ovember 1996
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER
THE HON JOHN HOWARD MP
ADDRESS AT THE OPENING OF THE R. G. CASEY BUILDING
BARTON, CANBERRA
E& EO
Thank you very much Alexander; to my other Ministerial colleagues; to Gareth Evans,
the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, and most particularly to three former Prime
Ministers Sir John Gorton, Mr Gough Whitlam and Mr Malcolm Fraser. And as I look
around the room I really am reminded that gathered here today are people who, either
themselves or through their direct family connections, were influential in or shaped the
Foreign Affairs and Trade policies of Australia over a very long period of time. As well
as, of course, acknowledging the presence of the late Dr Evatt's daughter and the grand
daughter of the late Lord Casey. I also, of course, acknowledge the presence of the
daughter of Australia's longest serving Prime Minister, Mrs Heather Henderson, and her
husband, Mr Peter Henderson, himself a former Secretary of the Department of Foreign
Affairs. I really am delighted to be here today to open this magnificent building, to say a few
words about the legacy of Richard Casey to the conduct of Australian foreign policy and
also a few things about the contemporary viewpoint of foreign policy.
You might ask why it is that this building should be named after Richard Gardiner Lord
Casey. One reason the obvious one already stated by the Foreign Minister was that he
was our longest-serving foreign minister, serving in that capacity for nine years under the
prime ministership of Robert Menzies from April 1951 to January 1960.
While that record length of service by itself makes Casey a very appropriate choice, there
are other compelling reasons. Casey's nine years as foreign minister were only one
highlight of a remarkably varied and distinguished public life which spanned almost half a
century. As well as other ministerial appointments in the Lyons and Menzies governments, Casey
served as Australia's first political liaison officer in London from 1924 to 193 1.
Although he was not officially described as such, he was Australia's first ambassador in
Washington in the second world war years, from 1940 to 1942. He was minister of state
for the Middle East in the British war cabinet from 1943 to 1944, followed by two years
as Governor of Bengal. His public life culminated when he was appointed Governor-
General of Australia in 1965, and if my political memory serves me correctly, he was
defeated I don't know how narrowly by the then R G Menzies for leadership of the
United Australia Party after the death of Lyons in the late 1930Os.
Casey's public career was marked not just by its length and diversity. It was a career
distinguished by the personal qualities and values including a deep integrity, honour and
abiding respect for others with which Casey lived out his public duties, and by which he
lived through the eighty-six years of his life.
Walter Crocker captured well the essence of Casey when he wrote of him: ' He was not
an ideologist of any hue or shape. His loyalty was to the truth and to good government'.
In the past, some people questioned his Australianness. What a furphy. He gave
unstinting commitment to Australia, from the time he joined the Australian Imperial
Force in 1914, including his service on Gallipoli and later on the Western front.
Much of his life was spent living or travelling abroad. He had an enormous range of
personal contacts friends, colleagues, acquaintances in Britain, the United States,
Europe and Asia. He did feel a special affinity with Britain. But for all his overseas
experiences and connections, Casey's home was Australia. He remained an Australian at
heart wherever he was.
So it's very fitting to name this building after such an eminent and honourable Australian.
And it also happens to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of his death.
The naming of the building also reminds us that both sides of politics have made major
contributions over the years to Australia's international achievements. Apart from Casey
himself, the contributions of Dr Evatt, Sir John McEwen, Doug Anthony, who I noticed
has arrived and is sitting down at the rear of the hall, and Gareth Evans who all served
as Ministers for Trade or Foreign Affairs for over seven years are all recognised
appropriately by having areas of the building or its surroundings named after them.
