The Netherlands
Speech by the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, MrJoop den Uyl,
at a dinner given in honour of the
The Hagueon 4January 1975
The honour and the pleasure of receiving you in
the Netherlands, Mr Prime Minister, Mrs
Whitlam and our other distinguished Australian
guests, is due, no doubt, to the close relations
between our countries and co-operation in various
international fields. May I add that the
pleasure of receiving you at this very moment
has perhaps also something to do with the fact
that there are similarities in the situation of your
Government, Mr Prime Minister, and that of
mine. I am not referring to the fact that some people
have written to you in the past few months that
we had a crisis every week. And I will not suggest
that you are having the same experience.
But there are some resemblances in the situation
of your government and that of mine and I
will point those out later on.
Well, the relationship between our countries
goes back much further than the recent past. I
need not remind you of this. You all know the
Dutch discovered Tasmania, and well we know
you had at least discovered this country before
your present visit, and I am very happy about
that. Well, turning to the Australia of today, we
know that about 150,000 Netherlands
nationals have settled there since 1950, and
have forged even closer ties between us than in
the past. These Dutch immigrants face with you
the tremendous challenges of terrain, climate
and distance in the development of national
resources. If I am not mistaken we were the first
non-Commonwealth country to conclude an
immigration agreement with you. And to be
frank, I feel a little proud that most of my fellow
countrymen have succesfully adapted themselves
to their new surroundings. In fact-I
think-the greater part have adopted Australian Prime Minister of Australia in
citizenship. And, well, some people think that a
Dutchman begins to be a very noble man if he
stops being a Dutchman, so there must be every
hope for you, having so many Dutch people
naturalised as Australians today. I hope and
trust these people continue to be an asset to
both our countries. Important as this may be,
there is more to link our countries in the
present-day world, in spite of the physical distance
that separates us.
With the advent of regular air communications
shortly after the end of the second World War,
there have been numerous contacts during the
period when both our countries were undergoing
a fundamental economic, political and social
transformation. For all the gaps and misconceptions
that inevitably remain, we do know in this
country that Australia is no longer primarily an
exporter of agricultural produce and wool. And,
even, not only the country of kangaroos. We
know that, in addition to strengthening its position
as a supplier of raw materials, Australia has
developed a powerful and sophisticated industrial
base, able to hold its own with other leading
industrial nations.
Dutch enterprise and capital have had a part in
this development. We realise it has been a
modest part. Perhaps too modest. We would
welcome a greater participation in your economy
and this morning we have already discussed
ways to achieve that goal. Both our
countries have had to meet serious challenges.
Australia's outlook and interests were conditioned
by its ties with the British Commonwealth,
its vast geographical area and the
tremendous hardships encountered and overcome
in its initial development. The 33
Netherlands outlook was conditioned by its
position as a geographically small but densely
populated country in Europe with extensive
overseas dominions. The very fact that we are
such a densely populated country may explain
for example why conservation policies, environ
mental pollution, our concern about scarcity of
national resources, our conviction that new
ways should be opened up in that field are so
much stressed in this country and in its policies
today. Looking to the future from our present postition,
we find ever increasing commercial and political
links within the European Community, of which
the Netherlands forms an intrinsic part. Yet
mental attitudes and world-wide economic
interests inherited from our recent past make us
pay special attention to the relations of Europe
to the outside world. We-I venture to say-we
can always be counted upon to oppose trends
that would make Europe into a closed entity,
turning a blind eye to the problems of others. Hence our special concern for developing countries,
but also for countries like Australia, which
feel that their interests are bound up with those
of the world community.
Both our countries are seeking today a new
social order in our domestic policies and in international
policies. The Government you lead,
Mr Prime Minister, came to power as a result of
the elections of-I believe it was-2 December
1 972. Well, that is something to be jealous of.-
You took over on 5 December. The Government
I represent in the Netherlands was a somewhat
delayed result of the elections of 29 November
1 972, three days before yours, but it took
nearly six months, it was 11 May, before I could
say: I have achieved the same results as you did
after three days. Well, what we might have in
common is a desire to reform and remould society,
but perhaps also a sense of instability.
You had to face the electorate again in May of
last year. I only had to face criticism in Parliament
and in the press but I watched you, you
The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mr den Uyl, presiding over talks in The Hague.
M' VC. a I
F . K7~ 7I
34
are accustomed to peril like me. You have
brought about quite a few changes in the
foreign policy of Australia. You have embarked
on the work for a wider and genuinely represen
tative regional association. In the United
Nations you have adopted an attitude on ' apartheid'
in South Africa broadly in line with that of
Third World countries. You have speeded up
the process of national independence for Papua
New Guinea. The Australian Labor Government
has committed itself to an aid target of 0.7 per
cent of Australia's GNP in the coming decade.
