E&OE...........
Thank you very much for that very warm welcome. There is a wonderful story about the fact that the Armenian Church of the Holy Trinity should relocate in one of Australia';s oldest Anglican Churches, or Church of England it would have been called when it was established 175 years ago, and it';s in that spirit of reaching out to one another that I come here today to congratulate the Armenian community of Ryde, particularly the congregation of this Church, for the strength of their faith, the strength of their commitment to the members of their own community, but very importantly also for the contribution that all of you have made as citizens of Australia.
The Armenian community has been a wonderful example of the willingness of so many different communities from around the world to come to Australia, to give their first loyalty to Australia above all other loyalties, but equally to retain an affection and a special place in their heart for the country from which they came, the tradition in which they were raised and the faith that they were taught as children.
Australia is a nation of many religions and indeed of many who have no religion. We are not a nation that mandates a particular faith, our customs and our attitudes have understandably and properly because of our history, been guided and shaped by the Judai-Christian ethic of which so many of us here today are broadly part. But we';re also a nation that extends the hand of welcome to people who do not belong to that tradition and particularly at this very challenging time for our country, we must reaffirm our commitment to absolute religious tolerance and absolute respect for differences of religious opinion and differences of religious belief and indeed an absolute respect for those within our community who do not have any religious belief.
The genius of the Australian compact, the Australian unity, has been our capacity in so many different ways in different generations to live and let live. It';s an old Australian saying and it';s as relevant now as it has been at any time in our history. We reach out to people of different religions, we reach out to people of the Jewish faith, to people of the Islamic faith, to people of Buddhists, Hindus – all the different faiths of Australia. They are all entitled to be treated with respect. They are all entitled to practice their values and beliefs. All we ever ask, as we ask of all Australians, is that their loyalty at the end of the day be to this country, its values, its principles, its belief in what it stands for and what it has stood for, above all other things.
We have been touched by sadness in a way that I think many of us never thought possible. But it has also brought out in us that great Australian grit and capacity to work together and to reach out to each other at a time of adversity. We must always reject violence and terror. Those who murder and maim in the name of God dishonour the God whose name they invoke. The taking of innocent life and the maiming of innocent people can never be justified in the name of any religion that it calls itself a religion, and certainly any of the great religions of the world – Christianity, Judaism or Islam.
Can I thank particularly the community of Ryde of the Armenian heritage. I understand it is one of the largest, if not the largest, concentrations of Armenian descendant Australians anywhere in our country. And your contribution goes back a long way and your contribution has always been to, in a very full way, to the activities in the mainstream of the Australian community. Your commitment to family life, your contribution to business and to community life generally has been quite remarkable. And in my life I';ve met many people of Armenian descent. I think the very first one I met was the best batsman in the Canterbury Boys High School First XI in 1956 and he was a better cricketer than a lot of the Anglo-Saxon boys that were attending that school at the same time.
But yours is a wonderful community and you have enriched the people of Ryde and the community of Ryde, and I want to remark very warmly upon the generosity and the spirit of Christian brotherhood that the Minister and congregation of St Anne';s at Ryde, this historic beautiful Church, have extended to the Armenian community. It is an example of what Ryde is like, it';s an example of what practical Christianity is about and it';s an example of what the modern Australia is about.
Thank you for what you have done for our country. I wish you well and I hope your Church grows from strength to strength. This indeed is the second church opening, if I can put it that way, that I have participated in in the last two weeks and it';s an occasion therefore of considerable pleasure and pride to me that one of those two should be taking place within my own electorate. I wish you well and thank you for everything that you have done for Australia.
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