Gareth Evans Maintains The Rage

Feb 23, 2013 Leave a Comment

By Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Sir John Kerr was the worst of Australia’s Governors-General and his legacy was to delay the emergence of an Australian republic, former Labor minister Gareth Evans will tell a seminar today.

Professor Evans will say that Sir John, who dismissed Gough Whitlam from the prime ministership, had a “catastrophic” tenure.

It was not marked by dignity, competence or effectiveness. He showed “far less dispassionate non-partisanship than any politician incumbent of the office [of Governor General].”

Professor Evans, Chancellor of the Australian National University, will open the seminar on “Values and Visions of Australia’s Governors-General,” at ANU. [Read more...]

Filed Under: A.L.P., Governor-General, Republic, Whitlam Dismissal Tagged With: , , , , ,

Rupert Murdoch Eulogises His Mother At Memorial Service In Melbourne

Dec 18, 2012 Leave a Comment

Rupert Murdoch has eulogised his mother at her memorial service in Melbourne’s St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Dame Elisabeth Murdoch died on December 5, aged 103.

Murdoch

In a service that referred frequently to the actual and metaphorical import of Dame Elisabeth’s love of flowers and gardening, her 81 year old son described his mother as “an exquisite garden that is a life lived always in full bloom”.

Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett also spoke at the service.

Kennett

  • Listen to Rupert Murdoch’s eulogy – text below (10m)

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

  • Watch Rupert Murdoch’s eulogy
  • Listen to Jeff Kennett’s eulogy (9m)

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

  • Listen to Victorian Governor Alex Chernov (2m)

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

  • Listen to Governor-General Quentin Bryce (2m)

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

  • Listen to the sermon (11m)

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

  • Listen to the singing of ‘All Things Bright And Beautiful’

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Eulogy for Dame Elisabeth Murdoch by her son, Rupert.

Congregation

Slightly more than a century ago, Queen Victoria signed the act that gave birth to the free nation of Australia. Soon after, Elisabeth Joy Greene was born.

In many ways she grew up with this nation: through its youthful beginnings, the hardship of war, all the way to the vibrant society we behold today. In her spirit and her energy, she embodied the finest qualities of this nation.

Today I wish to speak to the extraordinary accomplishments of this exceptional woman. On its own, that would be a formidable task. It is made even more daunting by the obligation of a grateful son: to do justice to a mother whose love gave me more than I could ever hope to repay. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Audio, Audio2012, Governor-General, Media, VIC, Video Tagged With: , , , , ,

Five Australian Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan

Aug 30, 2012

Three Australian soldiers have been killed by a rogue Afghan soldier in Afghanistan and two members of the SAS have died in a Black Hawk helicopter crash.

Details of the incidents have been announced by the Acting Chief of the ADF, Air Marshal Mark Binskin. The Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, has described this as “the darkest of days for Australia”.

Mark Binskin

The “green-on-blue” incident occurred at a base in southern Oruzgan province yesterday. Two other soldiers were injured in the attack.

The helicopter crash occurred during an “insertion” in Helmand province. The aircraft rolled over on landing.

  • Listen to Air Marshal Binskin (16m)

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

About 1500 Australian Defence Force troops are in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force. The casualties announced today bring Australia’s death toll to 38. Seven soldiers have now been killed in green-on-blue incidents.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced that she has “made the judgement call” to come home early from the Pacific Islands forum in the Cook Islands. She said this is the nation’s worst day in Afghanistan and the worst loss of life since Vietnam.

Julia Gillard

Gillard insisted that the commitment in Afghanistan has a purpose and that “progress is being made”. She said: “We cannot allow even the most grievous of circumstances to alter our strategy… We went there for a purpose and we will see that purpose through.”

  • Listen to Prime Minister Gillard (11m)

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

  • Watch Gillard:

Statement released by Department of Defence.

Three Australian soldiers killed, two wounded in insider attack

Three Australian soldiers have been killed and two wounded following an insider attack at Patrol Base Wahab in the Baluchi Valley region of Uruzgan.

The attack occurred during the evening of 29 August, 2012 (Afghan time) inside the confines of the Patrol Base. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Audio, Audio2012, Foreign Policy - Aust, Gillard, Governor-General, Iraq-Afghanistan, Video Tagged With: , ,

Governor-General Quentin Bryce’s ANZAC Day Address

Apr 25, 2012

Filed Under: Anzac Day, Governor-General, Video Tagged With:

Sir Zelman Cowen Eulogised By Josh Frydenberg

Dec 13, 2011

The former Governor-General, Sir Zelman Cowen, was remembered today at a funeral service in Melbourne.

The service was attended by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and former prime minister Malcolm Fraser, who appointed Cowen in December 1977. Former PMs Bob Hawke and John Howard also attended, as did Cowen’s successor as Governor-General, Sir Ninian Stephen.

A moving eulogy to Cowen was delivered by the Josh Frydenberg, the Liberal member for Kooyong.

Josh Frydenberg

  • Listen to Josh Frydenberg’s eulogy:

    Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Filed Under: Audio, Governor-General Tagged With: , , ,
«Older Posts