Vew from the chair: Speeches of Richard WL Austin

It is not for me to say anything about the exhibition itself. That is the privilege of the Hon. Sir Llewellyn Edwards. My task tonight is to introduce him and that is both a pleasant and an easy one because, in point of fact, he is so well known to all of us that he hardly needs any introduction at all. Let me simply say that he is a man who adorns all he touches, as Dr Johnson once said of a distinguished contemporary. He has been, in his day, a brilliant doctor and a highly successful politician, widely respected, admired and, indeed, loved, a difficult trifecta for a politician, and he is now Sir Expo 88. He will go down in history as the man who did so much to put Brisbane and Queensland on the international map in large letters. We in the Gallery are grateful to him for agreeing, despite all his commitments, to open this exhibition tonight, and it gives me great pleasure indeed to ask him if he will now do so. Ladies and gendemen, Sir Llewellyn Edwards. 12 Speech to thank Mr Jonah Jones, consultant to the Moet & Chandon Foundation, and to introduce the Hon. Brian Austin, Minister for Finance, to open the Moet & Chandon exhibition for 1989, 31 August 1989 This evening, I have two very pleasant duties to perform on behalf of the Trustees and staff of the Queensland Art Gallery. The first is to thank our friend and supporter of the Gallery-Meet & Chandon through its Foundation's Consultant, Mr Jonah Jones. The second is to introduce another-the Hon. Brian Austin, Minister for Finance, who has kindly agreed to open the exhibition. The Gallery is happy and proud to be associated with Moet & Chandon and its touring exhibition now hanging in Galleries 3 and I •. We welcome corporate sponsorship which has, in recent years, played an increasingly important role in the world of art by facilitating the acquisition of major paintings ... I believe it is highly desirable, and also appropriate, for a great art gallery to have a close and cooperative relationship with a great champagne maker. Art and champagne have it in common that they both do much to enrich and embellish our lives. Indeed, it could safely be said that they are the two most civilised drugs of addiction available to modern man. This aspect was once very nicely put by Madame Lily Bollinger, whose company makes a champagne of that name--not, of course, in the same league as Moet Bi Chandon; ~ut not all that far behind either. Moet & Chandon, after all, has the unique original statue of Dom Perignon, the monk who is credited with inventing champagne, in the forecourt of their Chateau at Epernay. Madame Bollinger is reported to have said: I drink champagne when I am happy and I drink it when I am sad. Sometimes I drink it when I am alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it when I am not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise. I never touch the stuff-except when I am thirsty. 130