E&OE.................................................................................................
Thank you very much Dr Aurora. To my colleagues, Philip Ruddock,
the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, to Senator
Rod Kemp, to Mrs Leonie Bourke, to Mr John Thwaites, other distinguished
guests, ladies and gentleman.
It is a real delight for me to share this very special occasion
with representatives and members of the Indian community of Australia.
It commemorates, of course, that great day in the sub-continent's
history when two nations were made out of one and since then the
association between Australia and India in particular, but also
of course between Australia and Pakistan and Bangladesh, has taken
many forms. You were right to remind us, Dr Aurora, of the very
close links that Australia has with India. We have great links of
history and it is often not appreciated by many Australians just
how many Australians and Indians have fought together in theatres
of battle over the years stretching back to our common participation
in World War I. And I was reminded of this a few months ago when
I led the pilgrimage to Hellfire Pass in Thailand and opened the
museum there which commemorates the contribution of those Australians
who died in captivity in World War II. And, of course, as this audience
will know, there were many many thousands of Indians who also died
in captivity fighting along side the Australians during that particular
conflict.
India, of course, is the world's largest democracy. It is
built upon one of the world's most important and richest cultural
heritage. Australia and India share the common membership of the
Commonwealth. We share the common historical association which went
before the Commonwealth. We share many other things that Australians
of different backgrounds love, not least of those of course is our
common affection for that wonderful game of cricket. And of course
there are few sports that uniquely bind a limited number of countries
together quite like the game of cricket, and it continues to have
a romance and a fascination for the people of the sub-continent
in a very very particular way. And, of course, it was on the visit
of the famous Indian team, led by Lala Amarnath in 1947-48 that
the famous Sir Donald Bradman scored his hundredth hundred in first-class
cricket. And I said this afternoon in an interview that I recorded,
that is frequently said that the two bets known Australian names
on the Indian sub-continent are those of Bradman and Border.
But of course the bonds between our two countries go beyond those
of sport, important though those links may be. We've had official
representation as a nation in India since 1944, three years before
your independence. And there have been increased opportunities for
commercial links between our two countries over the years. The past
decade has seen businesses, ministerial, Parliamentary, and official
level contact grow and the inauguration of the Australia South Asia
Research Centre at the ANU in Canberra.
When the Government I lead came to office we had a commitment to
improve and strengthen the relations between our two countries.
We launched a major promotion of Australia in India in 1996 called
"Australia-India : New Horizons", and it was the
largest trade cultural promotion ever mounted by Australia overseas
involving a range of business science, technology, education, cultural
and sporting events in six major Indian cities. And we followed
up by nominating 1997 as the year of south Asia. Our total trade
is now $2.3 billion and we expect that to double over the next five
years. There are 100 joint ventures between Indian and Australian
companies in areas as diverse as banking and telecommunications,
minerals and food processing. There are over 5,500 Indian students
studying in Australia at the present time and Australia is the most
favoured destination for Indian students after the United States.
And that, of course, bodes very well for future contact between
our two countries because the links between people are the most
important expression of the links between nations.
You mentioned the nuclear tests and, of course, as a nation we
oppose those tests and we expressed our disappointment at the time
and the basis of that disappointment is well understood. Of course
we were speaking then as the Australian Government on behalf of
all Australians irrespective of their background. And, of course,
our concern about those tests in no way affected the attitude of
Australia or the Australian Government and the Australian people
towards the Indian community within our midst. And it does not,
in any way, diminish our commitment to build a strong relationship
between our two countries.
There are now some 160,000 people of Indian origin including those
born in Australia with either one parent of both born in India.
And it is a very long established community within the Australian
nation. And I want, on behalf of the Government, to express my admiration
for the contribution that Australians of Indian descent have made
to the development of our country over a long period of time. I
want to express, on behalf of my Government, the great respect for
the very strong commitment to the common concerns and the common
values of the Australian community that people of Indian descent
have always demonstrated.
