TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MP

REMARKS AT THE AUSTRALIA DAY FLAG RAISING AND CITIZENSHIP CEREMONY, CANBERRA

26 January 2015

Thanks so much, Stephanie.

Chief Minister, parliamentary colleagues, Armed Forces Chiefs, Aunty Agnes – thank you for that beautiful welcome to country – fellow Australians.

Today, we celebrate all that is good in our country. We acknowledge the finest citizens and the greatest servants of the country we believe to be a beacon of hope and optimism in a troubled world.

I congratulate all who are honoured today by awards in the Order of Australia. I particularly acknowledge Prince Philip for his long life of duty and service. And I salute Sir Angus Houston, who has always called it for Australia.

I salute the Australians of the Year – announced yesterday. Juliette Wright our local hero, Drisana Levitzke-Gray our Young Australian of the Year, Jackie French, our Senior Australian of the Year and especially Rosie Batty, our Australian of the Year.

Her courage is different from that of Ben Roberts-Smith, but we all know courage when we see it, and we know that courage is always an act of love; love of family, love of neighbour and love of country.

We know Rosie that you still mourn. We know that you still grieve. Yet we know that you still strive to build a better Australia and will do so every day for the rest of your life.

Australia's longest-serving Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, well described the essence of Australia Day. Sir Robert said that Australia Day is more than a celebration; it is, he said, a day of memory and decision.

So today, we remember and rejoice in our Indigenous heritage, in our British foundation, and in our multicultural character.

We honour the ancestors who were the custodians of this ancient continent, and we pay tribute to our forefathers who enshrined freedom, fairness and unity in our constitution. We rejoice in a nation which has brought together people from the four corners of the earth, joining the first Australians to become one people.

During this ANZAC centenary, we also remember that 100,000 men and women who gave their lives for us, and today we also remember all those Australians currently serving throughout the world in the defence of our freedom and the universal decencies of mankind. But this is also a day of decision. It is a day to rededicate ourselves to our great national cause – building a better, fairer, stronger and more prosperous Australia.

It's a day where we commit ourselves to be more than just beneficiaries of our country's bounty, but to be contributors as well.

This is also a day of decision for nearly 16,000 people, including 25 here amongst us, on the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin, who will today become Australian citizens.

All of you have voted quite literally with your feet for Australia. Your lives will be the better for your decision. And our lives and our country will be the better for your decision.

So, on this joyous day of memory and decision, it is now my distinct honour and privilege to preside over this citizenship ceremony.