INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR THEME SONG FOR ZARAGOZA 2008

A world-wide competition has been launched for the theme song for Zaragoza 2008. The piece must be 4 to 10 minutes in length and preferably orchestral. Budding composers have until 18 May to lodge their work - the winner is announced 28 May.

 

Read further information here:

 

SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE BIE VISITS BIDDING HOST FOR EXPO 2012 - YEOSU, KOREA

 

Korea seeks to further her World Expositions experience with the hosting of Expo 2012 in the sea-side port town of Yeosu. Over 1 million signatories of support have already been received for the Expo, which will have the world's oceans as its theme. Secretary-General of the BIE Sr Vicente Loscertales and former President, Ms Carmen Sylvain, visited Yeosu to attend promotions for the Expo 2012 Yeosu bid.

View the excellent photo diary of the visit here:

 

 

WATER AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

 

ZARAGOZA EXPO 2008 TO CREATE ARCHITECTURAL IMPACT

Read feature story interview with Chief Architect for Zaragoza 2008, Sr Carlos Lamela, as he describes the architectural impact the Expo will have on the City of Zaragoza.

 

TRAVELLING EXHIBITION OF THE BIE FIRMS UP

The President of Expo Zaragoza 2008, Roque Gistau, and the General Secretary of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), Vicente González Loscertales, have signed an agreement in order to produce a travelling BIE Exhibition promoting World Expositions past, present, and future, an itinerant exhibition that could become the template for a "BIE Pavilion" at future World Expositions.

Already twelve cities world-wide have been chosen for the first launch of the display, which will travel to London, Paris, Barcelona, Seville, Lisbon, Brussels, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, Montreal, Melbourne, Tokio, Osaka, Nagoya, Zaragoza and Madrid from January 2008 to December 2010.

 

Read the Zaragoza Expo 2008 Press Release here:

http://www.zaragozaexpo2008.es/index.jsp?seccion=44&idioma=en_GB&id=200704200037 

EIGHTY-THREE NATIONS NOW AT ZARAGOZA
Finally, view the international participant list as of 6 May 2007.

BETTER CITY, BETTER LIFE

1090 Days till Opening Ceremony

 

The number of international participants at Shanghai 2010 rises from 126 to 133 nations. Peru, Georgia, Chile, Uganda, and Bhutan are among the new participants.

FORUM TO ATTRACT AFRICAN NATIONS TO EXPO 2010

A special forum to promote participation by African nations at 2010 was held in Beijing, sponsored by the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Over 30 African nations have already pledged participation at Shanghai, and special funds assisting participation, as well as rent-free provisions for developing nations, have been launched to facilitate participation by African states. This follows precedents at previous Expositions, such as Seville '92, where a Plaza de Africa, and Plaza de America, enabled participation by developing African and Latin American states, providing shared building space for geographic groupings.

Read the Shanghai 2010 Press Release here:

 

UNITED NATIONS AMBASSADORS PAY GUEST VISIT TO SHANGHAI

Over 30 United Nations visitors paid a guest visit to the Shanghai Expo 2010 Authority, receiving a preliminary tour and guide by Mr Zhou Hanmin, Deputy Director-General.

View the Press Release of the visit here:

 

URBANISATION SEMINAR EXPLORES EXPO THEME

A seminar focussing on the powers of urbanisation and cities was held in Shanghai, led by Keynote Speaker, Shanghai Mayor Mr Han Zheng. Over 150 national and international experts gathered at the seminar, hosted by the Urban Land Institute.

Read the Press Release here:

 

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER THE HONOURABLE MR JOHN PRESCOTT MP VISITS SHANGHAI

Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the Honourable Mr John Prescott MP visited Shanghai April 19 to 25, and met with Deputy Director-General of the Shanghai Expo Authority Mr Han Zheng, during his official visit to the Authority, Exhibition Hall, and the location of the United Kingdom Pavilion for 2010.

