Speech welcoming the returning Australian Paralympic Team, Mascot
Congratulations on every aspect of your time as Paralympians in France.
This is such a special moment, and all Australians, particularly those here in the hangar, are very grateful to have this precious time with you to welcome you home after one of the longest journeys.
And I know you are waiting to get back to your families and communities who are excitedly waiting to warmly embrace you.
It really is a thank you to so many of you.
For the athletes who kept the nation up all night for 11 nights, enthralled by your extraordinary performances, and to the entire team who supported you throughout this incredible journey.
You have thrilled us all and ignited very deep passions across the country.
It has been one of the great honours of my life as the Governor-General to perform the role as Patron-in-Chief of the Australian Paralympic movement.
The warmth of your welcome to Simeon and me when we visited the athletes’ village in Paris is incomparable.
Almost as incomparable as having the great privilege, on behalf of all Australians, to present a medal, this time to Madison de Rozario whose silver in the Stade de France, for her 5000-metre exceptional race.
It wasn’t about Madi’s and my relationship, which is very close, but it was a gesture of the country acknowledging every athlete that was representing Australia.
And, knowing that, while Madi was carrying some of the deepest darkest news of her own, it was also news that many other athletes were carrying in their own way and yet they continued to deliver extraordinary moments.
It was exhilarating to witness and feel the strength of the culture and character of the entire team even prior to the Opening Ceremony.
There was a magnificent Oceania Welcoming Ceremony, which was a special moment for everyone who participated. And it reminded us of the poignant ties between the countries of the Pacific. And particularly the role that Australia plays in supporting the Pacific.
We saw the Australian para-athletes standing alongside the small but powerful teams of Vanuatu, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, and New Zealand.
And the event was opened by an Indigenous cleansing ceremony lead by proud Wiradjuri man and triple gold medal-winning para-athlete, swimmer Ben Austin.
It was a very important moment of connection because it linked our very first Aboriginal Paralympian, the late Uncle Kevin Coombs, with Amanda Reid, Ruby Storm, Telaya Blacksmith and Samantha Schmidt – the four First Nations athletes representing Australia in Paris.
It really is very hard, even as patron, to point towards the gratitude of a nation for everything that the para-athletes have achieved in the games.
Just as the stadiums were even fuller for the Paralympics than the Olympics, I think Australians connected through the broadcast with all of your achievements with a completely new level of engagement with sport, with Paralympics and inclusion.
And for all those thrilling moments – from your arrival at the opening ceremony, to every event in which an Australian Paralympian competed, and all the medal-winning triumphs – something far more profound was emerging over the last fortnight.
In addition to a commitment to high performance and sporting success you embodied a much bigger story.
Many of the athletes expressed this as you spoke to the media after your events, and I’d like to quote from Jaryd Clifford who spoke for the Australian Paralympic movement, in the shadow of a challenging personal moment, when he said,
‘the Paralympics are a 2-week window onto the world as it could and should be’
In that moment, Jaryd asked us all, to imagine and commit to what a society, and a country, could look like if every person with a disability had the right support and resources to excel.
And not just in sport.
It was a message we heard from so many of the athletes.
Often putting aside moments of triumph or difficulty, you challenged us to be better – to care more, to be kinder, fairer and more inclusive.
And as I had the privilege of attending so many events and see it up close, that theme of encouraging us to be better emerged over and over was clear.
The Paralympic movement is a blueprint for a world in which inclusion and belonging are at the centre.
With respect and an unequivocal embrace of diversity.
Celebration of excellence with no limits.
An approach to life and sport that makes anything and everything possible.
You, the Australian Paralympians, have issued us with an invitation to turn one fortnight every four years into a roadmap for the future of every Australian, no matter where they are, who they are and tell them that they belong and are supported.
In accepting your challenge, we must genuinely engage with all bodies and all abilities.
To see our para-athletes modelling that in France was breathtaking and now it’s our turn.
Our job in welcoming you home is so clear – we can’t only congratulate you and bask in the glory of your magnificent performances – we now commit to living your values.
Athletes, as your Patron, you have my promise that I will tell your story and amplify your message in every forum and every community I have the opportunity to visit.
You have given Australia a gift which we must receive with respect and action.
We must never leave the last two weeks and experiences and spirit of inclusion back in Paris, but instead, were going to set our sights on a horizon of meaningful inclusion and equal opportunity every day of every year.
Thank you to your Chef de Mission Kate McLoughlin, the captains, the flag bearers, the board and everyone involved in Paralympics Australia.
As a team I got to see you represented the very best of Australian values and character.
To you all, as you are welcomed home to your families and communities, I hope the memories of Paris bring you joy in the days ahead, that your pride in every one of your achievements is held deeply and that your futures are bright and filled with success and happiness wherever life takes you – whether that is at a future Paralympic Games or as future leaders of our nation.