We are reminded by the presence of so many former Prime Ministers here today of the
role played in shaping Australia's foreign relations by both sides of Australian politics. It
was under Malcolm Fraser's government, for example, of which I was a member, that
Australia welcomed more Indo-Chinese refugees per capita than any other nation in the
world. As Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam opened up our modern relationship with
China. A relationship to be built upon in different ways by successive Prime Ministers
from both sides of the political fence, and a relationship which remains as important, if
not more important, to Australia today than it was in the early 1970s. John Gorton was
responsible on the Australian side for the Five Power Defence Arrangements which
remain an important element in the security of Malaysia and Singapore.
It is fitting, given the occupant of the building, that Casey's preoccupations and legacy as
Foreign Minister mesh so well, today and into the future, with the pursuit of Australia's
national interests through our foreign and trade policies.
While Casey's term as Foreign Minister was marked by many achievements, two have
particular resonance in laying the groundwork for Australia's strong engagement today in
the Asia-Pacific region.
The first was his leadership, to which Alexander has already referred, in building links
with Asian nations.
On Casey's retirement as minister for external affairs, the then Prime Minister, Sir
Robert Menzies, said in tribute that Casey had ' done more than any other man to
cultivate friendship with our Asian neighbours, and to improve the mutual understanding
which is the true foundation of peace'.
From the outset, Casey was in no doubt, as he remarked in an August 1951 entry in his
voluminous diaries that, and I quote:-' South-east Asia is of the greatest importance to
Australia'. That conviction was expressed in his energetic and productive pursuit of
closer relations with the countries he called Australia's ' friends and neighbours'.
Casey's statements during his visit to Japan in 1951 were seen then and since to have
marked the first real movement from enmity to close cooperation between Australia and
Japan after the end of World War II. He foresaw the importance of bringing China into
the international community.
Casey's was a practical approach. He established and widened his personal contacts with
regional leaders. He expanded Australia's diplomatic representation in the Asia region.
He promoted the humanitarian and strategic value of technical and other assistance
through the Colombo Plan. He played a vital role in negotiating the SEATO treaty.
He took issue very strongly with the White Australia policy. He saw the White Australia
policy, and the way in which it was implemented, as an unnecessary and offensive barrier
to Australia's relations with our neighbours. He worked against it in a quiet but
persistent way, helping to prepare the ground for its eventual abolition.
At the end of his term, Casey was able to reflect, with justified satisfaction, that
' Australia was accepted in South-east Asia as a country with a significant interest in the
region, seeking relations of good will and cooperation and prepared to make a tangible
contribution to the management of the region's problems'.
In a speech marking Casey's death, Gough Whitlam then leader of the Opposition said
that Casey was one of the first Australian statesmen to recognise the importance of Asia
to Australia. He said that Casey, and I quote:-' had a regard, almost a love, for Asians
which was free of sentimentality and rooted in a knowledge of their history and the
diverse cultures of the region'.
It is on the foundation established by him that we continue to build our engagement with
our neighbours and make our strong contribution to the Asia-Pacific region today.
His second achievement of enduring importance was the deepening of Australia's
relations with the United States.
He was convinced that the United States with its economic, military and technological
capabilities would be crucial to our security in that he knew would be the vastly
changed strategic circumstances in post World War 11 specific affairs.
The ANZUS treaty was negotiated and concluded in 1951 by Percy Spender. Casey
cemented the alliance, and took it forward as an active reality. He was convinced not
only of its political and strategic worth to Australia, but also of its importance to the
security of the region
In developing our relations with the nations of Asia and reinforcing the alliance with the
United States, Casey did not lose sight of the continuing value to Australia of traditional
associations with the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. His approach to
Australia's foreign relations was a comprehensive and interconnected exercise. He saw
the scope for Australia's relationships with individual countries to reinforce and benefit
each other and to achieve Australia's regional and international goals.
I respected Casey, as a person and a politician, for his role in helping lead Australia to
make its way in and adapt to a changing world. Having so recently welcomed President
Clinton to Australia and participated in the APEC leaders' meeting in Manila, I am even
more struck by the foresight of Casey and his legacy.
