How you do that is up to you, he says

There was a gathering at the ITC Hotel’s Sky Bridge on 19th July 2024 with the participation of many esteemed guests including Scott Morrison, the former Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Australia with the precedence of Don Susantha Katugampala, the Chairman and Founder of Fairfields Lawyers.

Addressing the gathering. Katugampala said:

“I have been in Australia for 34 years, practicing immigration law as a lawyer for the last 25 years. In that journey, I came across one Prime Minister who was responsible for so much good work as a Prime Minister and also as a Treasurer, that means Finance Minister in Sri Lankan terms, and also as Immigration Minister since I met him in 2013. I observed him during the Covid time. He was the Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022, and he did an amazing job for Australia, for its people, and the economy, and he saved the economy. So I thought that the experience is something that Sri Lanka should share.

So I’m very grateful to former Prime Minister for agreeing to visit Sri Lanka because he has a passion for Sri Lanka. He feels that Sri Lanka is an important place and says Sri Lanka matters.”

Addressing the gathering the former Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison said:

“What struck me about the people of Sri Lanka has been the resilience of the Sri Lankan people. Despite what is thrown at you, you love life, you love your families, you love your communities, you love your country. You stand by it, you stand by each other, you push through, and that’s what gives me a lot of optimism about Sri Lanka.

I think over a period of time when you have faced so many difficulties, to see that occur is a tremendous credit to Sri Lanka. I would urge all Sri Lankans. You have a very important choice to make in the months ahead, and it is not for Australians to interfere in how you make that decision. You are a great and vibrant democracy, and of that you should be immensely proud. But the work that is being done to bring stability back to Sri Lanka in the last couple of years since the economic crisis has been truly extraordinary.

It has been courageous. It has involved great sacrifices by the people of Sri Lanka and some courageous decision-making by your President, who came into that office in some ways reluctantly, but was the man for the time to come and step up for his country, as he has done many times before. The President and I have met on many occasions over the last decade or more, and so I pay credit to his leadership here in his time over such a difficult period and to put Sri Lanka in a place where you can go forward. But how you do that is up to you. You will make that decision in the next few months. But what I would urge you to do is to stick to the plan, to stick to that commitment and resilience for which you are well known.

I have great faith in the entrepreneurialism and the energy and the vibrancy of the people of Sri Lanka, and it is on display all around the city and all around the country. With what you have been able to achieve, you will only go on to achieve even more. But to do that, you need a strong economy, you need a stable democracy, and you need to be close to your friends and partners like Australia and others, who will always want to see you be successful and enjoy the sovereignty which you have fought so hard for.

And I’ll certainly be leaving here with a strong message to all of those I come in contact with about what is happening here in Sri Lanka and why the rest of the world should be confident that Sri Lanka will rise again and be able to achieve great things.”