View the Press Release here:

 

MR XI JINGPING PARTY SECRETARY OF THE SHANGHAI MUNICIPAL COMMITTEE MEETS SECRETARY-GENERAL SR VICENTE LOSCERTALES 

Mr Xi Jinping Party Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China gave a warm civic welcome to Secretary-General of the BIE Sr Vicente Loscertales in a recent visit.

View the Meeting Press Release here:
http://www.expo2010china.com/expo/expoenglish/news/sen/userobject1ai41133.html


AUSTRALIAN EXPOSITIONS AND EXHIBITIONS CONNECTIONS

SOUTH BANK CORPORATION LAUNCHES 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF WORLD EXPO '88 ADVISORY GROUP

South Bank Corporation has launched a 20th Anniversary of World Expo '88 Advisory Group, led by key Expo figures the Honourable Sir Llew Edwards AC (Chair and CEO World Expo '88), and Ms Sally-anne Atkinson (Lord Mayor of Brisbane City during Expo). Nostalgic elements will feature in the Celebration, notes South Bank, including the music and sights of World Expo '88 and a retrospective documentary. One can also register one's names for updated information regarding the Celebration as the program develops.

View the South Bank Corporation Press Release and register your interest here:  
http://www.visitsouthbank.com/whats_on/expo_20th_anniversary 

 

AUSTRALIA AT SHANGHAI 2010

Further to the visit to the Shanghai 2010 Expo Authority by Minister for Foreign Affairs the Honourable Mr Alexander Downer MP last month, official technical and other specification documents referrring to the tender for the Australian Representation to Shanghai Expo 2010, including numerous Question and Answer updates have been published to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) website.

Familiarise yourself with the ambit of the Representation, and/or apply. A must read summary for any individual/organisation interested in representing Australia at Shanghai 2010.

http://www.dfat.gov.au/tenders/07-000926/

SYDNEY 1879 INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION

Read about the Palace Garden from the 1879 Sydney International Exhibition and today's Royal Botanic Gardens.
http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/royal_botanic_gardens/garden_features/feature_gardens/palace_rose_garden

MELBOURNE 1880 AND 1888 INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
Read this Museums of Victoria piece on the Melbourne 1888 International Exhibition.
http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/windows/worldfair/index.asp

 

BRISBANE 1988 WORLD EXPOSITION 'WORLD EXPO '88'

The Nepal Peace Pagoda of World Expo '88 - one of Brisbane City's chief World Expo '88 heritage items - features in this year's Queensland Heritage and ICOMOS International Museums Week, where Foundation Expo '88 and The Friends of the Pagoda Association will be hosting a World Expo '88 Commemorative Photograph and Memorabilia Exhibition. The eight day festival commences on Sunday 13 May and concludes on Sunday 20 May. Guided Tours of the Pagoda will also feature daily at 11am and 2pm, as well as Activity Sheets, a display of merchandise for the 20th Anniversary of Expo, and more.

 

Read the Museums and Gallery Services Queensland Press Release here:

 

ULURU EXPO2020LYMPIAD - THE JOINT 32ND SUMMER GAMES OLYMPIAD AND 2020 UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION AT THE CITY OF ULURU
CELEBRATING THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF NEW SOUTH WALES 1770-2020 A.D.
Only 4744 Days to Go!

 

Read the Prime-Minister's 'Australia 2020' Vision Statement, an address delivered during April 2007 visit to Brisbane.

 

.............................................
Subj: Prime Minister's Media Alert Service [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED] 
Date: 23/04/2007 20:52:40 E. Australia Standard Time
From: info@pm.gov.au
To: JohnMcGregorAUS@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)
 

 

Speech
               
23 April 2007
               
Address to Queensland Media Club
Sofitel Hotel, Brisbane

 

            
<START>
               
AUSTRALIA RISING

 

Thank you very much Spencer, to Jeff Seeney, the Leader of the Opposition in Queensland, Bruce Flegg, the leader of the parliamentary Liberal Party in Queensland, my old friend Warwick Parer, or good friend of long standing, Warwick Parer the President of the Queensland division, ladies and gentlemen. I'm delighted to be back in Brisbane, to have this opportunity to address the Queensland Press Club. Queensland, of course, is a big part of the Australian success story in the early 21st Century.  Perhaps the closest analogy is California's hold on the American imagination last century - the magnetic pull of a better life; a place where dreams are realised and trends emerge that alter a nation's temper. 

