E&OE..................
Ladies and Gentleman, at this moment I have been asked to say a few words. This is not the first Sports Hall of Fame Dinner that I've had the privilege of addressing, but in many respects I couldn't have imagined coming to the end of a year as a sports loving Prime Minister of a sports loving nation. And having the opportunity of reflecting with such immense pride on the sporting achievements of Australia over the last year indeed over the past several years.
One runs out of superlatives to describe the achievements of Australia's sporting men and women over the last few years. The triumphs of the sporting field, the international competition go on endlessly. Only last weekend we added another World Cup in Rugby League.
And of course the extraordinary pinnacle the superlative, the highlight of the year, indeed the highlight of the experience of so many of us were the two great triumphs in Sydney. The Olympic Games and the Paralympics. And acres of newsprint have been consumed in describing what happened and there have been many speeches made and much analysis of what it all means. I think it all means in short that we became in those few weeks the envy of the rest of the world. And that was driven home to me a few weeks ago when I attended an Apec meeting in Brunei. And just before the formal part of the meeting started we gathered as leaders of the 19 or 20 pacific countries to talk before our meeting started and there was only one topic of conversation in 10 minutes. And that was the success of the Olympics and the Paralympics in Australia. And those who contributed to the rather enthusiastic talk included not only the President of the United States Bill Clinton but also the President of the Russian Federation and the President of the People's Republic of China.
What that performance did for Australia in so many ways is something that will endure for decades to the enormous credit of your nations. Just as what was achieved here in Melbourne in 1956 shaped our attitudes to what we can do as a sporting people.
It was appropriate back in 1985 that when the first inductees into the Hall of Fame were honoured, and the fittingly Don Bradman accepted Membership and so did 119 other inductees. The Hall of Fame honours the sporting achievements of men and women from every sport in this country. They honour excellence, they honour the sporting traditions of this country.
They also honour the fact that champions are the end product of years of dedication and years of effort. And they're also the end product of the support and the love and the nurturing of mothers and fathers, and boyfriends and girlfriends, and coaches and supporters, of fundraising drives for local clubs and everything that's bound up with grassroots sporting activity in Australia. And all of that comes together on an occasion like tonight. It's an occasion, in a very unselfconscious way, all of us here tonight are going to enjoy because if there's one thing probably above everything else that binds Australians together, no matter what our attitudes may be and our disposition might be on other things and that is our love for sport. We indulge ourselves on sport we do it well whether we're players or spectators and of course there is no greater sports loving city in Australia than here in Melbourne. Your passion for sport and the commitment of the people in Melbourne as spectators of sport has the envy of the rest of the world.
So tonight will be another great chapter in the celebration of sporting achievement in this country. We're going to find out tonight the recipient of the Don Awards. And each of the nominees Cathy Freeman, Susie O'Neill, Ian Thorpe, Louise Sauvage and Jane Saville have demonstrated great ability combined with dignity, integrity and courage. And these as we know are qualities that Sir Donald Bradman held so dear during his playing years and the years of administration that followed. And ladies and gentlemen I thank you and particularly I thank the chairman Neil Fraser for the tremendous work that he's done as head of the Hall of Fame. It's a great pleasure to be amongst you and I'm sure that we're going to have a wonderful evening together celebrating the great Australian sporting traditions. Thankyou.