Centenary of the Canberra Times

Thank you so much, JP.

I also join in acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the Land on which we meet, and I pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, as well as to all First Nations people with us here this evening.

To the Governor-General, Your Excellency, it is wonderful to be with you as well.

And I think you are doing an extraordinary job, and I say, more than fulfilling the confidence that I had in you.

And at a time where you've added kindness – kindness, I said in a different context once a couple of years ago – kindness isn't weakness.

It is something that we need more of.

I do want to acknowledge all the special guests who are here.

I acknowledge all the dignitaries.

But particularly I want to acknowledge all of you who are either current or past contributors to making The Canberra Times the success that it is, getting to a centenary here.

So, whether you are reporters, whether you're people who work in the back rooms,

But also the people who just make a difference putting it together, a newspaper.

I'm a bit like Her Excellency, I get it delivered there to The Lodge every morning.

I'm old school – I pick up the paper and read it rather than online first thing in the morning.

I haven't quite stopped – sometimes, the papers get delivered at exactly the same time as Toto's going out for her morning constitutional.

And so far, there haven't been any incidents beyond growling at the poor AFP officers who just leave the paper from the front.

But it is indeed something that I look forward to each and every day.

And indeed, Geoff Pryor, who I don't think I've actually met, there is a Pryor cartoon from the 1990s, I think probably the first one in which I featured, in my electorate office in Marrickville, before I was a Member of Parliament.

One of the things about really great cartoonists such as Geoff, is they can be insightful, humorous, witty –  and without being nasty.

And Pryor was that, he gave us an insight each and every day.

And I know that as someone who has spent a fair bit of my life now in this great city of Canberra, that is something that sits literally behind my desk there in Marrickville.

It is an absolute pleasure to be with you here tonight.

JP actually texted me about this idea many months ago, and I said, 'yep, I'll be there'.

Because I think that to celebrate a milestone not just in the Australian media landscape, but I see this event very much as a celebration of this great city.

A city that I note is represented by Katy here, as well as Andrew, Dave, Alicia, and Senator Dave, as well, are all here.

Says something that every representative in the Federal Parliament from the ACT is here with us this evening about how important it is.

Because The Canberra Times is a story of courage and vision.

It’s a story of resilience, innovation, and survival through every upheaval of war, recession and pandemic.

Through the rapid evolution of media consumption and the shifting tides of ownership.

Crucially, it’s interwoven with the story of this city.

When the first issue of The Canberra Times appeared, the population here was a modest 5,000.

Parliament still sat in Melbourne, Lake Burley Griffin was a future dream, and Summernats were still six decades away.

Yet here you were – and here you have proudly remained.

Every city deserves its own masthead, a newspaper that becomes an inseparable part of a city’s identity and the sense of community that it its truest heartbeat.

Yet Canberra has always been more than just a city. It’s been an idea, a dream, and a bundle of paradoxes.

It’s our national capital – but also a regional city, and our largest inland city, as I remind people.

It’s a symbol – but also a daily reality for roughly half a million people.

And though it’s far from the coastal fringe that is home to the majority of Australians, it holds the heart of the democracy of our entire people.

This made for a few complexities when it came to designing a newspaper, but the challenge was adroitly seized by the founding Shakespeare family.

Not least patriarch Thomas Shakespeare, who had long been an advocate of a national capital.

As your very own Jack Waterford, who is here with us, of course, this evening, once noted of the embryonic city:

“Its newspaper would have to have a national outlook. This did not mean that it would not be closely focused on the affairs of Canberra, and the doings of its citizens, but it did mean it would have to rise above the petty and parochial to embrace what Canberra was all about …

… being the first city of the nation, the centre of parliamentary and executive government, and the home of people closely concerned with the affairs of people in the states and territories, and with Australia's relationship with the wider world.”

The description applies just as fittingly to the city and the newspaper, and what you detect is a sense of ownership that spreads far beyond the ACT border.

On Sunday, I had the honour of speaking at the Australian War Memorial.

Every time I go there, I think of what Prime Minister John Curtin said at its opening in 1941. In his words:

“This Memorial belongs, like the capital city itself, to all Australia.”

