Prime Minister
PRIME MINISTER: Today I am speaking to you from the Lodge here in Canberra, which is on Ngunnawal land and I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners and pay my respects to their elders, past, present and emerging for the future.
I also wish to acknowledge serving members of our Defence Forces, any veterans who may be watching this broadcast and thank you sincerely for your service to our nation.
So welcome to the 13th Prime Minister’s Literary Awards.
Today’s virtual event has provided an opportunity to break what has become a rather unfortunate tradition, for the past two years, these awards have been held at Parliament House, and both ceremonies have been interrupted by the less than melodic Parliamentary bells. So far, I’m two for two for having to dash off to a division. But not this year. It would seem this year, we’ll at least be spared that distraction.
Let me start by congratulating everyone who’s nominated - you are our nation’s story tellers, our poets, our historians and our illustrators.
Your work helps to define of course, who we are as Australians, and articulates what many of us feel but so often struggle to put into words. You make it look too easy. But I know it’s not.
It takes countless hours. Long days. Research. Hard work. And above all, a great talent.
And this year, maybe more than any other, Australians have relied on your work, I know I have, on your stories.
For most of us, this has been a very tough year.
A book, a kindle, an audiobook, has been the perfect retreat - to escape into another world, to savour a different time or reflect on the ideas that are contained in your works.
This year, one in five Australians have reported they’re reading more often.
And our younger Australians, our ‘Gen Zers’, like my daughters — are reading more than they have, also. And I welcome that, it’s terrific.
They’re discovering the remarkable insights that books offer.
Books like The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku released only a few months ago. A truly great book. It’s Eddie’s first work, he’s 100 years of age.
You are never too old to tell a story.
Eddie’s is a harrowing but hopeful story. Of life in Nazi concentration camps. Of surviving Auschwitz and the holocaust. Of losing family.
And despite the deprivations, Eddie never lost his faith in humanity or the importance of friendship. At War’s end, Eddie found himself a home in Australia where he was welcomed with open arms.
He called our country the working man’s paradise: a land where opportunities abound. But there was one thing Eddie said that really struck me.
For years, he never wanted to tell his story. It was just simply too painful. But he realised that if he didn’t, his story would be lost, and with it would go the chance to make the world a better place, his ambition.
That’s the power that stories have.
Whether it’s the lessons from history, narrative fiction, or even stories for our children. Each one carries a seed for change.
And that’s why what you do of course, is so important.
Your voice, your stories, show us what’s possible.
And we need a diversity of voices. Which we pride ourselves on in this country.
I was very pleased to see so many Indigenous writers shortlisted this year. Of the 40 shortlisted authors, 9 are of Indigenous heritage. Now that is wonderful - because we know how integral storytelling is to Indigenous culture.
And this means we are now sharing stories that struggled to be heard for so long. When these stories are told our Australian history is preserved, it’s enriched, and that rich mosaic of what it means to be Australian shines ever more brighter.
With it, the canon of our national life grows. Those stories become part of who we are. And they make us a stronger, a richer nation.
We are a country that believes passionately in the freedom of ideas, of speech and expression.
Australia is a place where ideas come from across a very broad spectrum, they intermingle, they co-exist. Even when they may be at odds with each other.
It’s why for people like Eddie, Australia was heaven after the awfulness and the atrocities of the Holocaust.
A place where people are accepted, no matter who you are, no matter your race, your first language, your creed, your background, your ethnicity.
So keep telling your stories.
Keep reflecting and shaping the character of our nation.
Congratulations again to everyone nominated, and very well done.