CHECiK P,, GA1. LTsT DELI" VL Y
LMLARGO Not for release A-t fore 173 3mm 7/
PRIME MINISTER
2MAC!)[ A RIE NETWOP1.1 WEEKLY O2 DCAST
By the Prime ! ini; ter,
The Rt lion. William Mclahon, 1-. P. 7 June 2i072
VISIT TO SOIUTH EAST ASIA,
isreport is recorded in )-' akarta, thce caD:~. tal of
Indonesia is the first of our three nearest neiq~ h! bours I am
visiting during my ten-day South East Asian journey which star-ted on
!;' onday. Indono-sia is not only our nearest neighour; she is the fifth
largeast nation in thle world anid the only one wi. th 71iica we -Th; are a
boundary. A boundary based on lasting Australian/ indonesian relationshilp
i. s of the greatest importance to us, tth now and in the future.
Australia's friendship 14-th Indonesia groes back to the b) eginning's
of Indonesian nationhood, when e su-oported and sympathised wit;, the
struggles of Indonesian natriots. Ile were aiiong the first to estal. lish
dir'lomatic relations with1 Indoneiia as a nevily inderenderit na-tion. This
long f riendshir ') was reflected very vividly indeed in t. hei welcoraie my -narty
received on arrival i~ n Djakarta. 14any th-ousands of schoolchildrE~ n
lined the road from -the airnort, waving and clheering. This gave a
youthful and human touch to g. enerous official we72. come it the airport,
given my President and Madame Soeharto and leading Indonesian Minister.
It wzas a tri4bute to a!. ustraia a good neighbour and fric! 7-d.
And I was proud to receiAve it as an Australian on your behalf.
I have como. on -this journey to Indonoesia, Sing. aporc and IMalay!.-ia
becausa I want to empnasise Australia's3 growinig and continuing interest
in the South East Asi,. n region. As Australians we shoul1d be, and I believe
the very great m ajor-of yo are, Teply intorested lin t'he wellbeing of
our ksian fricnds. We arc. anxious to ha-, In tnem in their search for
increased economic growth and regional socurity.
Pnothor purnose of this journcy is to icnmy own per~ sonal
undeirstanding of -e: ach of thz~ se noighbour naticns, and thosc matters which
affoct both tham and us. Thoso inclu. 3..-thei whole range of our security,
economic, trade and social ties and relations',, ins. ./ 2
2.
In my visit to Indonesia I am returning the visit to Australia
earlier this year by President Soeharto. I believe our excnange of
visits has given a powerful stimulus to the friendshio between Australia
and Indonesia. And I think it is true to say that 1972 has been a year
of enlightened co-operation between Australia and Indonesia. This is
true in trade, in development, in our civil aid, in our cultural
exchanges, and in our defence co-operation.
Australia and Indonesia have quite different cultural, ethnic,
geogra hic and religious backgrounds. If we can, as we have been able
to, build bridges of co-operation and goodwill, then , e have set an
examp~ le to other nations of ways in ,7hich to build a unique, intimate
and mutually rewaarding relationship between nations. I want to build
thes3e bridges to be strong and to last.
In Djakarta yesterday morning, I met and exchanged gifts with
the Governor of this axpanding and facinating city. Later I consulted
in private with the President and this was followed by talks with his
Senior 111inisters. Following these discussions I was able to touch on
a number of important new initiatives during my official speech here last
night. I was able to tell my Indonesian hosts that there would be a
substantial increase in Australian civil aid to Indonesia over the next
three years. I also announced, with the agreement of the Indonesian-
Government, we had decided to establish here~ in Djakarta an Australian
financed and conducted cultural and language centre. This centre is
the natural development of the cultural agreement signed by Australia
and Indonesia four years ago, an agreement which has led to a welcome
increase in cultural contacts between us.
I also spoke about the growing defence co-operation between
Australia and Indonesia, I said that while neither country wanted a
military pact or alliance of any kind, there was much we could do in
a practical way by sharing our experience and knowledge. We are going
to provide Indonesia with.. sabre jet fighters and the accompanyinq
necessary equipment and flight training. We are also going to help
substantially in equipping an immortant military airfield in Indonesia
at which the sabres will be based. Indonesian airmen and technicians
arrived in Australia to begin this training period just a few days ago.
In another aspect of defencez co-oneration -e will be helping
Indonesia to strengthen its coastal surveillance canabi lity. I took the
opportunity in my speech last night to announce that my Government last
week approved an increased financial provision for defence aid to
Indonesia to enable this type of assistance to go ahead.
Tomorrow I go to Singapore until Sunday, and then on to
Malaysia before returning to Australia on 15th June. I will be
reporting to you on my journey again next Wednesday.