E&OE....................................................................................................
Thank you very much, Bill; to the Premier, Jeff Kennett; to the
Lord Mayor, Jim Wiemels; my other parliamentary colleagues; ladies
and gentlemen.
Nineteen forty eight, no, I had gone beyond the embryo stage but
was the nine year old son of a garage proprietor whose main passion
in life then was to survive in business long enough to see the end
of petrol rationing and, of course, therefore, someone who grew
up in a home in which cars were talked about a lot. And I'm
very happy to say, given the nature of the occasion, that the longest
owned vehicle in the Howard household that is the John and
Janette Howard household was indeed a 1980 Commodore station
wagon, purchased at time when the respective ages of our children
were six, three and minus two months. And we owned that vehicle
for 16 years and it did absolutely marvellous service, first as
the family car and then as the second vehicle in which some of the
learner drivers began to negotiate the roads of Sydney.
So from those remarks it's a suggestion of the kind of occasion
this is. It's a mixture of pride and nostalgia but also a recognition
in the way in which this remarkable company and its remarkable products
have touched the lives of so many Australians. There can barely
be a family in Australia that at one stage or another has not garaged
a Holden vehicle. There can barely be anybody who doesn't have
some recollection of a connection with one of the products of this
remarkable company.
We celebrate a lot of things today. We celebrate the farsightedness
of those involved with the company so many years ago and particularly
the launch of the first Holden 50 years ago today. We celebrate,
of course, a very important constant in the life of Australia both
in 1948 and in 1998 and that is the ongoing association between
our nation and the United States of America. We reflect with gratitude
on the commitment of those who invested so much of their energy
and their skill in the production of that first vehicle. We acknowledge
the leadership displayed by the Prime Minister of the day, Ben Chifley,
and others around him. Nineteen forty eight was a period in which
Australia was still burdened by many wartime regulations but was
lifting its eyes to a brighter and more optimistic future. The world
has changed incalculably over that period of 50 years and so has
Australia and in so many ways for the better but not in a fashion
that we reject so many of the things that were valuable then and
they continue to be valuable today. And an occasion such as this
reminds us of so many of the threads in our national life that continue
to be very strong and continue to be just as relevant now as they
were 50 years ago.
We reflect with gratitude on those 50 years but we also, quite
properly, look towards the future. And there can barely be, in the
history of our country, a more exciting time to be alive and to
be in some way in charge of events and affairs wherever we may be
in this country of ours and right now. We are at the moment on the
verge of celebrating some of the most momentous events in our history.
We are to be showcased to the world again with the 2000 Olympic
Games. We have extraordinary economic opportunities, particularly
in our region. We are a quite remarkable intersection of culture
and of history and geography in this part of the world. And the
strength of our economy, as we come towards the end of this century,
gives us a quite remarkable opportunity and a special capacity to
play a role in the shaping of our region and a very positive role
and a respected role. And the very strengths that are demonstrated
by the achievement of this company are part of that story.
It is true, as Bill said, the Government, in 1997, laid out a plan
for the Australian motor vehicle industry which was based on a very
simple proposition and that it was inconceivable to me and inconceivable
to the Government - and I know in stating this I would also have
been expressing the views of the Opposition it's inconceivable
that Australia would not continue to have, for the foreseeable future,
a strong and viable motor manufacturing capacity. And that plan
and those decisions in relation to industry protection and industry
arrangements were based on that philosophy. And we remain very steadfast
in that goal and I believe that that commitment has created a climate
which will beckon and provide a benign atmosphere for further investment
in the industry. And it's a commitment to the lives of tens
of thousands of Australians who are employed by this company.
I therefore do take the opportunity, Mr Wiemels, in particularly
to you as the Chief Executive of the company, to congratulate you
on this remarkable milestone, to thank you for what you have contributed
over the years to Australia. I want particularly to record my appreciation
for the tens of thousands of men and women who have worked for the
company over the years because a successful commercial organisation
is only ever the sum of the contributions of all of those who are
in it and who work for it. And the dedication and loyalty of Holden
employees over the years has made the company what it is, has enabled
its products to become part and parcel of the Australian way and
to be indistinguishable from the Australian way of life.
It is a wonderful occasion. It's an occasion of pride. It's
an occasion of nostalgia but more importantly than that, it's
an occasion to reflect upon the future for this country, for this
company and the marvellous opportunities that lie before us as we
move into the next millennium. I congratulate the company and I
thank you most warmly for the invitation to be with you today. Thank
you.
[ends]