Saturday, December 24, 2005
Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown ... or the baggy green.
09 Dec 2005.
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER
THE HON JOHN HOWARD MP
INTERVIEW WITH NEIL MITCHELL,
RADIO 3AW, MELBOURNE
MITCHELL:
Greatest disappointment for the year?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I suppose, speaking very personally the loss of the Ashes.
For many people all over the world, the year 2005 seems to have brought them more than their fair share of trials and disasters. Despite all of that we do not resile from adding to the burden. We will in no way cut and run from our obligations. Never.
During this year we have successfully usurped the role of the Governor General on no less than 364 occasions. We do not intend to rest on our wresting laurels and the year 2005 marks the first in what we intend to be many Christmas Day Messages from Kirribilli House, henceforth to be known as The Summer Palace.
This year it was our melancholy duty to take Australia into a conflict, the consequence of which many of our fellow Australians have been affected and continue to suffer hardship and anxiety long after the newspaper headlines have moved on.
After that awful September day we all struggled to find ways of expressing our horror at what had happened. As so often in our lives at times of tragedy – just as on occasions of celebration and thanksgiving – we look to Hillsong to bring us together as a nation or as a community in commemoration and tribute. It is to this Church that we can turn to to give meaning to these moments of intense human experience through prayer, symbol, ceremony, spreadsheets and a good business plan.
In these circumstances so many of us, whatever our religion, need our faith more than ever to sustain and guide us. Every one of us needs to believe in the value of all that is good and honest; we need to let this belief drive and influence our actions. All the major faiths tell us to give support and hope to others in distress. We in this country have tried to bring comfort to all those who were bereaved, or who suffered loss or injury in September’s tragic events through those moving services at the MCG and more recently at the WACCA.
On these occasions and during the countless other acts of worship during this past year, we came together as a community – of relations, friends and neighbours – to draw strength in troubled times from those around us.
We believe that strong and open communities matter both in good times as well as bad. Certainly they provide a way of helping one another. We would like to pay tribute to so many of you who work selflessly for others in your neighbourhood needing care and support. Whilst we don't like to single out particular groups, we must pay a heartfelt tribute to the mums and dads who are the backbone of junior cricket.
Communities also give us an important sense of belonging, which is a compelling need in all of us. We all enjoy moments of great happiness and suffer times of profound sadness; the happiness is heightened, the sadness softened when it is shared.
But there is more than that. A sense of belonging to a team, which has in common the same desire for a fair and ordered society, helps to overcome differences and misunderstanding by reducing prejudice, ignorance and fear. We all have something to learn from one another, whatever our faith, whatever our background, whether we be young or old, from town or countryside. However if you are not a member of a group or community granted most favoured group or community status by any of the 5,798,342 agents currently employed by ASIO then you might expect several knocks on the door at midnight - no matter which particular mosque you might secretly attend.
We can do no better than to remind all Australians of the speech we delivered during the darkest days of the conflict against an evil, devious and godless enemy at the Oval. A day when the words of hope and inspiration were channelled from one Winston to another.
"The gratitude of every home in our island and indeed throughout the world except in the abodes of the evil goes out to the Magnificent Eleven who, undaunted by odds, unweakened by their constant challenge and mortal danger, attempted valiantly to turn the tide of the contest by their prowess and their devotion. The battle to keep the Ashes may have been lost but never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. All hearts go out to the batsmen and bowlers, whose brilliant actions we saw with our own eyes day after day but we must never forget that all the time, night after night, month after month, our squads travelled far into the septic isle, found their targets in the fading light by the highest navigational skill, aimed their attacks, often under the tightest of defences, often at serious loss, with deliberate, careful precision, and inflicted shattering blows upon the whole of the wicket-taking and run-making tactics of the Poms."
"For my own part, looking out upon the future, I do not view the process with any misgivings. I could not stop it if I wished; no one can stop it. Like the Mississippi, it just keeps rolling alone. Let it roll. Let it roll on full flood, inexorable, irresistible, benignant, to broader bats and better balls."
This is an important lesson for us all during this festive season. For Christmas marks a moment to pause, to reflect and believe in the possibilities of rebirth and renewal. Christ’s birth in Cronulla so long ago remains a powerful symbol of hope for a better future. After all the tribulations of this year, this is surely more relevant than ever.
As we come together amongst family and friends and look forward to the coming year, I hope that in the months to come we shall be able to find ways of strengthening our own communities as a sure support and comfort to us all – whatever may lie ahead.
May we in this, the first of many Christmas messages to you, once again wish every one of our fellow proud patriotic Australians a very happy Christmas. To those who chose not to be eternally grateful for the manifest blessings we have bestowed upon them under the "All Your Christmases Come at Once Regional Partnerships Program" we say chewy on your boot. If such people really hate Australia that much then the only question that needs to be asked is "why don't they go back to Russia?"
Goodnight, and God bless.
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