E&OE....................
Well, thank you very much, Vice Chancellor; to Mrs Terrell; to Lady Wilson;
to Professor Ross Garnaut, my Parliamentary colleagues, the academic staff
of the university, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.
This is an important occasion not only for the university but it's also
an important Canberra occasion and also an important reflective occasion.
Because as someone who is now celebrating his 26th year in the
Federal Parliament the name Sir Roland Wilson first came to my attention
when, as a fairly enthusiastic follower of politics in Australia in the
1950s through the well known political names such as Menzies, Fadden, Evatt,
Casey and others, there occasionally filtered through the names of one or
two very senior and very influential Canberra based bureaucrats and public
servants. And the two names, of course, that I first associated with the
Federal bureaucracy as I gathered my political enthusiasm in the 1950s were,
of course, the names of Coombs and Wilson who were, sort of, indubitably
linked in the minds of so many people. Of course, if my memory serves me
correctly, I think they were probably the last two names to appear on the
pound note when that formed part of our currency and disappearing in 1966.
I see Ian Castles nodding so I must be right in that recollection.
Sir Roland Wilson had an extraordinary career in the public service. He
was, in the best sense of that word, a dedicated professional servant of
the Commonwealth. He gave unstintingly of his service and his loyalty to
governments of both political persuasions. It is no secret that occasionally,
after the change of government in 1949, the odd supporter of the Liberal
Party was heard to say, isn't it strange that Menzies retained the services
of those two bureaucrats, Coombs and Wilson, who served the Chifley government.
It wasn't strange because they were people of great commitment. Their paths
followed different directions. They had different views on many issues.
Sir Roland Wilson's career stretched for a period of over 40 years. He was
the first Secretary of the Department of Labor and National Service founded
under the late Harold Holt in 1941. He was, as Professor Terrell has said,
a person who dedicated himself very much to the operations of the international
financial mechanism.
The person who introduced us today, Professor Garnaut, made I thought a
very intelligent reflection on the Australian economy, historically speaking,
a few months ago when he said that he thought there had probably been three
great eras of economic activity and development in the federation of Australia.
The first of those stretched from federation and ended in the trenches of
World War I. The second began in the period of post-war reconstruction and
then the boom and continued until the early 1970s. And he was kind enough
to say that he thinks we might now be living in the third era but I won't
dwell on that. But the importance of that recollection, ladies and gentlemen,
is that for the great bulk of that second period Sir Roland Wilson was,
of course, the dominant economic adviser to governments. And if you were
searching for somebody who made a contribution to the economic stability
and the economic prosperity, the extraordinary high levels of employment
and the great levels of economic growth that occurred during that period
of time you couldn't go past the contribution he made, particularly during
the years that he was the Secretary to the Treasury.
I only had an opportunity of meeting him on a few occasions because he had
departed from the bureaucratic scene, the professional public service scene,
by the time I arrived in Parliament. When I became Treasurer of the Commonwealth
late in 1977 Sir Frederick Wheeler was then coming towards the end of his
time as Secretary to the Treasury. So my acquaintance with him was brief.
I have read a lot of him and I'm conscious, as anybody who's been part of
the Government of this country in the post World War II period, I am very
conscious of the immense contribution that he's made to the public life
of our country and the way in which he has served, loyally, the Commonwealth
in the best traditions of public service. And it is an occasion for me as
the current Prime Minister to record on behalf of all governments that were
served by him how much we are in his debt.
The school and the building to be named after him, as Professor Terrell
has said, produces or manifests some very important linkages between the
University and the Government. The programme that brings so many young people
in touch with the day to day workings of the Government is a living and
very contemporary expression of the importance of keeping the university
and academic life of the country in touch with the workings of government
and, equally, instilling in those who work in government an understanding
of the importance and the role of academic life within our community. It's
also important that there is the Asian regional link as well because even
more so than in Wilson's time the prosperity of the Asian Pacific region
is fundamental to the prosperity and strength of the Australian economy.
And although the Asian Pacific region has gone through difficult times in
recent years it will forever be important to Australia's future and how
we relate to that region, how we trade in that region, how we continue to
be good neighbours and good players and good regional mates in that region
is very important indeed to our economic future.
For all of those reasons, Professor, I'm delighted to be here. I thank the
University for asking me to come. I'm delighted to be here in the presence
of Lady Wilson because she provides the very visible link with the University,
this school, and her late husband. And it's an opportunity for me to say
again how much he is admired in the history of the government of this country
over the last 50 years and what an immense contribution he's made and just
how important and appropriate it is that the University should name this
building after him. Thank you.
[Ends]