Grant KELSON

Student of Charles Sturt University, Australia
Exchange to Yangzhou University, China

Speech delivered at Parliament House, Sydney, New South Wales in September, 2013

The Honourable Barry O’Farrell, Premier of New South Wales, Mr H L Kam, Group Managing Director of Cheung Kong Infrastructure, The Honourable Linda Burney, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, representing the Leader of the Opposition, representatives of the Consular Corps, Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong awardees, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

It is with great humility that I stand before you today to thank Mr Kam and the Cheung Kong Group for the opportunity you have afforded all of the awardees here tonight, and in particular my Family and I.

In 2011 when we first began discussing the idea of an exchange to China with Charles Sturt University, we were looking for a way of expediting my degree and giving my family a “bit” of a holiday to China along the way. I can report to you tonight that our exchange, aided by your scholarship, delivered this and much much more.

I grew up in an, almost exclusively, white anglo community and I would concede that pre 2012 I still held onto a few lingering anxieties about the rapid rise of the Asian “Tiger Economies” and what they might mean for us here Australia.

So when we decided to put all our worldly belongings into storage last year, and bundled our two young sons off to China, it would be fair to say that it didn’t feel all that natural. Indeed to some of our extended family it was sheer madness! However once we arrived in Hong Kong and then throughout China, the hospitality and kindness shown to us, particularly once it was understood that we were Au-dai-li-a Ren, was nothing short of humbling. From the street vendors that prepared our meals, to the teachers and lecturers that have become close friends and the strangers that helped interpret for us at train stations and airports, any preconceived notions of being unwelcome were unfounded and we arrived back home brimming with confidence about Australia’s future as part of Asia, and in particular our family passion, Australian agriculture. We have much to look forward to.

Mr Kam, the scholarship provided by your group helped produce some pleasing academic results, but for my family the reward was so much more than just academic results. The exchange exposed my family and I to a range of cultures we could never have experienced in a holiday or a business trip, and brought about the clear realisation that our respective peoples share much more in common than we have differences. In particular I could not escape the realisation that at the end of the day, whether we are Asians or Australians, blue or white collar, our motivations are the same; a desire to improve the opportunities for those that follow us.

And now for our children, in the future, hopping on a plane to go to Hong Kong or Shanghai for business, study or holidays will be as natural as hopping on a bus or train to Sydney or Melbourne. For us, this has been the greatest gift; A generational advancement in our attitude and understanding of our northern friends and neighbours. No mean feat, and one for which we will be eternally grateful.

Thank you very much.

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