E. 0. E. PROOF ONLY
TRANSCRIPT OF SPEECH NATIONAL AUSTRALIA DAY CONCERT 29/ l/ 85
PM: Ladies and Gentlemen, whatever the measure of greatness of
our nation, and I believe it is very considerable indeed, it
arises because through the years we have absorbed the best that
has been brought here from many countries of the world by the
men and women who have come to make this their home and because
we have fashioned ourselves, our attitudes, and our institutions
in a distinctive way which reflects the realities of our
continent. While I think we can not always extoll everything in our past,
we have repudiated the concept of proprietorship for those who
inhabited this land before European settlement, while at the same
time subsequently often being less than generous in sharing + his
land of ours with those who have come here.
But nevertheless, we have on this national day very considerable
reasons to smile. We should indeed be very grateful to all
those who have cone before us for so having conducted themselves
that we can this day in 1985 truly assert that Australia is one
of the few really vibrant democracies in the world where the
commitment to the liberty and the freedom of expression of the
individual is sadly diminishing.
W e are also a's a nation of less than 16 million people in a world
of 4.8 billion entitled indeed to be proud of the many
contributions that Australian men and women have made in the
fields of art, music, letters, architecture, sport indeed a
remarkable contribution.
So while this is a time of remembrance and a time for gratitude
for those who have gone before, a time to balance pride w-ith
considerations of the past, and also, I believe, a time when we
have to contemplate the challenges of the present and of the
future. Particularly I think that is true as this 1985 is
International Youth Year.
There are many of our young people today in Australia who have
reasoned cause to doubt our commitment to giving them a sense of
security and fulfillment in the Australian future.
This is a great country with its unlimited resources, I believe,
and we have the capacity to make that commitment to them, to
make it real. / 2
2.
So I would ask, as Prime Minister of Australia, that today
on our national day we should all pledge ourselves to making
that commitment a reality in the future so that their
aspirations shall be met and that in the years ahead they
shall have equal cause with us for pride in this great country.