Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

So many Australians have spent the past fortnight on Paris time, our eyes glued to the extraordinary scenes in the pool, on the track, in the velodrome, on the whitewater course, at the skate park, in the BMX arena, in the boxing ring and even on the Seine river. Everywhere there have been green and gold champions to cheer on, and every one of them has done our country proud. Every one of them has brought us joy and excitement and brought us together as Australians.

Paris 2024 has been Australia's most successful Olympics ever—a record 18 gold medals, 19 silver and 16 bronze, taking us to fourth in the overall medal tally. If you compare the size of our population, just 27 million, with that of the United States, China and, of course, Japan, the three countries that are ahead of us, they have far more sizeable populations to draw on than we do. But, over the past two weeks, the heroics of our athletes have captivated Australians.

Just as importantly, they have inspired the next generation of Australians to be active, play sport, be part of their community, learn life lessons and make friends, because having a go, participating and testing yourself is what the Olympic spirit is all about, as Anna Meares has so eloquently said. We see that when the competition is over and the athletes are interviewed, overcome by joy or relief, when we watch as they embrace their families and friends in the stands, and when we see the tears of pride in their eyes as they stand on the podium while 'Advance Australia Fair' plays.

In all these special scenes, we are reminded of how much this moment means to our athletes and to the people who love them—the coaches, mentors, parents, spouses and siblings who have been on the journey with them through years of very early morning starts and unwavering dedication, working to overcome the challenges that every Olympian faces along the way. It's important to remember that for most of these athletes, overwhelmingly, there is not great financial reward; they put in because of their love for their sport and their aim of representing their country. I also want to pay tribute to Anna Meares and the leadership that she has shown, standing up for all of our athletes. I was struck by something that Ariarne Titmus said straight after winning gold in the 400:

I hope it goes to show anyone can do what they want to do if they work hard and believe in themselves. Here I am, from little old Lonnie, a town of 90,000, and I'm out here living the dream.

What a wonderful message from a great Tasmanian, from a remarkable champion. All of our athletes have given inspiration to boys and girls all over Australia. At a time when I think everyone in this chamber wants to see young Australians spend more time off their devices and on the netball court, the swimming pool or the oval, this is a great thing to inspire them.

In victory or defeat, we have been proud of every single one of our athletes. The Olympic spirit is about striving to be your best. It is about having a go and discovering something you love. Many of those young Australians will be thinking about Brisbane 2032 and about the potential of standing on the podium when, for the third time, Australia has the honour of hosting the Olympics. I'm sure that those Olympic Games will be just as successful as Melbourne was in 1956 and my home city of Sydney was in 2000. Many of the Olympians that we were cheering on in Paris grew up cheering for their heroes in Sydney, Athens or Beijing. It seems that Lauren Jackson just goes on forever. I was watching coverage of the bronze medal match last night, and it showed her off the court encouraging those who were doing Australia proud in defeating Belgium to win the bronze medal. What a great champion she has been.

All of these athletes started their journey at Little Athletics or the local community sports centre. From time to time, the government gets questions like, 'Why should you invest in sport?' Investing in sport reduces our health bill, for a start; it helps with both physical and mental health; and it also helps the health of our country. That has been really lifted up.

I look forward to welcoming the athletes home on Wednesday morning along with the Leader of the Opposition and others who will be there to welcome them home. I pay tribute to Anika Wells, as Minister for Sport, for the work that she did in the lead-up to the Olympics. We look forward to welcoming them home on Wednesday and we look forward to further inspiration when we watch our Paralympians in just a short period of time—because they as well will do us proud; I am certain of that.

See this speech in context