NOTES FOR THE PRIME fIINISTER,
FOR THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE
BRISBANE DEUTSCHER TURN-VEREIN,
BRISBANE, FRIDAY 23 MAY 1975
1. ONE OF THE GREAT FEATURES OF MIGRANT LIFE IN AUSTRALIA,
IS THE STRENGTH OF ETHNIC SOCIAL CLUBS AND OTHER
COMMUNITY GROUPS. IN EVERY CITY I VISIT I FIND
FLOURISHING MIGRANT ORGANISATIONS, CLUBS, SPORTING
GROUPS AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE NEWSPAPERS. I HAVE SPENT
MANY HAPPY HOURS AMONG ITALIANS, GREEKS, GERMANS
AND OTHER NATIONALITIES IN SURROUNDINGS SUCH AS THESE.
EVERYWHERE THE ATMOSPHERE IS WARM AND THE HOSPITALITY
IS EXCELLENT,
2. I SOMETIMES FEEL MORE AT HOME WITH THE GERMAN COMMUNITY
IN QUEENSLAND THAN I DO WITH THE AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY.
I KNOW YOUR PREMIER IS OF NORTHERN EUROPEAN EXTRACTION,
BUT HE HAS NEVER INVITED ME TO DINNER. THE ONLY TIME
I INVITED HIM TO DINNER HE DECLINED TO ATTEND.
3. I KNOW YOU WILL BE HAPPY TO BE REMINDED THAT I WAS IN THE
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY ONLY FOUR MONTHS AGO, I
HAD TALKS WITH CHANCELLOR SCHMIDT IN BONN AND PAID
VERY HAPPY VISITS TO THE CITIES OF COLOGNE AND HAMBURG,
I WAS ABLE TO REMIND MY HOSTS OF THE GREAT CONTRIBUTION
MADE BY GERMAN MIGRANTS TO AUSTRALIA AND OF THE STRONG
ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL LINKS BETWEEN US. I WAS THE SECOND
AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER TO VISIT THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC
THE FIRST SINCE SIR ROBERT FiENZIES IN 1959. s o s/ 2
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4, GERMANS WERE AMONG THE VERY FIRST PEOPLE TO SETTLE IN
QUEENSLAND, A GROUP OF GERMAN MISSIONARIES ARRIVED
IN THE MORETON BAY DISTRICT IN 1838. THEE WERE
SENSIBLE ENOUGH TO REALISE THAT MORETON BAY IN THOSE
DAYS WAS PART OF NEW SOUTH WALES, THE STATE GOVERNMENT
WAS PROBABLY MORE PROGRESSIVE THAN THE ONE YOU HAVE NOW,
SHORTLY AFTER THE ESTABLISHMENT OF QUEENSLAND AS A
SEPARATE COLONY I N. 1859' -THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT
-I SUPPOSE WE COULD : STILL CALL, IT THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT
BEGAN TO ENCOURAGE IMMIGRATION FROM EUROPE. AT . THE
: FIRST QUEENSLAND CENSUS IN 1861 THE COLONY HAD 2124
SGERMAN-BORN PEOPLE.' TODAY THERE ARE ROUGHLY 10,000
QUEENSLANDERS BORN IN GERMANY, THE 1971 CENSUS ALSO
SHOWED THAT APPROXIMATELY 31,000 QUEENSLANDERS HAD EITHER
ONE OR BOTH PARENTS BORN IN GERMANY.
6, IN RECENT YEARS THERE HAVE BEEN STRONG CULTURAL CONTACTS
BETWEEN GERMANY AND AUSTRALIA, THE STUTTGART BALLET
HAS COME TO AUSTRALIA AND THE SYDNEY SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA HAS PLAYED IN GERMAN CITIES. VERY MANY GERMANS
HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE ARTS, SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY
IN AUSTRALIA, S../ 3
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7, GERMAN-AUSTRALIAN CONTACTS GO BACK TO THE VERY
BEGINNING OF AUSTRALIA. GOVERNOR PHILLIP'S
FATHER WAS A GERMAN; A GERMA. SURVEYOR, THEODORE
ALT, SAILED WITH PHILLIP iN THE FIRST FLEET;
FREDERICK BRECKER, REGARDED AS THE FATHER OF THE
QUEENSLAND MERINO, STOCK, SETTLED IN QUEENSLAND IN
THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY: THE EXPLORER AND
NATURALIST, LUDWIG LEICHARDT, MIGRATED FROM GERMANYIN
1842; GERMANWINEMAKERS ARE FAMOUS IN AUSTRALIA";'
SKARL RASP CAME TO AUSTRALIA IN 1869, DISCOVERED
" SILVER, LEAD AND ZINC DEPOSITS AT BROKEN HILL, AND
FOUNDED A SMELTING COMPANY WHICH WAS THE FORERUNNER.
OF B. H. P.
8. CLUBS SUCH AS YOURS ARE KEEPING ALIVE THIS
GREAT TRADITION OF FRIENDSHIP AND INTERNATIONAL
UNDERSTANDING. IT IS GOOD TO BE AMONG YOU AND
TO SHARE YOUR CONFIDENCE IN OUR COUNTRY AND ITS FUTURE, -a'