 

My speech today is about the future of our nation.  It looks ahead to an Australia rising to the challenges of the next decade and beyond - to an Australia within reach. 
This is the first of a series of speeches I'll make in coming months on a wide-ranging future agenda, an agenda that includes further strengthening our economy, education reform, new social policy challenges, climate change and Australia's APEC agenda for later this year. Next month's Budget will outline a forward-looking strategy to further build Australia's prosperity.  Consistent with the last 11 years, the Government's core objective, in the Budget, will be to keep the economy strong and the nation secure so that Australians can plan for the future with great confidence.

 

I want to begin my speech today by sketching the sort of world Australians are likely to be living in a decade or more from now. For argument's sake let's say by the year 2020, when most of today's children will be young adults. Liberal democracies, like ours, will continue to flourish, yet their purpose, patience and resolve will continue to be tested.  For a country like Australia, there will be no holiday from history or from the long struggle against terrorism. The fight is a different type of war against a different type of enemy.  Our interests and our ideals demand that we stay engaged in the world and in the global battle of ideas. 

 

Australia's defence forces must be combat ready and well-resourced and our alliances close and strong in 2020.  We will continue to carry a heavy burden for order and stability in this part of the world.  Indeed one of the most far-reaching national security decisions my Government has taken was to end a posture of benign neglect in the Pacific and there will be no going back from that commitment.

 

In 2020, policy makers will still be grappling with the great disjunction of our age - and that is between a globalised economic order and a fragmented political one.  Australia has a profound interest in a stable, cooperative and market-oriented global system underpinned by stable, cooperative and market-oriented nation states. And no-one should pretend that the nation state is going anywhere.  People will continue to express their demands for security, economic wellbeing and identity primarily through national politics.  And the duty of political leaders will still be protecting and advancing the national interest. It will be a world where economic and geopolitical power is more evenly distributed; perhaps more so than at any time since America's rise in the late 19th Century.  The human face of globalisation in 2020 will be increasingly Asian and middle class - as our region becomes the epicentre of history's first truly global middle class. It will be a world of intense competition for markets and for global talent.  Australia must work hard to earn our place in a fiercely competitive global economy.  We must ensure Australia retains and attracts our share of the best and brightest - the researchers, the scientists, the innovators and risk takers who'll generate the ideas for a rising Australia.   

 

Australia's workforce will continue to face challenges from demographic change, from technological change and from globalisation.  The Treasurer's Intergenerational Report earlier this month showed that we have made progress in meeting the challenge of an ageing society. Nonetheless, many families are confronting these pressures directly with the rise, for example, of the so-called sandwich generation.  More and more baby boomer women in particular carry heavy responsibilities around caring for ageing parents and for children still at home, while also holding down a job in the paid workforce.

 

All of this points to the need for governments to become even more nimble and responsive to individual needs in the next decade.  The old rigid welfare state models have become increasingly obsolete. It also underlines the need to maintain a strong economy.  Despite the challenges we face, there's no reason why Australia should not be even more prosperous by the year 2020. But it means becoming even more competitive through economic reform.  It means keeping the size of government and our tax burden down on workers and risk takers.  It means keeping downward pressure on inflation and interest rates through budget discipline and a flexible workplace system.  It means creating the conditions for growth so business will continue to invest and create jobs.  It means ensuring that our schools, our tech colleges and our universities are institutions of excellence.  And it means investing in our people so they have the skills required in the 21st Century. 

