Nation's Strength Lies in Shared Bonds
The great gift of Australia Day is that it gives us the perfect opportunity to come together to celebrate everything that unites us as a nation and makes us the best country on earth.
We look back on the fullness and richness of our history, recognising our extraordinary privilege in sharing this continent with the world's oldest continuous culture in all its wisdom and resilience.
We celebrate the nation that Australians have strengthened in peace and defended in war. A nation built with care and compassion, aspiration and determination. A nation whose strong heart beats with courage, kindness and that abiding Australian instinct for fairness.
And with a confidence underwritten by all that we have already achieved as a nation, we also look forward to the future we want for the next generation of Australians. Because central to our national identity is our collective responsibility and our shared commitment to pass on a stronger and fairer country to those who will follow us.
This year also marks 125 years of our coming together as a commonwealth. It was a choice made in peace, freedom and in the truest spirit of democracy as Australians chose to face the world together, recognising that our security and our prosperity were best served by unity. Emphatically and enthusiastically, they grasped the truth that we are better and stronger together. That this decision was arrived at the way it was is something that has always resonated profoundly with who we are as a country. While we sometimes imagine ourselves as a young nation on an ancient continent, Australia is among the world's oldest and strongest modern democracies.
From the outset, we've done things our way. Our new Federation was one of the first countries in the world where women had the right to vote in elections and run for parliament. That reflects both our instinct for fairness and, just as importantly, our understanding that our democracy, our society and our economy are stronger when we draw on the talents of all our citizens. For all the extraordinary abundance of resources with which Australia is blessed, the greatest is our people.
That is a thread running through our Australian story. Every time our nation has acted to break down barriers of discrimination or disadvantage, every time we have expanded the fair go to include more Australians, every time we have worked to strengthen our national unity, we have all gained from it.
We are all lucky to call Australia home, whether you're Australian by birth or by choice, whether your ancestors have loved and cared for this land for 65,000 years or whether you're joining our Australian family at citizenship ceremonies across our nation today, pledging your loyalty to our people, our values and our democracy.
Yet this country we love and everything we have achieved together is not the result of luck. It has been built and secured by people working together and caring for each other in the Australian way.
That is the spirit that holds us together in the face of every challenge. From the evil of terrorism to the devastation of natural disasters, the worst of times brings out the best in Australians. Let us look to the year ahead united by pride in our country, faith in each other and optimism for the future we can build together.
I wish you all a happy Australia Day.
Originally published in The Australian.
https://www.pm.gov.au/media/its-shared-bonds-are-our-nations-greatest-strength
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