E&OE..................
Thank you very much, Pat, for that very warm introduction. And can I simply say to you, Pat, and I know I speak on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Australians in saying this, that by your life and your commitment to other people you are an inspiration to so many of us and we admire you greatly. And I acknowledge Liz Kernohan, Graeme West, the two local State members, Margaret Appleby, Peter Donnelly, ladies and gentlemen.
When my friend, Pat Farmer, asked me to come tonight I readily agreed because I've known something of the work of Lifeline over a number of years. Lifeline is something very special and an organisation, indeed, an approach to life that was formed almost 40 years ago by the great churchman, then Alan, now Sir Alan Walker, who was then the Superintendent at the Methodist Mission in Sydney. And it was an organisation that was dedicated to reaching out to people at a time of distress and sadness and desperation. And over the years the reach of Lifeline has gone all around Australia, it's gone overseas. It became a role model for many other telephone counselling services. And I can't applaud enough the tremendous work that it does in bringing people back from the brink of despair and unhappiness and trauma and sadness.
And as a local member of Parliament I have to say to you, ladies and gentlemen, that some of the most difficult and gripping and traumatic moments I've had have been to sit down and listen to parents pouring out their grief and their sadness regarding the suicide of their loved ones. Too many times I've sat in my Gladesville office and listened to people tell me of the suicide of their loved ones. Too many times I've tried to understand how they're feeling, failing, of course, completely to have the same perhaps sense of grief but endeavouring to empathise with them and to try and provide them with some comfort. And the soul searching, the sense of guilt, the sense of desolation, of failure that has pervaded those conversations is something that I'll never forget. And they certainly have brought home to me, as a local member of Parliament in talking to people, the dimension of human suffering that suicide can cause.
There are many things that we, as Australians, should be very proud of. One thing we shouldn't be proud of is that we have a suicide rate that is far too high and the suicide rate, particularly but not only, amongst young men is especially high. There are a whole lot of reasons for it and I don't pretend to have all the answers, nobody has all of the answers, and there's no one single cause. But what we do need is a determined and compassionate response, and organisations like Lifeline provide that. And the wonderful thing about Lifeline is that it rests upon the efforts and the commitment of volunteers. And we are a wonderful volunteer society. We have the greatest volunteers in the world, we Australians, and we had to be volunteers, there were few of us in a very big country and we had to work together, club in, pitch in and make sure we tackled problems together. And out of that necessity grew this great spirit of volunteerism and the contribution of volunteers to the face of Australia will be forever writ large to the rest of the world as a result of the Sydney Olympic Games. But that was really just a public external face of something that's been there ever since we began, and that is this tremendous willingness on the part of people to help each other. And I'm so inspired and encouraged by the fact that every school, high school, in this area is represented here tonight. And I agree with Ray Hadley, I think the young of Australia offer enormous hope and inspiration. I don't accept for a moment people who despair about the future of this country. The current young generation of Australia are capable of reaching the same heights and delivering the same outstanding leadership that earlier generations have done. There's an openness and directness and decency about them that I find incredibly refreshing.
And I just want to say that to be associated with this organisation is, for me, a privilege. We can't, as a government, no matter what political persuasion you are - and put that aside for tonight - no government can deliver all of the goods, no government can solve all of societies problems. We have a role to play, we have responsibilities and we intend to discharge them to the best of our ability. We need the help, we need the partnership, the comradeship, the mateship, of volunteers within the community and Lifeline is fulfilling a wonderful job. It is discharging a great social obligation and the Government is only too happy to provide financial assistance to organisations like Lifeline and other similar organisations.
So can I say, on behalf of all of your fellow Australians, Margaret, to you and your wonderful army of volunteers, can I salute you for the work that you do. Living in a big city, living on the outskirts of a big city, has its advantages and its disadvantages. One of the greatest challenges in modern life, particularly in large concentrations of people, is the challenge of loneliness. That old saying that you can be so terribly lonely in a crowd is very true of people who live in big cities. The further out you get the more people tend to reach out to each other and put their arms around their neighbour and try and help them. And providing a bit of hope and joy and, quite literally, a lifeline to people is delivering them a priceless asset.
Now, I thank you very warmly. I thank Peter Donnelly and all the other people associated with this wonderful occasion. I urge you to give generously to it. It's a wonderful cause. It's what practical Christianity is all about, helping people who need help, and I think that's a wonderful goal and a wonderful objective. And, Pat, thank you very much for asking me to come tonight. You're a great bloke. You're supporting a great organisation and I'm absolutely delighted to be here. Thank you.
[Ends]