E&OE....................................................................................................
Thank you very much. And can I say to my fellow Australians
that, although the final result in terms of seats will not be determined
before some days yet, it is clear that the Coalition will have a
working majority in the new Parliament.
I want, first and foremost, to thank the Australian people for
returning the Government. I want to thank the Australian people
for embracing a bold, economic reform that is in the long-term interests
of the Australian community.
Some declarations about political precedence have been made tonight.
Let me make a declaration about political precedence. This is probably
the first time in the recent experience of western political parties
that a party has successfully won an election championing such a
major reform which so readily lent itself to a dishonest fear campaign.
And I am immensely proud of the fact that the Coalition stuck to
its guns, we stared down that fear campaign and that the Australian
people came with us.
I want to commit myself and the members of my Government, once
again to the service of the Australian people. I have always seen
myself in public life as a servant of the Australian people. And
I regard it as a privilege beyond belief to have been twice elected
as Prime Minister of Australia.
We now have a mandate to implement the policies that we took to
the Australian people that we so honestly and openly and candidly
laid before the Australian people. We have weathered the ferocious
fear campaign and we have won the mandate of the Australian people.
I want, tonight, to acknowledge with sadness the loss of a number
of my colleagues who
have been defeated. I want to thank them for their service to the
Liberal Party and to their service to the National Party. And I
know I express Tim Fischer's gratitude of extending those sentiments
and those thoughts.
I want to salute the spectacular performance of several of my colleagues
and I know it's always bad to single people out, but I'm
going to do it. I want to particularly single out Trish Draper in
the seat of Makin in South Australia. And in New South Wales and
I want to salute the magnificent performance of Danna Vale and Jackie
Kelly. But to all of my colleagues who have won in very difficult
circumstances, I profess my profound gratitude.
I also want to thank the Liberal Party organisation. I want to
thank Tony Staley the Federal President and Lynton Crosby, the Federal
Director, and also may I extend my thanks to the various state organisations
for the work they did in bringing about this magnificent result.
We are here tonight victorious because of superb organisation in
the seats that really mattered and superb cooperation between the
Parliamentary Party and the organisation.
I want to salute Tim Fischer, the Leader of the National Party.
Tim is a great colleague and a wonderful friend. And he faced a
very vicious challenge in his own seat and he beat that off in magnificent
style.
I also extend my gratitude to Peter Costello, the Deputy Leader
of the Liberal Party who has been a great Treasurer and a great
colleague to work with. And can I also particularly thank the Premier
of Victoria, Jeff Kennett. Jeff has been a forthright supporter
of the cause of taxation reform and I acknowledge the contribution
that he made during my election campaign.
And I say to all of my fellow Australians, that the government
that you have elected tonight will lead this country into the 21st
century. The government you have elected tonight will be a government
for all Australians. The government you have elected tonight will
dedicate itself to the welfare of all of the Australian people.
I have said on other occasions that this country has unparalleled
assets. No nation on earth so uniquely combines the heritage of
our western civilisation, our great links with the nations of North
America and our placement here in the Asia Pacific region. And we
have a capacity and an opportunity to use that conjunction of circumstances
to our benefit and to the benefit of the region and to the benefit
of the entire world.
I want to dedicate my government to the maintenance of traditional
Australian values. And they include those great values of mateship
and egalitarianism. They also mean that great Australian value of
tolerance and of treating people decently and of not discriminating
against people according to their race or ethnic background.
We are a nation of many parts and many origins. And we should never
forget that. And we should see that as a tremendous asset.
And I also want to commit myself very genuinely to the cause of
true reconciliation with the Aboriginal people of Australia by the
centenary of Federation. We may differ and debate about the best
way of achieving reconciliation, but I think all Australians are
united in a determination to achieve it.
Finally, ladies and gentlemen, I want to express my gratitude to
two very special groups of people in my life. I want to thank my
magnificent personal staff in particular, my Chief of Staff, Arthur
Sinodinos. Through all the ups and downs in the last two-and-a-half
years, Arthur and my personal staff have sustained me and kept me
sane when the alternative seemed very likely. And I thank him and
I thank all those around him very, very much for what they have
done.
And finally, can I express my love and gratitude to my magnificent
family. Thank you. No father could be prouder than I am of my three
children. And I just want to say to Janette and to Melanie and to
Tim and Richard, I love you very deeply and I thank you for everything
that you've done for me.
And finally, to all of you wonderful people, you wonderful members
and supporters of our wonderful Party, the Liberal Party of Australia,
tonight belongs to you as much as it does to me. I thank you from
the bottom of my heart for the loyalty that you've given me
over the last two-and-a-half years and let's work together
to build another great victory in three years time.
Thank you.