Prime Minister
PRIME MINISTER: I want to say thank you very much, Joseph, and to Angela as well. Jenny and I are very pleased to be here with you all this evening. Can I begin by acknowledging the Gadigal people of the Eora nation and to pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. Can I also acknowledge any Veterans or members of the Defence Forces who are here with us this evening and say thank you. Thank you for your service. Can I acknowledge my many ministerial colleagues who are here this evening. Ken Wyatt, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, it's tremendous to have you here, Ken, all the way from the West and it's great to have you joining us once again here this evening. And to Alex Hawke, the Minister of Immigration and Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. Tremendous to have you here, Senator Zed Seselja, the Minister for International Development and the Pacific. Can I also acknowledge the Leader of the Opposition, Anthony Albanese and his partners this evening and Tony Burke. I think Tony, you and I probably, together with Christopher Pyne, have the highest run rate here in terms of over many, many years and it's great to see you here. I know you've been a longstanding supporter of these events. We also have others who've been such great supporters, and I particularly want to acknowledge the former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, who is here with us this evening, Tony, and the role that you've taken up as part of the, the awards tonight. Thank you Tony. Philip Ruddock is here, he's always here. He's always been here, and I know he always will be. He's been such a champion of multicultural Australia as a minister and in so many other roles and Philip, of course you’re here. Can I also acknowledge Christopher Pyne, who is here with us, who has also been a longstanding supporter of the awards. I think my parliamentary colleagues, previous and present in looking at the reel that we saw earlier tonight would agree that there have been so many great supporters at these events. But I think we can all agree that Joe Hockey made the most significant contribution to fashion at these awards, of at least the politicians anyway. Can I acknowledge that the Governor-General, former Governor-General, the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove, and Lady Cosgrove, former neighbours and very good friends. It's great to see you here this evening. Can I acknowledge also the late Michael Jeffery and his wife, Marlena who were tremendous supporters of these awards. He spoke often about them and how how proud he was to be involved. And so did Marlena, and I know that she would be here, at least with us in spirit tonight, as indeed I know Michael would be. And we also acknowledge the late Carla Zampatti as well this evening. I cannot think of a more significant and outstanding and successful migrant story than Carla's. She was inspirational, truly inspirational and the classiest of us all. And I join, I think, with everyone here in remembering the late Carla Zampatti and thank her for her contribution [inaudible]. Her family is with us here this evening, and we remember her fondly with you this evening. But particularly can I welcome Joseph and Angela Assaf. Tracey, I'm glad you read out Joseph's background because tonight you just don't have Scotty from marketing, you’ve got Joseph from marketing as well. They're dear friends, and they do a wonderful job with these awards.
There are some prepared remarks here, but I'm not going to turn to them. This feels very homely to be here with so many friends tonight. We have been through such a difficult time over these many years as we've pushed through not just the pandemic, but so many other challenges as a country. And I've always said that Australia is the most successful multicultural immigration nation on the planet. I don't say arguably because it is not arguable. We are. This is one of our most, it is, I'd say, our most stand out achievements as a nation. The migrant story of Australia is extraordinary. But what I love about these awards is they don't just connect the migrant story of Australia, but they connect the Indigenous story of Australia as well. And these are the things that we celebrate together as one country with cultures that go back over 60,000 years. And whether that is where your heritage extends to or coming here as my ancestors did on the first fleet. Or if you came here a week ago, this is a story that we celebrate tonight that encompasses all of those Australian experiences and all of those Australian stories, and we celebrate them tonight. And, you know, the country needs to celebrate. We need to celebrate our great successes. And I can think of no greater contribution that has been made to this country, certainly socially, certainly culturally, but the economic engine that has been brought by immigration to Australia. And I'm not just talking about population. More importantly, I'm talking about the enterprise and the passion and the innovation that migrants have brought to Australia and Indigenous Australians have helped bring to Australia over centuries. When I think of where has this resilience come from as a nation that we have endured so well during this pandemic, the lowest fatality rates of COVID in the world, the strongest economies, highest vaccination rates of countries around the world. Where has this for endurance and resilience come from? Well, each of us, unless we're Indigenous Australians, are part of the migrant story and Indigenous Australians have endured more than any and shown resilience to see the oldest living culture survive and thrive in the way it has. These stories, these experiences of dealing with challenge and change and disappointment, and pushing through and keeping looking ahead has embedded that culture in all of us as a nation. And I believe that is what has enabled us to thrive and push through these very difficult years. And our migrant communities, they are the most entrepreneurial. 135,000 more migrant business owners have become business owners since we first came to government. And when you see a small business take someone on in a job, you know how excited they are. They'll be going to 21sts, they'll be going to weddings, they'll be celebrating the many moments in life that those employees have been able to enjoy with the quality of life that's been provided by that job. Nothing puts a bigger smile on a small business person or any business person than when they employ someone and they give them that job because it changes their lives and gives them choices and opportunities. And no one has done that more than the migrant businesses of this country. They have had to do it for themselves to create a new life in this country in so doing they've created lives and opportunities for so many more. And it's great to see Indigenous businesses doing the same thing and we're there to support. Some 2,600 businesses have benefited from our Indigenous procurement programme, some $5.5 billion worth of procurement, which is underwriting and supporting the start-up of so many Indigenous businesses in this country. So we have much to celebrate friends, and it's great to be celebrating with you, Joseph and Angela once again. Australians one and free. Thank you.
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