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I would like to open today by reading you part of an e-mail that a work colleague of mine received recently from a young Australian woman in her early twenties, who recently completed her Bachelor of Communications degree from UTS in Sydney. As it happens she also holds Polish citizenship and is currently visiting her grandparents in Warsaw.

But people with disability for the most part were either invisible within mainstream education, or invisible because they were excluded and segregated off somewhere else.

I also acknowledge representatives here of the disability community and the telecommunications industry. Also of course I acknowledge Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Mr John Pinnock and his staff.

Racism is a curb on our potential, and on our full humanity. It holds us back; it slows us down, and stops us bringing our best to the table. Let’s not shirk from this one, then. Let’s use our talents not only to call racism when we see it, but to envisage a nation beyond it – one confident enough to own its challenges; one capable enough to meet them, one fortunate enough to share in the results.

"....the fundamental conflict in the next millennium will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural"...

Allow me to commence by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, and by so doing remind ourselves that Australia's cultural traditions stretch back many thousands of years. I acknowledge also people with disabilities here together with advocates and other conference participants.

I want to tell you two stories about Greg. They cover different phases of his life, but illustrate the problems that face us as people with print disabilities.

I am very pleased to be able to contribute to this Forum and would like to congratulate the co-convenors, Rhonda and Fiona, and their organisations for this initiative, which is just one part of the Disability Advisory Council's Disability Action Plan Project running throughout 2006.

I also acknowledge Ministers with us here today; Ambassador Don Mackay joining us from New Zealand by video link; and many friends and colleagues from the disability and human rights community.

On behalf of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (hereafter referred to as the Commission), I welcome the opportunity to make this statement.

George Bernard Shaw once said that the only alternative to torture in life is art. I'm not sure that you could my presentation this morning art, but I do hope it isn't torture.