A sentiment that is both beautiful and powerful in its simplicity.

And it captures one of the great elements of Canberra – you don’t have to live here to feel like you have a stake in it.

And a part of that is the institutions to which Canberra is home.

Institutions in which my Government has proudly invested because they hold elements of our nation in their most concentrated essence.

Among them, of course, The Australian War Memorial, with the amazing new work that has been done there and now opened.

The National Gallery of Australia

The National Film and Sound Archive

The National Archives

The National Jewish Memorial Centre

The National Library

The mighty CSIRO

And of course what gets every school group excited?

Of course, Questacon – that great highlight of any school excursion.

And of course, Australia's most visited building, Parliament House, there up on the hill.

And of course, one of those institutions we're celebrating tonight, The Canberra Times, deserves to be considered just as important as those national institutions.

And, of course, the Museum of Australian Democracy – the Old Parliament House, which plays such a unique role in the civic education of our country.

2027 is a particularly special year for Old Parliament House – for it will be 100 years since the “Provisional Parliament” was opened.

Earlier this year, I established a Joint Parliamentary Select Committee on the Centenary of Parliament in Canberra, led by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Sharon Claydon, and former Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack, to advise on how we best recognise this anniversary.

So it is with great pride that I formally announce that next April, the Parliament will sit for a day at Old Parliament House.

We will have Question Time, legislation and other statements to be experienced in those chambers for the very first time, of course, in decades.

Celebrating and learning from our democratic institutions is more important than ever, a great opportunity this centenary provides us all.

Just as a well-functioning Parliament and transparent electoral system are essential for a flourishing democracy and the way of life it underpins, so, too, is a healthy, independent media.

And I do want to acknowledge The Canberra Times and community media for the work that you have done in difficult circumstances.

The truth is that in major parts of the world, newspapers are disappearing.

Journalism, though, is never more important today than it has ever been.

One of the reasons for, I think, a decline in social cohesion is that the common experience which brought us together, when everyone read the same news and everyone saw the same news at night, at whatever channel they chose to look at.

There was much more commonality in what brought us together, and what we discussed in common discourse and healthy debate about what we thought about that. 

But now that news is consumed largely by devices and in ways that is far more diverse, but also far less capable of being checked and being accountable.

This is an issue that we have to deal with.

It's why we have been part of what is a global debate taking place about not how we control through government new technology, but how people themselves can have control with the development of new technology, including whether that be choosing whether people receive algorithms or not, or whether people actually are in control of what they receive.

And AI, of course, is absolutely crucial going forward.

AI is real – it's not going to be put back in the bottle.

So, we need to engage to shape AI now, so that AI stands for Australia's interests.

And for the media, that is very important going forward.

Which is why I want to acknowledge the bipartisan work that has taken place on the committee, doing work leading up to Australian Standards for AI, which will be crucial for making that case.

And similarly, the News Bargaining Incentive, our world-leading legislation that will help keep our media sector vibrant and sustainable, ensuring that the big digital platforms pay their way.

If you have produced intellectual work, that is your property.

It should not be taken without appropriate compensation, and that has been important as well.

These are challenges which we have to deal with in 2026, but which my government is determined to do so. 

And there is nowhere that is more important than in a city such as Canberra, which has The Canberra Times, one newspaper that plays such a vital role and is so essential for the life of this great city.

So, The Canberra Times is a vital part of our history – we need it to be a vibrant part of our future as well.

Challenges abound, of course – but it’s hard to think of a time when that wasn’t the case.

Indeed, it is instructive to return to what then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser said in 1976 when The Canberra Times was celebrating its 50th birthday:

“In these days, when many great international newspapers and journalists have closed their doors and others are reducing in size because of cost pressures, it is a most significant achievement for a newspaper to celebrate a half century.”

Well, this is twice as good. Twice as good, clearly.

So, it is quite a remarkable achievement. 

It is a proud testament to all of you, and all who have gone before you.

Congratulations. Happy centenary. Here’s to a bright future.

PM&C acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, water and community. We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the elders past, present and emerging.