Well thank you very much indeed. Parliamentary colleagues, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it is a real honour for Margie and myself to welcome to Kirribilli House the Australian and the Indian cricket teams.
I have to say, earlier in my life I never would have imagined myself mixing in such exalted cricketing company. As a kid in Year Seven I tried out for the under-13 school cricket team, but after watching me bowl one or two in the nets, the coach said, “Off to the rowing sheds for you!” That didn’t stop me from becoming quite a keen follower of our great game and when I was a student in Oxford, some of my best memories were captaining the Middle Common Room cricket team of the Queen’s College. I couldn’t bat, I couldn’t bowl, I couldn’t field, but I could sledge, and I think I held my place in the team on this basis and I promise there’ll be none of that today!
For some years now, it has been the practice for the Prime Minister of Australia to invite the Australian team and the visitors for the summer to afternoon tea on New Year’s Day. John Howard started it, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard continued it and it’s my honour to maintain this tradition.
When I told people last night that I was lucky enough to be hosting the Australian and the Indian cricket teams here today, the only question that they assailed me with was, “What did you think of the declaration?” My initial thought was it was none of my business. My further thought was that Steven Smith did absolutely his duty, because it is his duty to put Australia in the strongest possible position because, as India’s batsmen have repeatedly demonstrated this summer, you can never take India for granted.
I’ve often described India as the emerging democratic superpower of Asia. Certainly, India has arrived as a cricket superpower. Australia and India are the best of friends off the field, but we are the fiercest of competitors on the field and that competition is just going to get fiercer and stronger in the years and decades to come.
With two new captains, both of whom have notched three centuries this series, I am sure that the Sydney test is going to be an absolutely absorbing spectacle between two fine teams.
So, ladies and gentlemen, it is a real thrill to have you here. Enjoy your time in Kirribilli House. To our Indian visitors, enjoy your time in Australia, and we are honoured to have you in our country.
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