Colleagues, thanks – it’s great to have you all here at Victoria Barracks.
It is a historic setting for what I hope will be a historic occasion.
We have got a lot on our plate.
Our challenge is to reshape our federation for the future.
It is a federation which has served our country and our people very, very well for more than a century.
It is a good, strong federation, but it is not perfect and our objective over the next day or so is to talk about some of the more substantial changes that we can make to deliver better services for a better Australia.
I think there has been a terrific spirit to our discussions so far.
I think we are determined to look for solutions rather than to pick fights and, frankly, I think that is what the public expect of us.
I think the public expect us to be as big as they are, the public expect us to be our best selves and I think that we can rise to this challenge.
So, let's have a pretty good discussion today and tomorrow.
[ends]