I am sure that Casey would have taken great pleasure in the President's visit. That visit
was an emphatic and unambiguous demonstration of the continuing vitality of the
partnership between Australia and the United States. The welcome which both President
Clinton and his wife were given by the Australian people said as much as any words
about the closeness and warmth of the ties between our two countries.
But the message of that visit and the earlier steps my government took to reinvigorate
the alliance at the time of the AUSMI N talks in July was not just about the importance
of our bilateral relationship and the strength of its historical and cultural roots. The
message both to the Australian and the American people and to the people of the region
was also of the contemporary relevance of our partnership, including the ANZUS
alliance, in pursuing the shared future of Australia and the United States in the Asia-
Pacific region.
Of course, it is only to be expected that we will have different perspectives from the
United States from time to time. Each of us has our own specific national circumstances
and interests. But Australia and the United States have both over-riding common
interests at stake economic, political and strategic in working together and with other
regional countries to ensure stability and continued economic growth in the Asia Pacific.
Our relationship with the United States is naturally complementary with the closeness of
our relationships with the other members of the Asia-Pacific community.
Along with our links with the United States, those relationships with Japan, Indonesia,
China, and Korea, to name just a few individually and collectively form the building
blocks of Australia's engagement in the region.
During my visits in September to Indonesia and Japan, I reinforced the new
Government's commitment to strengthening Australia's cooperation with these two of
our most important partners.
China's success in fulfilling its potential is important to Australia, as it is to the rest of the
region. At my meeting with President Jiang Zemin in Manila, I told him that I was committed to
developing further the fundamentally sound relationship between Australian and China a
commitment that I'm happy to say was reciprocated by the President. I look forward to
giving further practical demonstration of that commitment when I visit China in the first
half of next year.
A China fully involved in the economic and political affairs of the Asia-Pacific region
would be a force for stability in our region, as well as a proper expression of the huge
potential of the region's most populous nation.
I met also for the first time President Kim Young Sam. I also assured him of the priority
my Government gave to our relationship with Korea which Australia's second largest
export market and a very important political partner. That relationship is expanding
dramatically and gaining a wider base as our people-to-people links strengthen through
education and tourism.
We'll continue to work at strengthening all of our regional relationships. Each country in
Asia has its own dynamics, its own characteristics, and its own importance and its own
separate national characteristics.
I am confident especially after my visits to Indonesia and Japan, the meetings in Manila
with other regional leaders and my discussions with the United States President that
Australia's contribution to the region is both recognised, wanted and valued.
Our engagement with the region is as strong as it is not only because our interests require
it, but because our regional partners also have an interest in our active participation.
Under the Coalition Australia will be an energetic and unreserved contributor to the
region, not only by strengthening our close partnerships with other nations in the region,
but also through practical support for regional prosperity and stability.
Australia has so much to offer in our people, our distinct national identity, our natural
resources, our skills, our technological innovativeness and our political and social
stability. The people from Asia who have settled in Australia have come here because of the sort
of country we are. They are welcome because of the qualities with which they enrich our
society, our economy and our culture. And they are an especially valued link with our
neighbours in the region.
We do not need, as a nation, need to turn ourselves into something we are not in order to
be confident of our place in the region. We do not have to pass tests set by others any
more than we should be setting tests for others to pass.
But we do have to measure ourselves against the region in some important respects if we
are to achieve the prosperity we seek. We cannot, for example, expect to benefit simply
because we live cheek by jowl with the major source of the world's economic growth.
We have to be competitive enough to profit from it.
The one thing we can say with certainty about the future is that the regional and global
environment will continue to change rapidly. Looking back over his years as Foreign
Minister, Casey himself remarked on ' the speed with which human affairs can change'.
At the APEC leaders meeting I described globalisation as perhaps the most potent
economic force in the world today. An economic revolution has been wrought by free
movement of capital and the rapid pace and spread of technological change.
