E&OE...
Thank you very much Your Excellency, the Governor, the Premier of Victoria, the Premier of South Australia, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Mr Graham Duff, the Leader of the Opposition, my fellow Australians. This breakfast, which has to be the biggest football breakfast anywhere in the world, is a celebration of a number of things; it's a celebration of the importance of sport in the life of our nation. It's a reminder of the fantastic national cement that sport really represents. It does bring together people of otherwise diverse backgrounds and diverse views, and it's a tremendous annual reminder of how much sport means to us, and how much sport has contributed to the building of this wonderful nation of ours. It's also more specifically a great tribute to the people of Melbourne. I think this is the only city in Australia that could put on a breakfast that brings together such an enormous gathering of people. I say that as a life-long resident of Sydney, I pay tribute to the great capacity and the great cohesion of the City of Melbourne, to get behind things and to do things in a civic way, in a quite remarkable fashion.
It's also of course, a great tribute to the one indigenous football game that we in play in Australia - Australian Rules. And the way in which over the last 20 years or so it's gone right across the nation from its traditional support base in the southern states; And I know that there is many a Victorian heart, understandably, wanting to see the return of the trophy after this afternoon's game to Victoria, But the fact that for the past few years it's gone to another state is a reminder of the great success of Australian Rules, and the great success of the way in which the game has been run, and an extraordinary tribute to the capacity of the players and the coaches.
I think there is another thing about this afternoon's game; it's a reminder of the importance of tribalism in the following sporting teams. I have said that I hope Geelong win, I think it would be wonderful, if after 44 years, the City of Geelong could have a premiership again. And there is nothing quite like the feeling of local patriotism and tribalism in a provincial city around a sporting team, and I know just how much this will mean to the people of Geelong; they've had a few ups and downs over the last little while, and I know how much it will mean to them. But to all of you, thank you for displaying once again, that great Australian spirit, that great love of sport that is so tremendously important to all of us, whatever our football code may be and whatever our other sporting passions might be.
Could I just say one other thing to you, ladies and gentlemen, and that is that over the years the Australian bush has produced some wonderful Australian Rules footballers. Wonderful players for all the clubs around Australia, and I think it's therefore appropriate at the moment when our fellow Australians in the bush are going through such a difficult time to remember their contribution to this nation; to think about them; to stand shoulder-to-shoulder to them at a time of tremendous tribulation. I salute the players, and the coaches, and the administrators of the great Australian football game. Long may they prosper and represent their best values of our nation. Thank you.
[ends]