Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

'You got to try and reach for the stars or try and achieve the unreachable.' So said the great Cathy Freeman, who summed up the Olympic experience. These Olympics were a beacon of hope in a world where people needed something to smile and cheer about. And Australians certainly had full bottle on that!

We saw so many young Australians reach the unreachable in the past fortnight, so many who followed Cathy's path to personal triumph. I say to every one of our Olympians: you were selected with good reason, and, when you got to Tokyo, you did our nation proud. You performed magnificently as athletes, as human beings and as representatives of your country. You gave us demonstration after demonstration of everything that is great about the Olympics. We saw talent. We saw determination. We saw records broken. We saw personal bests beaten. We saw some dreams realised, some not quite. We saw physical and mental grit. We saw dignity and humility. We saw humour. What it all added up to was true sportsmanship—and, indeed, 17 gold medals, including Emma McKeon becoming our greatest Olympian.

But some of the sweetest moments weren't ones about outright victory. There was the extraordinary story of Peter Bol, once a refugee and an almost accidental athlete. Running fourth in the 800 metres, he lifted all of Australia. Then there was, for me, something I'll never forget: the wonderful 10,000-metre runner, Patrick Tiernan, falling over about 100 metres or so from the finish line, but getting up and making sure that he finished. There was nothing left in the tank, but there he crossed the line.

Patty Mills and the Boomers showed us the sweetness of bronze. He gave that wonderful interview after the game where he said he looked forward to hanging his bronze medal at his mum's and dad's, who had given up so much for him to make it. He is a proud Indigenous Australian who has never forgotten where he came from, and a proud ambassador for our nation as well as his people. After that came the interview with Andrew Gaze on TV, with Andrew trying to hold back tears and then giving up, and the wonderful exuberance of feeling, quite rightly, that he was part of it—and indeed his dad, Lindsay, talking about when he began coaching, when there were just 100 or 200 registered players in basketball throughout the whole of Australia, and how that sport has been built and how this bronze medal will help to build it even further in the future.

There was Nicola McDermott, soaring so magnificently to silver in the high jump—and writing in her diary after every jump, so that she's got contemporaneous notes there for the future—and Ash Moloney showing us what may be an amazing new dawn with his bronze medal in the decathlon, egged on by Cedric Dubler in the last 1,500 metres. What mateship, what commitment and what goodwill.

Behind all these amazing athletes we got glimpses of sacrifices made, of myriad costs of dedication. We saw the guidance of coaches and, above all, the love and support of families. We saw those broadcasts back to rooms in Australia around the country of people cheering on their loved ones. From the bigger Australian family, may all our Olympians feel our love, our support and our gratitude. Thanks for lifting us up. Thanks for your effort. Thanks for your achievement. Thanks also to those people in the administration, including the Australian administration and, of course, the great John Coates, who's gone on to play an important role in the IOC and will always be seen, quite rightly, as an Australian representative. John, you are a good mate and you are a great Australian who has served your country and served sport well indeed.

A big thanks as well to the government and the people of Japan for hosting these games. It was a big call to bring on the games and to maintain them, but you've done the world a big favour. We look forward to watching the Paralympics over coming weeks, again an incredible inspiration every time they are held. We wish all of our athletes all the best in the coming weeks. I think that during a difficult time, with most of Australia locked down, the TV ratings did pretty well. But it is something that, at a very tough time for Australians, gave all of Australia something to watch, something to smile about and something to cheer—and for that we thank you.

See this speech in context