VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND
AUC.-' KLAND
Speech at Civic Repto J
by the Prime Minister, Mr. John Gorton LIBRJt1--
3C March 1966
Mr. Mayor, The Right Honourable the Prime Ministerp Ladies and
Gentlemen: You will not, I know, either expect or want the to speak
to you for any length of timie6 This is rather an occasion on which 1 say
thank you to the Mayor for having tendered to me this reception and tha nk
you to you people In this room for having been good enough to come alonig
to it. I have not, Mvr. Mayor, as you seem to fear, had to listen
to a lot of long speeches since I have been in this country. On the contrary,
I have had to listen to a number of short speeches which were warm and
touching and welcoming, and if there were long and boring speeches given,
then they were given by me, which is a far better thing to do than to haye
to listen to them being given by somebody else. Indeed, I was quite
surprised because as one travels around my own country, ( and I hope If
there are any of my own pressmen here they won't report this too nastily%,
as one travels around my own country, it is common for, at even the
smallest gathering, for there to be at least four, five, six, seven speeches.
This is why we are known as a nation which has the smallest number of
people to the square mile, and the greatest number of speeches to the
square meal ( applause).
This Is not, in fact, the first time either that I have been
to Auckdand, though it is the first time, of course, as Prime Minister. Wie
called through before, my wife and I, ou our way back from England to
begin to raise that family of which you spoke. And later I remember calling
in to Auckland on a trooper and picking up part of the Maori battalion who
went with us then across to I. ngland. But those were days of long ago. It
is my mission here and m-y hope here to try and see that those bonds which
began in war are now used in the arts of peace for the real use of the
opportunities the war has presented to us, the opportunities to act as a
free people for the good of free peoples.
Sir, It is kind of you indeed to give this reception to me.
It was kind of you to talk of the. potentialities of my own nation, which are
great, and which if we can overcome the shortage of water, which is the
main shortage, we now have open up for us, and I don't brag and please
don't think I am bragging -open up for us an almost limitless possibility
for the future. But that is speaking of one nation. This is not enough.
There are also possibilities in this nation which are great and If the
possibilities of this nation and of our nation can be wedded and welded
together for the benefit of both of us, then as I have said today at the
showground and previously at Wellington, we will be the stronger for
what you can do, you may be the stronger for what we can do. / 2
2.
And if it turns out that that is what does happen then all
the peoples round us will be the stronger for what you and we together
do, and this Is what we seek this is what I think the future holds for us.
I don't know how quickly but I can see and I think that you can see and I
think the people of my own country can see in their minds that vision before
them at some stage in the future as something to build for. I am sure you
can do the same. If we don't get there as quickly as we would like, what
of it. just like a man, a nation's reach must exceed its grasp, or what's
the future for. The significant thing is to reach and to reach together as
far as Australia and New Zealand are concerned. And that's what we are
going to do, I believe. Tomorrow w e must leave but I do hope that there
will be an opportunity for me to come back and meet you all again. And
I do hope that when I stop being Prime Mi nister I don't hope that soon
but politics is an uncertain business that whoever is Prime Minister of
Australia for the next iC33 years will come to New Zealand as a matter of
course. And whoever's Primei Minister of New Zealand will come to
Australia as a matter of course. And this too is part of' that joint effort
which I see as something of a destiny for us both.
I thank you, Sir, indeed. I am sorry that I spoke longer
than I meant to speak to you. These are things of some importance to
all of us to both nations and forgive me if I spent too long in talking
about them. Thank you.