 

In the late 20th Century, indeed at the very end of it, the great genius of our democracy was the ability we found to reform Australia's economy while not leaving behind those who felt threatened by economic change.  A rising tide that lifts all boats is our abiding national challenge - a calling for our time and for all time. I spoke about this last year at the National Press Club in Canberra.  I talked about the best kept secret of the Australian achievement - and that was our national sense of balance.  This sense of balance is the handmaiden of national growth and renewal.  It means that we respond creatively to an uncertain world with a sense of proportion. And you might ask, what helps us keep our balance?  To me, it's really no secret.  It's economic growth, leavened always by Australian commonsense.

 

Just as we face a global battle of ideas so there is a battle of ideas going on here at home over Australia's future.  One side - we in the Coalition - aims to build on what's been achieved over the last decade, to build on policies that have helped sustain the longest economic expansion in our modern history, created two million new jobs, slashed unemployment to a 32 year low, cut welfare dependency and given more Australians a direct stake in the economy. The other side wants to tear down this achievement.  It wants to go back to government by a few mates for a few mates - where favoured groups get a special say in our workplaces, in education policy, in environment policy and in welfare policy.  Where the national interest gets squeezed out in favour of noisy sectional interests and where the quiet voices of those who work hard, pay their taxes, take risks and contribute to their communities get drowned out.  

 

It's critical that Australia not slip back to the ways of the past.  It's especially critical that there be no roll-back of the reforms that have kept our economy growing through a turbulent decade. Any step back will see Australia fall behind in the global economy, reducing our capacity to create jobs, to innovate, to care for the sick and the aged and to help those who need a leg up in today's competitive world. This is not simply an economic argument.  It lies at the heart of our quest for a better society.  Ultimately, it is a moral argument that bears on what I call the human dividend of economic growth.  It's a moral argument because of what growth means for a fair and decent society.  The American economist Benjamin Friedman argues this point at length in his book The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth.  Broadly distributed economic growth, he notes, provides benefits far beyond the material, supporting political and social stability, fostering tolerance and enhancing opportunity.  It's crucial not just to meeting our economic challenges but to meeting our social and environmental challenges as well.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, priorities do matter in politics.  My Government's number one priority is strong growth, greater prosperity and wider opportunity.  An Australia rising to new heights while preserving our great traditions of a fair go and pulling together in times of adversity, an Australia where people have more choice in their daily lives and a strong sense of social cohesion.  I've never understood or accepted the argument of those who say that one detracts from the other.  By raising families, by employing other Australians, by giving back to their community, Australians show every day how the two of them go together.

 

I want Australia in 2020 to still be the best country in the world in which to live, to work, to start a business and to raise a family. As a Government, we've made thousands of decisions in the last 11 years that impact directly on the lives of Australians.  No doubt we've made our share of mistakes - all governments do. But we have never lost sight of the big things that affect people's lives - their jobs, the wellbeing of their families, decent health care, genuine choice in education and a good social security safety net.  We've never lost sight of the human dividend from a strong and growing economy. We've also never lost sight of the need to strike a balance between different interests and different objectives.  That's not the same as always seeking consensus and always looking to please.  It often calls for hard choices, for example, putting the budget back into surplus, reforming the tax system and the welfare system and abolishing laws that protect a few jobs but destroy many, many more.

 

Hard choices imply trade-offs.  When these are ignored, when ideology takes over, that's when costly mistakes are made.  It's when unintended consequences multiply.
Why do I dwell on this?  Because in part my political opponent pretends to have discovered a different brand of politics - a politics without hard choices, without trade-offs and without unintended consequences - a politics of gestures and good intentions and little else. He argues that in this world Australians face one overriding moral challenge, and that is climate change.  I'll talk more about this challenge in a moment, but let me say where I stand on priorities, on decision-making and on the moral challenge of our time.

