Ireland Speech by the Prime Minister of Australia at a luncheon given in
his honour by the Taoiseach of Ireland, Mr Liam Cosgrave, in
Dublin on 23 December 1974
I am no stranger to your extraordinary and
beautiful country. This is my fourth visit to
Ireland. Each time I return I take renewed
pleasure from my contact with a country so
close in history and spirit to my own, and whose
valiant and poignant story has so stirred the
imagination of the Australian people. I was last
in Dublin as Leader of the Opposition in January
1972. 1 am the first Australian Prime Minister to
visit Ireland since Sir Robert Menzies was here
in 1941. Another visit was long overdue.
Before his sudden and untimely death I had anticipated
a meeting with your late President, the
distinguished Erskine Childers. With all Australians
I regretted the passing of so notable an
Irishman, whose appointment symbolised
something of the breadth and magnanimity of
the Irish character. I might say that the name
Childers is well known in Australia. One of the
late President's forbears, Hugh Childers, was
the founder of the University of Melbourne and
gave his name to the town of Childers in
Queensland. I reiterate the condolences expressed
by our Governor-General on behalf of
the Australian Government and people to the
late President's family and to the Government
and people of Ireland.
The Irish contribution to the settlement and
development of Australia is a familiar story. We
were the last major area of European colonisation,
and a distinctive Irish element is well
represented in the first wave of settlers to
Australia. Irish migrants helped to expand Australian
settlement outwards and inland beyond
the narrow limits of the eastern and central seaboard.
The development of colonial selfgovernment produced an unmistakable Irish
influence in Australia's emerging political tradition.
The major debates of the late nineteenth
century-debates which canvassed issues of
land tenure, education, the relations between
Church and State and the relationship with Britain-
rehearsed issues well known to the Irish
immigrant and enabled him to give Australian
political life a distinctively Irish flavour.
Times have changed since the first Irish
immigrants settled in Australia. Other European
communities-Italians, Germans, Greeks,
Yugoslavs-have made their contribution to
Australian life. Modern Australia is a pluralist
society. While we acknowledge our European
origins, and remain in many ways the most Irish
country outside Ireland, we are increasingly
aware of our geographical and political destiny
as part of the Asian and Pacific region.
Australia and Ireland are parliamentary
democracies with governmental, judicial and
social institutions derived largely from common
political traditions. The Australian High Court
has had many able judges of Irish extraction-
O'Connor, Higgins, McTiernan, Gavan Duffy.
There are still strong cultural affinities between
us. Yet our political and diplomatic contacts
have not always been as active or as comprehensive
as traditional associations might have
led us to expect. In large part this has reflected
simple considerations of geopolitics and
differences in our major international interests.
It has reflected the absence of serious problems
or conflicts between us. One of the ironies of
history is that conflict between nations is often
productive of greater mutual understanding in
Note The Prime Minister spoke informally and on occasions may have departed from this text.
the longer term, while an established tradition
of friendship yields all too easily to a comfortable
and accepted pattern of relations which may be
less adaptable to the challenges posed by
changing times and fortunes.
In a period when Australia is seeking to play an
independent and increasingly active role in its
own region in Asia and the Pacific, at a time
when Ireland has perceived that her economic
and political interests lie in a united Europe, it
becomes more important to identify clearly the
real community of interest between us. We are
vulnerable, like all countries, to the threat of
economic and social dislocation posed by inflation,
rising unemployment and the spectre of
recession. We share similar commitments in a
wide range of international issues including
basic human rights, the problems of economic
development among the poorer nations, the
need for an accepted regime to ensure balanced
and proper methods of international maritime
law. We are both concerned with internal questions
of economic and social reform. We share a
common interest in formulating policies which
will guarantee an equitable local share in the
development of our national resources.
Perhaps most important, we realise that our
relations will come to be increasingly defined in
the context of the enlarged Europe of which
Ireland is a member. Australia places considerable
importance on its relations with the
European Community. The new Community is
Australia's largest export market after Japan
and the largest source of our imports.
It is responsible for some 40 per cent of the
world's trade. It is developing new relationships
with the trading nations outside Europe and
Australia is one of the most important of these
nations. Our commercial interests in Europe,
once centred on the British market through the
former preferential trading arrangements, have
changed to a new relationship with the Community
as a whole. Our mutual interests extend
further than a simple commercial relationship.
They include areas of international relations,
finance and questions of energy and resources.
It is against this background of common
interests that we shall be holding periodic
meetings between ourselves and the Commission
of the Community to enable consultations on the broad range of our mutual
interests. These consultations will permit both
the Community and Australia to co-ordinate the
various strands of our relations, ensuring that
proper recognition is given by each to the full
range of our interests.
The new multi-lateral relationship which we see
developing between ourselves and Europe
should not usurp the tradition of bilateral relations
between our two countries. It would be a
pity if our historical association was
overshadowed by the turn of events. With this
in mind the Australian Government has decided
to assist the University College, Dublin, to
establish a Chair of Australian History. We will
contribute $ 70,000 over the next five years
We have already made considerable donations
of books on Australian subjects to the college
and we shall make further contributions in the
future. I am confident that Australia and Ireland will
develop a new kind of relationship within the
the framework of Ireland's emerging multilateral
interests. Our relationship will be as
close, as special as before, but more relevant to
contemporary needs. Ireland is one of the two
English-speaking members of the Community
with whom we share a common cultural and
political heritage and powerful ties of sentiment
and kinship. As such we hope Ireland may
occupy a special position in the evolving relationship
between Australia and the new Europe.
I believe our relations will strengthen as we
move closer to our natural destinies in our
different regions of the world.