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On 25 Sep 98, I graduated with Bachelor of Economics (Honours 1st Class) from The University of Newcastle. At this graduation ceremony I was called upon to deliver the Graduate Address to the ceremony.

The text of my speech (which I pretty much followed) is below.

Graduate Address

25 Sep 98, 2:30pm Ceremony

Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Distinguished Guests, Fellow Graduates, ladies and gentleman. As I am sure that many of my fellow graduates are now eager to celebrate their graduation, I will try to keep this address short.

Firstly, on behalf of all graduates I wish to thank all those who have helped to get us here today. To the academic staff, who took the time to explain what often seemed like incomprehensible work - thank you. To the support staff of the university, the people who work behind the scenes in making things happen, thank you.

But thanks in particular, to the family and friends who stood by us when we needed them. Who were there with a smile, a frown, a laugh , a tear,. who shared in the triumphs and who offered a shoulder to lean on. To all those people I, on behalf of all those graduating- say thank you

But there would be no graduation today without one group of people, and that is the graduates themselves. Although the experiences of each student will differ, I believe there are some common features which most students can identify with.

I'd therefore like to take a few minutes to talk about the university experience, what it has to offer, and what each student here today has really achieved.

Many students come to university straight from school. And within the first few weeks they discover that university is the 'when' and 'where' that parents and teachers meant when they said there was a time and place for everything.

University life offers a great many temptations for the unsuspecting first year student. The Bar-on-the-Hill, sporting clubs, social clubs, and thousands of new people to meet and get to know ; and that's without the extra temptations facing those who choose to live on-campus.

But with this new lifestyle comes a new range of stresses. Assignments, tutorials, class presentations, countless hours of photocopying, time spent hunched over text books, clinical and practical work placements for some students; 48 hour assignments for others. All these can make ordinary everyday problems seem more.

To deal with these challenges and overcome them is no small achievement.

There is however, some in our community who would deride the value of tertiary education and who consider us, as a nation, to be over-educated. I believe ladies and gentleman, that those who cling to such attitudes are living in the past.

As we head into the 21st century we are moving into a new world and a new economic system. Technology such as the internet is increasing communication on a global scale. It is helping to foster international understanding and develop bonds between individual citizens. These bonds may one day discourage conflict or promote trade.

As we move increasingly towards a knowledge based economy, education is likely to become essential to ensuring economic prosperity. And as traditional national borders loose their relevance in the face of internationalization, prosperity is not to be gained by closing our eyes to the changes around as and by throwing up walls.

Rather, our prosperity will come from embracing the challenges and opportunities which internationalization brings. We must look for new opportunities and seize them with both hands. But doing so is going to require that we are prepared. And I believe our universities will have an important role to play in this.

University offers much more than just which side credits and debits go on, or how to run a regression analysis. It offers students the opportunity to appreciate the benefits of diversity. Diversity of opinion and diversity of culture. It encourages students to approach issues with an open mind, to think critically about what they are told, and to speak out when they see something which they believe is wrong. Sometimes this learning experience is joyous, sometimes the experiences are ones we would rather forget. But all these experiences are essential in preparing graduates to take advantage of the opportunities which the future presents us.

The achievement of those graduating today therefore is not just that they have passed the required exams, the achievement of those graduating today is they have survived the university experience. They have found the balance of work and play and one way or another have combined their study commitments with all the other challenges of every day living.

They have developed not just the technical skills of their profession, but also an attitude which will hopefully allow them to exploit the opportunities which the future holds. I believe each graduate here today, has good reason to be proud of their achievement, and I hope that everyone here today believes so as well.

Thank you.