VISIT TO AUSTRALIA BY PRIME MINISTER KY
Extracts from Press Briefing by the Prime Minister, Mr. Harold_-Holt
at Parliament House, Canberra 11th January, 1967
The Prime Minister, Mr. Harold Holt, announced details
of the visit to Australia by Prime Minister Ky at a press briefing in Canberra
on January 11. After outlining the itinerary, Mr. Holt spoke about the background.
to the visit, gave his views on what he hoped it would achieve and
replied to critics of Prime Minister Ky and the projected visit to Australia.
BACKGROUND TO VISIT:
Speaking about how the visit developed, Mr. Holt said
" Some of you pressmen who were with me In Saigon
in April will remember that the Prime Minister then talked about
his desire to visit Australia again. He had been here in 1956 and
actually put in 79 hours of flying training In this country.
" But quite apart, of course, from any personal desire
to see again the country which he had visited in this way in earlier
years, he expressed a desire at our subsequent meeting together
at the Manila Conference to pay a visit, to have an opportunity, as
he put it, of thanking the people of Australia and New Zealand for
the help they had been giving to his country.
" I have no doubt also that he wants to give the Australian
people an opportunity to make some assessment of their own about
him. " Shortly before Christmas, our Ambassador advised us
that he had been told of the Prime Minister's desire to pay a short
visit here early in the New Year, and I brought this to the notice of
my Cabinet colleagues. They authorised me to inform the Prime
Minister through our Ambassador that we would welcome such a visit
and the opportunity it would provide for him to have talks with us
and to meet those off my colleagues with whom he had not previously
come into contact. " Quite apart from any other result of the visit, 1,
myself, am looking forward to hearing from the Prime Minister his
own account of developments in the military field, in processes of
constitutional development which are going on there, in the way in
which the economy is shaping up under the pressures of military
operations and the presence in that country of so vast a body of
servicemen from other countries. These are things in which we
are very much interested ourselves, and it is very valuable to
have a direct, first-hand account from the man who heads the
Government in the country. Of my own colleagues, some of them
have been there. Altogether this has some relevance to the attitude
which Australia should vezy properly take to this visit." / 2
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% here were five separate Ministerial visits to Viet Nam last
year, including my own visit. There was the visit of Mr. Whitlam. Mr.
Caiwell decided that he wasn't going himself and requested that Mr.
Whitlamn be enabled to go. There was Dr. Cairns' visit. A Parliamentary
delegation was there also from both sides of the House, and there have
been some visits by private Members of the Parliament. All of these
have been most courteously received and given every consideration and
attention, hospitably looked after. I gather that Mr. Whitlam himself
had an hour's interview with the Prime Minister and was given an official
dinner by the Foreign Minister of the Viet Nam Republic. So it will be
seen that up to this point of time, anyhow, the overwhelming balance of
hospitality and courtesy has been on the part of the Government of the
Republic of Viet Nam, and so I would hope my fellow Australians would
bear these facts in mind when we, ourselves, welcome an official
visitor and his party to this country."
OBJBCTWES OF VISIT
Mr. Holt said that both he and Prime Minister Ky were aware
that the visit would not please everybody, and would be opposed by some people
in Australia who had opposed military participation in Viet Nam.
He said
" Prime Minister Ky was aware of the likelihood of organised
demonstration by the same sort of people who had organised demonstrations
against myself and members of my Government and against President
Johnson when he visited us last year. But I am sure it must have been
in his mind that his visit would provide an opportunity for Australians to
form a more realistic appreciation of the main issues involved in not only
the Viet Nam conflict but the problems which a government engaged in
operations of war has to face in its efforts to build democratic institutions
and establish a democratically-based society.
" Also there is the personal aspect I mentioned of Australians
being able to makce a better, and I believe, a fairer assessment of the
man and the efforts that he and his colleagues are putting into this task
of building a democratically-based society, depsite the continuing
military operations.
DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES
" Most of us are sufficiently close still to the events of the Second
World War to recall how we in Australia had to put much of our democratic
liberty in storage for the period of the war, and the Government had to
assume powers under its National Security legislation of a far-reaching
kind, and we recognise the need for this in the emergncy of war.
" Now here is a country where the Head of Government and his
colleagues are in almost daily danger of injury or assassination by
terrorist opponents. I think, myself, that it is quite remarkable that
the Government in those conditions should have pressed on as it has
vigorously with the effort to establish a constituent assembly. I
commented on this, you may remember, when I came back from the
Manila Conference. I would like to remind you of what I said at that
time I said then / 3
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' It struck me as quite remarkable that the representatives
of the Republic of Viet Nam should be able to accept so explicitly
and however regretfully a continuing line of demarcation between
North and South Viet Nam until a decision has been taken by the
people of both areas for reunification. They stated that the work
of the constituent Assembly elected to draw up a constitution for
the Republic of Viet Nam was proceeding ahead of schedule.
