Welcome to the launch of the Kmart Christmas Wishing Tree Appeal which is done every year now for the last 27 years in conjunction with the Salvation Army.
What happens is that right around Australia people are encouraged to buy a Christmas present, to bring it to the Kmart Christmas Wishing Tree, to leave it under the tree and then the Salvation Army distributes the gifts to needy families right around our country.
It has been going for 27 years. Over this quarter century or more, more than 6 million gifts have been distributed. Last year about a half a million gifts were collected and distributed and the Salvos are hoping that, again, this year some half a million or more gifts will be collected and distributed.
I think this is a very good cause and I think it is so in keeping with that Australian spirit of generosity, of helping people and of looking after people at a special time.
Christmas is a special time for all of us; it is a family time, it is a time for generosity but we all know that some families are doing it tough. We all know that some families can’t be as generous to their own children as they would like and thanks to the Kmart Christmas Wishing Tree Appeal and thanks to the Salvation Army Australian families doing it tough can have a little bit of joy and life and love injected into their Christmas.
So, it is great to be here with Bronwyn Bishop, the Speaker of the Parliament, with Stephen Parry, the President of the Senate, it is great to be here with Guy Russo, with Commissioner James Condon and of course with Bill Shorten, the leader of the Labor Party and Christine Milne the leader of the Greens.
This is one of those many things on which the whole Parliament can unite. We all want every Australian family to have the best possible Christmas and that is what this Kmart Christmas Wishing Tree Appeal is all about. It is about giving every Australian family the best possible Christmas.
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