23 NOVEMBER 1996 ADDRESS BY THE PRI M MINISTER
THE HON JOHN HOWARD MIP
TO THE AUSTRALIAIMEW ZEALAND
CHAMER OF COMMERCE F UNCTION
E& OE
Thank you very much Nr Kupa, Mr Wallis, Tim Fischer, the Deputy Prime Minister of
Australia, Alexander Downer, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, ladies and gentlemen.
I'm delighted to be back in the Philippines, I haven't been here for seven or eight
years. I'm particularly delighted to be here at the meeting of the leaders of the APEC
Forum, Mr Wallis spoke about the links between Australia and the nations of the Asia-Pacific
region. I've just come from a meeting with the President of Korea, I've not met him
before. Korea is Australia's second best export market after Japan. In the course of
my exchange with him I reflected upon the fact that within my own electorate of
Bennelong in Sydney there's a suburb called Eastwood that has within it a very
sizeable and vibrant and very successful Korean business community. And that
reflection in the discussion that I had with the Korean President can be mirrored in
bilateral discussions that one has all around the region and it is a remi nder, as
Mr Wallis said, of the for all time association of Australia with the Asia-Pacific region.
The genius of the APEC arrangement is that it brings together such a diverse group of
nations that have a number of things in common and what they have in conunon is of
course a fink to the Asia-Pacific region. They also have in common a commitment to
trade liberalisation. Trade liberalisation is easily stated, easily aspired to, not always
easily achieved.
lIn democracies trade liberalisation involves bringing domestic constituencies along
with the decisions taken by government. Trade liberalisation involves the process of
persuading one section of the community that change which may have a short-term
negative impact on that section of the community is needed in the longer term interests
of the nation as a whole. And the process of trade liberalisation must go on and the
goals that can be achieved if the APEC ideal of trade liberalisation in relation to the
developed countries by the year 2010 and the developing countries by the year 2020, if
that ideal can be achieved then this generation of political leaders in the region. this
generation of men and women in business in the region will have made a very great
contribution to the living standards and the prosperity of the nations of the region.
I want especially to thank the Vice-President of the Philippines who was here early this
evening. I want to join Mr Wallis in paying tribute to President Ramos for the
democratic leadership that he has given to this country, the way in which the
institutions and the economy of the Philippines have been strengthened under his
leadership, He is a good friend to Australia, he has close family links in Australia. We
received him as a visitor to our country only last year and I do enjoy very much the
opportunity of being a recipient of his hospitality.
I want to thank the companies that are investing in the Philippines. I want to thank the
personnel associated with those companies for the job they are doing, not only for their
own companies but also the job they are doing in a sense as ambassadors of Australia
to this part of the world.
I'd also like to take the opportunity of thanking people associated with the Australian
mission in Manila, with the activities of AusAID and there are a number of
representatives of the mission, apart from the Ambassador and representatives of
AusAfl) who axe here. Because Australia's association with the Philippines with the
APEC region is a diverse one it is not just a question of facilitating the flows of trade
and investment it is also a question of building the people, the people links. Of
intelligently applying our aid, of encouraging the flows of people.
Earlier this afternoon I saw the Prime Minister of Malaysia and we reflected upon the
fact that something like a 130,000 Malaysians were educated in Australia. It's an
association that's very important in buttressing the bilateral relationships between our
two countries and that particular link is something that we regard in Australia as being
very important. One could go on all evening in talking about the diversity and the
complexity of the relationship that does exist between Australia and the region.
We have just had the opportunity in Australia of hosting a visit from the President of
the United States, IS& Clinton. And both of us in our public comments talked about
the importance of the future together we share in this part of the world and it is a
fuiture to which my government is very strongly committed. It's a fulture which I
believe Australia can make a very positive contribution towards. It is a future which
has as its goal an ideal of peace, an ideal higher of living standards and idea of a free
flow between the peoples of the various nations of the region and also an ideal of
mutual respect of recognising that one of the great strengths of the APEC association
as indeed one of the great strengths of the Australian nation is the cultural diversity
that we have. The fact that there are so many people in Australian who were born in
the region is one of the things that makes it better and easier for us to relate to the
region. So ladies and gentlemen can I say again how delighted I am to be here tonight. I wish
all of you the very best of good corporate fortune. I thank the Chamber and the other
organisations for having me here tonight.
I celebrate the fact that it is very much an Australian week here at the Hotel and the
very pleasant drop of white that I was savouring a moment ago, and to which I & m.
anxious to return is a nice reminder of the distinctive capacities that Australia in the
area of food and wine brings to the region. I mean there is nothing quite like a
reminder of the quality of the food arnd wine that our nation produces.
It's an enormous privilege can I finally say to travel through this region as the Prime
Minister of Australia because I travel as the leader of a nation that has a very rich
history of involvement in the region, a nation that is whole-hearted about its
association with the people and the countries of the region and also a nation which is
very proud of its own traditions, its own distinctive character. And I think the essence
of any mutual association between nations as is the essence of any mutual association
between people is an acceptance of the things that we have in common and also a
recognition that from time to time we may be different and we may disagree on things.
But if good will exi* sts in the long term our association can be a very strong and a very
deep one.
Ladies and gentlemen thank you very much, it's a great pleasure to be here and I wish
you all well. Thank you.