You do have a very high level of naturalisation. You are first
and foremost good Australians. Australians who love our country
and love our values. But fully consistent with that you have retained
a natural affection for your Indian origins. And a natural affection
for the customs and the culture of India. And that is something
the rest of us understand and respect and support. One of the great
virtues of this country is its enduring tolerance. Australia is
the best example of how different races can live in harmony that
one can find anywhere in the world.
Yesterday, Mr Ruddock, on behalf of the Government launched our
campaign, Living in Harmony. It can be described as an anti-racism
campaign. I think more positively speaking it can be described as
a campaign to promote and reinforce tolerance and harmony within
our community. Discrimination against any person on the basis of
race, religion, national origin, or ethnicity, is absolutely abhorrent
to my Government. It is absolutely unacceptable in a society that
values the human decencies and places a store on the importance
of individual liberty and individual freedom.
And it is very important that we never lose sight of just how successful
Australia has been in absorbing people from so many parts of the
world. Something in the order of 150 different countries have in
their various ways been tributaries to what is now the modern Australian
stream. And those countries have all made a contribution, and the
people from them have all made a contribution to building the modern
Australia. And we should never be reluctant as a community to say
to the world that not only have we been a tolerant country that
we have been more successful than most in playing out and demonstrating
that tolerance within our midst. And it is incumbent upon all of
us, incumbent upon me as Prime Minister, incumbent upon the members
of my Government, incumbent upon all sections of the Australian
community to condemn and denounce intolerance whenever it occurs.
But the best way that we can repudiate discrimination, the best
way that we can abhor intolerance, is to demonstrate in a positive
way our capacity to live in harmony one with the other. To salute
the special days, the special traditions and the special values
of different groups within our community, but equally at all times
to demonstrate those common things that bind us together as Australians.
I have frequently said that one of the most important things we
should remember as Australians is that the things that unite us
are infinitely greater and more enduring than the things that divide
us. And this country has been a remarkable demonstration to the
world of a capacity to absorb people of so many different backgrounds
in a harmonious and a peaceful way.
You mentioned in your speech Dr Aurora the views of the leader
of the One Nation Party. Can I say in relation to what you said
that I think that those who violently demonstrate against that particular
party and that particular person may in fact be behaving in a counter-productive
fashion. I think violent demonstrations of any kind are unacceptable
and offensive to the Australian community, and I think it is very
important that all of us remember that the most effective repudiation
of an attitude that you find unacceptable is a repudiation based
on offering something better to the Australian community and repudiation
based on demonstrating your superior values of tolerance and understanding
and harmony.
Tonight, I want on behalf of the Government to salute the contribution
of the people of Indian descent, to our nation. I want to assure
all of you that one of the great common threads of the Australian
identity is respect for people individual values. This country of
course has been built on migration. Those who were born overseas
and have chosen Australia as their land are as much part of the
Australian community as those of use who were born here. And that
is irrespective of your country of origin or your racial background.
This country is as much yours as it is mine. Its values are as much
yours as they are mine and its future is something that all of us
share together. And that can be a very bright and very positive
future. It can be a future built on the common strands of Australian
life of democracy, of respect for the rule of law, of respect for
the rights of individuals, of the equality of men and women, a rejection
of class distinction, a reaffirmation of the need to care for the
more vulnerable within our community, an abhorrence of all forms
of division or discrimination based on race and ethnicity. And a
common commitment, irrespective or our differences on other issues,
to the progress and the advancement of the Australian nation.
We have much to celebrate as Australians. We have much to be proud
of as Australians. We should say to the rest of the world as a united
community that we are defiantly proud of what Australia has achieved
and what Australia represents in terms of tolerance and understanding
of difference within a united community and united nation.
I thank you very warmly Dr Aurora for your welcome. I thank members
of the association for asking me here tonight. Your president has
explained that in the nature of things, I am moving onto another
function shortly, but I am very very pleased that I have been able
to come to both functions and on behalf of the Australian Government
to honour again the commitment of people of Indian descent to our
nation. To mark the independence on the 15th of August
in 1947, in very dramatic and in many cases tragic circumstances,
of two great nations out of the form of the Indian sub-continent
which ultimately, in 1971, became three. Thank you again for being
such wonderful Australians. Let us all live together in harmony
and tolerance and understanding. Thank you.