Extending his best wishes to Mr. Morrison, the Premier said his election is a manifestation of the confidence placed in his leadership qualities by his Party colleagues.He said Sri Lanka and Australia share a warm friendship and excellent cooperation on several areas of common interest.

"Being a former Minister of Immigration and Border Protection who has visited Sri Lanka, you are personally aware of the close cooperation our two countries enjoy in this area. It is timely that we diversify this excellent cooperation to other areas of mutual benefit, as our governments have striven to do during recent high level contacts," the Premier said.,The Sri Lankan Prime Minister said that he looks forward with great pleasure to working with his Australian counterpart to build on this friendship towards a more robust and mutually beneficial partnership.

Meanwhile President Maithripala Sirisena congratulating the new Australian leader in a Twitter message said his election shows the confidence the Party has placed in his leadership and his ability to steer Australia to the future.