Cypriot President Demetris Christofias arrived in Australia on Wednesday morning, flying straight to Canberra, to attend a luncheon at Australian Parliament House in Canberra, hosted by prime minister Julia Gillard. Member for Hindmarsh Steve Georganas and Member for Calwell Maria Vamvakinou were also in attendance.

Christofias, who is accompanied on his Australian tour by First Lady Elsi, Government Spokesman Stephanos Stephanou and government officials, was officially welcomed at the Canberra airport by Australian Governor-General Quentin Bryce. During his meeting with Australian prime minister Julia Gillard the two leaders agreed Australia and Cyprus share similar values and close personal links.

Gillard acknowledged the important contribution the vibrant Cypriot community has made to the diversity of Australian life; Cypriot-born migrants and their families in Australia make up a community of over 80,000, the second largest Cypriot community outside Cyprus.

The president and prime minister agreed to continue to facilitate and encourage reciprocal visits and to explore further cooperation in areas of mutual interest. They noted strong cultural and educational links between Australia and Cyprus. Cooperation was particularly strong in the area of antiquities and archaeology, with Australian archaeologists working on the island of Cyprus since the 1930s.

President Christofias expressed his sympathy for the victims of recent disasters in Australia, including Cyclone Yasi, flooding in the eastern states, and bushfires in Western Australia. The Government of the Republic of Cyprus has made a donation towards the restoration of the Cyprus community building in Brisbane. The Cypriot President visited the Australian War Memorial where he lay a wreath, at the National Museum, and the National Botanic Gardens in Canberra.

On Thursday he travelled to Adelaide for a meeting with South Australian premier Mike Rann and also attended a lunch with Governor of South Australia Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce.

Christofias visited the Cypriot community of South Australia, in Adelaide, where he lay the foundation for the community’s new cultural centre. He praised the Cypriot community for honouring the country they live in and being active members of the Australian community. He also commended Rann’s stance on the Cyprus issue, and its fight for independence. Speaking in Adelaide Mr Christofias said Cyprus will only see a better day if it is unified on the basis of a two-zone two communities confederation.

“Turkish Cypriots are not our enemies they are our brothers,” he said. “They are Cypriots like us.”

“Turkish Cypriots have the same culture and same traditions as Greek Cypriots”, Christofias said. “The ‘wall’ of Lefkosia will fall sooner or later. As long as we have friends like the Australians and especially brothers like Mike Rann I’m sure we’re going to break the ‘wall’ of division and will reunite our country and our people,” he said. “My main aim for running as president was to reunite our country, to end the occupation that violates international law, the principles set by the UN in human rights and any notion of justice”.

Premier Mike Rann said that while Australia and Cyprus are far apart geographically they continue to enjoy a close relationship. Rann commended Christofias for his dedication to resolving the Cyprus issue. Christofias also announced that in less than a year Cypriot community members in Australia will have free access to channel RIK.

On Friday, Christofias was in Melbourne for meetings with Premier of Victoria Ted Baillieu and Victoria’s Governor Alex Chernov. The president also met with the Cypriot community of Melbourne. Baillieu welcomed Christofias to “multicultural Melbourne”, thanked him for visiting and expressed his own desires to visit Cyprus in the future.

President Christofias thanked Baillieu, and acknowledged that Cypriots living in Melbourne embrace multiculturalism, something he believes is lacking in Cyprus. He described the Cypriots behaviour as chauvinistic and said it was suicidal for the country’s future. Concluding his speech during a luncheon held from the State Government, Mr Christofias extended an open invitation to the premier to visit Cyprus.