 

Climate change is a serious policy challenge and a major priority of my Government.  At the same time, we know that independent action by Australia will not materially affect our climate.  No-one - not the IPCC, not Sir Nicholas Stern, not even Al Gore - makes this argument.  Australia emits fewer greenhouse gases in a year than the United States and China emit in a month.  Do we need to lower carbon emissions over time?  Of course we do. But to say that climate change is the overwhelming moral challenge for this generation of Australians is misguided at best and misleading at worst. It de-legitimises other challenges over which we do have significant and immediate control.  Other challenges with moral dimensions just as real and pressing as those that surround climate change. It also obscures the need for balance in government decision-making.  It feeds ideological demands for knee-jerk policy reactions that would destroy jobs and the living standards of ordinary Australians
. 

 

To me, the moral challenge of our time is not vastly different from the challenge earlier generations faced.  It is to build a prosperous, secure and fair Australia - a confident nation at ease with the world and with itself.  It's to give every generation of Australians the chance of social mobility.  That's why jobs and economic growth are so important.

 

A generation ago, this challenge revolved squarely around reversing the then decline of our economy.  And this has been the work of both sides of politics in government.  Unfortunately, it hasn't been the work of both sides of politics in opposition.  Looking back, broad consensus surrounded the need for five great structural reforms to give Australia a shot at prosperity in the 21st Century.  They were financial deregulation, tariff reform, privatisation, tax reform and workplace relations reform. And I've always paid credit to the former Labor government for its reforms in the area of financial deregulation and tariffs.  The Coalition in Government has gone much further with tax reform, privatisation and workplace reform making our economy more strong, flexible and competitive. And where the Coalition supported all of the big reforms undertaken by the Hawke and Keating government's, the Labor Party, regrettably in opposition, has fought every major reform we have taken to strengthen our economy, they fought getting the budget back into balance, they fought waterfront reform, they fought tax reform, they fought workplace relations reform, they fought the privatisation of business agencies, even though they had supported a similar policy in relation to both Qantas and the Commonwealth Bank when they were in government. And what that means of course is that in 12, in 11 years rather of opposition, Labor in 11 years has still not developed a coherent alternative plan to keep the Australian economy strong, which is the fundamental responsibility of both sides of politics in 2007. It's totally indulged in the negative and on the eve of its national conference in an election year, is still bereft of a credible, forward economic agenda.

 

Labor has opposed our policies for macroeconomic stability and disciplined financial management.  By balancing the budget, paying off government debt, establishing the Future Fund and confronting the challenge of an ageing society, we have laid the foundations for a new era of growth, prosperity and opportunity. But the job is not done.  While Australia has lifted her game, so have our competitors.  And we must stay on the course of economic reform, including workplace reform. Australia's workplaces, as I'm sure this audience knows only too well, represent the arteries of our economy.  Clog them up with more and more regulation and you slow our economic pulse.  WorkChoices is not just about more jobs and higher wages, compelling as that case is, its importance extends to the broader macro-economy. 

 

We all know that Queensland is doing well, and it's doing well in part from high commodity prices in the mining sector.  In the past, under centralised wage fixing, a terms-of-trade boost like this would have triggered a wages break-out across the entire economy and sections of industry, particularly manufacturing, would have been decimated. This time that has not happened because relative wages have reflected industry fundamentals and because overall wages growth has been well-behaved.  This is an historic achievement for modern Australia in a time of prosperity.  Quite simply, it never happened under the old centralised, union-dominated, industrial relations system. And it's meant that inflation has been contained which in turn has limited upward pressure on interest rates.  It's meant the Reserve Bank hasn't had to slam on the economic brakes.  It's meant that Australia can continue to grow, now for the 16th year in a row.

