PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you Lisa and Anton and John Ballard our host at the ACU. And Emma, what a great speech thank you so much.
You really should be careful going from journalism into law. It can lead you anywhere…
[Laughter]
That’s how I began, started off a young journalist, became a lawyer and then you end up in politics you see and anything can happen. So good luck on all of your adventures and good luck to all of you. Well done, every single one of you for the work you’ve done. Congratulations to your parents, grandparents. Where is Rhiannon’s granny? Where is she? There she is! Well done!
[Applause]
Thank you to all of you. Because this program Learning for Life is just a fantastic exercise in practical love. The Smith Family began in 1922. It was an act of philanthropy by a number of businessmen who wanted to be anonymous and so called themselves ‘Smith.’ Which of course is unfair, there’s lots of people who are called Smith who don’t feel they’re at all anonymous. But nonetheless that was their modest intention.
But it’s grown into an extraordinary organisation and it is love delivered in a very practical way, changing lives in so many areas. And changing your lives; there is no better way to set a young person on the right course than by getting them the support they need to complete their studies at school and then get on to whatever they want. Whether you want to be - where’s Corey? There she is. Whether you want to become a police officer. Or where is Ben? There he is. Ben’s into statistics, big data, that is where the future lies.
So all of you, you’ve all got great adventures and great lives ahead of you and great prospects. Thanks to your hard work, thanks to the support of the Smith Family and thanks to the devotion of your parents, grandparents, family and of course your teachers.
Teachers are in the front line of transformation. There is no substitute for the transformation of a life that a great teacher is able to achieve. We’ve all had great teachers of course, hopefully. I’ve had some great teachers. I’ve been very lucky. My mum left my dad and I when I was fairly young and he brought me up, which is why I might say I’m a good ironer.
[Laughter]
I have more domestic skills than most men of my generation I’m pleased to say, as you do if you are batching with your dad. But he went to great trouble to make sure that I had a good education that wasn’t without some difficulties for him. But it changed my life. It made me able to do the things that I have been able to do and one of the things that I’ve recognised is how important teachers are.
Our daughter Daisy is a school teacher. I remember not so long ago I was at an airport and a woman came up to me and said, and she asked me whether I was Daisy’s dad and I said I was and she introduced herself. She said her daughter had been uninterested in her studies and hadn’t been really firing up in her school work at all but she said: ‘Something your daughter did that got her interested and made her change, it’s changed her life’. She talked about it with such passion and it reminded me again that what teachers do is so remarkable. Dealing with just one class at a time, often one student at a time. Think of what your mentors have done, all of you, those who supported you. They’ve been able with that personal touch, that piece of love and charisma that’s been able to make such a big a difference.
So we are pleased, Simon Birmingham the Education Minister and I are here, the Federal Government has provided $48 million additional funding to support Learning for Life which will enable Lisa and the team at the Smith Family to deliver another 24,000 places. So this is a very, very successful program.
As I said, it’s love delivered in a very practical way. I want to conclude by thanking – I’ve congratulated the students, thanked the parents and grandparents and the teachers and of course the Smith Family - but I want to thank all of those who support the Smith Family, whether it is volunteers, and there are thousands of them, or as donors. What you do is critically important, it really is.
What an organisation like the Smith Family does, is deliver a lot of services with the support of Government and that is right and proper because they do such a good job. But when you as a donor, as a benefactor, when you give money or time to the Smith Family, your dollar doesn’t buy any more than the Government’s dollar buys, that’s true. But it comes wrapped in your love. It comes with your personal commitment and that’s what makes it so special. That is why the Smith Family is so remarkable because it is on a mission of love.
So I am honoured to be here today to congratulate the graduates and thank you all for this remarkable endeavor.
Well done.
[ENDS]