Well thank you Luke. In my ten-and-a-half years as Prime Minister I don't think I have had such a moving introduction, and that speech of Luke's is a wonderful and eloquent metaphor for this wonderful organisation and to the marvellous work of Ron and Judith Barr and everything that is associated with Insearch. I first met Ron some years ago and in the nature of things in my position many organisations are brought to my attention and many people are introduced and there was something about the way he presented what he was doing, the sheer simplicity of what was involved and the little video we've just seen demonstrated that very powerfully, that the simple displays of affection and of reassurance, and of constancy, and of trust for people who have been denied those normal human experiences has said it all. And all of you are here tonight to mark 21 years of this organisation, it's had its ups and downs. I am very pleased that a couple of years ago the Commonwealth Government committed itself to some funding and I think that's a very good investment and I think it's an investment the Government will want to continue for many years into the future.
Youth Insearch is a source of hope, it's a reminder that although we do as Bert said in his introduction, although we do have in our modern life, scourges that may not have existed several generations ago, we are making some progress, our youth suicide is still too high, but it's lower than it was six or eight years ago. We are making some progress in reducing the heroin death rate with our campaigns against drugs and we are doing it because we have found over the last few years a slightly different approach, I choose to call it a coalition, not in the political sense of the word, but a coalition between the Government, inspired individuals like the Barrs, wonderful organisations that have done good work through the decades and very public spirited and philanthropic business men and women, and there are many of them here tonight and I want to thank the business men and women of Australia who supported Youth Insearch and in a broader context, supported other organisations who are doing so much to help people have the opportunity that this extraordinarily lucky country, very fortunate, wealthy country has for so many of us, but for some who are missing out, we have a particular obligation. And it is precisely because this country is so fortunate that we owe it to the future of our society and its strength and its cohesion to help organisations such as Youth Insearch.
I pay tribute to two Australians who devoted all these years to putting together broken lives, the joy they must experience to look back on the 27,000 that have gone through the programme, the 2000 that have gone through this year, the wonderful I am sure satisfaction and enjoyment they must receive from seeing lives put together. And I had the experience tonight of sitting next to, and she won't mind my mentioning her, Missy Wright, who was telling me how enthusiastically she was about to complete Year 11 at Macquarie High School and then go on to Year 12, and she was absolutely confident and I am sure she has every reason to be confident that she would get the university entry score that was necessary to give her the opportunity of doing the course that she wanted to do either at Newcastle University or at Charles Sturt University. And the enthusiasm with which she communicated to me her sense of optimism and her sense of hope about what she intended to achieve, was I think a wonderful testament to the great success of this organisation.
So ladies and gentlemen, I simply want to on your behalf pay tribute to Youth Insearch, I want to speak in high praise of Ron and Judith Barr, I want to speak in high praise of all of those that have worked in it, and I also want to speak in high praise of all of you who have come along to support this wonderful organisation. And we as fortunate citizens of a wonderfully prosperous country can all do even more to help add to the number of the 27,000 that have gone through this wonderful organisation and are able to have, with luck, a tenth of the good fortune that most of us have had in our life. I wish the organisation well and Janette and I delighted to support it in any way we can, thank you.
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