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OPENING OF TRAINING CENTRE FOR " GUIDE DOGS FOR
THE BLIND" AT KEW9 MELBOURNE, ON 17TH NOVEMBER,
1962.
Speech by the Prime Minister, the Rt, Hon. R. G Menzies
Sir and Ladies and Gentlemen g
I was very glad to be reminded not only when I got
here but on the way here that this is in my electorate,
and all of you who have the misfortune to be my constituents
had better have a good look at me because the way in which I
neglect my electorate is well known and, you never know, you
might not see me again for six months. ( Laughter)
I'm not going to detain you for very long. It seems
to me to be a rather hot day and it is going to be just as
hot in Canberra, I don't mind telling you, because it was
pretty hot when we left there this morning. All I wanted to
say to you, in declaring this centre open, was that I believe
that the process of civilisation is beginning to get on.
Civilisation was supposed to make enormous strides in the
nineteenth century, I sometimes doubt it. Civilisation is
in the heart and in the mind, and is not always to be assessed
by looking at material things.
This century has seen, I think, two very remarkable
developments, One has been the vast assumption by communities
of legal obligation to people who are less fortunately placed
than the average. The extension of social services in the
modern world has been phenomenal All this is good. All
this is a splendid element in getting rid of extremes in
social life, and in fixing in most of our minds a sense of
obligation, But it is not enough. It is not enough that we
should think that all our obligations are discharged by writing
out a cheque for our taxes, accompanied by a suitable volley
of unprintable, and indeed unprincipled, language. ( Laughter)
Tha's not good enough. We have and I am happy to say
that Melbourne is a splendid example of it managed to
preserve, over and above our sense of legal obligation, our
human sense of obligation, our understanding of the fact that
no great body or institute or group or centre which is designed
to give human assistance to human beings can succeed unless
it has human assistance from human beings not just doing
their legal duty but going the second mile. ( Applause)
Those of us who have the great good fortune to enjoy
our sight think of those who don't, always with a feeling of
sympathy, but perhaps not always with a feeling of understanding,
There was a time in our history, not in our generation but in
past times, when people who suffered from infirmities which
set them apart from the normal run of human beings in normal
activities, were regarded as odd people. God had laid his
hand on them and there was nothing that man could do about it.
This was an uncivilised idea.
We have, in recent years in Australia, thanks to the
devoted activities of people, many of whom are here this
afternoon, brought about great changes in this matter. Human
ingenuity has been exercised. A compassionate interest, not
a condescending interest, but a compassionate and understanding
interest has been brought to bear on these matters. And in
the result, in our time, many of us have seen brought to the
service of people who are without their sight first of all
the superb faculty of being able to read. The invention of
Braille all the things that have gone with it reopened to
many a world they thought they had lost, and opened to some a
world that they had never gained. This was I think one of the
great events in modern history, not always remembered, not
frequently remembered, but we all have it in our minds this
afternoon. And then along came broadcasting. Very interesting
that the name of Jack Davey should be associated with this
memorial, because broadcasting brought into the lives of
people not able to read, not able to see but well able to
hear and to understand, a new source of entertainment and of
instruction. Why some of them here today have even enjoyed
the ineffable pleasure thanks to broadcasting of hearing
me being insulted in Parliament House ( Laughter) and returning
the compliment with great spirit and decency. ( Laughter)
( Applause) But broadcasting it was really, when you come
to think of it, the next great step braille for reading,
broadcasting for hearingø
But that left untouched the auestion of what the
Chairman, Dr. Prior, has called nobility. It is not always
easy for a sightless man or woman to be taken by the arm
through the traffic to the shops, around on the daily chores,
by another member of the family, and the discovery that you
could train highly intelligent dogs to be their friends,
. uides and companions is, I venture to say one of the great
social discoveries of our timeo ( Applause)
Whatever disabilities we nay suffer from, not one of
us would wish to be unduly dependent on other people, We have
a healthy feeling of independence, a healthy pride, a healthy
self-respect, and to be given the means of mobility, of moving
about, this is a great thing and I like many of you, am looking
forward to seeing a little bit of this work this afternoon.
I confess, with shsme, I have known little of it, but this
afternoon I have already begun to learn a great deal about it.
I little wonder that some of the generous, splendid citizens
I see around here this afternoon have devoted so much attention
to ito This in short, Sir, is a further exercise in the
development of civilisationo It's taken a long time to come,
but I believe that in our tine it is beginning to come and to
come fast, because let me ropeat, this is scmething in the
heart and in the mind. It does. n't douend on what you pay, but
on how you feel and how you think, because they will determine
what you do, And today we have a splendid modern example of
what can be done.
I venture to say, Sir, that thanks to the work that you
and your colleagues and other people have done, you are
initiating a new era for many, many people and an increasing
number in days to como, and that as a whole community we can be
very thankful that these differences, though they are technical
differences, yet have a profound influence on human conduct
and human outlook, are being elim. inated, not only by the march
of science and skill but by the warmth of the heart and
understanding of our citizens,
Sir, I have very great pleasure indeed it is a very
great honour to declare this Centre open.