We talk a lot about the impact of globalisation on sovereignty because of the pressures
that a global economy puts on the policy-making of individual national governments.
While outside influences impinge more and more on domestic issues, it is likewise true
that practically no domestic policy act in any country is without some repercussion
elsewhere. And our domestic policy positions have a direct bearing on the effectiveness
with which we can pursue our interests abroad.
We cannot today afford to put our domestic and foreign policies into separate and
unconnected compartments. Australia's success in improving her competitiveness, its
market share, its influence and standing in the region and wider world will depend in
large part on the government's success in implementing its economic reform programme.
Equally, foreign and trade policies are a significant element in determining how
successful we shall be in meeting the government's domestic economic objectives.
In Manila, I was very struck by the commitment of APEC leaders to maintaining the
momentum of trade liberalisation and the need for that as a key ingredient for the future
growth and stability of the region.
My government will do all it can to keep up that momentum. We want to see the free
and open trade goal of APEC turned into reality, and even better with a knock-on
effect to freer trade globally.
As I have said before, this is not because of any conceptual ambition or blind ideological
commitment. It is because, for example, my government wants to see our agricultural
exports treated more equitably so that our farm sector is not discriminated against.
International trading rules at present allow practices that would not be allowed in respect
of manufactures to operate to the detriment of primary producing exporting nations.
Most important, it is because my government sees the dividends the Australian people
can gain in the form of faster economic growth, greater opportunities and more jobs for
our younger people especially.
We need to ensure that markets are open so that we can increase our exports and the
employment within Australia that those increased exports generate. For example,
exports of medical and scientific equipment have more than doubled from $ 300 million in
1987 to $ 750 million today, creating many hundreds of highly skilled and well-paid jobs.
Under our recently concluded trade agreement with Taiwan, exports of Australian-built
cars will increase from zero at present to 6,000 by the time that Taiwan joins the World
Trade Organisation. This has helped create many new jobs at Mitsubishi's Tonsley Park
plant in South Australia.
Moreover, jobs in export industries are characterised by higher productivity and,
therefore, higher wages. For instance, among small firms the wage differential is as high
as 17 per cent.
In the case of Foreign Affairs and Trade, ladies and gentlemen, there is, as there should
be, a fundamental continuity between my Government's objectives and those of my
predecessors' especially in the priority we give to our region and APEC.
There are, however, differences of emphasis, some of which I have already alluded to in
this speech.
You will be well aware of the Government's strongly held view that when it comes to
foreign policy there is no requirement on Australia to choose between its history and its
geography. While we have to decide priorities in terms of allocation of resources and effort, we do
not have to regard our links with countries in Asia and elsewhere as a zero-sum. While
multilateral institutions play an important part especially in dealing with issues such as
proliferation and trade we see success in achieving our objectives in them as likely to be
founded on strong and well-matured relationships with our allies and friends. While
committed to global free trade in the overall national interest, we are looking for practical
results at the bilateral, regional and multilateral levels that will yield early concrete
benefits for our own business community.
One of the election promises made by the Government was to commission the first ever
white paper on Foreign Affairs and Trade policy. That process is underway and, on the
current timetable, the paper will be issued in March of next year. I expect the white
paper to take a hard-headed approach and suggest clear strategies for pursuing
Australia's national interests and achieving the Government's agenda.
Finally may I say something rather more specific about the Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade and those who work within that Department.
Much of the responsibility for protecting and advancing our national interests rests with
the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with its officers here in the R G Casey
Building and in Australia's many overseas missions.
Coalition governments have always had a strong sense of the benefits of a highly
professional and apolitical public service. My Government will be no exception.
Inevitably a change of government after thirteen years will prompt some uncertainties in
the public service. Public service and governments naturally get used to each other over
such a long period, if not in the policy sense then at least in human and operational terms.
