I acknowledge the First Australians on whose land we meet, and whose cultures we celebrate as among the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
The story of the Australian Labor Party is a story of hope triumphing over fear.
It is also our nation's story. Our nation's past, and our nation's future.
A continuing narrative throughout Australia's history that says it is better to build up than to tear down. That it is better to build the nation, than to wait for someone else to build the nation for us. That it is better to create opportunity for all, rather than tolerate opportunity for the few. That it is better to face the future, than to fear the future.
The story of Labor is a story of the triumph of hope over fear. A story that says afresh to each generation that we can build a better Australia.
A stronger Australia. A fairer Australia. An Australia in which all our families can aspire to a better future. And an Australia that proudly raises its independent voice in the councils of the world in the belief that together, we can also build a better world.
Friends, this is the continuing mission of Labor.
These are the continuing values of Labor. This is the continuing purpose of Labor.
Hope triumphing over fear.
Friends, the work of the Australian Labor Party is never complete. Each age, and each generation, brings new challenges and new opportunities.
As we prepare for those challenges, we do well to learn from the achievements of past Labor governments:
- Nation-building endeavours to build a stronger Australia.
- Social reforms to build a fairer Australia.
- Tackling the hard, long-term challenges in our economy, in health care, in education and in national security - so that we pass on to the next generation more than we inherited from the last.
Labor is the party of reform.
The party that has driven economic reform for a century and more. The party that has delivered social progress for a century and more. And if we sometimes fall short of what we aspire to be, our party is defined by a set of values that always brings us back to Labor's core purpose. The enduring spirit that runs through successive Labor governments, from generation to generation.
Chifley called it the light on the hill.
The betterment of all Australians.
Andrew Fisher half a century earlier had spoken of the vision to give "the typical labourer... the fairest condition of life; the fullest opportunity to rise in life"
And this is what Labor has always stood for.
Removing the barriers that hold people back; creating the opportunities that take people forward; giving every Australian the freedom to fulfil their potential; and working ceaselessly for the common good of all.
Tonight we remember the historic election of the Fisher Labor Government on 13 April 1910.
An election where Labor won 42 seats to the Opposition's 31 seats - as well as every one of the 18 vacant Senate seats.
A path-breaking election that brought the first majority Labor Government into office in history.
An election that proved Labor could govern - govern responsibly, and govern successfully .
The man who made that possible was Andrew Fisher.
By any objective standard, Fisher stands tall in the pantheon of great Labor leaders. In every sense he stands as a Labor great alongside Curtin and Chifley. Fisher made Labor an effective national political force.
He built foundations for ongoing political success - and without the split over conscription, Labor might well have dominated politics in the decades that followed. Indeed, had he stayed in office the party split over conscription would never have occurred.
Andrew Fisher was of course a proud son of Scotland and devotee of the poetry of Robbie Burns.
But his is a profoundly Australian story.
The story of a modest man who started his working life at the age of nine in the coal pits of Ayrshire in Scotland - but rose to lead his party into government with an historic parliamentary majority.
He endured many hardships throughout his life. His years as a miner left lasting damage to his health. For representing workers as a union leader, he was blacklisted by mine owners from the coalfields of Ayrshire to the goldfields of Gympie. His highest qualification was an engine driver's certificate. But he was never intimidated by his lack of formal education.
Fisher was taught to read from the Bible.
He had none of the pedigree or the opportunity of his conservative contemporaries - men like Barton, a former student of Sydney Grammar and Sydney University; Reid, from Sydney High and Sydney University; and Deakin, from Melbourne Grammar and Melbourne University.
Fisher was not an ideologue.
But he was animated by a profound sense of justice, a deep religious faith, a powerful sense of public service, a prodigious work ethic - and an extraordinary tenacity.
He travelled more than any other politician of his generation. According to his biographer:
"In one 28 day trip around Queensland, he covered nearly 5,600 kilometres and visited 36 towns, using train, coach, buggy, horseback and even a railway tricycle. He received over 60 deputations, attended 51 meetings, and on one day alone, spoke some 14 times."
