E&OE....................................................................................................
Thank you very much, Councillor Maloney, the Mayor of Longreach. The
last time I was here a few of your were holding placards, but I'm
delighted to be back and to have such a warm and encouraging welcome.
You've all heard me make one speech today and I won't go
over any of that except to say that the Federal Cabinet from the moment
we took office in March of 1996 we resolved to meet on a regular basis
in regional and rural Australia. And when Ian Donges and Wendy Craik
came to see me earlier this year and said they were planning to have
this gathering of the National Farmers' Federation in Longreach
I thought it would be a marvelous conjunction of events for the Cabinet
and for the National Farmers' Federation to meet here at Longreach
at the same time.
We make a practice when we go to regional centres of inviting a cross
section of the community. It gives us an opportunity to talk to community
leaders, an opportunity to understand the particular concerns and
the particular interests of the bush and today has been no exception
to that.
As I said in my speech, although the general economic conditions in
this country are first class, better than they have been for thirty
years, we are very conscious that not every part of Australia is sharing
equally in that economic performance and that there are major areas
of this country the less populated areas in the farming and rural
areas of our community who are still doing it very tough, still are
deserving of a special understanding and of a special consideration.
And I'm sure that the meeting taking place here in Longreach
will drive home to all the delegates to the National Farmers'
Federation that their ongoing responsibilities that they have discharged
so well over a long period of time to represent the interests of rural
Australia.
It is a special part of being a Prime Minister of being a member of
a Federal Cabinet, to go around this vast country of ours and to meet
so many different people in very different circumstances and to be
reminded of the essential character of the Australian people. To be
reminded that we are people who draw a lot of our nourishment from
the volunteer spirit within our communities. It's particularly
so in the bush, people work together they help each other, they care
for each other, they understand each other's problems. And one
of the many characteristics of Australians are that they do help each
other very well in adversity and they do it instinctively and they
do it without regard to somebody's origins or background or whatever.
Some have even presumed to call that mateship. And I think it does
encapsulate extremely well of what this country is about. We do have
some special characteristics as Australians. Part of being an Australian
is either to live in the bush or to feel that the bush is part of
what we are and to me it has always been inconceivable that you could
think of Australia without thinking of our rural heritage. And I am
very conscious as somebody who was born and raised in the suburbs
of Sydney, I am very conscious of the fact that rural Australia still
contributes 25% of our export income. The bush still, that agriculture
produces one quarter of our annual national wealth, that it employs
over four hundred thousand people that it has within its ranks some
of the most efficient farmers in the world. And one of the constant
agonies of being an Australian farmer is that you don't get enough
reward for your efficiency because you are shut out of corrupt world
markets by larger primary producing countries who have the economic
and political clout to do that. But as a government we remain committed
to improving that. As a government we are delighted to be here.
We thank the people of Longreach, we thank you, Councillor Maloney,
once again for your warm welcome, this is the second time that you
have welcomed me to Longreach. I hope to have the privilege of coming
back again, it's a very special regional centre of Queensland
and all of us here today have been in receipt of the typical warm,
open hospitality of the Queensland people and we thank you most sincerely
for that.
Thank you.
[ends]