Speech
Shanghai, 10 November 2002
Launch of Celebrate Australia
Thank you Sam [Sam Gerovich, Australian Consul General in Shanghai].
Vice Minister for Culture, Mr Pan (PAN), Director, Publicity Department,
CPC Shanghai Committee, Mr Wang (WONG),Vice Mayor of Shanghai, Mr
Zhou (JOE), Director-General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr He (HER),
Ambassador David Irvine, Governor of New South Wales, Her Excellency,
Professor Marie Bashir, the Hon Mike Rann, Premier of South Australia,
Senator Tsebin Tchen, the Rt Hon Alfred Huang, the Lord Mayor of Adelaide,
distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
I warmly welcome you here today to mark the launch of Celebrate Australia
2002.
I would particularly like to welcome Dr John Yu, Chairman of the
Australia-China Council, and other Council members and guests who
have travelled to China to participate in this important event.
I am delighted that, in this 30th anniversary year of the establishment
of diplomatic relations between Australia and the People's Republic
of China, Australia is the first foreign nation to present a week
of cultural activities at the prestigious China Shanghai International
Arts Festival.
Indeed this year, we are celebrating not just 30 years of diplomatic
ties, but also 30 years of business connections, cultural activities
and other people-to people links between our two nations.
It is a remarkable achievement that, over the last three decades,
two-way trade between our two countries has grown from 158 million
dollars annually to nearly 18 billion dollars – China is now our third
largest trading partner.
The last thirty years have also seen a marked increase in the people
to people ties that are bringing our two nations closer – in migration,
business, and tourism and education.
The thirtieth anniversary celebrations are an opportunity to deepen
and broaden further our relationship, and to demonstrate its many
layers – from the economic and political to the social and cultural.
Celebrate Australia week at the festival will be a wonderful occasion
to display the best of Australian talent in one of the most vibrant
cultural capitals in the world.
It will be an invitation to all Chinese to get to know Australia
as they have never known it before.
Indeed, I think it is true to say that, while there is strong and
increasing interest overseas in our culture, international perceptions
of Australia too often go little beyond the beaches and the bushland,
the kangaroo and the koala.
I have no problem with any of these perceptions because we are all
those things and economically they will continue to be important.
But they are only part of the picture of modern Australia - we are
much more.
We are a vibrant society, enriched by the old and the new. Our indigenous
communities practice the world's oldest cultural traditions, reaching
back 40,000 years at least.
And our migrant communities from around the world – including from
China – have been introducing their own rich mix of cultural traditions
for the last 200 years.
We are also a young and creative nation, at the cutting edge of innovation
– you will see this week, how we have applied new technology to theatre,
multimedia and contemporary art.
So our message this week is a simple one: Australia has talent, technology
and diversity …we have a dynamic and vibrant culture and we want to
share it with you. I am particularly delighted that Australia's television
voice in the region, ABC Asia Pacific, will be broadcasting Australian
and Chinese cultural excellence from Shanghai. I know, under the
guidance of Donald McDonald, who is with us tonight, that this will
be the first of many cultural experiences that we will share with
the region through ABC Asia Pacific.
Celebrate Australia will demonstrate this spectacularly and comprehensively.
You are in for a cornucopia of cultural delights, put together thanks
to the tireless efforts of Barry Plews of Reckless Moments, to highlight
the variety and vibrancy of Australian culture.
Celebrate Australia enjoys the strongest supportof theAustralian
Government through the Australia International Cultural Council –
which I chair – and the Australia Council for the Arts.
I would particularly like to thank ABC Asia Pacific, the Australia-China
Council, the Australian Film Commission, Austrade, the Australian
Tourist Commission as well as the State Governments of New South Wales,
South Australia and Western Australia, for their valuable contribution.
Our "distinguished sponsor", Telstra - a strong patron of the arts,
who recently supported the China National Symphony Orchestra on its
successful tour of Australia - and our "official airline", Qantas,
deserve a special vote of thanks for their very generous support.
I wish the municipality of Shanghai every success in the staging
of the 4th China Shanghai International Arts Festival.
And I trust that Celebrate Australia will help make the festival
an event Shanghai will remember for years to come.
Thank You.
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