E&OE...
Thank you very much Tim and Laura, the Principal Mr Poole, the Deputy Principal and other teachers, the District Director, parents and students of Denistone East Public School. This is not the first time that I've visited this school although I don't know that many of you who are sitting particularly near the front were at this school when I last visited but it's a school with a wonderful reputation and as I sat and listened to Tim and Laura talk about the diversity of what the school excels in, as well as the diversity of the background of the pupils who attend the school, I understood why it has such a good reputation. He started by warming my heart and talking about his love of cricket, but he then went on to talk about the academic standards of the school. He went on to talk about its commitment to music and when both of them had finished I had the impression of a school that was providing a rounded education in every respect for the children who passed through it.
This is the beginning of Education Week here in New South Wales which is an opportunity for all of us to mark the importance of education in our lives. When I was your age I attended Earlwood Public School. Earlwood is over near Canterbury, it's not all that far from here although a bit of a drive and in many ways although it was a few years ago, the sort of school I attended was not all that different from the school that you are now at. And a lot of the things that we learnt there then, the importance of being polite to each other, the importance of being kind to each other and the importance of listening to other people's points of view are things that I know that young boys and girls are taught here at Denistone East. I'd also like to say a word about your teachers. After your parents, the teachers you listen to and take notice of I hope at this school are about the most important people in your lives because what you learn from your teachers are things that you remember. And I still remember things that my teachers in primary school told me about how to treat other people and how to deal with difficulties and setbacks and I've not forgotten those lessons. And I want to say to all of you as I speak to you this morning how very important it is to understand the commitment of your teachers. It's a very noble profession, a very important profession in shaping the lives of young Australians.
I also appreciate the simple commitment and loyalty to Australia and its values which is contained in your school pledge. We are unbelievably lucky to live in Australia. Those of us, and many of you I know who follow things on the news will know how unhappy many other countries are and we are really incredibly blessed and lucky to live in this beautiful country. So I want to say to all of you that you are a great tribute to the quality of public education here in Denistone East and more broadly in New South Wales, throughout Australia. I was delighted to learn when I came here this morning, I didn't know it before, that your Principal Mr Poole and I both attended the same high school, Canterbury Boys' High School although he attended the school some years after I did, some years, we won't go into how many, but both of us benefited from the education that we received at that very, very wonderful high school.
But you boys and girls of Denistone East, thank you very much for having me. Always remember your school days and to the parents who are so important to a school community and many of them are here this morning and, of course, the swimming pool that this school rejoices in; it's not usual for primary schools to have swimming pools and Mr Poole reminded me this morning that this swimming pool was built from the proceeds of a bottle drive 40 years ago as something of a memorial to a young boy who'd been at this school who'd sadly drowned and that is a reminder that this school has a rich tradition of parent and community activity. And it's something that is a characteristic and a mark of this part of Sydney and something for which all of you should be proud.
Thank you very much for having me, it's very nice of you to come along to this special assembly. I want to thank Tim and Laura for their very eloquent speeches. I can see that debating and public speaking is certainly a characteristic and to Mrs Monardo and the members of the P&C who do such wonderful work I want to thank you for having me and before I finish I would like to present Tim and Laura with a flag. It's an Australian flag, it's not a different flag, but it's an Australian flag and it's a little bit special because when Parliament sits, in fact all the time, there are four Australian flags in the House of Representatives Chamber of the Federal Parliament, one in each corner of the Chamber and every few months those flags are replaced by new ones and what happens is those that have hung in the Parliament are then given to Members of the Parliament from both sides and this Member of Parliament has been given one of those and what I've chosen to do is to give it to the two captains of your school. It's the same flag that is up there but it's a special one because it's one that has been hung and has been displayed in the Federal Parliament and it's a special gift from me to Denistone East Public School in Education Week and I would like to invite Tim and Laura to accept it behalf of the school. Thank you very much.
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