OPENING OF THE ROYAL INSURANCE BUILDING,
MELBOURNE. 29TH OCTOBER, 1965
Speech by the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies
Sir and Ladies and Gentlemen,
I notice at least one Presbyterian Minister here
today, and he at least will understand me when I say that this
is a work of superero) ation. The building has been open for
twelve months. ILaughler) I have every reason to suppose it
was open when I was over the road making rude remarks about
it a year ago. And so with that fashion for accuracy that
characterises a politician, I retrospectively declare it open.
Now having done it both ways, you understand,
Jock wherever Jock is that it is now open, and as he would
add for business. ( Laughter) ( Applause)
I would like to thank Raynes Dickson very much for
his references to the Cinque Ports, known to one garage
roprietor in Canberra, so the legend runs, as Sinapore,
because he announced with great joy that morning, nave you
heard the news that Sir Robert has been made the Lord Warden
of Singapore?" I hope that the actual position will be a
little less precarious than that one.
You were mentioning the fact that it was held by
Sir Winston Churchill, and before him by Lord Reading and Lord
Willingdon. Thisis a quaint in some ways, but movingly
historic post and when you refer to Sir Winston Churchill,
may I * us mae one reference to him. It has nothing to do
wi h the Royal and nothing to do with opening the building
and therefore, of course, it is appropriate.
I remember durin the war sitting with him one
night after dinner, and in te amiability that overtook us
after dinner very probably, I said, " Of course you realise,
don't you, that by the time you have been dead an event
wqhich I hope will be long postponed by the time you've been
dead for ten years, there will be very clever young men at
Oxford or Cambridge or somewhere else who will be writing
books about you, explaining that you were never right.' And
his face fell a little at This. I said " This is true.. This
is all experience. They will explain that you were always
wrong. But take comfort-twenty years after that date, they
will all be forgotten and ou will still be on the top of
the hill." And I noticed The other day that somebody has now
produced a book, whether it will carry out my prophecy or not
I don't know. ( except that he appears to have been a . elshman
explaining tAat the o] lman was always wrong. aell, thank
Heaven he wasn't.. Otherwise we wouldn't be here, which perhaps
is the complete answer to what the young gentleman is writing.
But, however, that is by the way.
You have been reminded that this building is on
the site of a block of land sold for œ 46 which I hasten to
say is before the time of my Government. They were pre-Menzies
pounds ( Laughter) but still, they were not many, were they
46 back in 1537. Extraordinary thing you know. Vue are
always in the habit, aren't we, as we look back in thinking
that the perspectives of history looking backwards are enormous,
that things that happened one hundred years ago happened a / 2
2
long, long time ago, beyond the possible memory of man. And
yet! can remember walki n along the Ballarat streets with a
grandfather who was born 0wo ears before this block was sold,
and I have grandchildren who T hope will remember me, if they
are not ashamed of me, for many years to come? and between my
memory and theirs and my immedia e ancestor, is a spread of
two centuries. History is not all that long, but it is a
splendid thing this historic company because it is I say that
with confidence because as a small boy in the bush it was the
only insuring body that I ever heard of. There it was, the
Royal. So it must have stretched its tentacles a long way to
come into my remote corner of the woods, you see, and this is
an historic company, or an historic group of companies, and here
is an historic site.
It's a pity in a sense that you had to pull down
Scot's Hotel, though mark you, I don't blame you entirely.
It had its defects, tut I want to go on record as reminding the
Scots here and I see quite a few, and the Sassenachs of whom
I seer I regret to say even more I think I should remind you
that it was on this site and in tAe kitchen which originally
was down below that the finest haggis in the world was made.
Magnificent haggis piped in magnificently and eloquently
addressed by the president, whose name I will conceal for this
purpose. This is an historic spot.
But why are we here in such a tremendous development
of real ya great company in Ithe insurance field? WelleIwill
answer that question very briefly and then have done. fl were
all brought up, taught at school to learn something about the
industrial revolution, the introduction of steam, the creation
of factories for the first time this tremendou-development
which, in effect begnn in Great Britain and made Britain
through the nineteenth century the greatest industrial nation
in the world. And similarly, the tremendous development of
shipping which followed on The introduction of steel, with
Great Britain as the greatest mercantile marine power in the
world and these are istoric and striking things. It's true
that the emphasis has changed from time to time, but these are
striking and historic. It perhaps may much more easily be
forgotten that the industrial revolution, this enormous stimulation
of world trade, of world business couldn't have occurred
but for the contemporary advance in banking and insurance.
This is very well worth remembering and in
particular, speaking of insurance, insurance with the great
principle of the distribution of risks so that they became
indivi aually bearable through the process of insurance and
re-insurance and so on. I think the insurance world can afford
to be proud of the fact that it has just as much to do with the
modern development of world trade as any other single factor
and this is worth recalling because we have some reason to be
proud of the fact that in both of these spheres our ancestors
played a great part and hive therefore le t a great inheritance.
I say that because when I was a younger man, I
was a barrister, a very respectable one and I had the usual
fate of learned counsel, I !. as given a few briefs for the
plaintiff oh blessed day when you are appearing for the
olaintiff and if the defendant was well khown to be insured,
he plaintiff won. Of course this was strictly impartial on
the part of the jury, but still word does get around. And I
founa myself winning cases for the plaintiff and getting
substantial verdicts. Then the solicitors for the insurance / 3
companies had a look around and said, " This young fellow Menzies
must be quite good," and so they briefed me. I wasn't objecting
n one sense because the solicitors were more powerful and
the fees somewhat greater. After that, I didn t ever win a
case. ( Laughter) And basically, you see, the reason for it
is that in spite of this tremendous service that it does to the
community, unrecognised, unseen in many cases, the insurance
company has difficulty in maintaining even the modest rating
of popularity in the allup poll.
And I see some bankers here. They needn't smile
too quickly because their rating is no higher. ( Laughter)
Here we are in a strange paradoxical world in which the very
people down in the street who are quite prepared to be prejudiced
against the insurer or against the banker, and express it on a
suitable occasion if they happen to be on a jury are the very
people who when they have a problem of either kind, repair
instantly to the banker, to the insurer and have their business
attended to. This is one of the paradoxes of our national
character. .' hat was it that was said by Oscar .; ilde " All
men kill the thing they love." ' Hell, I wouldn't say they loved
you, and I don't go so far as to say they would kill you, but
there is a human disposition to be extremely critical of the
people who really represent our first port of call in a storm.
And therefore ladies and gentlemen, I feel it to
be a great pleasure not only to be here under pressure of an
old and valued friend in Jock Duguid, but also because on this
historic site, I like to have the opportunity of recalling some
of the historic elements in that great story, as yet quite
unfinished, of our race and of our undertakings all round the
world. So Sir, I wish you the best of good fortune.
I'm very delighted indeed that your two principals from overseas
are here. I met them in Canberra the otner day. I liked them
so much that observing that the time was six o clock, I think,
and knowing the attitude of the Chief General Manager at six
o'clock in the afternoon, I took them in and gave them a wee
dram ( Laughter) and I am delighted to remember the wee dram and
to welcome them and to see them here again.
Sir, there is a Standing Order in Parliament
against tedious repetition seldom observed I may say, but
tiere it is. I will engge in tedious repetition. For the
third time, I declare this building open.