Australia Day Address

Australia day address presented at the Leongatha Australia day ceremony on, 26th January 2000.

I am Chris Baillie and my speech is about who I am and what being an Australian means to me.
I believe being Australian allows us to stand together as a nation and be proud of what we have achieved over the past 212 years of white settlement. We have just entered the 21st century and all Australians should take time to reflect on what has been before, our history, but also about what being part of a community allows us to attempt to achieve in the future.
In our daily lives which are full of schedules and limiting timetables, we forget to assess where we are in relation to our goals and we fail to look ahead. This makes it difficult for us to set new goals and to progress as individuals and as a nation. But today, on Australia Day, we can take time to come together and celebrate the fact that we are Australian.

I was born and raised in Leongatha. I was born blind, but this didn't stop my parents having an outgoing and positive attitude towards me. They valued me and encouraged me; and my activities. I attended the Leongatha Primary School where I also received a lot of support from teachers and integration aides. Looking back on those early years at school, I don't remember ever seeing my blindness as an issue. It never really occurred to me that I was so much different from anybody else in the playground. Of course I knew that I was blind and that certain things had to be done differently but no one ever made a big deal about any of that and I had no reason to notice it much. All through primary school and even before that I was encouraged by my parents to go out and try everything. I have always been a very outdoorish kind of person who enjoys the experience of life with challenges. I was taught to give everything a go and then to learn from that experience no matter what it was. I guess I was taught to believe in myself and to go out there and enjoy life.

After primary school I moved on to the bigger pond of Secondary College, where the support from parents, teachers and aides continued. This was a whole new environment with a totally different culture to adapt to. I suppose even from year seven I started to take control of my own life and I was able to apply some direction to my studies. As I progressed through the lower levels of secondary education I found that my options were becoming increasingly wide ranging. I could make increasingly important decisions for myself and my life direction; and I liked that immensely. I took hold of that power and ran with it.

During the three years leading up to year 10 I was very sports orientated. I participated in the Southern Cross Games which is an event held every 2 years for the visually impaired. This event includes athletics and swimming. I came home with 3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals. I also rode in the Great Victorian Bike Ride in 1997 and took a great deal of inspiration from being able to complete that challenging event with my father.
Then all of a sudden I was faced with, the huge task of attempting my V.C.E. What subjects should I take, where did I want to be in the next 4 or 5 years, where did I want to be at 30 or even 40. It was an immense task for a 16 year old to contemplate the next 10 or 20 years of life planning.

So far, V.C.E hasn't been all that much to worry about. I progressed through year 11 with out any real trouble, apart from making an effort to stay organised. During year 11 I took part in my second Southern Cross Games and came home with 9 gold medals for my efforts. During the same year I competed in the Australian National Blind Athletics Championships in Sydney, where I won 2 gold and a silver. I was also given the opportunity to attend the space camp in the U.S and to represent Australia, which was a very enjoyable and enlightening experience. To take part in that camp I had to undertake some fund raising efforts within my local community. I found that the people of Leongatha were pleased to get behind me and I was proud to represent Leongatha and Australia overseas.
Then before I knew it I was in year 12, I chose to take year 12 over 2 years. I found myself in the midst of the most important 2 years of my life. I have so far completed one of those 2 years.

The last few years have been a time of reflection for me and also a time to look towards the future. I have learned a lot about myself and my strengths and weaknesses. I have done a lot of thinking about my values in life and how to proceed from here on. In the last year of my secondary education I hope to do as well as I possibly can, get a good NTER score and then take a year off to travel the world and to experience life. Then my future plans take me through University and hopefully out the other side with a degree in computing.
I still have many interesting years ahead of me and I aim to take advantage of any opportunities that present themselves. I am keen to learn and to better myself in any possible way. Just one of my goals is to make the Australian blind cricket team. I have made the Australian 24 recently and it would be the ultimate experience to play for my country in a world cup in the future.

The time that I have spent thinking about my present and future situation led me inevitably to the issue of where I stand in my community and as an Australian. I believe that the opportunities I've had may not have been there if I was not an Australian. I think sometimes we don't appreciate just how much we do have in our country. We are happy that we are not in a third world country starving with millions of others. But do we really ever sit down and think of how much we do actually have to be greatful for. We have more than just material things to be thankful for as Australians. We have our pride as a nation and we have a cultural expectation throughout the country that allows for freedom of speech and learning. We live in a society where we are free to express our opinions and views. But most of all we all have the opportunity to experience life however we choose.

I think that as long as we start this new century with a proud attitude and stand up as a nation to be counted in a world which is becoming continually more globalised we can be proud that we are Australians. We should reflect on what our ancestors have done for us to protect and improve our country, but we should also take the time to take hold of all opportunities that present themselves to us to value ourselves as individuals and respect the cooperative endeavors that make us a nation. We must believe in our country at all costs and progress assertively into the 21st century with our ideas and beliefs and we should present these to the world with pride.

I would like to thank the Leongatha Australia Day Committee for allowing me to share my experiences and views with you today and thank you all for taking the time to listen to one 18 year olds perspective on life.

Please send any comments or suggestions regarding this site to me at chrisba@tpgi.com.au

URL: http://www4.tpg.com.au/users/chrisba/speech.htm