Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO, Announces 2011 Peace Prize Recipient

SPEECH AT 2011 SYDNEY PEACE PRIZE SYDNEY TOWN HALL SYDNEY Wednesday, 1 June 2011

HER EXCELLENCY PROFESSOR MARIE BASHIR AC CVO,

ADMINISTRATOR OF THE COMMONWEALTH

PROFESSOR STUART REES, Director, Sydney Peace Prize Foundation

MS BETH JACKSON, Foundation Chair

MR JOE SKRZYNSKI, Chair, SBS Television

PROFESSOR PETER SLEZAK, University of

DISTINGUISHED GUESTS,

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AND FRIENDS

IT IS A GREAT PLEASURE TO JOIN YOU TONIGHT TO CELEBRATE THE SYDNEY PEACE PRIZE – AN INITIATIVE ESTABLISHED OVER 14 YEARS AGO – BY PROFESSOR STUART REES AND COLLEAGUES WHOSE DETERMINATION TO HOLD HIGH AND ILLUMINATE EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE WHO SOUGHT TO PROMOTE – OFTEN AT GREAT PERSONAL COST – NOT ONLY PEACE, PEACE AT ANY PRICE – BUT PEACE WITH JUSTICE.

THIS IS A FEARLESS COMMITMENT TO THE IDEALS OF A COMMON HUMANITY. AND THE JURY OF THE SYDNEY PEACE PRIZE HAS APPLIED THOSE IDEALS IN THEIR CHOICE OF THE AWARDEES – INDIVIDUALS OF UNWAVERING INTEGRITY, OUTSTANDING MODELS OF COURAGE. INDEED, THE JURY OF EIGHT CITIZENS ARE DRAWN FROM ALL WORKS OF LIFE. AND IN DELIBERATING UPON THE 21 NOMINATIONS FOR THIS YEAR’S PRIZE, I SHOULD TELL YOU THAT THREE CRITERIAWERE ADDRESSED:

` i) EVIDENCE OF GLOBAL COMMITMENT TO PEACE WITH JUSTICE

ii) EVIDENCE OF A CAREER OF COMMITMENT TO THE ATTAINMENT OF UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND THIRDLY iii) LIFETIME EXAMPLES OF THE PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE OF NONVIOLENCE THERE IS NO DOUBT, THAT IN THE WISDOM OF THEIR ENTHUSIASTIC AND UNANIMOUS CHOICE, THEY HAVE, IN MY OPINION, CHOSEN ONE OF THE FINEST INDIVIDUALS OF THE 20TH-21ST CENTURY.

HE IS A LONGSTANDING AMERICAN PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL, A DISTINGUISHED – INDEED RENOWNED LINGUIST, A CHAMPION OF DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS, AND A FEARLESS SOCIAL ACTIVIST. SO IT IS WITH A SENSE OF GREAT PLEASURE AND PERSONAL JOY I TELL YOU THAT THE SYDNEY PEACE PRIZE 2011 HAS BEEN AWARDED TO PROFESSOR NOAM CHOMSKY.

THE JURY’S CITATION FOR THE AWARD REFERS, AMONGST OTHER QUALITIES TO PROFESSOR CHOMSKY’S “UNFAILING COURAGE, DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARSHIP AND EFFECTIVE ACTIVISM IN PROMOTING THE ATTAINMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS”.

NOAM CHOMSKY IS A TOWERING CHAMPION OF FREE SPEECH, AN INCISIVE ANALYST OF POWER STRUCTURES AND A COURAGEOUS CRITIC OF FOREIGN POLICIES, WHEN JUSTIFIED, AT HOME AND ABROAD. HE HAS BEEN DESCRIBED, (AND I QUOTE),

“THE GREATEST INTELLECTUAL INFLUENCE IN THE WESTERN WORLD”.

UNDERSTANDABLY, HUGE CROWDS FLOCK TO HEAR HIM SPEAK. AND WE WILL BE PRIVILEGED TO JOIN SUCH A CROWD ON 2 NOVEMBER 2011 WHEN HE WILL DELIVER THE CITY OF SYDNEY PEACE PRIZE LECTURE. THE FOLLOWING EVENING HE WILL BE PRESENTED WITH THE PRIZE. AND ON THE MORNING OF FRIDAY, 4 NOVEMBER 2011, AS PART OF THE PEACE FESTIVAL BEING HELD AT CABRAMATTA HIGH SCHOOL – A SUPERB EXAMPLE OF MULTICULTURAL LIFE AND LEARNING – HE WILL BE ENTHUSIASTICALLY WELCOMED BY 1,500 STUDENTS. IN CONCLUSION, I WANT TO THANK PROFESSOR REES, MS JACKSON, MEMBERS OF THE JURY AND ALL INVOLVED IN THIS JOURNEY OF CONTINUING ENLIGHTENMENT.