E&OE..................
Ladies and gentlemen, Janette and I are absolutely thrilled to be with you tonight and we're going to be thrilled to come and watch you compete for Australia. This is the biggest Paralympics ever. We do have a team of 437 now. We are really looking forward, and we really do say, on behalf of all of the people of Australia, we hope the Games are a huge success. We admire the dedication. All of you have worked very hard to get ready and it's going to be a terrific climax of your athletic careers in so many different sports.
From 1960 when the first Paralympic Games were held, they've got bigger and better each year. There are 4000 athletes from Australia and all around the world and these are the biggest ever. You have tremendous facilities but most importantly you have the spirit and the encouragement of 19 million people behind you.
There's a special quality - there was a real buzz out there tonight - and Janette and I are just so happy to be a small part of it and we'll be out there barracking really hard for you and participating very, very strongly.
Telephone interruption
A spy from another team trying to learn our secrets! It's not allowed.
From all of us, the rest of the 19 million Aussies, good luck. We'll be very proud of you. We admire enormously what you have done. Can I now just very seriously and very genuinely thank you, thank your families, your coaches, the whole Paralympic movement and all those people that have made it possible for you to compete in this tremendous atmosphere and to achieve your dreams of representing Australia at the Paralympic Games. Good luck and I know it's going to be a tremendous couple of weeks.
Thank you.
[ends]