CANBERRA — Canada and Australia have a “rare” ability to help convene a coalition of middle powers because their allies know they can be trusted, Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a speech to Australia’s Parliament on Thursday.

Carney’s words built on the headline-grabbing speech he delivered in January at the World Economic Forum, in which he said the old world order had been ruptured and calling on middle powers to unite to prevent hegemons from dictating how the world is going to work.

“In a post-rupture world, the nations that are trusted and can work together will be quicker to the punch, more effective in their responses and more proactive in shaping outcomes, and ultimately those countries will be more secure and prosperous,” he said in Australia Thursday.

“Middle powers like Australia and Canada hold this rare convening power. Because others know we mean what we say and we will match our values with our actions. Canada and Australia have earned this trust throughout our history. The question now is what we do with it.”

Carney made no mention of the escalating conflict in the Middle East in his address to Australian Parliament.

During his speech, Carney said Canada and Australia had signed a series of new agreements on critical minerals, including Australia joining the G7 critical minerals alliance.

The prime minister also spoke about the countries’ plan to modernize their bilateral tax and investment treaty.

“The world will always be driven by great powers,” said Carney. “But it can also be shaped by middle powers that trust each other enough and act with speed and purpose.”

Earlier in the day, Carney met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and participated in a welcome ceremony at Parliament House.

During a meeting with cabinet members, Albanese said the two nations share common values and interests. As middle powers, he said there have been discussions about how to co-operate on defence, the economy and the environment.

“We’re both impacted by climate change, and one of the practical ways that we assist each other is your firefighters helping us and then our firefighters helping you,” said Albanese.

“We have much to learn from each other, much to gain from co-operation with each other,” he said.

Carney took time before his speech to recognize Australian firefighters in the Australian chamber, who had helped fight wildfires in Alberta last summer.

In his remarks at the meeting with Albanese, Carney said some of the discussions the leaders have had and some of the agreements the governments planned to sign reflected progress they started at the G7 summit last year.