BOB Dwyer may have been known as “barbed wire” to the Wallabies players he once coached, but the hard man of rugby union showed his softer side at Australia Day celebrations in Berrima on Monday.
As guest speaker at Wingecarribee Shire’s official Australia Day ceremony at the Berrima Courthouse, Mr Dwyer battled tears as he described his love for Australia,
“I’m a very emotional person,” he told listeners.
“I just love all Australia stands for.
“I love her wide blue skies: To me they represent opportunity, the wide embracing arms that tell me anything is possible, nothing is excluded from me.”
Mr Dwyer said he loved the soft colours of the bush, the “endless sea” that circles the coast and cools the land, and the way Australians were prepared to risk failure and have a go in order to achieve something.
“But most of all I love the way Australia has developed through people like you here today who have decided to adopt Australia and its people.”
Mr Dwyer said the 17 people who became Australian citizens on Monday had chosen to start a new life in a new country.
“What you have brought from your country of birth and given to your country of choice made us what we are today,” he said.
“...I am, you are, we are Australians.”
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