E&OE..........................................................................................................................
Thank you very much Mr Campbell, and my friend and colleague Bruce
Billson, and ladies and gentlemen.
It's part of the delight of being Prime Minister of Australia
that you get numerous opportunities to go around the country and to
meet in a very informal, social atmosphere, different sections of
the Australian community. And I'm especially delighted to be
at this Veterans' Village this morning and just to say very directly
to all of you that no country can ever do enough for the men and women
of this country who put their lives on the line to defend it during
wartime.
And my Government, in company with other governments, have tried over
the years to do the right thing by the returned service men and women
of Australia. We have recently made a number of announcements extending
the Gold Card, extending the Seniors' Card which will be of great
benefit to veterans and to their families. And whenever I can I take
the opportunity, on behalf of the rest of the Australian community,
to express the gratitude of our nation to those men and women who
did so much in most cases so many years ago.
Recently I led a pilgrimage of returned service men and their families
to the notorious Hellfire Pass in Thailand and I opened the Hellfire
Pass Museum on Anzac Day to honour the sacrifice of those Australians
who died in such terrible circumstances, and also to honour those
who survived. Many of them were accompanied by their children and
their grandchildren, and it was a very experience, indeed it was one
of the most meaningful experiences of my Prime Ministership. And the
way in which the different generations of Australians, who had bothered
under their own steam and at their own expense, to travel to that
remote part of Thailand to pay their respects to those brave Australians
who did so much to give us the freedom and the way of life that we
have.
Thank you very much for having me here. It is not an occasion for
long speeches. It is an opportunity for me to have a cup of tea, to
chat to you, to express my admiration for the contribution that you
made to the country, to assure you of the continued understanding
and support of people in Government for those people who have done
so much, to thank the staff, to compliment the RSL, which is a great
organisation, on the role that it plays in caring for veterans here
in Victoria, and all around Australia. It is an ongoing responsibility
and one that the Government respects and supports and will continue
to support in the years ahead.
And could I just put in a plug, not excessively but in a very general
personal sense for Bruce. He is a hard working fellow, he really does
doggedly pursue Ministers on behalf of the people of his electorate
and that is what a local member should do. He looks after all of them,
whether they like him, whether they vote for him, or they don't
vote, that his responsibility.
But, ladies and gentlemen, again my thanks and it is very nice of
you to have me amongst you and I hope to have the opportunity over
a cup of tea of talking to you.
Thanks a lot.