 

Crucially, in this context, the union dominated industrial relations system that Mr Rudd has promised to give us will bring back the worst features of centralised wage fixation.  Higher wages paid in very profitable sectors of the economy will flow through the system to other industries which can't afford them with adverse economic consequences including job losses. There's also a microeconomic case for WorkChoices that often gets overlooked in the debate.  Flexibility at the workplace creates an environment that encourages innovation, the acceptance of new technology and the development of worker skills.  Without genuine flexibility the underlying dynamism of our economy ebbs away, the spirit of entrepreneurship - especially in small business - is crushed and Keynes' famous animal spirits become very tame and timid beasts indeed.

 

A rising Australia desperately needs that entrepreneurial spirit.  It needs the enterprise workers in our mines, our factories and our service firms who've transformed our workforce and its aspirations. Mr Rudd has made his work choice.  He's put union power ahead of workers' jobs. The risk takers in our economy need to know that they will not have Julia Gillard, and Greg Combet and Sharan Burrow looking over their shoulder every time they employ a person or restructure their firm.  Not to mention Simon Crean, Martin Ferguson, Jenny George and Bill Shorten. Mr Rudd cannot have it both ways.  He can't go on about productivity while proposing to hand over power to people who've never taken a business risk in their lives.

 

Labor's real agenda isn't productivity.  It's power - and for that it's prepared to undertake the first major reversal of economic reform in Australia in 25 years. Continued economic reform remains a vital part of the National Reform Agenda being pursued by Commonwealth and State Governments together.  At the COAG meeting earlier this month we agreed to take forward reforms that will deliver more competitive energy markets, better transport infrastructure and less red tape. But stripped of the rhetoric, all levels of government in our federation must live up to their responsibility. In the end this is the only long term answer. The only sustainable federalism is a federalism based on the acceptance of individual responsibility by the various components in the Federation.

 

My opponent claims he will end the blame game in the Federation.  What he's really saying is that all criticism of state and territory governments - all of which happen to be Labor - is off limits.  He talks about saving money by getting rid of duplication.  Yet many of his actions point to more overlap and duplication.  A large slab of his so-called ‘education revolution' is nothing more than allocating Commonwealth money to things the states have already said they'll fund or where they have failed to deliver good outcomes.  The Federal Education Minister, Julie Bishop, has outlined a wide-ranging agenda to lift standards and the Australian Government is spending record amounts on education, offering parents more choice than ever before on where they send their children to school. And might I interpolate there against the background of an atrociously dishonest campaign run by the education unions to point out that at present 67 per cent of Australian school children attend government schools, yet those schools attract 75 per cent of total government funding. Those figures alone repudiate the notion that government's, particularly the Federal Government, have given disproportionate preference to people who send their children to independent schools. But what we are about is choice for parents, we're about standards and that is the terrain the Government is fighting on, that is choice and quality; an education system that puts the needs of students and parents ahead of education bureaucrats and teachers' unions.

 

My friends, I mentioned earlier the important challenge posed by climate change.  Climate change is, in essence, a large and highly complex global coordination problem.  It's a challenge for all nations.  Currently, there is a lot of talk about targets in the context of debate over a possible emissions trading system in Australia.  And some months ago I appointed a joint Government-Business Taskforce which will report to me on this issue at the end of May. Of course, Australia already has an emissions target for the period through to 2012 and unlike many of the European countries who regularly lecture us on this issue, we are in fact on track to meet that target by our own efforts.  Any decision on a future - that is after 2012 long-term target - will be the most important economic decision Australia takes in the next decade.  Now that is not something that should be either lightly said or lightly heard and when I hear a lot of the debate, and I hear people readily embracing targets, I ask myself, do they really understand the impact some of those targets are going to have on our economy? You cannot commit yourself to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a specified amount unless you know what you are doing, unless you know the consequence of that commitment, unless you know what that target means to each and every industry. And that's why I repeat that a decision taken on a long term target will be the most important economic decision that Australia takes in the next decade. And I want to ensure that any decision is made very carefully in a way that takes full account of jobs and investment in Australia, of climate change action by others and of global technology developments. Because as the Productivity Commission has warned, there are potentially very serious costs to Australia from acting alone and getting this decision wrong.

