Thank you Sandra, Lisa, Bruce Campbell, Brian Parry, former Australians of the Year, and other achievers, ladies and gentlemen. The decision taken by the Council before last year';s awards to broaden the scope, not only of the nomination process but also to introduce four categories and to give the Australian public far greater ownership of the nomination process has, I think, been a great success. And what it';s done has been to not only increase the knowledge of these awards but it';s also led to a lot more people making a contribution and as a consequence the awards and the process leading up to the decision and the work of those who are given the award has assumed a far greater meaning.
All of us are very conscious and very proud of the fact that as each year goes by, whatever our views may be on political or social issues or international affairs, whatever football team we might barrack for or not barrack for, whatever our passions are in culture and sport, whatever our differences may be, I think we';re all very conscious that as each year goes by we are becoming more nationalistic and patriotic in the best sense of those expressions and we are becoming prouder of what this country is, what it has been, what it can be and what it does mean to be an Australian and part of that of course is to recognise that the Australian spirit comes in many forms. Since we launched the awards last year this country has been touched by some wonderful events, it';s also been touched by some terrible events. We had the tragic loss of life in Bali where 88 Australians died in an act of unforgivable terrorism. We';ve had the bushfires in Canberra which brought probably the highest level of urban devastation of bushfires for something like 50 years. We';ve had many other tragedies, but we';ve had an enormous number of achievements. In all of these things the Australian spirit has shone through, it certainly shone through in Bali, it shone through with the magnificent performance of Australia';s men and women in Iraq a few months ago. Not only the spirit in terms of their strength and the capacity of Australians but the great Australian sense of humour. And I was reminded of it in that sort of quirky way when I visited some of those troops in Doha in Qatar and those of you who know that region will know that it';s not very hilly, it';s extremely flat, and amongst the memorabilia I was given was a t-shirt and it had emblazoned on it “Mt Doha, Australian mountaineering club, 3 meters above sea level”. It was a demonstration of that particular quirky sense of humour that Australians have.
But it';s also been a year, and it';s dramatised by the fact that we';re meeting here in Melbourne, which is hosting one of the most prestigious medical science conferences that can be held anywhere in the world. And it drives home the fact that this country not only punches above its weight when it comes to sporting and other achievements, it punches above its weight when it comes to scientific achievements. And here, right here in the city of Melbourne, a city alongside Boston and other cities is recognised around the world as being one of the great centres of medical research and medical science. And that';s something that is part of the spirit of Australia, as is the (inaudible) of our men and women on the sporting field, those in our armed services, those in our voluntary organisations.
So ladies and gentlemen all of us, whatever our views are, wherever we come from, whatever our ancestry, whatever our feelings about what constitutes an Australian, we are all intensely proud of what this country is, what it can be and what its achieved and part of that is the performance of individual Australians, the simple humanity at a local level, the person who cares for a frail or dying relative or friend, somebody who devotes their life without fanfare or reward to helping intellectually and physically handicapped children, an elderly parent who cares for a middle aged handicapped child, carrying that increasing burden, all of those things are acts of individual heroism and great individual character and you all have an opportunity to participate in this process and I hope you all play a part and in that way you will further enhance our pride in and our understanding of this wonderful country of ours.
I want to thank Lisa and the members of the Council for the great work that they have done over the last year. I want to join her in thanking the sponsors, you need sponsors always and thank you sponsors. And I want to thank those former Australians of the Year who';ve come along today to share this occasion and to remind those who might one day be Australians of the Year of the great honour that they felt in receiving that award.
So ladies and gentlemen, thank you for having me and I have very great pleasure in declaring open the nominations for the four categories outlined by the chairman, I';m sure the nominations will be greater and even more varied than ever and I wish the process great good fortune.
Thank you.
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