Subjects: Centenary of Federation; Australian character; Bob Tucker..
E&OE ..............................
Well thank you very much. Can everybody hear me? Right, that's always a good thing to check. Can I first of all say to all of you, thank you very much for having me and Bob Tucker, my friend and who is the Liberal candidate in the by-election in Ryan with you this morning.
As part of the many things that I do as prime minister and indeed long before I became prime minister in the various other jobs I've had in the almost twenty-seven years that I've been in federal parliament, the most stimulating, the most enjoyable and the activity that keeps renewing my enthusiasm for public life is the opportunity of going around Australia and meeting different groups of Australians. I am often asked when groups of school children visit Canberra and they come around to the Prime Minister's quadrangle and they have a photograph taken with me and then I say "why don't you come into my office". And they crowd around my desk and I point out to them that the desk I sit at was the desk first made in 1927 and used by the then prime minister of Australia; it was the desk that Joe Lyons used; it was the desk that Sir Robert Menzies used and it was the desk that John Curtin used during World War II. I mean it's a very bipartisan desk, it belongs to both sides of politics and it was the desk that Ben Chifley used and then it sort of got sort of discarded and I discovered it a couple of years ago and I had it brought back because I think it's important to have a bit of history and a bit of continuity. And as we gather around and talk inevitably the young students will say to me "what's the best thing about being prime minister?" and I truly say to them and I truly believe it, the best thing about being prime minister is the opportunity to meet different groups of Australians in different parts of our country. And I never lose my enthusiasm for that.
And as part of my going around the country I visit a lot of retirement villages and hostels and nursing homes. They vary. I haven't been to one that is any more., this is a wonderful place and the atmosphere of this. And I want to say that the RSL does a fantastic job in providing for the aged care facilities of people who fought for our country, or people who were related to those who fought for our country. And I can't let the opportunity go by without saying how really touched I am to see my good friend Eric Abraham who I've met on a number of other occasions and is a wonderful Australian. He's just a sort of exemplar of a wonderful generation. And many of you here belong to what I frequently call the 'heroic generation of Australians'. You were either, in Eric's case he fought in World War I. The case of others you would have been young children in World War I, you went through the Depression and then you went through World War II and you witnessed the enormous change in our country that occurred after World War II and you've made an enormous contribution to Australia. And particularly in our Centenary year it's something that I want to say on behalf of your fellow Australians how much we admire the contribution that you have made to our country.
I of course come to Queensland very frequently and you all know there's a by-election on, I'm not going to come heavy with a policy speech. I wouldn't dare do that. But I just want to say Bob Tucker over there is a good bloke. I've known him for a long time. He comes from this area, he's raised a family in this area, he's made a business in this area and he's part of this area and he'll work damn hard for you if you elect him next Saturday.
Looking after our retired citizens is a very important responsibility of any government. And we've tried very hard since we've been in government in different ways to do that. And I think it's one of those areas where if you could ever get the ideal, and that's very hard in life and it's certainly very hard in politics, if you could ever get the ideal you'd like to try and take some of the party politics out of aged care. Let us argue and debate over other things, but let us agree that when it comes to looking after retired people in our community we can try and reach some common agreement. And governments providing assistance to aged care facilities started way back in the 1950s and it's continued over the years but we couldn't do it without, effectively without the help of great institutions such as the RSL and the other great institutions of society. And most of the problems of our society and most of the challenges of our society can be met by the government, welfare organisations, groups of local citizens and public spirited individuals getting together and working with each other to try and solve our difficulties. And if we can work together in a partnership and a coalition we can do all of that.
I think this is of course the most wonderful country in the world in which to live. And I've counted it as an extraordinary privilege to be prime minister of Australia in the year in which we're celebrating the centenary of the Federation of our country. And we can look back over that one hundred years, sure we have made mistakes, we've done a few things wrong, of course we have and we haven't always got it right but the great bulk of the history of this country has been one of outstanding generosity and achievement. The way in which we played our part and this group know better than most in Australia, we played our part in two world wars, we stood up for freedom, we never tried to impose our will on anybody else, we merely tried to help people who were being oppressed and we did it magnificently at enormous cost of course for a very small country. And that's a tradition that's continued. It's a tradition that was played out in East Timor when our troops magnificently implemented the resolution of the United Nations and did Australia proud in a quite remarkable way.
So when I look back on the Centenary, I look back the one hundred years I think of what this country has done to defend freedom, I think of what your generation did so very directly particularly but not only in World War I and World War II. And I also think of the way in which we've been able to absorb wonderfully from around the world people who have added richness and colour and difference to our society but all the time being very much part of the Australian community. So it's a great honour. It's a great privilege to be prime minister of Australia at any time but it's a particular honour and a particular privilege to be prime minister during our Centenary year.
Thank you very much for having me. I think you live in a wonderful retirement village. I wish you good luck, good health, good fortune and remember Bob next Saturday. Thank you.
[ends]