 

Australia fully accepts her responsibility to constrain emissions, to improve energy efficiency, to invest in new technology and to further the transfer of clean energy to poorer countries.  We've committed more than $2 billion to climate change action involving regulation, economic incentives and voluntary measures. But I will not subcontract our climate change policy to the European Union.  Indeed, I worry a great deal about the consequences for Australian families, and the Australian economy, of Mr Rudd's policy of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent from 1990 levels.  I worry about the impact, of this policy, on jobs in places like Moranbah, Mackay and Gladstone. Like Michael Chaney, the President of the Business Council, I worry about targets being plucked out of thin air without any analysis of the consequences for Australia's economy.  I worry about policies whose main target is a preference deal with Bob Brown and some cheap applause at a Labor Party national conference.

 

My Government will continue to place the highest priority on working for an effective global response to climate change, through our global forests initiative and other practical measures, especially with our economic partners in the Asia Pacific region.  That's why I have made this a key topic for discussion by Leaders at APEC this year in Sydney in September.  Initiatives like the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate and our clean coal partnership with China are focused on what ultimately matters - and that is breaking the nexus between economic growth and greenhouse emissions. It's here where the divide over the future is very stark.  The Leader of the Opposition made his big pitch as a man of ideas last year railing against the forces of economic liberalism.  He panders to the gesture politics of anti-capitalism.  His hand-picked environment spokesman, Peter Garrett, said not so long ago that economic growth almost always, unquote, leads to a worse environment. Both of them are wrong.  Both start from a false premise.  History shows that economic growth and technological change have given mankind not just greater material wealth, but also cleaner air and cleaner water.  In the end, it is technological progress funded by economic growth that holds the key to environmental progress.  In the end, our environment is too important to be left to the opponents of growth and economic liberalism.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Australia may never be the most powerful nation in the world, but we can be an even greater nation than we are now.  We are here in the Asia-Pacific region, a region that will be the cockpit of history in the 21st Century.  We have enormous assets with which to meet all the challenges of the next decade. Many years ago when I was Treasurer, I first met Alan Greenspan before he became the head of the US Federal Reserve system.  He said something to me then that I have never forgotten.  He said, quote, of course Mr Treasurer, you come from Australia.  That country has the largest middle class in the world, and he was talking then, of course, in per capita terms.

 

Eleven years ago, we inherited a country where that great social achievement, of having the largest middle class in the world seemed to have slipped from our reach.  And while we still have a way to go, Australia is on the road back.  Today, with effectively full employment and the strongest economy in decades, Australia is again in the top tier of the world's economies. My commitment to the people of Australia is to work as hard as possible to keep us at the top, to ensure greater social mobility for as many of our fellow citizens as possible in the 21st Century, to build towards a new era of growth, prosperity and opportunity - a rising Australia, an Australia within reach. Thank you for your attention.

 

<ENDS>
.................................................


UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS - FOUNDATION EXPO '88 AND THE FRIENDS OF THE PAGODA ASSOCIATION

''PAGODA ON SUNDAYS' DAILY GUIDED TOURS OF THE NEPAL PEACE PAGODA for Queensland Heritage and ICOMOS International Museums Week. Join John McGregor, Founder of Foundation Expo '88 and The Friends of the Pagoda Association, in exploring the rich World Expo '88 and Nepalese heritage of the Nepal Peace Pagoda, as well as promoting the Pagoda's Second Level as venue for the World Expo '88 Museum. Tours will be held every day of the Festival Week, at 11am and 2pm. Admission by Admission Ticket only, at venue, please arrive at the Pagoda five minutes before the Tour commences. To pre-book, contact John McGregor, on 04397 34018, or email information@foundationexpo88.org. And remember, you can make a donation after your visit - supporting Association goals and Nepalese charities. For more information, and to make a donation, visit The Friends of the Pagoda Association pages at http://www.foundationexpo88.org/friendsofthepagoda/.

