Sec. Rice w/ Aust. FM Smith at Mercedes College

26/07/2008 07:40. SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. Thank you very much. And first of all, thank you very much for this great Mercedes College welcome. It makes -- it reminds me of being at St. Mary's Academy, which is where I went to school, in Denver, Colorado. And it really -- it's so warmly welcomed. And my good friend, your Foreign Minister, Steve Smith -- we were talking when we first met. He came to see me and the first time that we met in Washington, D.C., and he said, "When you come to Australia, you have to come to Perth." And of course, I said, "Okay, I'd love to do that." And here I am. So he did that very well.

And he told me also that he wanted to come here, that his lovely daughter -- where's Maddie? Is she around? So I think Maddie also has had something to do with getting me here. (Laughter.) So... // Scoop.co.nz