E&OE....................................................................................................
Tony Staley, Sir John and Lady Gorton, Shane Stone, the Federal President
elect, Richard Court and John Olsen, the Premiers of Western Australia
and South Australia, Kate Carnell, the Chief Minister of the Australian
Capital Territory, Peter Costello, Deputy Federal Parliamentary Leader,
other colleagues and friends, ladies and gentlemen.
The present member for Higgins and Federal Treasurer has a very good
line in Parliament when he rightly talks about the success that this
Government has had in reducing interest rates. He says that interest
rates haven't been as low in Australia since man first walked
on the moon. Now, of course, when man first walked on the moon the
former member for Higgins, John Grey Gorton, was Prime Minister of
Australia.
And tonight we gather to honour the contribution of John Grey Gorton
to the serve first and foremost of his country. And we saw in that
marvelous little video the great sacrifice and gallantry that he demonstrated.
And we were reminded that this place, a generation ago, was overwhelmingly
filled with men who had gone through that experience on both sides.
Now, of course, a generation or more on, naturally things are different.
But on an occasion like this we reflect on a man who connects us with
those gallant years. We reflect on a man who connects us with a time
that was convulsed by the controversy of the Vietnam War, a time which
in economic terms we are now reminded of because of the great strength
of the Australian economy. I won't dwell on that tonight, that
will come tomorrow. But also a time that connects us with the history
and the heritage of our Party.
And John Gorton was elected to Federal Parliament almost 50 years
ago. When he was Prime Minister of Australia - I reminded myself of
this the other day I think he was re-elected in 1969 and that
was a year in which Richmond won the VFL flag, Balmain won the JJ
Gilterton Shield that was then the symbol of rugby league supremacy
in Sydney and, of course, Ian Chappell had just become Captain of
the Australian Cricket Team. But it is a wonderful experience, I think,
for a Party and particularly for the younger members of our Party
to be reminded of the contribution of John Gorton to his country.
John Gorton was one of the first politicians, I believe, at the national
political level in Australia to really understand the power of personal
communication on television. It is my belief that John Gorton would
not have won the leadership of the Liberal Party after the tragic
death of Harold Holt in 1967 if he hadn't been able to communicate
so directly and passionately and in such a personal fashion in the
interviews that he conducted on television immediately after Harold
Holt's death.
He also, of course, knew a thing or two about drama when it came to
Party Room ballots. Now, there's a few of who know a thing or
two about drama in Party Room ballots. I've been through a few
of those myself. I've got to say I've never been in a tie.
I either was resoundingly defeated or got drafted but never in a tie.
And it must have been quite an exquisite moment and as I look around
the room and I see some of the former colleagues who are gathered
here. But he played a major role in a number of things that continue
to be very important to the Liberal Party's political base today.
A little remark thing about John Gorton's ministerial career
was that he played a very big role in cementing the changed political
allegiances that followed the Menzies Government embrace of State
aid to independent schools in 1963 and that continue to be an enduringly
important thing in the dynamic of Australian politics.
He was, in every sense of the word, the genuine article as far as
a dinkum Australian was concerned. He was direct. He was laconic.
He had at all times a clear and passionate view of what the Australian
national interest was. He argued like, I guess, all Prime Ministers
do from time to time with the Premiers of the States. He had some
celebrated arguments with Sir Henry Bolte and Sir Robert Askin during
the time of his prime ministership.
On all occasions John Gorton was a man who had a clear eyed view of
the Australian national interest and he was a passionate nationalist
above everything else. And that's not a bad example for any Prime
Minister be it in 1969, 1979 or indeed 1999 because the enduring commitment
to the national interest is something for which I believe he will
be remembered.
I think political parties should treasure their history. I think political
parties should honour their past warriors and their past contributors.
And tonight is an opportunity for us to do that and I'm immensely
proud that I've had the chance, as the current Liberal Prime
Minister of Australia, to honour John Gorton. To have John and Nancy
with us and a number of their former colleagues and former colleagues
of mine who have come here tonight, I think it's a wonderful
opportunity for us to pay tribute to a great Australian, a great leader,
a great Prime Minister, a Liberal to his boot straps and a man whose
contribution to Australia is properly honoured and properly remembered.
[ends]