Australia has joined with India, Sri Lanka and
other countries of the region in pressing for the
Indian Ocean to be declared a Nuclear Free
Zone. You have emphasised to the world that
there are Nations of the Pacific and that as such
they have a direct interest in the purpose for
which the ocean is used. You have recognised
the Chinese People's Republic and the North
Viet-Nam government.
In summing up all this, all these changes you
were striving for in foreign policy, I recognise
much of what the Government I represent is
striving for. And it is in many ways surprising to
discover that your Government-acting as it did
from December 72-and my Government acting
from May 73, have been striving to achieve
the same goals in international development.
The Dutch Government has committed itself to
a development aid target of 1.2 per cent of GNP
to be reached in 1976. We are conscious that it
is a very hard road, it is a very ambitious target,
but we think it is necessary to reach it, in our
position in Western Europe and in the world.
We seek to create a critical solidarity in crossing
the bridge between industrial and developing
countries. We want to be a critical member of
NATO, accepting our fundamental partnership
in the Western world and pressing at the same
time for common goals in co-operation with
non-aligned and Third World countries. We
know that there are limits to change. Limits to
change in foreign policy, too, and in the possibilities
of international co-operation. You, Mr
Prime Minister, have been working in political
life for more than a quarter of a century. You
were a Member of Parliament for twenty years
and people experienced in parliamentary life
know that policies of change can only be
realised within small margins. And for my part, I
think that that is political reality and we have to be aware of it. We in this country often speak
about the controversy between North and
South in the world, as being of no less importance
than the controversy between East and
West. It is a good thing ( for us) to know that in
the South there are Western countries-Australia,
New Zealand-which might contribute
substantially to overcoming that controversy
between North and South.
I might add a few words about what that might
mean in our present situation. Today a very
serious challenge faces us both. I am referring to
the energy crisis and the problems connected
with it. Both your country and mine are in a
relatively favourable position as regards energy
resources. But we do not propose to make use of
this position in a grasping, selfish way. It is our
conviction that no country can be permanently
prosperous in a world where the great majority
live in poverty and even in acute hardship. The
same principle of fair shares for all which guides
us within our national boundaries will guide us
in our efforts to lessen the gap in prosperity between
us and the developing countries. That is
why, whatever the difficulties facing us, we
shall not relax our efforts to contribute to the
development of the Third World.
Mr Prime Minister, we have worked closely
together as nations on numerous issues, in the
United Nations and in other international
organisations, with a view to creating conditions
for a better world for all humanity to live in.
When you return to your own country I should
like you to take back this message: There is a
country in Europe, far away across oceans and
continents, which looks upon the world much as
you do, which has stood by at the birth of your
nation and which values numerous precious ties
with it. A country, in short, which is and wants
to remain a friend: the Netherlands.
Speech by the Prime Minister of Australia at a dinner given in his
honour by the Prime Minister of the Netherlands in The Hague on
4 January 1975
I have had frequent occasion on my visit to
Europe to stress the traditional friendship that
Australia enjoys with the countries of Europe. In
few countries are such sentiments more
appropriate or more soundly based than here in
The Netherlands. I greet you, Prime Minister,
not only as a fellow Head of Government and as
the head of a fraternal party, but as the leader of
a nation with an exemplary record of generosity
and goodwill in her dealings with the world. In
few countries is there a keener and more practi
cal conception of the responsibilities of a small
or medium power towards the maintenance of a
stable world order.
The Netherlands has made a contribution to the
less fortunate peoples of the world and to the
welfare and progress of the international community
out of all proportion to her size. An Australian
Prime Minister comes to your country,
seeking not merely a reaffirmation of our bonds
of friendship, but a good example-indeed a
measure of inspiration-to guide us in our own
search for a wise and constructive role as an
independent nation in an increasingly troubled
world. In the history and traditions, and in the contemporary
circumstances of our countries, there is
much to provide a basis for greater co-operation
and understanding. Dutch navigators discovered
the Australian continent in the early
17th century-more than a century before the
British. True it was they found little to interest
them in those days. It was another 300 years
before the Dutch came to Australia in significant
numbers. Since World War II-a conflict in
which Dutch and Australian soldiers fought side
by side-more than 160,000 Dutch migrants
have settled in my country. Their contribution to
the development and enrichment of Australian
society has been immense and irreplaceable.
