As individuals we all have goals for the New Year, as a nation Australia has some very important goals. We need, for example, to maintain the wonderful achievement of a 30-year low in unemployment, and this can only happen if our economy continues to grow, strengthened from time to time by necessary economic reform.
We also need to re-double our efforts to tackle the chronic water problem that our country has. This will require us more than ever to look at the issue from a national perspective. The river systems and waterways of Australia are national assets, and we can only solve our water problems if we think as Australians and not as New South Welshmen or Queenslanders or Victorians.
We also need to understand the great importance for our future of not only strong investments in education, but also very high standards. The education of the young of Australia is an investment in every way in the future development and growth of this country.
And finally, we should bear in mind the overriding importance of the security of Australia. This means that we must play our part in the worldwide fight against terrorism, and we must continue the build-up of our defence forces that has been underway for some time - to deal not only with potential threats to Australia which fortunately in the near-term appear very unlikely except in the area of terrorism, but also to give us the capacity to act with our coalition partners and also to assist in trouble spots in our own immediate region.
These are some of the goals that Australia must set itself to achieve in the next 12 months. We enter 2007 strong, prosperous and stable, but what we have achieved has taken hard work and great commitment as a people. We must be optimistic about the future but not complacent. I wish all Australians and their families a very happy New Year, please enjoy the holiday season, take care on the roads and let's all of us as Australians make 2007 a great year for our nation and for its people.