'THE WORLD EXPO '88 BRISBANE CITY COUNCIL PANORAMA PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION AND WORLD EXPO '88 MEMORABILIA CABINET'. A first-ever hanging during Queensland Heritage and ICOMOS International Museums Week, and launch of the re-vamped Pagoda Display Cabinet - a select selection from the Foundation World Expo '88 Museum collection. Edition 2.0 of the Brisbane World Expo '88 Network Guide Pamphlet will also be launched at the Festival week, Activity Sheets to also feature. An exciting step into the Pagoda's mysterious and iconic art forms and stories.

General Meeting - The Friends of the Pagoda Association: Sunday 2pm to 4pm Sunday 27th May 2007, Café San Marco, South Bank Parklands, Brisbane. All welcome. R.S.V.P. to John McGregor, Secretary, at friendsofthepagoda@foundationexpo88.org, or tel 04937 34018. 

 

***** MINUTES AND REPORT - Foundation Expo '88 Third Anniversary General Meeting. Read the Minutes and Report from the Third Anniversary General Meeting, held at Café San Marco, South Bank Parklands, Monday 30 April 2007. Download the Minutes and Report at http://www.foundationexpo88.org/minutesandreport.pdf.

***** GIFT SHOP 'IN STORE' COMING SOON......The online Foundation Gift Shop will soon be joined with a local Brisbane 'in store' outlet....Keep watching here for more information! To be launched at Queensland Heritage and ICOMOS International Museums Week.

***** YOUR INVITATION - Queensland Heritage Week and ICOMOS International Museums Week at the Nepal Peace Pagoda, Sunday 13 to Sunday 20 May 2007. Open every day from 10:00am to 4:45pm, this innovative exhibition allows for viewing of World Expo '88 official commemorative photographs by day or by night - and official World Expo '88 memorabilia during Pagoda opening hours. Download your invitation to this inaugural exhibition of World Expo '88 official commemorative photographs and memorabilia at http://www.foundationexpo88.org/invitation.pdf.

***** PAGODA GUIDED TOURS - DONATION FACILITY. Did you enjoy your Guided Tour of the Pagoda? Express your support for Association goals by making an online donation - now at The Friends of the Pagoda Association pages at http://www.foundationexpo88.org/friendsofthepagoda/.

That's all for the moment!

 

Best regards

 

 

 

 

 

 

------
John R McGregor
Founder and Foundation Executive Director - Foundation Expo '88
http://www.foundationexpo88.org     executivedirector@foundationexpo88.org
Founder and Secretary - The Friends of the Association
http://www.foundationexpo88.org/friendsofthepagoda/      friendsofthepagoda@foundationexpo88.org
Founder and Director - The World Expo '88 1988-2008 20th Anniversary Celebration
http://www.foundationexpo88.org/20th    20th@foundationexpo88.org 
AOL and AIM Chat ScreenName FoundationExpo88      ThePagoda
PO BOX 232 MOOROOKA BRISBANE QUEENSLAND COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA 4105 SMS/MOBILE (+614397) [04397] 34018

 

Celebrate World Expo '88 - at the 1988-2008 20th Anniversary Celebration
Purchase a Gift - and Support Foundation Goals - at the Foundation Expo '88 Gift Shop -
'On-line' at http://www.foundationexpo88.org/giftshop/, or, 'In Store' at Image Plus Digital Imaging Indooroopilly (07) 3878 2199

Become a Member of The Friends of the Pagoda Association - Celebrating the Nepal Peace Pagoda's rich World Expo '88 and Nepalese Heritage
Join the World Expo '88 Discussion Forum - and keep up to date with the latest Australian and World Expositions News, at http://groups.aol.com/fexpo88
An Initiative of Foundation Expo '88 - A non-government not-for-profit entity celebrating Brisbane's World Expo '88 - Your Australian World Expositions Gateway

 

PRIVACY NOTICE: Your information is confidential and shall not be disclosed to any third party.