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit.

The SDGs Summit is co-hosted by the Australian Council for International Development, the Australian Council of Social Service, the Global Compact Network Australia, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network Australia/Pacific, and the United Nations Association of Australia - with support from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

I am delighted to see more than 200 individuals from Australian development organisations, businesses, academic institutions, local community groups, and all levels of Government working together today to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Sustainable Development Goals are part of the Australian Government’s commitment to enhance security, stability and prosperity – at home and abroad. This is why the Foreign Policy White Paper places the Sustainable Development Goals front and centre of Australia’s global efforts in development and in inclusive economic growth.

Today I will also visit the World Mosquito Program at Monash University, which is making an impressive contribution to Sustainable Development Goal 3 on ‘Good Health and Wellbeing.’

Australian researchers at Monash have pioneered a particularly impressive solution to the problem of mosquito-borne disease, which undermines the health and working capacity of hundreds of millions of people around the world. The World Mosquito Program is now up and running in 11 countries across the Pacific, Asia, and Latin America.