E&OE..................
Thank you very much, Andrew; to Richard Court, the Premier of Western
Australia; to Alan Coogan, the Chairman of Anaconda Nickel; to you
Sadie, thank you most warmly for your very gracious welcome extended
on behalf of your people; to my Federal colleague, Barry Haase, the
member for Kalgoorlie; to Graham Kieres and Collin Barnett, Ministers
in the Western Australian Government, other parliamentary colleagues,
ladies and gentlemen.
Can I say how very pleased I am to be associated with a project that
so evidently has brought together in a spirit of cooperation and a
sense of purpose different elements of the Australian community. When
I listened to what Sadie had to say in her welcome and when I listened
to what the Managing Director had to say about the cooperation between
the company and the Aboriginal people I thought what they were saying
represented something of a role model to the rest of Australia as
to the attitudes that should be taken and the path of action that
should be pursued. It is an attitude that says we must work together.
It's also an attitude to say that everybody in this community has
responsibilities as well as rights. And it's an attitude that says
that the wealth of this country should be shared and that the foundation
of individual achievement and self fulfillment is that people should
have a sense of dignity and self worth and a sense of economic empowerment
and a sense of economic independence. And I think they are a very
sound set of principles and I'm delighted that they have been practiced
in this marvelous project.
I've met a lot of managing directors and I've been to a lot of openings
in the 25 years that I've been in Parliament. I've been to a lot of
mines. I've been to a lot of factories. I've been to a lot of farms.
But I don't think I've met a more self-evidently enthusiastic and
dedicated managing director than I've met in Andrew Forrest. I have
the vague impression that he quite likes this venture and I have the
vague impression that he has a genuine affection for all of those
people who are associated with it. Because what you have gathered
here today are everybody who's played a role. And not least of course
you have the workforce. No enterprise, be it a mining enterprise or
a manufacturing enterprise or any other kind of enterprise is going
to be successful unless there's a spirit of cooperation with the workforce.
And that is clearly the case with this project as evidenced by the
speed with which things that normally take a long period of time have
been achieved, the cooperation and attitude of people and the spirit
of joint endeavor and joint commitment. And that speaks volumes not
only for the leadership of the company but it also speaks volumes
for those who are part of that great enterprise and most particularly
the workforce. And I want to acknowledge the contribution of the employees
of this joint venture for bringing it to where it is today and making
today possible and making the future that lies before all of us possible.
We're all entitled to a short commercial on an occasion like this.
And, of course, this opening is occurring at a time of very great
economic strength for the whole of Australia. Australia at the moment
is enjoying record levels of economic growth. It's enjoying the lowest
unemployment rate for more than 10 years. It's got the lowest inflation
rate, the lowest interest rates and probably the highest level of
international economic respect that this country has had in more than
30 years.
A few weeks ago I visited the United States. I wasn't terribly successful
on lamb but I was a little more successful when I went to New York
where, I've got to say, the knowledge of and understanding of Australia
is a lot deeper and a lot more sensitive than it sometimes is amongst
the politicians of Washington. And I found within the financial community
of New York a very great respect for the strength of the Australian
economy. Indeed in all the visits I've paid to that city over the
last 25 years I found on this occasion a stronger connection with,
knowledge of, and faith in the economic future of Australia than on
any occasion. Now, that's very important because there's.a bit of
money comes out of that city from time to time, not only into Australia
but into other parts of the world. So I think we are witnessing, in
general terms, a very good atmosphere for the Australian economy.
I recognise, of course, that commodity prices are not as good as they
might be. I was in Kalgoorlie recently and people had a few things
to say about the price of gold and I can understand some of the concerns
and I sympathise with them and I am very cognisant of them but I set
against them the general economic health of the country. And I want
to congratulate the Western Australian Government under Richard Court's
leadership for the pro-investment climate it's created so far as the
mining industry is concerned because unless you have governments that
are promoting investment in your industry then you're not going to
have a good atmospheric.
Now, this is a remarkable venture. When it's up and running it will
be the largest producer of cobalt in the world and it will be the
third largest producer of nickel. There's a billion dollars of investment
that have gone in to getting it started. It has an almost unrivalled
safety record. It's going to export something in the order of $500
million of export income when it's up and running. Now, that's not
bad for one individual company for one joint venture. And it's a remarkable
tribute to both of the companies that form the joint venture and it's
a remarkable tribute to all of those people that have made this possible.
And it really fills me with a great sense of satisfaction and pride
as Prime Minister of Australia to be associated with something that
is all positive about the future. We're associated with a project
that is going to generate wealth for our people. It is going to generate
jobs for Australians. It's going to generate export income for the
country. It's going to provide a valuable resource not only for Australia
but for the world community. And it's going to bring together in this
part of Western Australia a remarkable number of talents and a remarkable
number of skills. And in the hour or so that I looked over the plant
it does represent an aggregation of skill and commitment that is the
source of enormous pride to me and ought to be a source of enormous
satisfaction to all of those associated with it.
So to you, Andrew; to you Mr Coogan, Alan, the Chairman of the company,
to everybody else who's associated with it, I want to congratulate
you. I want to thank you for inviting me to come here today. I'm delighted
to be associated with such a tremendously successful, Australian venture.
I used an expression at my party's Federal Council meeting about a
month ago when I said that I wanted Australia to become a 'can do'
country. I wanted it to become a country that could do things better
and differently and more successfully than other countries could do
it. I wanted Australia to have enough belief and self confidence in
itself to know that it could do things sometimes differently and sometimes
against the tide and against the trends and against the predictions
in a way that other people didn't think were possible. I know a lot
of people thought that this project wasn't possible and a lot of people
were skeptical and critical and cynical and now it's been brought
to fruition. It's a marvelous demonstration of what I had in mind
when I used that expression. This is a great illustration of a 'can
do' community supported by a group of 'can do' Australians. I congratulate
you. And when I sit down and I'll then be asked to stand up again
and formally pull away the curtain but I do have great pleasure in
declaring this mine operation open. I congratulate all those associated
and I wish the company every success in the years to come. Thank you.