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PRIME MINISTER
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING MP
AUSTRALIA REMEMBERS GALA TRIBUTE, PALAIS THEATRE, ST KILDA,
13 AUGUST 1995
Tonight, and throughout this year of Australia Remembers, we have celebrated
the spirit of a generation of Australians.
It has been a bit like a giant birthday party for our parents and grandparents a
kind of national golden wedding in which we celebrate the bonds between us
all. And it has been at least as good for those giving the party as for the guests of
honour. It has been a chance for all of us to reflect on the gifts this generation gave us.
And to remember the price they paid in doing it.
What great parents and grandparents they have been.
They gave us the greatest gifts anyone can have. They gave us peace and
freedom. They gave us this country and a way of life we can call our own.
To do it, they gave up their own freedom. They gave up their lives. They gave
all their labour. And all their love.
They gave us an example to live by.
If we want to know what courage or duty or mateship mean, we can turn to
them. If we want to know what it means to be Australian, we can turn to them.
If we want to know what we can achieve as Australians, we can turn to them.
Many things have changed including the music but the essential things
remain. The fundamental things apply.
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Even half of their courage, half of their love of Australia, half of their spirit will
take us a very long way in life.
This concert has been a celebration of their spirit.
Tonight we will all take some of it away with us.
I thank everyone who made this event possible: and I know I speak for all
Australians when I say, above all, thank you to those who, at home and
abroad, fought the war and saved Australia.