Australian Ambassador Neil Hawkins has expressed his deepest gratitude to the leadership of Saudi Arabia and its people for their support and friendship as well as his hope for full recovery of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s health. Hawkins made these comments in a farewell speech in Arabic and English on late Monday.

“On behalf of all us here tonight, I would like to wish the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah, a quick and full recovery,” he observed.

He also thanked Prince Turki bin Abdullah, Riyadh Governor, for his continued personal support and commitment. “As many of you know, sadly Dianne and I will shortly be finishing our posting in Saudi Arabia.” he noted.

“We have had a wonderful time and will leave with many fond memories and precious friends. We all at the Australian Embassy would like to express our deepest gratitude to all of you here tonight for your cooperation and support and friendship”

The envoy said that 2014 saw an unprecedented number of visits between Australia and Saudi Arabia by ministers, officials and business people, culminating in the attendance at the G20 Summit in Brisbane last year by Crown Prince Salman.

He said Australian-Saudi ties have moved up in higher education and food security. He cited the presence of 16,000 Saudi students and their family members in Australia as evidence of the composite culture and tolerance in his country’s open society.

“We also welcome the thousands of Saudi tourists who visit Australia every year, taking advantage of our electronic visa that allows Saudis to obtain online visas from home in only 48 hours,” he added.

The event was sponsored by Box Hill Vocational Training College and the State Office of Victoria.