Thank you very much Alan, Mr Rupert Murdoch, Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser, former prime ministers of Australia, Robert McCallum and Dennis Richardson, the current serving ambassadors between our two nations, the Premier of New South Wales, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Kim Beazley, ladies and gentlemen. It's a great privilege to be here tonight, and to share briefly in this very important occasion, which honours a man and also honours a friendship between nations.
Rupert Murdoch is a remarkable product of a remarkable family and I don't know that anybody can better epitomise, in a sense, the great bonds, and links and shared experiences between our two countries than can Rupert Murdoch. The great Australian family, the Murdochs, has contributed so much, not only to the media, but in so many different ways to the life and the experience of this country. It's a contribution of course that reaches back over many decades. I had the experience last week of reading in full, Les Carlyon's latest epic book on the involvement of the Australian Military Forces on the Western Front in World War I. And the contribution made both of course in the reporting from Gallipoli, and generally of Rupert Murdoch's father, is a reminder of the very long experienced links between this family and our nation. And I think it is appropriate that tonight this dinner is held in honour of Rupert Murdoch.
But it's also held in honour of an association that means so much to all of us. And let me say a word of congratulations to Gavin Brown and the University of Sydney on being awarded the location for the Study Centre, which we, the Commonwealth Government, have supported with $25 million of taxpayers money and I know will also be very generously supported by corporate Australia and corporate United States.
We were told of course by Dr Johnson that we should always keep our friendships in good repair and tonight is a small contribution in the scale of history, I suppose, but nonetheless a very representative occasion of keeping the friendship between Australia and the United States in good repair. It should not be taken for granted, we should never assume that there's an automaticity of affection between our two nations, deep and lasting though we think the bonds maybe. We must always work on it, we must be frank about its strengths and we must be cognisant of its weaknesses.
It's a relationship that is long lived, and Rupert's already reminded us that beginning with the Battle of Hamel on the 4th of July 1918, Australians and Americans have fought together in every major conflict since. It's a relationship that's rooted in common values, the values of respect for an individual without regard to his or her race, or colour, or social background, but respecting only a person's character and personal worth and contribution to his or her society. It's a relationship that's also built on great mutual respect, it's a relationship which is also steeped in a shared culture and love of the arts, and most, but of course conspicuously, not all sports - Australians having abysmally failed to educate our American's in the wonders of that game we are about to revel in commencing next week in Brisbane.
It is also ladies and gentlemen a relationship that is profoundly bipartisan. I think of the contributions of two predecessors of mine, John Curtin and Robert Menzies. It was under the leadership of John Curtin in World War II in the darkest hours of World War II after the fall of Singapore that this country turned unapologetically and determinedly to the United States for assistance. And I echo with all the being I can muster the reminder of Rupert Murdoch that we Australians should never forget the debt we owe to the United States of America for the assistance that was then given. And the leadership of Curtin during those war time years did so much to not only bring the two nations together but provide encouragement and cohesion to our own nation.
And when Robert Gordon Menzies became Prime Minister in 1949 he set about through the agency of his then External Affairs Minister Percy Spender to bring about the ANZUS Treaty signed in 1951. And it was in fact to celebrate the 50th year of the ANZUS Treaty that I met for the first time the current President of the United States George Bush at the Naval Dockyard in Washington on the 10th of September 2001.
But under the leadership of both Curtin and Menzies, lasting steps were made to bring our two nations together and it was of course the ANZUS Treaty, signed during the Prime Ministership of Menzies which was invoked by this country in response to the terrorist attacks on the United States on the 11th of September 2001.
So it is a relationship which is deeply steeped in history. It's most enduring quality is that it is founded on common values and common concepts about the dignity of man and the importance of individual liberty. It's a relationship of course that brings the two nations together in circumstances that are not always free from controversy and I of course would not be doing my current duty as Prime Minister proper deference if I didn't say one or two words about the issue on the minds of most people in which Australia and America are involved together and that is our involvement in Iraq.
