Thank you very much Wayne Osborn, Marilyn Darling, the chairman of the Gallery Andrew Sayers, chief patron, to Sir Arvi and Lady Parbo, and representatives and members of the Forrest and Clark families, Wim Boissevain, ladies and gentlemen.
First, can I say to Alcoa how incredibly generous this gift is to this gallery and on behalf of the gallery and the people of Australia I accept it very gratefully. The Portrait Gallery has been a wonderful success, it was a great concept and so much of the energy behind its formation of course came from Marilyn Darling who's been a wonderful leader of the Gallery. The professionalism of Andrew Sayers and the combination of those two has proved not only irresistible for many corporate supporters, but also the Government. And I'm delighted that we committed ourselves to the construction of a permanent home for the Gallery and I know that under the eager surveillance of the chairman, Marilyn, the work on that gallery will go ahead with breakneck speed and if it doesn't I shall be reminded of it quite regularly, and that is reassuring.
Can I say that now is about an appropriate a time in Australia's history to receive a gift of the portraits of three great men of the Australian mining industry because the mining industry again is reminding all Australians of how integral it has been to the economic strength and success of this country over such a long period of time. In the time that I have been in public life I haven't met a businessmen for whom I have developed a greater personal regard than Arvi Parbo. Arvi represents to me and to many the epitome of a successful, dedicated, patriotic businessman of great integrity and his story is a wonderful story of post-war Australia, it's a wonderful story of an immigrant from war-torn eastern Europe coming to this country and rising to the greatest heights that corporate Australia could offer, and it's the story of somebody who along the way retained his great integrity and commitment to great corporate ideals. I didn't have the privilege of knowing the other two subjects of the portraits - Sir James Forrest or Sir Lindesay Clark - nearly so well, in fact in the case of one of them hardly at all. But their corporate contribution is legendary and the three of them together have contributed so much to the mining industry in this country, they have contributed so much to trailblazing new ways of conducting the activities of the industry and in the process have made a wonderful contribution to our country through the mining industry, and I do welcome very warmly Sir Arvi and his wife and the members of the Clark and Forrest families, as well as Mr Boissevain - one of the three great artists who have contributed these wonderful portraits.
This Gallery is, as two speakers have already said, a mirror of our country, it brings together so many wonderful portraits of the entire spectrum of Australian life over the centuries. And the addition of these three portraits adds to a wonderful collection and can I say on behalf of the nation, on behalf of the Government, to Alcoa - thank you very much for your corporate generosity, it is a wonderful thing that we have so many companies in Australia that are willing to be so generous in their support and the three figures that are the subject of these portraits are not just people who have enriched Alcoa but they have enriched the corporate life and achievement of this nation and they are three wonderful and very fitting additions to the Gallery. And I thank you and your company Mr Osborn most warmly.
Thank you.
[ends]