NQ DATE
M/ 87 25 May 1973
SOLTDARITY ' IT T-HE COLONIAL PEOPLE' OF AFRICA
The Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Mr Whitlam, said today that t}' e Australian neople and Government
supnorted the inalienable right to self-determination and
independence of the peoples of Namibia, Zimbabwe and Portuguese
territories in Africa.
In a statement on the occasion of Africa Liberation
Day ( today, 25 May), Mr Whitlam said that this support was
clearly manifested in the actions of the present Government.
Africa Liberation Day marks the beginning of the inaugural
Week of Solidarity with the Colonial Peoples of South Africa and
Guinea ( BISSAU) Fighting for Freedom, Independence and Equal
Rights. The United Nations General Assembly, at its 27th
session in 1972, instituted the Week of Solidarity which will
be held annually. Mr Whitlam said that the present Government's actions
of supnort had included changes in Australia's voting on African
issues at the 27th session of the United Nations General Assembly,
financial 3Unnort of the United Nations funds established to / 2
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further the educational and other aspirations of the peoples of
Southern Africa, wholehearted co-operation with the efforts of
the international community to bring to an end the illegal Smith
regime in Zimbabwe through sanctions and other measures, and the
exclusion from Australia of South African sporting teams selected
on a racial basis.
The Prime Minister recalled that Africa Liberation Day
this year marked the tenth anniversary of the signing in Addis
Ababa of the Charter of the Organisation of African Unity. The
O. A. U. had resolved on 25 May 1963 that that day would be observe*
as Africa Liberation Day.
Mr Whitlam said he had already conveyed to the Organisation
the congratulations and good wishes of the Government and people
of Australia on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the O. A. U
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