Vew from the chair: Speeches of Richard WL Austin

strict about time, and I shan't be able to waffle on as I used to in the good old days to my heart's content, without let or hindrance. To ensure that this doesn't happen, I have drafted a few short paragraphs with no quotations-you will be relieved to hear-from the English poets, or from Dr Johnson. First of all, I want to thank the Director, the Trustees and the Foundation Council for arranging this very special gathering to celebrate my AO, and the Director personally for his very generously worded speech. Second, I want to thank all of you-my close friends and colleagues-for being here this evening. Many of you have already written letters of congratulations and these have given me, needless to say, a great deal of pleasure. Indeed, so many of them contained the words, 'well deserved honour', that I was beginning to believe, such is one's capacity for self delusion, that it had all been my own work. Then a letter arrived from the Premier which put me back in my box, so to speak. I suppose all Premier's letters are designed to do just that. After some kind words about me he went on to say: 'I am sure you will agree that you could not have performed this important service to the community without the support of family and friends'. How right he is! Without family and friends, our potential for achievement in any field is greatly diminished. As you·know, my immediate family is small in number but large in everything else. Arija has, over the years, been a constant source of inspiration and wise advice in all my endeavours and for that I shall be forever in her debt. She also has the engaging habit of blowing a kiss at me when I am making a speech. It is her code for 'keep it short and sweet'. It is said that any man who is out there in front has a woman close behind him. The trouble with Arija is that she is the one who is usually out in front. I have had to do a lot of running to keep up with her. By chance another member of my family is here tonight-one of my American nephews, David Redden, a director of Sothebys, New York. He has been carrying around a document which, like many abstract paintings, will be intelligible to only a handful of people in the whole world. It is called the Einstein Manuscript and he expects to get four or five million dollars. The age of miracles is still with us. If anyone wants to make a pre-emptive bid after I have finished, he will be happy to take it. As for friends, let me first say that it was the Gallery and Griffith University which provided me with a forum in which to express my ideas about art and international relations, even if they did not always agree with what I said. I particularly want to thank the Trustees of the Gallery, the Director and the Deputy Director, Doug Hall and Caroline Turner, for their belief in me; and at Griffith, Ted Bray (the inaugural Chancellor), Roy Webb (the Vice-Chancellor), and Hugh Dunn (the editor of the Australians in Asia series). Without these people, I could have achieved little or nothing. Finally, looking around the room, I can see a number of my friends who have already been appointed to the Order of Australia-Archbishop Peter Hollingworth, Hugh Dunn, Eric Finger, Lindsay Buckley, to name but a few. Let me just say that I am proud to belong to a club of which they are distinguished members. 170