E&OE...........
Thank you very much Peter. To Senator Rod Kemp, Simon Crean the Leader of the Opposition, Senator Kate Lundy, ladies and gentlemen, and most particularly the athletes that will represent Australia at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in July.
It has been correctly said that nothing quite matches sport in helping to define the Australian character or to help dissolve differences that Australians might otherwise have over other issues. Nothing gets Australians more united in excitement and enthusiasm than a great sporting contest, and particularly a great sporting contest which pits the young men and women of our country against the athletes of other nations.
All of us have memories and recollections of great international sporting events, whether they are Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Test Cricket matches, Rugby tests or whatever the situation might be. Sport is a great unifier. It is a great identifier of all the best characteristics of the Australian community.
And I';m delighted on behalf of the Government to be here this morning to repeat the very strong commitment of the Australian Government to the Institute of Sport, to say to the young men and women here who will be representing Australia at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, a team of some 400, which is about 100 more than the very large team that went to Kuala Lumpur, that you go there with our very good wishes. We will follow with I think meticulous application all of your participation in all of the events. We will get very absorbed in the outcome of all of the events in which you participate. And we will have some quiet satisfaction in knowing that whatever the outcome of individual events, Australian men and women representing our country will as always do their best and will as always be wonderful ambassadors for the Australian nation abroad.
Peter Bartels has been kind enough to speak of the financial support that the Government has given to the Institute of Sport. I';ve always regarded that as a very worthwhile investment in the long-term future of this country because part of the pride of Australia is in our sporting success. And you can only hope to achieve sporting success in the modern world if it is gone about in the way that we have gone about it here in Australia over the last 20 years. And the AIS has been quite integral to what we have achieved.
Peter is right. The Olympic Games are the pinnacle of international sporting competition. But the Commonwealth Games, the "Friendly Games" as they';re called, have always had a special place in the hearts of Australian sports men and women, and it will be no exception at Manchester. I wish the team well.
Can I announce that the Government has decided to contribute an additional $500,000 to the Commonwealth Games Association in order to defray the cost of sending the team to Manchester. I believe the team will not only be very well supported. It will perform extremely well. I know it will be keen to do even better than our team did at Kuala Lumpur and in striving to achieve that goal, you will have the affection and the support and the enthusiasm of millions of your fellow Australians.
Thank you.
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