E&OE....................
Well, thank you very much, Lois; to Jackie Kelly; Michael Knight,
the Chairman of SOCOG and New South Wales' Minister responsible for
the Games; Peter Bartels, the Chairman of the Australian Sports Commission;
Louise Sauvage and other paralympians, ladies and gentlemen.
I'm delighted to be associated with the unveiling of the Paralympian
Torch and to say a few words of very strong support and to express
the very strong commitment of the National Government towards the
Paralympics to be held in October of next year. I do so with a great
sense of pride, of course, as Prime Minister knowing that we have
an absolutely superb team of paralympians in Australia. Their gold
medal tally at Atlanta was second only and our team in Sydney next
year will be the largest and strongest ever.
The Games next year will include 4000 athletes from an anticipated
125 nations. They will be larger than the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth
Games, the 1998 Soccer World Cup and the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.
The Government is very strongly committed to the Games and we've already
demonstrated that commitment by contributing a guarantee of up to
$25 million of half the expected operating deficit and providing almost
$5.5 million for the preparation of the Paralympic athletes and meeting
the GST liability on Paralympic ticket sales estimated at $1.6 million.
And I'm also very proud, indeed, to have been invited to officially
open the Games on the 18th of October next year.
I want to join Lois in congratulating the Motor Accident Authority
for becoming the presenting partner of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic
Torch Relay. And I encourage other companies, particularly Olympic
and Paralympic sponsors to also support the torch relay and, for that
matter, the whole of the Paralympic Games.
Lois said earlier that she expected the crowds to be very large and
to cover all age groups of the Australian community. And in that connection
I'm very pleased to announce today that the Government will be providing
special assistance to ensure the attendance of a large number of school
children from all over Australia, from all over Australia, to attend
the Games. It will mean that from all parts of the country, the way
in which the subsidy that we are providing has been organised, it
will be possible for, I think, up to 40,000 school children from different
parts of Australia to benefit from that support. And my colleague,
Jackie Kelly, will be announcing immediately after this launch, will
be announcing particular details of that scheme that I think will
provide the wherewithal for a very, very significant involvement as
spectators of the schools children of Australia. And, importantly,
it will enable all parts of the Australian community to be associated
with this event. Because it is important both in relation to the Paralympics
and also the Olympic Games themselves that they be events that are
owned by and felt a source of pride for all Australians. They may
be held in Sydney but they are Games that belong to the entire Australian
nation and it's therefore very important to all sections of the Australian
community. And I know that people from all around the country will
be very, very heavily involved.
So, ladies and gentlemen, I want to, on behalf of the Federal Government,
to encourage all Australians to very strongly support our Paralympic
team and to support these Games. They will be, as I outlined, a major
sporting event, second only to the Olympic Games in the year 2000.
The size and the scope of them will exceed many major world sporting
events that we've come to accept as a touchstone of size and scope
in recent years. And I want all these weeks in advance, these 65 weeks
in advance, on your behalf to wish the Australian team well, to congratulate
them and remark upon their tremendous success to date. I want to thank
Lois and all of those associated with the organising committee and
the sponsors and to thank Michael Knight and SOCOG for their very
strong support and their very strong involvement. Getting behind the
Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games is very much a united, bipartisan
Australian effort. They are events that will showcase Australia to
the rest of the world. They will not only showcase our athletes, the
two events will also showcase the magnificent lifestyle of the Australian
people.
And it's very important as we approach these two events that any differences
or difficulties that may have arisen in the past be put behind us,
be dissolved and put aside in the interests of demonstrating to the
world what a friendly, open and accommodating and, of course, highly
competitive people Australians really are. And we can do that better
than any group of people in the world. We can make these two events
landmarks in the showcasing of our nation to the rest of the world
and it's in that spirit that the Federal Government approaches these
Games. It's in that spirit that all of us are very pleased to be associated.
And so I encourage all Australians to join me at the Games and I now
take pleasure in officially revealing the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Torch.
[BREAK]
I forgot to say something. I don't often forget to say something,
I sometimes say too much. But I did forget to make it very clear in
my speech that the Government has decided to extend the Torch Relay
to all States and Territories. And originally there was some doubt
about that but we've made it clear that it will go to all States and
Territories. And Louise's parents, for example, in Perth will be able
to cheer it on. I apologise - you won't mind the interruption.
[ends]