Speech by the Prime Minister of Australia at a luncheon given
in his honour by the President of Yugoslavia in Belgrade on
lOJanuary 1975
It is, indeed, a very great honor for us to have
been received here by you, to have talked with
you at such length and to have been shown
such hospitality and kindness. Our countries
have ties between them which reach back
across two full generations. We began our cooperation
back at the start of the World War I,
and this co-operation was continued later during
the course of World War II when Yugoslavia
represented the only country in the whole of
Europe which rebelled and fought against the
occupiers. You, Mr President, belong to a group of older
statesmen, distinguished men, who in their day
rebelled with determination and who, in the
end, won freedom for their people. This obligation
you took on has been understood by you
not just as an obligation to your people, but as
one to the whole of mankind because you are
among those who have demonstrated by your
example and your acts, and, in the end, proved,
the way in which freedom can be preserved and
must be defended.
Mr President, you have mentioned the hundreds
of thousands of Yugoslavs who today live
in Australia and you have also made note of certain
problems which, from time to time, have
come up in Australia itself and been the cause of
difficulties in relations between Yugoslavia and
Australia. These difficulties were created by just
one, very small, group of people who betrayed
their country during its most difficult moments,
and then came to make difficulties in the country
where they had chosen to make their homes.
However, I want to assure you that the majority
of Yugoslavs living in Australia today are very
solid citizens. They are proud of their earlier
homeland and they are loyal to their present
country. Of course, the largest group of people
in Australia's present-day population are of British
descent. Next are those of Italian descent,
and then, just behind, the Yugoslavs.
Because increasingly intensive relations and
co-operation exist between our two countries and because hundreds of thousands of your
people already live in Australia, I am convinced-
entirely sure-that all this must lead to
better understanding and the development of
better relations between our two countries.
Yugoslavia is a highly diversified country.
Different parts of your country were at different
times under the occupation of different powers
and countries. You have had different internal
administrations within the framework of the
country itself, and quite a few differences, likewise,
in cultures. However, I must state that
among the Yugoslavs living in Australia today a
pride and satisfaction is to be noted at belonging
to one unified Yugoslav community which was
achieved thanks to your leadership.
comes from Yugoslavia, by realising that the activity
of those people who had done much harm
here must be thwarted, at least in your country
in order to provide peace for those who went to
work there honestly as citizens of Australia.
You have helped greatly to improve the situation
in this respect. It goes without saying, Mr
Prime Minister, that all those who emigrated
soon after the war are not negative, many
people wish to forget the past and to work
peacefully in your country. We have no objection
to such people. Today, too, some of our
people leave for your country. We put no obstacles
in anybody's way, each may go where
he wishes. These are Yugoslav citizens, honest
people, and I am convinced that they, in your
country too, will be equally good citizens, who
will work in the interest of their new homeland
-Australia. Many of them will return. You said,
a while ago. that some of these people have vacation
homes, small villas, on the Dalmatian
Coast, and I think this is very nice. Such people
are a bridge of friendship between our two
countries. I would like to take this opportunity to express
my satisfaction with the fact, also, that on many
international questions we hold identical views.
Our co-operation at the United Nations is very
good. I think that many more possibilities exist,
too, in other areas such as, let us say, the economic,
to expand our co-operation. We import
many raw materials from you, and Yugoslavia,
for its part, has many things that it can export to
your country. It would be a good thing for us to
export more, too, because the economies of our
two countries are complemetary and possibilities
really do exist for us to expand this cooperation.
Your visit to Yugoslavia, unfortunately, is very
short. Furthermore, the weather at present here
is not pleasant. Therefore, we hope that you will
come to Yugoslavia when it is more at its best,
warmer weather, and when you will be able to
see more, including the beauties of our Adriatic.
It is our hope, also, that as many as possible of
your citizens will come to Yugoslavia.
Yugoslavia today is a tourist country, very attractive
to many, and so it will be a pleasure for
us to have as many guests as possible from
friendly Australia. In ending, I would like, Dear
Friend, to emphasise once again how happy we are to have you with us today. I, myself, have
wanted to meet you, to see you, because I had
heard a great deal of the best about you, and I
know that you are a friend of our country, as are
your wife and associates. May I express the
hope, Dear Friend, and Mrs Whitlam, that you
will take the very best impressions with you
when you leave our country. Australia is known
in Yugoslavia as a friendly and progressive
country whose aspiration it is to build as good
and happy a life as possible where many people
from Yugoslavia are working and making their
contribution.
