Transcript of speech at the Australian launch of the UN Year of Sanitation – Parliament House, Canberra - 17 June 2008

Distinguished guests, your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it’s easy for people to be cynical when there’s another announcement of another year of something, because we are always campaigning around the international year of this and that, and none of them appeal to everybody. They all have a target audience.

Sometimes, years later, you look back and see how impact they’ve had, but I’m sure that if you went into the street and asked ordinary citizens of this country or most countries whether the first thing we needed to do was have an International Year of Sanitation, they might not immediately respond, but I really want to challenge that. In my view, this is an excellent decision by the United Nations. I’m very excited about it.