When he lost his seat in the Queensland Parliament in 1896, largely due to a vicious newspaper campaign against him, he went out and started up his own workers' newspaper, the Gympie Truth.
His determination was unequalled.
Fisher embodied the heart and soul of the new Australian Labor Party.
In Scotland, he had worked alongside Keir Hardie, founder of the British Labour Party and its first leader.
In Queensland, he saw the dawn of the Australian Labor Party in 1891. He was among the first group of Labor candidates elected to the Queensland parliament in 1893. He served in the world's first Labor government, in Queensland in 1899. He sat in the first Australian parliament, as the member for Wide Bay from 1901. And he wrote his own page in history by leading Labor to victory in 1910 - the first majority Labor government in the world, and later becoming our first wartime Prime Minister.
Andrew Fisher was above all a nation-builder.
He took on a colossal program of work, and he left the legacy of a strong, effective national government.
He knew that nationhood required national leadership, national infrastructure, national institutions, uniform standards and a sense of collective national identity and shared progress.
He recognised what his times required.
Fisher understood the importance of prudence and fiscal responsibility - so he worked hard to sustain a strong budget position, and avoided debt until it was made inevitable by war.
He believed Australia should not rely on using the British currency - so he established a national currency and a publicly owned Commonwealth Bank.
He believed a national economy required national infrastructure that linked the entire continent - so he built the east-west railway and established uniform postal rates.
He believed Australia had outgrown the time when its defence forces should simply be divisions of the British armed forces - so he strengthened national defences, established the Royal Australian Navy and Duntroon military training college, and in later years he was tireless in promoting the Anzac legacy.
He knew a decision needed to be made on choosing a national capital so he selected Canberra for the Australian Capital Territory.
He believed a decent society must support those unable to work, so he led the efforts to establish the age and invalid pensions.
He knew the dangers of unsafe workplaces from seeing many friends and loved ones lose life or limb at work - so he fought passionately for workers' compensation schemes both in Queensland and Federal Parliaments.
He'd seen how many women were so poor they couldn't even afford to have a doctor present when they were giving birth - so he established the first maternity allowance - the 'baby bonus'.
He believed the new nation needed to develop its own sense of cultural identity, so he supported Australian artists, and laid foundations for key cultural institutions like the national library and national art collections, as well as establishing a new national coat of arms that remains in place today.
And he fought persistently for social progress -
- for women's suffrage;
- for voting reforms that empowered working people - he is, for example, the reason we hold our elections on Saturdays - so working people are not hindered in exercising their democratic rights; and
- for land reforms to discourage speculators and to make housing more affordable.
Fisher's record of achievement is breathtaking.
It may have been even greater had it not been for the outbreak of war, and the truculence of a very conservative High Court.
But even so, Fisher - and the Labor leaders who followed him - were crucial to Australia's greatest achievement.
The creation of this exceptional nation.
A nation built from a motley collectivity of souls, drawn from all corners of the earth; a nation that became a stable and successful democracy, that carved its living from an inhospitable earth to build one of the most prosperous nations on earth - rich in innovation, rich in enterprise; a nation that has so often led the world in social progress that it became one of the most open, most progressive, least class-based societies in the world.
A nation that believes in everyone having a go, and a nation that also believes in everyone getting a fair go.
A nation that celebrates success, hard work and individual achievement; a nation that rewards achievements both in the workplace and the market place.
A generous country and community, confident of its place in the region and in the world - straddling uniquely the challenges and complexities of our Indigenous antiquity, our European history and our Asian geography.
Each and every generation of Australians is confronted by the challenge of whether they take forward the project of building this stronger, fairer, better Australia, or whether they retreat to a more divided, insular, less generous Australia - one stuck in the past, fearing the future, and railing against the uncertainties of a changing world.
Andrew Fisher answered that challenge for his generation.
He took Australia forward.
He laid the foundations of nationhood for our modern economy, our defences and our great social institutions, foundations on which we are still building today.
As heirs to the great legacy of Andrew Fisher and those who have followed him this last one hundred years, the challenge for us today is to answer history's call for our generation.
