Canberra
Thank you to Karl and Lisa for that welcome.
We're here tonight to celebrate some Australian spirit and tomorrow Australia day will be dedicated to celebrating the spirit of mateship that has brought the nation together during such tough times, the spirit that means people come together to lend each other a helping hand, the spirit which means volunteers keep on volunteering even as their own homes are flooded, the spirit that means soldiers come off leave in order to move rubbish for their fellow Australians, the spirit that means Australians in their millions tomorrow will hold barbeques to raise some money for flood victims in Queensland and around the country.
And as part of celebrating that Australian spirit tonight we are going to celebrate and congratulate some remarkable Australians.
I've had the privilege of meeting the nominees earlier today, they come from a broad range of backgrounds, but the one things that ties them together is that they constantly and selflessly give of themselves to the community that they seek to serve.
This is a tremendous occasion to be celebrating these great Australians, I'm looking forward to it and announcing the Australian of the Year. Thank you very much.