Margaret Durack / Maddison:
I believe that it's a fact that men are interested in meeting their prospective mothers-in-law with a view to seeing how their wives may turn out. Well I think the same is true for women. And when I met Bill in the early 1970s I knew immediately that he was a very special man, and that I would be very lucky to be his daughter-in-law, and in fact that is the case, and always will be.
Bill, all my contact with you has been warm and full of joy, and I treasure it. I like the way you rake the leaves, and I like the way you write people's names on your palm before you go to social events, and I even like the red pen you use to put asterisks on the official documents and underline the 'Sign here' bits for us.
It's also a fact that things that we value most, things that we achieve through hard work. And I want to publicly thank Noni for her wonderful friendship. We have many wonderful conversations, we support each other, and we know the issues to avoid.
Now Geordie, along with all of us, knows that his grandmother, Nona, has grace, intelligence, creativity, culture, energy and is lots of fun. And last year he was actually tickled pink to discover yet another element of his Grandmother. Jim and Geordie and I and Bill and Noni had a weekend together at the North Coast, and it was wonderful. And amongst other things, we played quite a lot of cards, and Nona could not win a trick; and finally she said, 'Bugger!'
We love you both.
APPLAUSE
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