It is a great honour to join you here this evening and propose this toast to the foundation for its 40 years of wonderful work.
Forty years ago Malcolm Fraser announced we would put significant energy and effort into building on the legacy of Sir Robert.
Menzies’ story is a remarkable one; coming from a large family in a small town hours from Melbourne.
He had big ambitions for himself and his country and, by any measure, he exceeded them.
With a passion for education unmatched by any other Prime Minister, he constantly fought to broaden that opportunity to his countrymen and women.
Modern Australia is in so many ways Menzies’ Australia.
Being only 45 myself, I am a direct product of the modern nation he ushered out of war and depression and into decades of peace and prosperity:
- The product of a non-government school sector he fought to defend and expand;
- A direct beneficiary of his passion for expanded higher education and all the opportunities in life that provides; and
- A lifelong member and now elected representative of the Liberal Party he founded.
(I will let you be the judge the relative order of merit of those!).
Similarly, reflecting on Sir Robert’s personal achievements decades later, forty years on from its formation, the Foundation should also be very proud of its achievements.
The booklets on your table and the video we have just seen provide a small sample.
More than 200 Australians have benefited from scholarships; 9 million dollars invested in four health and medical research institutes – these initiatives reflecting both his passions and some of the most lasting achievements of Sir Robert.
I am thrilled to see that this will be extended into new areas and challenges our country faces: entrepreneurship in science and improving student learning, amongst others.
This first forty years is just the beginning.
Like the achievements of Sir Robert, the work of this foundation will be measured in decades hence.
It is a very exciting time to celebrate past achievements and mark this milestone, and look forward to the future.
I would like to propose a toast to those who have made the Menzies Foundation what it is today – supporters, scholars, friends and staff – and to the next generation of leaders who will carry the banner forward.
“To the Menzies Foundation.”
[ENDS]