Pope Benedict received Australia's first ambassador to the Vatican on 12 February 2009, and praised Australia's commitment to improving human progress. Tim Fischer, a Catholic, is the first person appointed to this new post, and had previously been the leader of the National Party in Australia.

In his words of welcome, the Pope expressed his sympathies for the victims of the terrible fires in Victoria. He then recalled last year's World Youth Day in Sydney, when many people could 'encounter God in an intense experience of prayer, learning, and listening.' He hoped young Christians 'will channel their enthusiasm for all that is true and good into forging friendships across divides and creating places of living faith in and for our world'.

Benedict noted Australia's cultural diversity and richness, but also the painful 'injustices' endured by the indigenous peoples. 'Through the apology offered last year by Prime Minister Rudd, a profound change of heart has been affirmed', helping all face the existing challenges.

Benedict also applauded Australia's 'active support of the Millennium Development Goals, numerous regional partnerships, and initiatives to strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty'. 'Not least' among issues confronting humanity, he said, 'are the menacing threats to God's creation itself through climate change. Perhaps more than ever before in our human history the fundamental relationship between Creator, Creation and Creature needs to be pondered and respected'.

He reiterated his call 'for an ethical approach' to create 'positive partnerships between markets, civil society and States', and commended "the Australian Government's determination to establish relations of co-operation based on the values of fairness, good governance, and the sense of a regional neighbourhood... It is ethics which render imperative a compassionate and generous response to poverty; they render urgent the sacrificing of protectionist interests for fair accessibility of poor countries to developed markets just as they render reasonable donor nations' insistence upon accountability and transparency in the use of financial aid by receiver nations'.

Concerning Church activity in healthcare, Benedict also highlighted 'the provision of medical care for families, including high-quality obstetrical care for women. How ironic it is when some groups, through aid programmes, promote abortion as a form of maternal healthcare: taking a life, purportedly to improve the quality of life'.