I - like millions of other Australians - tuned in to the National Memorial Service for the Victorian Bushfire Victims telecast on TV today from Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena. To me there were two key parts of the program - the moving performance of I Am Australian and the heartfelt words of the Governor General Ms Quentin Bryce.
I believe her words were the ones with the most impact. The entire speech can be seen at http://www.gg.gov.au/spdf/2009/s20090222522.pdf but her closing remarks particularly resonated with me.
She said: ``To be a whole person, or a whole nation, is not to enjoy a perfect, untrammelled life, untouched by challenge or catastrophe. Rather, it is the blisters and cracks, the scars and loss, the failures and sorrow, and our honesty and hopefulness in all, that are the essence of our resilience, unity and completeness. Australians here and everywhere, today we acknowledge that life is indeed not perfect, and we give thanks to one another for being whole.''
Bruce Woodley (formerly of The Seekers) performed his song I Am Australian with his daughter and country music artists David and Merelyn Carter (who are Kinglake residents). Woodley added two new verses to reflect the firestorm disaster. It would be great if the new version was released as a fundraiser. Here is the link to the footage http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-au&brand=ninemsn&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:79315fe9-c861-4716-9e62-7fdfad11ca0b&showPlaylist=true&from=inline&fg=news#
2 comments:
She's a keeper of a Queen's representative isn't she?
Definitely a keeper. Although I haven't changed my republican views!
I have to add that I was quite irked when I noticed some media reports described what she was wearing. There were no descriptions of what anyone else was wearing. Is it relevant what she was wearing - NO! She is always well groomed and stylishly dressed but that's expected from a public figure regardless of their gender. It's hard to believe this sort of anachronistic thinking is perpetuated by some in the media in 2009. How condescending. As if it's amazing that a woman has the intellect, work ethic and compassion to secure such a high profile role AND she doesn't look half bad either. AARRGGHHH!
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