In recognition of his eminent public services and of his high position as Prime Minister of Australia.
"There are no greater settlers or citizens of our great country of Australia than those who hail from the land of brown heath and shaggy wood. They helped to hew out homes in the back-blocks, and with their wonderful knowledge of pasture land they squatted down on very large areas of Australia and are today among the most prosperous of its citizens.
The Scots are good mixers. They mix with a community, become part and parcel of it, and although they never forget they are good Scotsmen, they are none the less good Australians, probably better Australians, because they remember the land of their forefathers.
I have found the Scots cheerful, kindly, humorous and generous to a degree. Australia is 97 per cent British, and if the majority of the Britishers in Australia are not Scots, they leaven the mass mighty well, and they get their full share of all the good things that are going. One of the great outstanding characteristics of the Scottish people in Australia, which they have carried from their native country, is their determination to meet their obligations."