141UiL iij AT PAkiitU" 4 JJij
Sir and Ladies and ( C. ntlemeti s
I mabout to essay a task proposinZ your health,
Sir, Nov I don't think you were around the precincts this afternoon
but if YOU had WOODS YOU might haVe gathered that there wre som
differenoes between ^ rthur Qklvell and ayseif. ~ iV the effluxion
of tim and the athusiasm of the axment w are mw an the one
avetengtho Isn't that right, Arthur? C ~ ughtr) ivrything I
says he will ape. with, will add to and wiil adorn*
M~ w my task tonight is to Propose the toast of Ris
xcellency the Governor-General who Is, unhappIll, aiwut to leave
us. He has n ' t cme to the 00001u51l = m~ L ta) leave us beoOMus
, Aen Hear bMjesty The % usen was awd enough to approve of his
aipointmnt he made It quitie CNrthat there was sm limit to
thie mea; Uhe Ins served out his tiMme istt hat the right
expression, air? ( LAi4ghtew) withk IMens success.
The 0overnr-4eewrej has beean, in on with quito
a number of his Predeoessors in facts I suppose, with all, though
there were some I didn't know a robust occupant of this post,
I mean bF that that he has never been unwiling; z to contribute a
fev views; he has always spoian the mind of a Udghl--tnlentoad and
very brae man. I have had no trouble with bin, if I wa~ say so.
( Laughter) Hie knos this bmmuse one of his great eeoszs
then 31r Vdi1em alia's vwas a little given to expreesting hiss mind
in certain areas with vigour and ocasionally I had to go out to
tarrali-1a stand ouate his stukg having made an appointment,
stand to attention, may to my self, R1oi, Menuies don't ran sway
from Itt, ( Laugter) a" then soIn and make my " to thes Governor,-
Cerrlt and then he would says " My dear Vallov, do, sit dova,"
very disaril s you mee.
The h would says Odhat do you want to ame no
about?" and I, once or twice itsmyed the task of saling to
hmt awoufyo kniow you sailt so-and-soSi. u in the Northern
, errito2' y.' It's a funny things Isn't ft, tMu it In onl~ y in the
, vorthewn Territory in Jid -* rms here tonight? ( Laughter) It's
onl~ y in the Northern T3eritory that people succumb to the temptation
to s~ things. Ju4 L vould breuthe three times invzurds you know,
,. nd say think perhaps, 31w, that wasn't entirely well advised. 8
hen I had'done taiis I was in a swaet beoase I was frightened
of his. ( 1AUghter) I conede that point.
11. would smile and say, 08it dovwn* and ' There to~ y
be a great deal In whamt jr. u say. 4ell that was wietiing and
then realising I was on the point or collapses be did what the
. Prsent Qovernor-Ceooral ocoasioral4 does~ or roguirly does and
said to me1 You like a drink?" and If unj ari ever ne" Ad
one, I irasothe man*. 40119 1 haven't had to hiove that kind of expori enoe
4th you, JAr becuue from first to last, ever since the dav that
IOU we" e appo~ ntod, I have boon veri, very happy to kno you, and
all of us hmbeen~ lapy to know you as a man of imnense Charect
and If you will allw~ me to say so distngaisbed ability and
aieat eourage andi truditiona Thts, I thiinks hans bomin a very go
r a 2.
thing for us and I am quite certain, Sir, that you yourself feel
that it has been a good thing for you because you have been all
round Australia, you have seen people at all angles, you have been
into all the corners of Australia and you have made your voice
clear in almost every corner of Australia and always to the
immense satisfaction of the people of Australia.
Therefore the first thing I want to say to you
is that I am proposing the toast of a very distinguished and very
gallant man of whom all of us know a great deal. I have been in
a state of a little difficulty, Sir, about the next thing I want
to say but I think on the whole you would like me to refer to
it. When you, Sir, came here, you brought with you a
wife who had the most enormous tradition of courage and the most
enormous individual courage. She was a very great lady and I shall
always recall the courage with which she bore herself at a time
when ordinary mortals might have been depressed and sorry for
herself. Do you mind Sir, if I refer to her because, really,
her period out here with you, her bravery in the face of difficul-
O ties moved everybody in Australia. I say that without the
slightest hesitation. And of course her death was an irreparable
loss to you. Now I don't like to have to speak about these matters
because they are really rather emotional but I thought about this
and I thought, " No this Governor-General oan't leave Australia
S without knowing tha he leaves behind him not only memories of
himself but memories of her" and therefore I take the liberty on
behalf of all of you of referring to that very great lady.
And then when she left, His Excellency was, I
think, singularly fortunate to have had in succession two daughters
very young not to be expected to face up to the formalities and
responsibilities of Vice-Regal existence and each of them in
her turn Kate and Anne, did a marvellous job, and everybody
here ton ght would want me to say how marvellous that job was,
how well they did. And of course although they were daughters
and if I may say so, daughters have something rather special ( a
number of you will understand this perfectly), they have something
rather special, young Philip, the owner of the traditional name,
young Philip Sidney has been here from time to time, quite a long
time, one way or another, and I would like to say to him, Sir,
through you, how much we have enjoyed having Philip here and how
convineed I am that he will some day be a Member of the Federal
Parliament, and I am keeping my fingers crossed in ease he gets
muddled up with Arthur Calwell ( Laughter).
The other thing Sir, I would like to say is this.
It is sometimes forgotten the dovernor-General of Australia is
not only etpected to be a man of distinction, as he is, but he
is also to be recognised as the personal representative of The
Queen. Now this is a very significant statement the personal
representative of The Queen. In other words, the perfect
Governor-General is one who knows The Queen and whom The Queen
knows, who represents The Queen because The Queen would wish him
to represent her. This is, I think, tremendously important at
the outset. And when the end of the term of office comes, then
it is equally important to remember the reciprocal aspect of this
matter that the overnor-General who has represented The Queen,
who is known to The Queeh, goes back home and finds himself
representing not The Queen but Australia representing us,
speaking for us, understanding us, and that is why it is such a
lovely conjunction of the planets to have a Governor-General who / 3
ma. rprsent The Qmmse because The ( Qan knav hin, mepects
hs who has been 1er personal pWrsentativ. and who an his return,
wundwruerstand mw, speak for uus, ii the rather tattered sentence,
an Australian Ababssadr, osarxwyxt h hi. both ways an lanense
aummt of reprseanttimal authoritty and if I may say so to YOU,
ir, a very pat ofe espet, and what in evon mor importaft
thma rospeot, affcttone Now, iAdicated toyou at the beginiing that
Atbr Ca3vell and I having oasposed our differenes over the
dinjor adjomRment, leoaUed that this is. a bi-partisan ocassion,
and, Arthur, I knav that with your usual facility and talent,
you Vill support me before I propose the toast.