Tony Abbott’s humour and insights captivate Kyabram fundraising dinner

Introduced by Pastor David Lloyd, Mr Abbott started his address with a quick retort: “Thanks David for mentioning the revolving door prime ministership, I still have PTSD over that.”

He suggested he would benefit from counselling from chaplain Liz Spicer.

And when it came to auctioning off donated items, the list of goods included a pair of framed, signed “budgie smugglers”, a pair of swimmers made famous from a well-publicised dip in the sea, and the description Mr Abbott insisted on changing to “eagle smugglers”.

They sold for $500 to Jack Norris.

Mr Abbott praised the work of chaplaincy.

“We might think it’s a smallish town of country Victoria ... but we are all part of something called western civilisation,” he said.

“This is the best thing that humanity has come up with, yet.

“Thanks to western civilisation and the Anglo-American ascendancy the world very recently is as fair, free, safe and as rich as any time in human history.

“If you ask yourself ‘What is it that is distinct about western civilisation?’, in the end, it comes back to the kind of values that permeate the Christian gospels.“

He said politics was based on equality, and the underlying principle was that everyone was made in the image and likeness of God.

Mr Abbott’s response to a question about the prevalence of the Indigenous Welcome to Country ceremonies and the flying of the Aboriginal flag received applause.

He said the welcomes were a relatively recent development.

“Initially it seemed to be a nice, polite way of acknowledging that Aboriginal people hadn’t always got a real good deal and we are doing our best to make up for it,” he said.

“But when you hear people talking about: always was, always will be, unceded land, and they start talking about Invasion Day, it stops being unifying and starts being divisive.

“Sure when NAIDOC Week, the anniversary of the apology, or something like that, let’s fly the Aboriginal flag. Likewise maybe on special days there could be acknowledgement, but as a matter of course before the opening of an envelope, and the beginning of every meeting or start of every lecture at university, no way.”

He urged the people to be careful about depressing the next generation about our prospects and warned about adopting a victimhood mindset.

“We have got to encourage people to look realistically at life, and to cherish all the good things we have,” he said.

“Most of us have good homes, most of us have decent parents, most of us are treated well by our neighbours, most of us have good employers.”

Kyabram P-12 College chaplain Liz Spicer was also honoured at the chaplaincy fundraising dinner.

Victorian Korus Connect state chaplaincy chief executive Dawn Penny said Ms Spicer was the longest serving chaplain in Victoria and she had positively impacted many teachers’ and students’ lives.

Ms Penny said the support from the community, including the school, was an example of how the area had embraced Liz and her work.

Speaking to the Free Press on Friday night, Mr Abbott also praised Ms Spicer for her work.

“Liz has obviously been a chaplain here for 25 years,” he said.

“That’s a fabulous record and I’m delighted to be here to support it.”

Ms Penny noted that Ms Spicer had gone beyond what could ordinarily be expected of a chaplain in supporting those in need.

In her response, Ms Spicer remarked on how supportive and generous the people of Kyabram were.

“People come up to me and give me money and lots of other things, including food,” shesaid.

Half of the costs of the two Kyabram P-12 chaplains are met by community fundraising.

Speaking to the Free Press on Monday, Ms Spicer said it was nice to be acknowledged in front of the home crowd that actually kept you in chaplaincy.

“It really is a wonderful thing and it’s a real miracle every day ... how it’s been running for this amount of time,” she said.

Ms Spicer said it was through chaplaincy that such a large amount of donations of food and clothes came in to support Year 12s and families.

She said it was all from the community and the churches of Kyabram, and “that’s no small feat because we’re not a big town”.

Final fundraising totals from the night are expected to be confirmed later this week.

Here are just some of the 200 supporters that turned out on the night, demonstrating the community’s deep commitment to chaplaincy.