I want to take the opportunity to say that my government looks to all of the public
service, including, of course, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, for fearless,
objective advice. It also looks for creative and innovative advice in implementing its
goals. As society's demands change and a new government takes office with a different agenda,
the public sector does need to adapt. The Government is working on reforms that aim to
increase the public service's capacity to serve the Government and Australian public
effectively, and the scope of the service's members to achieve greater satisfaction from
their work.
Jibes are often made about public servants. But my own experience has been one of
dedicated and well-qualified people with a strong sense of national responsibility,
integrity and commitment to their work. I have great respect for the quality of the
Australian public service. The international reputation of Australia's public service and
its foreign service is deservedly very high.
The history of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is very much part of Casey's
history. His connections with the Department and the various stages of its evolution go
back a long way.
When he went to London in the twenties, he did so as an official of the then External
Affairs Branch of the Prime Minister's Department. As a new member of Parliament in
the early thirties, Casey advocated a diplomatic service for Australia separate from
Britain's. As a member of that newly-established service, he was the first Australian
representative in Washington. As Minister he supported the development of a
professional and highly qualified department, which served him and Australia with great
distinction. If he were here with us today, Casey might well be surprised I'm sure he would by the
size of this building, and by the size of the department which it houses. The
Department's expansion since Casey's time is partly owing to the amalgamation of the
separate Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1987 a very sensible move in
recognition of the linkages between those areas and their effective implementation. The
planned co-location of AUSTRADE in this building is to welcomed for similar reasons.
The expansion reflects also the reality that, despite the tyranny of distance, Australia has
never been isolationist and inward looking. We have always understood that our survival
and prosperity depended on the world around us. As Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser
commented on Casey's appreciation of the effect on Australia of events in other parts of
the world. And our history as a nation built by immigrants from all over the world has
reinforced that good sense.
The Department has had to continue evolving and adapting since Casey's time. The
implosion of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism by far the most profound
example of the triumph of values and ideas in my life time have precipitated a
transformation of cold-war structures and strategic balances which is still being worked
through. The explosive growth of the Asian economies has brought about a second great sea
change in world affairs. World economic structures are only beginning to adjust to the
changes in economic relativities. Our region must cope with the consequent strategic
changes over the coming decades.
Now more than ever Australia has to be an outward-looking nation, confident and proud
of our own distinctive identity, our place in the region and in the world, and properly
equipped to pursue our national interests at home and abroad.
It is sometimes said that advances in information technology and communication and
the ease and speed of transport are reducing the importance of the role of foreign affairs
and trade officials. There is no doubt that technology and transport have changed
enormously the way in which our foreign service operates.
But my visits overseas this year, to the South Pacific Forum, to Indonesia and Japan, to
Manila for the APEC meeting, have made me keenly aware of the crucial role of the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in conveying in a way that is listened to and
acted on the right messages about Australia and the Australian Government's objectives
and policies.
In his 1958 book ' Friends and Neighbours', Casey referred to the qualities required of
diplomats then, the need to know and I quote: ' their own country, its interests and
strengths and weaknesses', to be ' well-acquainted with matters of defence and of trade'
as well as international politics, and to be practised in what Casey called the ' relatively
new art' of conference diplomacy and to deal with the media.
Today, Australia's international agenda is even broader and more intense than it was in
Casey's time. But the basic qualities identified by him are still demanded of our
diplomats today. My own experience of their professionalism and skills convinces me
that Casey would agree that Australia continues to be very well served by them.
In declaring this building, which I do so with very considerable pride, I want to thank Mr
Flood and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for inviting me to undertake that
honour. I wish all the officers of the Department a happy and purposeftil working
environment. I want to reiterate the enormous value that my Government places on your
professionalism, the spread of your understanding of the friends of neighbours we have
all around the world. And to emphasise again as I finish that sound, competent,
professional, high quality advice in the area of Foreign Affairs and Trade remains as
essential as it has ever been for Australia and in a new and constantly changing world,
perhaps even greater than it has ever been.
Thank you very much.