Aust brought Thai leaders together: PM
Scott Morrison's Thai might be painfully rusty, but it turns out he's not half-bad at setting up the nation's lawmakers.
Addressing a Thai-Australia business breakfast function in Bangkok on Monday, the prime minister bumbled his way through some opening remarks in the local dialect.
Mercifully, then came the translation.
"If, like me, you didn't understand that, what I meant to say was 'G'day, I'm delighted to be here'."
Then, mid-way through a stump speech on the virtues of free trade, came an anecdote out of the blue.
Having a chat before taking the stage, Mr Morrison had learned Australia was responsible for the meeting of Thai prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his deputy Prawit Wongsuwan.
The pair first met at an ASEAN summit in Sydney, on Australia's invitation.
"They saw each other across the crowded room and they were able to meet," Mr Morrison said.
"And here they are now, working as prime minister and deputy prime minister.
"Australia: the great matchmaker of regional politics."