To build Australia's future, upon the strong foundations of the past.
Just as Fisher helped build Australia's future for the 20th century, so we must shape Australia for the 21st century.
As a government, we came to office with an ambitious agenda because we believe Australian families deserved better - better opportunities, better health and hospitals, better schools and a better workplace.
When we were all threatened by the global financial crisis, we acted decisively to support Australian families.
I was determined to shield Australians from an economic cyclone that would have seen hundreds of thousands of Australians lose their jobs, their homes and their businesses.
We took decisive action, and Australia has come through stronger than almost every other advanced economy.
Throughout that crisis, we were determined to sustain Australians' essential confidence in our future as confidence collapsed around the world.
This is the point of everything we are doing.
Because without confidence in our future, the nation turns in on itself.
In Government, I have strived to remove the obstacles and expand opportunities, so that no Australian is held back from fulfilling their potential. I have sought to support the daily efforts of individuals, families and communities around the country as they work hard, raise kids, build businesses, create communities - and through both success and adversity, sustain hope in their future.
That's why we acted to end Work Choices.
That's why we supported families with:
- three years of tax cuts;
- with extra help for the costs of child care;
- with extra help for the costs of school;
- a better health and hospitals system for the future;
- driving our education revolution to deliver the best educated, best trained, best skilled workforce anywhere in the world.
In Government we have always aimed to deliver a big reform agenda, and there are times when we have run into difficulties, when we haven't achieved everything we set out to do, and when we are working hard to deal with those areas where we have fallen short.
Our task - and Labor's historic task - is to give people the security they need to achieve their ambitions and realise their dreams.
Now as we look beyond 2010, we're determined to continue the job we began for Australian families.
Delivering not just on the big picture, but on the things that count for families and communities as well.
We're getting the budget back to surplus in three years time - three years ahead of time - to keep the economy strong. Through strong economic management, we're halving net peak debt.
We're already funding 1,000 new nurse training places every year. We'll have an additional 1,300 GPs qualified or in training by 2013.
We're currently delivering Trade Training Centres for 732 schools and over the next three years we'll ensure another 520 schools have access to one.
And despite setbacks delivered by an obstructionist Senate, we're tackling climate change by boosting the renewable energy target and supporting record renewable energy investment, and by building one of the world's largest solar power plants, right here in Australia.
Andrew Fisher faced daunting challenges in 1910.
We face daunting challenges today.
To secure our nation's future, we must continue to adapt and change.
We must keep our markets open because open markets maximise competition which in turn maximise growth.
We must modernise Australia's industries and institutions to generate the jobs of tomorrow rather than believing we can somehow snap-freeze the past.
To stand still is to go backwards.
Open markets by contrast are dynamic.
We must invest in roads, railways, ports and broadband.
Fisher began a trans-Australia railway to build a truly national economy. We will build a National Broadband Network to underpin the national economy of the future.
Above all, we must invest in our people - in their education, their health and in the strength of their community.
This isn't just about our national economy, the skills of our workforce, or the competitiveness of our industries.
It is about lifting our nation's ambitions for the future, and calling forth the best from all Australians.
Not just for ourselves individually, not just for our families, but also for the common good, the 'commonwealth' of all Australians.
That's why Labor has always been the party of reform.
Building a stronger Australia.
Building a fairer Australia.
And making the tough decisions for the future.
As we prepare for the 2010 election, echoes from 1910 reverberate down through the generations.
Labor, with a vision to build our nation up. The conservative parties, with the aim only to tear things down.
Labor, building Australia up with a nation-building agenda. The Liberal Party, just wanting to tear things down.
Tear down the most basic protection from unfair dismissal; tear down the modernisation of our schools; tear down the historic reform of the national health and hospital network; rip up a national broadband network.
We stand for a strong economy - they have said instead they would have sent us into recession.
We stand for delivering a surplus three years early - they have no plan to return the Budget to surplus.
We stand for a decent safety net - they would bring back WorkChoices and AWAs.
We stand for better health and better hospitals - they stand for ripping billions out of the public hospital system.