They gave an undertaking that general electicns to select a
representative government would be held within six months of
the adoption of a constitution. Believing that the democratic
process must be strengthened at the local level as well as the
national level, the Vietnamese leaders announced that, to this
end, village and hamlet elections would be held at the beginning
of 1967. They further announced that they are preparing a
programme of national reconciliation. They would open all
doors to Vietnamese who had been misled or coerced into casting
their lot with the Vietcong. They would be given amnesty and
assisted to resume a normal existence as to their employment
and community participation.
" Further, the Vietnamese representatives made it clear
that they were not making any demands on North Viet Nam other
than that the aggression should cease. When it is considered that
the Republic of Viet Nam is still subjected daily to military and
terrorist attack with continuing infiltration and external subversion,
the attitude of the Vietnamese representatives at the conference
must be regarded as most helpful and forthcoming........
and so on.
OPPOSITION TO VISIT:
Referring to criticism of the visit, Mr. Holt said:
" It has interested me to note that the strongest criticisms
and these include those of Mr. Calwell have come from, in the main,
people who have neither met Prime Minister Ky nor have visited Viet Nam
and formed any impression for themselves of the situation there.
" It is rather significant that those members of Mr.
Calwell's own Party who have been there have, with the exception of the
statement which came from Dr. Cairns, refrained from comment
certainly of a critical kind.
" T was very interested this morning to see that the' Age'
consistently with the fine traditions of that paper, having taken a strong
editorial line, at the same time gave prominence to a special article by
its Saigon correspondent, Mr. Turner which, I think, gave from my own
contact with Prime Minister Ky in Viet Nam and at Manila, as accurate
an assessment as I could from my own judgment his sincerity, his
earnestness, his devotion to his country, his genuine efforts to build up
democratic institutions there."
Mr. Holt said that in view of the attitude which the Leader of the
Opposition ( Mr. Calwell) had adopted, it seemed that some unpleasantness
might be associated with the visit.
He continued...... / 4
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" However, I am -sure that both he ( Prime Minister Ky)
and I will feel that-the-visit has been of value if it does give to the
Australian-people a better and fairer assessment of the man, his
policies and of the issues for which Australia, together with Viet
Nam and other friendly forces are fighting in that country.
Mr. Holt said he was satisfied In his own mind that the great majority
of Australians would welcome the opportunity to form their own judgment.
He added " That's the sort of atmosphere I have encountered, anyhow,
in my own contacts since this was first mooted. And we are able
from the sort of position in which I sit to get a fair idea of the
strength of public feeling from the correspondence which flows into
the office. " It strikes me as rather odd that it was quite acceptable
to Mr. Calwell for his Deputy to go to Viet Nam and be received in
the manner in which he was, to be personally in discussion with
Prime Minister Ky for what I understand to have been an hour, to
have accepted an official function; this apparently was entirely
acceptable in Mr. Calwell's eyes. To return that kind of hospitality
and in a country which has taken some pride in its hospitable spirit
is, in his eyes, a matter calling for the kind of condemnation which
he has publicly expressed. The only other thing I will say about it
is that having regard to Mr. Calwell's own serious experience and
almost tragic or fatal experience from so recent times, it does seem
the more remarkable that he should be actively inciting people to
demonstration. While he urges that this should be a peaceful atid
orderly demonstration, he recognises, since he disowns any
responsibility for any violence which may occur, that in that kind of
emotionally charged atmosphere,. there is always a danger of some
disorder and even violence as I have learnt myself over recent times.
" But I think that the Australian public is able to put Ito
own valuation on statements of this sort. I don't need to underline it."
PROCEDURE FOR INITIATING VISITS
Replying to a question about what might be considered an " appropriate
welcome" for Prime Minister Ky, Mr. Holt went on to explain to newsmen the
way in which such visits are arranged.
Mr. Holt began by saying he had been intrigued to see that some
press commentators had envisaged Australia would be staging something
comparable with the visit of President Johnson. Mr. Holt said it would be more
appropriate to compare the visit with that last year by the Thai Prime Minister,
Field Marshal Kittikachorn.
A once -in -a -lifetime visit by an American President was an historic
event of considerable Importance for this country and was treated accordingly.
For instance, he didn't think that the former British Prime Minister, Mr. Harold
Macmillan had expected anything. of that sort when he had visited Australia.
He continued.... " Prime Minister Ky's is an important visit but it is a visit
of a kind which we ourselves or I make to other countries, and the
Prime Minister is making here.
