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Progressing the World Expo '88 Vision
- A non-government not-for-profit entity celebrating Brisbane's World Expo '88 -
Academic Forum
Opening and Closing Ceremony Speeches
"Opening Ceremony Speeches, National Day Speeches, Closing Ceremony Speeches"
Office of the Commissioner-General, World Expo '88
Closing Ceremony
Don Damaso de Lario
President of the Steering Committee of the College of Commissioners-General
World Expo '88
MR PRIME MINISTER, MR PREMIER, THE LORD MAYOR, THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE BIE, SIR EDWARD WILLIAMS, SIR LLEWELLYN EDWARDS, DISTINGUISHED GUESTS, MY DEAR COLLEAGUES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
AS WE ARE PREPARING TO CLOSE DOWN WORLD EXPO 88, WE CAN PROUDLY SAY THAT THIS SIX MONTHS DREAM, THIS DARING EXTRAVAGANZA, HAS CERTAINLY BEEN AN EXTRAORDINARY SUCCESS. THE DIFFERENT PARTIES INVOLVED IN THE EXERCISE - THE INTERNATIONAL AND THE CORPORATE PARTICIPANTS, THE AUTHORITY AND THE PUBLIC - CAN LEGITIMATELY CLAIM CREDIT FOR IT, BUT ABOVE ALL IT HAS BEEN THE PREVAILING SPIRIT OF CO-OPERATION AND UNDERSTANDING THAT HAS MADE IT POSSIBLE - I BELIEVE - TO BRING ABOUT THIS HAPPY END.
INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITIONS ARE OCCASIONS WHEN COUNTRIES SHOW TO EACH OTHER, AND TO THE WORLD, THEIR ORGANISING CAPABILITIES AND THEIR PARTICULAR WONDERS, BUT THEY ARE ALSO OCCASIONS TO BRING THE COUNTRIES TOGETHER IN A VERY UNIQUE ATMOSPHERE. HENCE THE ATTRACTION THAT THEY PROVOKE IN THE VISITOR, WHO COMBINES LEISURE WITH LEARNING AND WHO FINDS HIMSELF TRANSPORTED, FOR A FEW HOURS AT LEAST, TO AN UNUSUAL, BUT REAL, INTERNATIONAL KALEIDOSCOPE THAT WILL VANISH FOR EVER - APPARENTLY - AFTER ALL TOO SHORT A TIME. IT WILL BE, HOWEVER, A TEMPORARY DISAPPEARANCE ONLY AS, FORTUNATELY, EXPOSITIONS RE-APPEAR AGAIN AND AGAIN, WITH CHANGING FLAVOURS AND APPROACHES, IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD. THEY ARE PERHAPS THE LAST ACTS OF MAGIC AT GRAND SCALE AND UNIQUE EXERCISES IN DIPLOMACY OF GOODWILL.
ON BEHALF OF THE INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPANTS, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE GOVERNMENT OF AUSTRALIA, THE STATE OF QUEENSLAND AND THE CITY OF BRISBANE FOR THE HOSPITALITY EXTENDED TO US DURING THESE SIX MONTHS.
IT HAS BEEN A GREAT HONOUR FOR ME TO SERVE AS CHAIRMAN OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE OF THE COLLEGE OF INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPANTS OF WORLD EXPO 88. THE SUPPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE - SIR EDWARD WILLIAMS, COMMISSIONER-GENERAL OF THE EXPOSITION - AND THE GOODWILL AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE EXPO 88 AUTHORITY, SIR LLEWELLYN EDWARDS, HAS CERTAINLY MADE MY TASK AN EASIER AND MORE PLEASANT ONE. MY SINCERE GRATITUDE TO BOTH OF THEM.
A SPECIAL VOTE OF THANKS SHOULD GO, NEVERTHELESS, TO MY FELLOW COMMISSIONERS-GENERAL AND THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONERS-GENERAL OF SECTION, AND IN PARTICULAR TO THE VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE, MR IAN FRASER, AND THE RAPPORTEUR, MS KATY KALB. WITHOUT THEIR HELP AND UNABATABLE SUPPORT MY JOB WOULD HAVE BEEN AN IMPOSSIBLE ONE.
FOR THE INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPANTS, TO BE A PART OF WORLD EXPO 88, THE ONLY INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION OF THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE IN THE 20TH CENTURY, HAS BEEN A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE. AND IT HAS ALSO BEEN A VERY SPECIAL WAY TO JOIN IN YOUR BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATIONS. THE AUSTRALIANS HAVE CERTAINLY REPLIED IN KIND AS, AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT HAS BEEN THE TREMENDOUS RESPONSE OF THE AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC THAT HAS MADE POSSIBLE THE SUCCESS OF THIS EXPOSITION AND WORTHWHILE OUR PARTICIPATION.
ALLOW ME - ON A PERSONAL NOTE - TO ENCOURAGE EVERYBODY TO REVIVE THE EXPERIENCE IN SPAIN, IN THE UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION OF SEVILLE 1992. I AM SURE YOU WILL NOT BE DELUDED.
ON BEHALF OF THE INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPANTS AT WORLD EXPO 88 BRISBANE, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY: THANK YOU AUSTRALIA.
AND GOODBYE.