AUSTRALIA DAY 2013

That this House notes that 26 Januarymarks Australia's National Day commemorating the anniversary of the day on which Captain Arthur Phillip in 1788 unfurled the Union Flag at Sydney Cove; recognises that the strong historical bonds reinforced through the military, sport, the media and the arts and the shared heritage and special relationship between the peoples of the United Kingdom and Australiaare strengthened through flourishing bilateral trade and investment; and calls on the Government to strengthen the close political, economic and cultural ties that continue to bind these two great nations together, which share Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State and Sovereign.