Backgrounding the press, Mr. Holt said
" I think you should try and get in the heads of some of
your editorial writers the way these things occur. If I want t6 go
overseas as I did last year, for example, to see our troops hi'
four different countries, I don't sit back and wakt until somebody
says ' Come and visit us' and then as an incident to that seek Eo'
see them. If I have a purpose which seems to me to be important
enough to go to a country, soundings are made through the
Ambassador as to whether such a visit would be acceptable to the
government concerned. You may work out a bit of detail as to the
kind of visit it will be and where it will take you, and then whel
these details are completed, a formal and official invitation comes
as a matter of courtesy. This is protocol conduct from the
government concerned to the visitor. These things are done, but
I don't imply from that that this Is an unwelcome visit.
The press briefing concluded with the following questions and
answers
Q. Will representatives of the Opposition be Invited to Commonwealth
functions
MR. HOLT: Well, this raises a problem. You see, Mr. Calwell is the
official leader of the Labor Party. He has made his attitude, as
spokesman for the party, clearly known. He made it clear that not
only would he not accept any invitation but that he would demonstrate
against the visit personally and lead demonstrations against the
visit. Well, if we were to go behind his back and invite individual
members of his party, I think we could rightly be accused of trying
to make mischief in his own ranks. If, on the other hand, there
is a desire by members of his party, or he conveys any such desire
to us that they should be present at those functions where it would
be appropriate for Members of the Opposition to be present, of
course we would take account of that.
Q. This approach would have to come through Mr. Caiwell, would it,
or would you take it from individual Labor people?
MR. HOLT: Well, I think I would deal with it when I knew what had
occurred and the circumstances but I don't imagine that
we would receive individual approaches. He speaks far his party
and he is, at least pro tem, the leader of the party.
Q. Before Mr. Caiwell started sounding off, did you contemplate
giving time for Mr. Galwell to have a private meeting with Ky?
MR. HOLT: In the ordinary course of events, I am sure that not
only would we have wished to provide an opportunity but I am
certain that Prime Minister Ky would have been glad of an
opportunity to talk to members of the Opposition.
Q. Would you provide this opportunity now for Mr. Whitlam in spite
of the circumstances? ./ 6
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MR. HOLT: Well, as I say, what is the proper course for a Head of
Government to follow when he has an official Leader of the
Opposition? I don't think it would be the proper course for
me to go behind the back of the Leader of the Opposition to
individual members of his party.
Q. Sir, had Marshal Ky kept entirely private his wish to come to thip
country, and approached you unofficially, privately throug4th
Department of External Affairs, would you have invited him
to come now?
MR. HOLT: If he had made known his desire to come, what reasons would
I have for not acceding to that wish? My colleagues were made
aware of the matter, of course; it is not my sole responsibility.
We work as a Cabinet on decisions of this sort. But can I rqmind
you that already in recent times, the Prime Minister has vi sited
Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, the Republic of China, Ma laysia
and Honolulu which does happen to be one of the United States.
So there are six countries, most of them associated in military
operations
Q. Was the United States involved in any way in negotiations for this
visit? Did they seek to persuade us?
MR. HOLT: Officially, I make no comment. Unofficially, I can say to you
there was certainly no attempt to dissuade us, or for that matter,
persuade us. We naturally let them know that this visit wils in
contemplation. We keep in close contact with them. We are in
virtually daily contact with them on the Viet Nam situation.
Q. Mr. Prime Minister, apart from this being a sentimental journey,
will there be any hard political discussions?%
MR. HOLT: Well, I thought I had made it clear that I thought our discussions
in Cabinet would themselves be of considerable value. I ould
hope to see the Prime Minister give us an up-to-the-minute
cover of how things are developing in the military respect;'
You will remember out of Manila, instead of a " search andi
destroy" operation, there was a shift to the " clear and hol01"
type of operation. I would like to know how that is working out
in his eyes, his assessment of the latest operations there,*, how
the civil aid programmes are moving, and also what he feels
tbout the position of the economy under these pressures I spoke
of. Now that will be valuable in Itself for me and for tho hnore
senior of my colleagues who have already had some contact
with him, but for others who have never met him, I think it
will be very valuable also. I am looking to the opportunities
which will arise at one or two points here for closer and less
formal discussions with him myself.
0. Sir, will you be in any position to discuss any expansion of ciVIl aid?
MR. HOLT: I did mention to you earlier, I think, at our press conference
just before Christmas that a good deal of work is in progress in
the relevant Departments, reviewing our civil aid activities,
but I am not in a frosition to speak in any detail on that now,
nor would I expect to go into detail with him on that. That will
call for some further Cabinet consideration.