PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING, MP
PARLIAMENTARY RECEPTION FOR HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN AND HIS
ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH
24 FEBRUARY 1992
Your Majesty, your Royal Highness, Your Excellencies,
Parliamentary Colleagues, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and
Gentlemen.
Your Majesty, on behalf of the government and people of
Australia it is with great pleasure that I welcome you to
Canberra. I know that on this visit it is your primary purpose to
participate in Sydney's sesquicentennial; but today it is my
primary purpose to congratulate you on the 40th anniversary
of your accession to the throne.
Your Majesty, we have all changed in that time. The men who
sat in the Australian parliament on your first visit they
were all practically men in those days had memories of
Empire. Not a few of them saw the world through imperial
eyes. Many of them had been born in Queen Victoria's day
and remembered the several monarchs in between.
But I daresay a good many members of this parliament are
like the majority of Australians and have known only one
monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.
This is an altogether different generation, reflecting the
profouncL. change. in our two-countries and the relationship
between them.
As our constitutional relationship has evolved so have the
circumstance! s of our economic and political lives.
These days we must both face the necessities of a global
economy and global change of often staggering speed. and
magnitude. We must also face regional realities.
Just as Great Britain some time ago sought to make her
future secure in the European Community, so Australia now
vigorously seeks partnerships with countries in our own
region. Our outlook is necessarily independent.
That independence in part was reflected in your becoming, in
1973, Queen of Australia.
In 1992 it is reflected in our growing sense of national
purpose: in our conviction that we must move quickly and
vigorously to make the most of our human and material
resources and seize our opportunities in the world.
We must do this so that Australians will be assured of the
same freedom and security in the next century as they have
enjoyed in this.
I thank you for your visit, and ask you to accept a gift
from the people of Australia as a token of our affection and
esteem. CANBERRA