Australian senators, on the other hand, are elected — something
Mr. Harper described as a minimum condition of 21st-century
democracy.
"Australia's Senate shows how a reformed upper
house can function in our parliamentary system," he said, "And
Canadians understand that our Senate, as it stands today, must
either change, or, like the old upper houses of our provinces,
vanish."
It is unusual for world leaders to wade into domestic
squabbles when they have been given an international podium. But
Mr. Harper regularly criticizes his opposition while abroad, and
the Senate is one of his favourite targets.
Liberal senators, who hold a majority in the chamber, decided
not to vote on a bill that calls for eight-year limits on Senate
terms until its constitutionality had been tested in the courts.
But that bill and another that would create a process for
electing senators were killed by Mr. Harper's decision to
prorogue Parliament.
The Prime Minister's address to the Australian politicians
returns an honour that the Canadians bestowed last year upon
Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
The two leaders have a strong friendship and share many of
the same ideals.
Mr. Howard is in trouble domestically, however, with polls
suggesting that Labour Leader Kevin Rudd would stroll to an easy
victory in an election that could be called as early as this
week.
For that reason, Mr. Harper also met Tuesday with Mr. Rudd,
who wants to pull Australian troops out of Iraq but beef up the
country's contingent in Afghanistan. That could help cement a
bond between him and Mr. Harper, who wants Canadian troops to
continue playing a large role in Afghanistan.
The duration of Canada's mission threatens to dominate debate
in Ottawa this fall, with all three opposition parties demanding
a clear signal that Canadian troops will pull out at the end of
the mandate in February, 2009.
And Mr. Harper, who was substituted as guest speaker for the
anniversary of the 9/11 attacks after Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe cancelled, took the opportunity of his address to
stress the importance of maintaining a military presence in the
region.
Although the troops of Canada and Australia have rarely
fought on the same battlefield, he said, they have fought for
the same ideals.
"We are fast friends of, but fiercely proud of our
differences with, our other strategic cousin — the United
States," he said.
But "Sept. 11, 2001, was truly a day that shook the world.
Six years on, the horrific images from that morning still evoke
anger, sorrow and — as intended — terror. The buildings may have
been American, but the targets were every one of us."
Canadians have mourned the loss of Australian lives in
subsequent terrorist attacks in places such as Bali, and have
lost 70 of Canada's own soldiers in Afghanistan, he said.
"So both our countries have been bloodied by terror. And both
of us are doing our part to confront and defeat it," Mr. Harper
said.
"Because, as 9/11 showed, if we abandon our fellow human
beings to lives of poverty, brutality and ignorance, in today's
global village, their misery will eventually and inevitably
become ours. And the world needs us to continue to serve as
powerful models of prosperous and compassionate societies,
independent yet open to the world."
Mr. Harper finished his address by describing the close ties
between Canada and Australia and announcing an agreement to
renew and expand the student working vacation program that
exists between the two countries.
"This will give more young Canadians and Australians
opportunities to visit each other's countries," he said, "and to
widen the personal relations that increasingly bind our nations
as family."