It is an honor and privilege to be asked to take part in your Australia Day celebrations, and to offer some thoughts about our country.
At the outset I wish to pay my respects to traditional owners of this land the Dunghutti people, on which I am about to speak.
The Australia Day Ambassador program is just one of the great initiatives that broadens the celebration of Our National Day in communities right across Australia.
Two million people will be taking part in Australia Day today in New South Wales.
Without the support of our sponsors Woolworths it wouldn’t be possible. Thank you to Woolworths for getting behind Australia Day.
Two hundred and twenty years ago a small flotilla of British navel ships arrived in Sydney Cove unaware of what lay before them. On those same shores quiet observers also watched, equally unaware of the events that would unfold.
On our birthday we would undermine our nation and our shared history if we were to merely celebrate with a party.
Today is a day to rejoice in our land, our achievements and to reflect on how we got here in the first place.
It’s an opportunity to consider how we can better this nation for all our people, the great and diverse family of indigenous and settler Australians alike.
We all, or at least, our ancestors at one time or another came across the seas to make this our home.
In a short two hundred and twenty years we have build one of the great nations.
"Robert Hughes in the Fatal Shore described those first arrivals in 1788 as “Noah's Arks of small-time criminality - that disgorged their human cargoes into the most elaborate penal system the world had ever seen. Many of those who survived the first fleets were condemned to starvation, disease and horrifying brutality, and yet within eighty years Australia became a promised land to which people have flocked ever since.”
It’s tragic that two centuries and twenty years on there are still people living in squalor, enduring disease and horrifying brutality.
We as nation must fully embraced our indigenous brothers and sisters and come to recognize that we in Australia have citizens who are directly descended, both genetically and culturally, from the people who first came here tens of thousands of years ago.
They are the living embodiments of a resourceful, spiritual and ancient people, with an incredibly unique heritage. Perhaps on Australia Day, we should take the time celebrate the culture, beliefs and rights of our native peoples.
We must be willing to admit our mistakes along with celebrating our achievements.
The thing we all share is a love of this place our home. For generations people on the land have toiled, at times against the odds to make a living and to bring up our families and in the process grow this great country, Australia.
We should all be committed to ensuring that all Australians have equal access to the wealth of this great land.
Australia has much to be proud of;
Our standing in the world is that of a nation that has played its part well beyond our numbers.
We stood up for freedom when world descended into the abyss of war, were there time after time to assist in the recovery from disaster. Our young men and woman are right now policing the worlds trouble spots.
We were at the beginning of the United Nations and the Modern Olympics.
Our Sports men and woman are renowned, our business people and scientist’s work at the cutting edge across the world. Our artists, musicians and actors are amongst the most recognized and best loved.
Our directors and technicians are in global demand.
I was lucky enough to lead the team that delivered the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the Athens Olympics. When we arrived in Athens with about ten months to go, there were Australians in key roles right across the games – none in the ceremonies. When we completed the games around 50 Australian were key to the success of the ceremonies, more than any other nationality save the Greeks themselves.
It’s resourcefulness and self-reliance that puts Australian in such high demand, skills that have perhaps come down to us all from rural Australia. After all, you can fix just about anything with a bit of fencing wire.
We still hear the call of the bush, we see how to deal with “drought and flooding rain” how to, in the face of adversity look on the positive and get on with it, and how to look after each other; special qualities indeed.
But we have something which I think is much more special. We have created since federation one of the oldest enduring democracies free from major crises and civil war.
Not many other countries can lay claim to such a record.
When we speak of Australia as the Lucky Country, we shouldn't just think of our "broad horizons" and "sweeping plains” but the amazing combination of geography, history and people which has given us such a free, tolerant and stable society.
So on Australia Day we should celebrate the achievements of individuals and advances made in our society since 1788 and above all else we should celebrate what the nation of Australia has accomplished -- socially, economically and politically.
This is indeed the lucky country - lets all work keep it that way.
Happy Australia Day. |
