Subjects: Chinese-Australians; immigration; Olympic Games; volunteers; Chin
E&OE..................
Ladies and gentlemen, can I first of all say to you Ken thank you very much for the warmth of your welcome, thank you very much for the tremendous contribution that you and your association are together making towards the welfare of Chinese Australians. I listened very carefully to your speech and there was a section in it when you said you can't please all of the people all of the time, I felt very much at home, I really did.
And, but more seriously ladies and gentlemen tonight is really an occasion to me to salute the incredible contribution that Chinese people from so many different countries have made to Australian society over such a long period of time. It would take a very long speech to enumerate all of the different ways in which the Chinese have had a beneficial and lasting impact on Australian society. I want you to understand, to know, on behalf of the Government, and I know I can speak for all of your fellow Australians in expressing their collective gratitude for the extraordinary contribution that Chinese people have made to the building of the modern Australia.
Robert McLullen touched on some of the different things that are important about the Chinese contribution. The driven determination and often in the face of enormous adversity, many members of the Chinese community of Australia have come to this nation in search of freedom and an open society denied to them in the countries from which they came. And it will always be to the credit of this nation that over the last few decades it really has been one of the most open and welcoming nations in the world in relation to refugees. I understand that over the last 50 years this country has taken something in the order of 600,000 refugees from all around the world, and makes it second only to Canada on a per capita basis the number of refugees it's taken. And it's also important to remember that some 25 years ago no country in the world, on a per capita basis, took more refugees from Indo-China than did Australia, and many of those people were ethnic Chinese.
But tonight it really an occasion to celebrate everything that we have in common as Australians, to celebrate the opportunities we have, to celebrate the shear joy of being an Australian, which to me is still something that we can have so greatly in common. People talk frequently about the contribution that the Olympic Games made to bringing all of us even closer together. And I don't think there is any doubt about that, and I can certainly say to you, as I said to Ken earlier tonight, that if I needed any reminding of what a great impact that event had made, not only here but around the world, it was driven home to me when I went to the APEC meeting in Brunei and there meeting people like former President Clinton and the Russian President Vladmir Putin, the President of China Chung Zui Ming, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong C.H. Tuong and other leaders. Their sole topic of conversation at the first social gathering was, whoa, sorry Kerry, I like you, I mean I got nothing against you, sorry. It was the sole topic of conversation and what made that event of successful, and what makes it such a pleasure to live in this country, is the way in which whatever our different backgrounds may be, whatever our various (inaudible) may be, we are bound together with the common bond of all being Australians and all wanting to share a future together.
And it's in that sense that I say particularly to all the almost 300,000 residents of Sydney of Chinese background, and the many more hundreds of thousands in other parts of Australia, you are a precious and treasured part of our community. And the contribution that you make is one that I value and I know that all my fellow Australians value.
And lastly and very importantly, and I direct a comment towards your association Kenneth. And that is that through the volunteer work that you are doing to help those within your own community who need assistance, you are acting out a very great and distinctive Australian tradition and that is the tradition of the volunteer. Australia in fact has a level of volunteer participation in community life that is double or treble that of countries with which it is fair to make comparisons. No body will ever forget the contribution of volunteers to the Olympic Games, as we speak and as we eat tonight there are volunteer fire fighters in South Australia coping with devastating bush fires. There are volunteers in the northern part of New South Wales coping with floods, there are volunteer organisations that are represented here tonight, such as Mission Australia, a great organisation, represented here by Patrick McClure. And of course very particularly tonight there's the Australian Chinese Community Association of which you are the president. And that organisation is not only doing great work for the Chinese people of Sydney and of New South Wales, it is part and parcel of a nation wide network of volunteers. And I want to honour you for what you are doing in that great Australian tradition of working together as a group of public spirited people, desiring nothing other than to help, and where necessary relieve the difficulties and the suffering and help people within your own community to meet the challenges of life.
So can I say to all of you on behalf of the Government, and personally from Janette and myself, how absolutely delighted we are to be here tonight, to wish you all a very happy Chinese New Year, (.). Enjoy yourselves, thank you for what you are doing for Australia, and I know that the year ahead will be, not only the year of the golden snake but a year of very great prosperity and very great happiness for all of the people of Australia.
Thank you very much.
[ends]