We stand for the mining industry paying its fair share for the people's resources - they say the mining industry pays too much tax.
We stand for building something that lasts out of the soaring commodity prices and the second round of the mining boom - they stand for squandering it, just like they did last time round.
We stand for better super for working families - they stand for ripping away that extra super.
We stand for tax cuts for Australian business - they stand for tax increases for Australian business.
We stand for the biggest increase in the pension in its one hundred year history - they stand for increasing the aged pension age to 70.
These are just some of the differences between us.
In 2010, the Liberal and National Party just want to slither into office on a string of fear campaigns because they know that fear is a potent force in politics.
That is why they use it.
It also helps mask their real policy agenda because it is not a pretty agenda.
And what would they have us fear?
- They'd have us fear debt and deficits - though we have less debt by a country mile than any of the major advanced economies.
- They'd have us fear a tax that requires mining companies to pay their fair share - though these companies now enjoy record profitability.
- They'd have us fear an emissions trading scheme when we all know that a price on carbon is inevitable - necessary for business, necessary for the environment.
- And they'd have us fear genuine refugees - although this country has for decades taken the same overall number of refugees each year.
Every time, they tell us, the sky's about to fall in.
And then the sky doesn't fall in.
It didn't fall in after native title. It didn't fall in over the abolition of Work Choices. And it's not going to fall in now.
Each of these claims will be contested by the facts, and each will be found wanting.
Because the fears they promote are built on sand.
Our task, as ever, is to recognise the concerns of the Australian community, not to deny them, and instead to put the facts.
The Liberals and Nationals oppose everything.
They propose nothing.
Except, of course, fear.
That's what seems to define Mr Abbott's Liberal and National Party - the most extreme Liberal leader in history.
Opposition to reform; stagnation against progress; fear against hope.
A party that looks not to the common good, but only what's in it for me.
Friends, we in the Australian Labor Party can trace our lineage all the way back to the government of Andrew Fisher a century ago.
Indeed, all the way back to the founding of the Labor Party in 1891 on the fields of Barcaldine and the wharves of Balmain.
And if Andrew Fisher was with us tonight, I believe he'd still feel at home.
I think he'd be proud of the achievements today of the party he helped to found and lead into office.
- The Fair Work Act, that reflects the same values that shaped his reforms to the Conciliation and Arbitration Act.
- Australia's first-ever Paid Parental Leave scheme, shaped by the same values that inspired Australia's first-ever maternity allowance, under Fisher.
- The expansion of universal superannuation, shaped by the same values that underpinned Fisher's commitment to the age pension.
- The National Broadband Network, shaped by the same nation-building values that inspired the national railway line Fisher built across the Australian continent.
- And when we told him that Australia emerged in better shape than any of the major advanced economies, after the worst global recession since the 1930s, I reckon he'd be proud, and maybe not all that surprised.
Friends, Andrew Fisher was neither a soaring intellect, nor a powerful orator.
But he had character, determination and the deepest sense of Labor values.
And Fisher's achievements in office make him soar above contemporaries who enjoyed far greater education, privilege and prowess.
As we cast our eyes back over the past century, we can see how the election of 1910 pointed with hope to Australia's future.
The nation where a Scottish miner's son could rise to national leadership is a nation where hope can triumph over fear; a nation that would provide a home for the refugees from war and destruction in Europe a generation later; a nation that would make a home for people from every corner of the world since; a nation that would finally come together to formally recognise its grave mistreatment of Indigenous Australians, and to offer these first Australians a formal apology.
Friends, Australia in 2010 is very different to what it was in 1910.
In so many ways, a better nation.
A land of greater diversity, opportunity and possibility, and a much better nation for the life of Andrew Fisher and the work of successive generations of the Australian Labor Party.
I'm proud to lead a Government that stands in the great tradition of Andrew Fisher.
I'm proud to lead a reforming Labor Government.
And I'm proud to lead a nation-building Government grounded in enduring Labor values - of hope triumphing over fear.
A government with a vision for a stronger, fairer Australia in the 21st century.
And a government that is getting on with the job of building that future today.