Saturday 12 April 2003
Speech by Bob Laws, President of the Rotary Club of Unley

Following a proposal by the Council, the Rotary Club of Unley decided to contribute to the establishment of this Bali memorial. We did so in order that present and future generations as they pass here, would pause and quietly reflect on that terrible day last October, that day when Bob Marshall, Josh Deegan and many other innocent and unsuspecting people fell victim to the work of fanatics.

The impact of this tragedy was particularly felt in the Unley area. The trauma and distress to those involved, their relatives, friends, colleagues and supporters has scarred our community.

The lessons of history must be learned if the errors of the past are to be avoided in future. Rotary is working on this. Rotary international has very recently established peace centres in eight leading universities worldwide. Each year, 70 or more scholars are being selected to undertake two-year research programs into ways of achieving peace and better world understanding.

One of the main objectives of the 1.2 million members of Rotary is to advance international good will and peace. This objective dates back almost to the year of Rotary's founding in 1905. For many years we have been doing this by arranging and funding meetings between peoples of many countries and cultures. For example, there is an exchange program where youths in their late teens spend a year overseas, hosted by Rotarians. Last year we had a splendid young South African stay with us here in Unley. Later this year, a girl from Finland will join us for 12 months. In exchange, two high school students from our area will be hosted in France and Belgium for a year.

Rotary also arranges and funds travel overseas for young business and professional people. They spend five weeks as ambassadors for Australia and our way of life, as well as sharing experiences with people in equivalent vocations overseas. Teams from Japan and the USA are touring our state right now, and groups of south Australians will soon travel to be hosted in these countries.

The Rotary Club of Unley is also donating money via the Red Cross to assist Indonesian people who were victims of the tragedy.

The Unley club is one of over 1,000 clubs in Australia. Many of these other clubs are also contributing in a variety ways with respect to the Bali bombings.

The Rotary Club of Unley is proud to join with the Unley Council and the Sturt Football Club on this occasion.

The club will continue to serve the community as best we can and, in our own small way, join in contributing to a better understanding between peoples.

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