Rupert Murdoch was right when he said our involvement in Iraq was never popular. If I may say so, I think it's about the most poll defiant thing that I have done in the whole of my Prime Ministership and it remains something that is quite unpopular in the Australian and United States communities.
But let me just say a few words about the current situation. I owe it to a gathering such as this to do so. There has been a lot of commentary in recent weeks about possible changes in American strategy, particularly after the congressional elections in the United States. I want to say that I believe that the essential goal will remain undiminished and that is that the Iraqi people can, we hope, in time take charge of their own affairs.
Like others, I look forward to seeing the results of the commission established under the leadership of James Baker and Lee Hamilton. My sense is that some people who think the solution lies in the speediest exit possible from Iraq might be surprised at what emerges. We need, in my view, to remember what is at stake here, not only for Iraq and the Middle East, but also for American power and American prestige in the world. We also need to remember that good friends stick by each other in the difficult as well as the good times.
A precipitate coalition withdrawal that leaves Iraq at the mercy of the terrorists would do enormous damage to the reputation, the prestige and the influence of the United States. Nobody should pretend otherwise and all the talk about new directions and tactical shifts cannot disguise this fact. If the coalition leaves Iraq in circumstances seen as defeat, the ramifications of that throughout the Middle East will be enormous. It will embolden the terrorists and extremists not only there, but also in our own region, especially in neighbouring Indonesia.
By all means let us talk to countries such as Syria and Iran, but let us do so with a realistic mindset about the motivation and the behaviour of those countries. Far more importantly my friends and not withstanding the difficulties and the setbacks of recent times, let us again intensify our efforts towards a sustainable and just solution to the Palestinian issue. Wherever one goes in the Muslim world and whenever one talks to moderate Islamic leaders such as Yudhoyono and Musharraf who are so vital to the struggle against Islamic extremism, there is a legitimate desire for a lasting settlement to this issue. Any settlement must of course be fundamentally based on a secure Israel behind internationally accepted borders and free at last from the constant harassment that it has endured for decades. Second, it must establish a viable and independent state for the Palestinian people. But above all of this, let us remember where Australia's long term national interest lies. A weaker America, a withdrawn America, would significantly change the power dynamics in our own region to the detriment of Australia. A strong and engaged America is essential to dealing with all our regional security challenges, not least the nuclear brinkmanship of North Korea. In a recent speech I listed the basic goals of Australian foreign policy that have remained remarkably stable and effective in our relatively short history as a nation state.
Beyond the primary one of territorial integrity, the first goal I identified was a global power balance, favourable to Australia and our allies. This is not rhetoric, it is at the core of Australia's national interests. For all its faults and flaws, America remains a powerful and irreplaceable force for good in the world, and for the way of life and values that we all hold so dear. What happens to American power and prestige in the 21st century is not some abstract topic that we can all discuss over dinner or in a lecture hall as if it has no bearing on Australia's political and economic future, and especially on our national security. Equally, while anti Americanism seemingly finds a ready outlet in every age, we should not pretend for a moment that it is cost free. For some, a bit of armchair anti Americanism may be nothing more than a mild indulgence, but let me say to those who so indulge themselves something I said in Chicago earlier this year, be careful what you wish for.
We should never forget that no more powerful nation than the United States has emerged in mankind's history extolling the universal values of personal liberty and political democracy. Tonight is dedicated to those aspirations and those values. The bonds between our two countries are deep, they are genuine and in so many personal instances, totally spontaneous. We have a great shared history but we must continue as Dr Johnson exhorted us to do, to keep our friendship in good repair. Tonight the Australian American Association honours a man in Rupert Murdoch who has done great things and great deeds to keep that friendship in good repair and in the establishment of the study centre at Sydney University we will be able to make a further and lasting contribution to a full and proper understanding of that great country the United States and in the process reinforce those bonds and that friendship which is so very important to all of us.
Thank you.
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