Subjects: contribution made by older Australians to the nation
E&OE..................
Well thank you very much Bronwyn, to David Deans, Kate Carnell the Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, my other parliamentary ministerial colleagues, ladies and gentlemen and a very special welcome to the representatives of the various companies that have sponsored this very important event and have given such tremendous support to the awards throughout the year.
I won't say very much before announcing the winner except to express my great pleasure at the fact that no fewer than one thousand five hundred entries to this award were received right across the whole spectrum of Australian society in every part of our country. I think that demonstrates an extraordinary level of interest in what is a very important award. And which is an award which makes a very simple statement and that is that we accord to people respect and honour according to their contribution, their commitment and their worth not according to their age or according to their background or according to their material possessions.
It is tremendously important in a society that tries to marshal all of its resources and assets and use them in the best possible way to appreciate the individual worth of every man and woman within our community. And that is the essence of an egalitarian society something that we've always prided ourselves on. And that egalitarianism not only extends to us having always given away and been rather repulsed by notions of class and privilege but it also extends to recognising that we shouldn't try and demarcate people according to their age or indeed any other classification. And I, like Bronwyn, thought it was marvellously symbolic that the Olympic Games should have been closed by Slim Dusty leading us in the rendition of what is without doubt the most emotional, evocative and Australian of all songs without doubt.
So ladies and gentlemen can I simply say in announcing the senior Australian of the year that on behalf of the rest of the Australian community can I say a very simple but sincere thank you to all of those senior Australians at what they've done and what they continue to do and what they represent about the future of our country for their contribution to building the country we feel so incredibly proud of not only at the moment but was always do.
Ladies and gentlemen this year's senior Australian of the year is Professor Freda Briggs.
[ends]