No migrants are more valued or respected by
the Australian people. Today, the populations of
our two countries and our national incomes are
almost identical. We are both great trading nations. With our common western traditions of
law, social justice and Parliamentary democracy,
we share similar ethical and cultural
values. Each of us aspires to a robust national
independence, to a distinctive voice in world
affairs, yet each of us acknowledges an important
role, and important responsibilities, in international
and regional communities.
I mention these things, not just to illustrate the
strength of our own relationship, which is longstanding
and secure, but to show how two
nations, geograpically remote and with widely
different regional interests, can demonstrate the
growing interdependence of all nations. I believe
this interdependence to be the cardinal
reality of modern international relations. Only
by recognising their interdependence will
nations overcome the complex and daunting
problems confronting us all. Interdependence
implies much more than co-existence, more
even than co-operation: it requires us to acknowledge
that no nation can live to itself, that
the world's problems are global in their nature
and origin, and that solutions will never be
found-they will indeed be made much more
difficult-if nations pursue narrow, inwardlooking
policies, whether in trade or in economic
matters, in military or defensive postures or in
their attitudes to the developing nations. There
has never been a greater need for international
discussion, for the exchange of views, for the
strengthening and enlargement of the world's
agencies for co-operation and consultation. The
survival of the western world-with its free
institutions and its manifold material blessings
-may well depend on the ability of nations to
talk and work together.
I believe this spirit of co-operation must be
sought through a new respect for international
law. It is appropriate that I mention these
thoughts in The Hague, for it is here in your city
that one of the paramount instruments for world
order and international law is based. Australia
has given her warm support to the principles
and objectives of the International Court of
Justice. We believe we must continue to promote
the development of international law. We
must promote its acceptance, not merely as a
means of ending disputes, but as a standard for
international conduct, as a positive embodiment
of the principles of international justice
and human brotherhood. The re-ordering of
political and economic relations which is occurring
throughout the world will inevitably give
rise to strains between states. The challenge
facing us at present is to rise above self-interest
and accept with generosity, with grace and with
responsibility the need to resolve our
differences by peaceful means. It is for these
reasons that I spoke last year in the United
Nations General Assembly of the need to give
greater attention to the role of the International
Court. I urged that the Court's jurisdiction
should be widened and that jurisdiction should
become compulsory and universal. In helping
the Court to enhance its role, our countries share
much common ground. Our delegations at the
United Nations have worked closely together to
this end.
In international affairs, there have been many
other areas of fruitful co-operation between
Australia and the Netherlands. We both give
high priority to the United Nations. We have
effectively co-operated in the General Assembly
on such questions as non-proliferation and
nuclear disarmament: Korea and South-East
Asia: the strengthening of the International
Atomic Energy Agency: the Law of the Sea and
the Environment. We have rejected apartheid
and worked for the elimination of racism and
colonialism, of anarchy and terrorism. We share
a similar outlook on the problems of the under-
The Prime Minister makes an address in The Hague. developed world. We are dedicated to the
independence and development of those countries
which history once made our colonies.
Australia's new emphasis in her foreign policy
on a more outward-looking and independent
role, our greater involvement in Asia and our
region, in no way represents any break with our
history or with our traditional friends and allies
in the Commonwealth, in Western Europe or
the United States. Nor has our vital interest in
their well-being diminished. Western Europe,
for example, is more important than ever in our
vision of the world. The nations of the European
Economic Community now constitute
Australia's second most important trading partner.
We believe a united Europe will strengthen
the democratic forces in the world, and that
Europe's continuing prosperity is essential to
the welfare and progress of all nations.
The Netherlands, as one of the founding states
of the European community, has an essential
and continuing role in the new Europe and in
Australia's relations with Europe. Your great
ports are the essential gateways for our trade
with the whole of this continent. Your businessmen
and investors are deeply involved in
Australia's economic development. Dutch
people have risen to the highest positions of
eminence in Australian commerce, industry
and public life. I think of G. D. Delprat, a former
manager of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company,
Australia's largest corporation, a man
who established our first steel works in Newcastle.
I think of G. J. Dusseldorp, founder of the
Lend Lease Corporation, one of the greatest
development companies in Australia. In this
context I mention a recent initiative to establish
an Australian-Netherlands Association in
Australia which will complement the successful
Netherlands' Australia Institute already established
in this country. I pay tribute to the efforts
to establish the new association and offer my
full support. It will symbolise and strengthen
the long-standing and cordial friendship between
our two countries. That friendship, Mr
Prime Minister, has been deepened and
enriched by my visit to your historic capital and
by our talks together. Australians attach the
highest importance to our good relations, and
honour your nation and its people for their contribution
to a saner, more civilised, more just
and peaceful world.
The Prime Minister speaks at his official welcome to Paris at the Hotel de Ville.