Speeches and broadcasts

Start Date
01 January 1960
End Date
31 December 1960
Notes
The National Library of Australia is using this item to test handwritten text recognition in Trove
Physical Context
MS 4936-Papers of Sir Robert Menzies/Class. Original Consignment/Series 6/File 124
View Finding Aid

Text

SPEECH BY PRIME MINISTER  

21st January 60  

Farewell dinner to G-.Gr.  

(Sir William Slim).  

SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE RT. HON. R.G.  

MENZIES AT FAREWELL DINNER TO 'THE GOVERNOR-  

GENERAL. SIR WILLIAM SLIM ON 21 ST JANU ARY.I960  

Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen:  

This is really quite remarkable night. We have here  

carrent members of Parliament, current Ministers though that,  

perhaps, is terrible term to apply to Minister, judges, Sir  

Arthur Fadden (Applause) than whom nobody has better right to  

be here. We are all delighted to see him among us.  

This is really spectacular occasion, because it is  

dinner in honour of very great man (Applause) universally  

respected and admired, and of very great lady (Applause)andl can  

say of her with no hesitation whatever, very greatly loved.  

(Applause). can say that about Her Excellency because she will  

not go through more than the form of protest, could hardly have  

told His Excellency that ho was very greatly loved, because his  

chin probably would have jutted out an extra bit and destroyed  

the microphone (Laughter). But if it were not for that simple,  

single, physical circumstance would tell him that don't know  

of two people who, in somewhere between six and seven years, have  

laid greater hold on the affection and regard of the people of  

Australia (Applause),  

think, and am sure that my friend the distinguished  

Leader of the Opposition,who is going to support me, will agree  

it is rather fortunate circumstance that Field Marshall Sir  

William Slim came to Australia as Governor-General and not as an  

endorsed candidate for Parliament. (Laughter) Well you may  

disagree with me because unquestionably- if that had happened,  

would now be the former Prime Minister (laughter) and that of  

course might have something to recommend it. At least believe  

that there is some disposition in uninformed quarters (Laughter)  

to think that that might be so.  

But our Governor-General came out here as the personal  

representative of our sovereign lady, the Queen. He was greatly  

approved of by her, greatly approved of by the people of Australia  

and is famous soldier whose name in military history will  

endure as long as military history (Applause) and very great  

thinker. In fact if he doesn't mind me saying so on the side  

man who thinks so clearly that he frequently makes me feel most  

uncomfortable (^aughter). magnificent writer. Everybody in  

Australia who has had enough good sense to read â€œDefeat into  

Victory" knows that this is one of the great military writers of  

centuries (Applause) and those others of you who have had the  

great good sense to read his recent collection of stories "Unofficial  

History" will agree with me that he has something so superb in him  

as writer, as narrator of events, as good, rich, robust  

human being, full of experience, full of knowledge of men, that it  

is tremendous pleasure for us to have had him in Australia.  

(Applause)  

Ä„nd, of course, so that won't make it appear that the  

retiring Governor-General is sort of Inhuman paragon one of  

those people compact of all the virtues, but unapproachable  

would like to add that don't know of anybody who, in the same  

period of time in Australia, has established greater feeling  

among people that he is human being who understands how human  

beings think. (Applause) would, on your behalf, invite His  

Excellency when he repairs to London and presents himself to Her  

Majesty the Queen, to say two things to her. One, he will be  

very willing to say; the other he will be reluctant to say. The  

first that he will be willing to say will be that he comes back  

to London bearing with him the unstinted love and homage of the  

people of Australia (Applause) and the second thing that he will  

be little reluctant to say is that he comes back London in  

fact I'm sure he won't say it to the presence of Her Majesty  

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