Speech by President Tito of Yugoslavia at a luncheon in honour of
the Prime Minister of Australia in Belgrade on 10 January 1975
I would like to express the great pleasure, of my
wife, Jovanka, of myself and of all of us, to have
you all here as our guests today. You have come
from a far-away country geographically but one
close-by in terms of aspirations and outlook on
the world, in terms of efforts for the best possible
relations throughout the entire world, in
terms of eliminating, as soon as possible, the
various negative features which even today are
still burdening our world.
Many of our countrymen live in your country...
some arrived before the last war, and
others immediately after that war, but these are
two categories of people who differ in many ways. Those who originally left Yugoslavia to go
to your country did so because of economic
need, because they lived in great poverty. But
among those who went immediately after the
last war, there were those who were traitors,
who had collaborated with the occupiers and
committed terrible crimes-crimes you and
your people did not know about. Naturally these
two categories of our people who found a home
in your friendly country had to come into conflict
and to hate each other, to a situation which was
not in the interest of our two countries. I know
that you, personally, Mr Prime Minister, and
your Government, have done a great favour to
us by realising that it is not all the same who
The Prime Minister in talks in Belgrade with the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia. Mr Bijedic
national community. We have failed to grasp
opportunities to set the world on the path to
peace: We have failed to eliminate the threat of
war: we have failed to regulate the development
and proliferation of the instruments of war. The
threat posed by the production and proliferation
of nuclear weapons is the most awesome ever
posed to the future of mankind. The development
of measures to eliminate the threat of
nuclear war is therefore the most pressing issue
which confronts us.
The issues which symbolise the change in Australian
foreign policy under my Governmentand
the increasing similarity of approach between
Australia and Yugoslavia-are
colonialism and racism. It is my conviction that
the most significant historical trend since the
Second World War has been the struggle to end
imperialism, colonialism and racial discrimination.
One of my first actions after coming to
power was to instruct our representatives at the
United Nations to add Australia's voice to the
international condemnation of colonialism and
racism. We have supported all actions in the
United Nations against the illegal racist regime
in Rhodesia and against the infamous policy of
apartheid. Recently Australia voted in the
Security Council for the expulsion of South
Africa from the United Nations for its twentyeight-
year-long flouting of the most basic principles
of the Charter: we have joined the United
Nations Council on Namibia: reactivated our
membership of the United Nations Committee
of Twenty-four: and are providing assistance to
subject peoples in their fight for liberation.
In pursuing more independent policies, my
Government has sought to identify the common
interests which Australia shares with a broad
range of countries. Australia straddles many of
the categories which are often used to distinguish
countries-namely, the developed
from the developing, the rich from the poor, the
second from the third world, the producers from
the consumers, the aligned from the nonaligned.
Ours is a developed country, yet the
foundations of much of our prosperity on primary
production and the export of minerals has
made us conscious of the problems faced by
both producers and consumers. As a
predominantly European community in the
Asian and Pacific region, we are conscious of
the pressing requirements of our neighbours. As a comparatively rich country, we accept the
responsibility of extending asistance to the
developing countries. Bound by treaty to the
United States, we nonetheless respect and seek
to understand further the views of those
countries which have chosen to espouse nonalignment.
The bilateral relations between Australia and
Yugoslavia are strong and cordial. My visit will
help to strengthen them. Many migrants of
Yugoslav origin live in Australia. Their skills and
initiative have contributed to Australia's
progress and form an enduring bond between
our nations. I believe, Mr Prime Minister, that
after your visit to Australia you were satisfied
that my Government is determined to do all in
its power to prevent and punish criminal acts of
terrorism directed against Yugoslavia by a small
minority of malcontents and undesirables. You
may be assured that we will hold firmly to our
commitment. Trade between our countries is growing and
there is every sign that it will grow further. It is
my hope that we shall soon enter into long-term
agreements for increased trade. I hope to see a
greatly increased flow of private business,
officials and experts between our two countries.
Recent negotiations leading to the conclusion of
a bilateral civil aviation agreement covering
flights of your national airline to Australia and
ours to Belgrade is a positive contribution to this
goal. Negotiations for the conclusion of a
Cultural Agreement are well advanced.
The relationship between Australia and
Yugoslavia is based on an affinity of views on
the fundamentals of the international order. An
interdependent world demands co-operation
rather than confrontation: and no state, however
great, should threaten the independence of
another state, however small. These shared beliefs,
and the opportunities and demands presented
by a troubled world, form the basis of a
friendship that will be healthy and beneficial for
our two countries, and a constructive contribution
to the wider needs of peace and understanding
in the world.