PRIME MINISTER'S SPEECH AT SWEDISH TELEPHONE LINK-UP
ON MONDAY, 26TH MAY, 1975
I'm to open Swedish Technical Week, but that's not what is
worr ying me it is this phone call which I have to take
immediately I have opened the Week.
I sometimes have the feeling, I suppose all of you do, that
when you are making phone calls, somebody may be listening in.
Well, on this occasion, I know they are,-hundreds of you.
Of course, this means that the phone call will have to be
exceptionally discreet and formal. I hope you will pardon
me because really on the telephone, I'm quite relaxed ordinarily,
quite forthcoming, quite natural. This is not the real me that
you will hear on the phone.
It gives me very great pleasure to open Swedish Technical Week,
because there is no country in the world, whose model my
Government has sought to emulate in so many respects. I suppose
I must confess to being a little ideologically prejudiced.
The Swedish Government is formed by a fraternal party of my own.
It's been in office for over 40 years, yet Sweden is one of the
most complete democracies in the world a vigorous contest
between political parties and we've won for over 40 years.
Of course, naturally, I want to emulate the Swedish example.
But let me be completely dispassionate in this matter. Let
me just look at the facts and the statistics. When the Swedish
Social Democrats came to office in the early 1930' s, Sweden
statistically was the poorest country in Europe. It would be
invidious to mention the countries which are now regarded as
the poorest in Europe, but which at that time, had a higher
average per capita income than did the Swedes. Now, by any
tests, Sweden has the highest per capita income in Europe.
It is probably the richest country in the world. I believe the
conclusion to be drawn is obvious. The society is fair, the
economy has been transformed. And it has . come about, I believe,
because the Swedes have concentrated on their strengths. They
are naturally an educated, healthy people, a real democracy,
complete freedom of parliamentary and media exchanges. At the
same time, they have concentrated on those natural resources
where they are strongest. They are very rich in minerals, and
one only has to look not only at the income that the Swedes
derive from the export of minerals, but also look at the income
they derive, the employment they secure, from the processing
of minerals and not least, the whole of the metal skills upon
which so much of their reputation in the world is based. In
every respect, the raw materials, the basic industries, the
crafts and designs, the Swedes excell.
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Inevitably, in these circumstances, they have built up a
very healthy trade with Australia. So often when people
visit Australia, they say the trade balance is very much
in Australia's favour. I have to point out that the trade
between Australia and Sweden, the trade balance, is immensely
in Sweden's favour much more in Sweden's favour than the
trade balance is in Australia's favour with any country in
the world. But I don't resent that, I don't object to it.
Minister Bengtsson has pointed out the close ties which have
developed between our two countries in the last two years.
I suppose you could say the last two years and five months
to be precise.
Nobody would say that I haven't tried to visit Sweden! It0
was about six years since I made my first visit there and
try as I might, I couldn't extend my mission to Europe over
last Christmas and January,, to include Sweden. But I couldn't
restrain my Ministers from visiting it. I think more of my
Ministers have visited Sweden than have visited any other0
country quite a record I can assure you. In so many
international gatherings, we confer with the Swedes, whether
it is in economic, or social, or diplomatic issues, we study
in every case, what the Sweddes'are doing, or what they have
done and they have been very good colleagues indeed. It's a
delight to have Minister Bengtsson here again. We appreciate
any visits from him. The Swedes have an extraordinarily fine
Public Service, an extraordinarily fine diplomatic service
and we have the Ambassador and a distinguished Minister here
with us today. Moreover, there are a very great number of
Swedish businessmen and Australian businessmen visiting
Australia in this Swedish Technical Week.
I don't know when the phone call is coming through, but I
suppose to make it available and to take this call, to beS
formal and discreet, I had better get this informal part over,
and I now declare Swedish Technical Week 1975 in Melbourne,
Australia, open.
TELEPHONE LINK-UP DISCUSSION
Mr. Whitlam: The trade balance between our two countries
is very much in your favour.
Mr. Palme: Yes, but the important thing is that it will
expand both ways, I hope.
Mr. Whitlam: I'm sure it will.
Mr. Palme: Really, our contacts have developed in a very
capable way in all spheres during the last few years.
Mr. Whitlan: They have indeed.
Mr. Palme: We-are very happy for that.
Mr. Whitlam: I must say that I was sorry that I couldn't
extend my European visit, 5 months ago, to Sweden, but I
want to express my appreciation to you and your Ministers
for your hospitality to so many of my Ministers, who, whenever
they're within a thousand miles of Sweden, make sure that they
visit Sweden.
Mr. Palme: In the first place, we are looking forward to
seeing you in the future. I remember we met at a restaurant
here in Stockholm.
Mr. Whitlam: Yes
Mr. Palme: Six or seven years ago.
Mr. Whitlam: When you were the heir apparent to Erlander.
Mr. Palme: I just returned from Vienna a couple of hours
ago, where I met two friends of yours, Willy Brandt and H. Schmidt,
and they both extend their best wishes to you. I understand
that Willy Brandt has also talked to you over the phone once,
to Australia.
Mr. Whitlam: Yes he did, last year. But it was not so refined
a technique as this where we are speaking on telephones. In
that case we-were on television. We were picked up by television
sets, but here, of course, we are onEricsson telephones.
Mr. Palme:
to year. So the technical development proceeds from year
Mr. Whitlam: I was happy to be able to see Willy Brandt
last January in Bonn and, of course, found him in excellent
spirits and we have some hope that he may be visiting Australia
next year.
Mr. Palme: He mentioned that. He was looking forward to it.
We were discussing particularly, the present situation in the
world and in Europe. Naturally the fact that the unemployment
is so large, the OECD area is causing us very great concern,
but we are hoping that there will come some up-turn later in
the year, which would be very beneficial.
Mr. Whitlam: We hope so, because all the countries at this
stage of development that the OECD countries are, big ones
and medium sized ones like Sweden and Australia, have these
terrible twin problems of unemployment and inflation. But
it looks as if the position is improving steadily, although
slowly, in all our countries.
Mr. Palme: I believe so. The important thing is to tie it to
the development of the United States. As long as they lag
behind, it will be difficult, but there is a hope that there
will be a change this year.
Mr. Whitlam: They seem to have changed their policies in
order to relieve the unemployment.
I would like to assert to you, face to face, how much my
Government has appreciated working with your Government
and its representatives in international bodies in the last
two and a half years. We find ourselves ' on the same wavelength
in so many social and economic and diplomatic issues, and
whenever we are deciding a course of action we shall take
as Australians in any of these bodies, we ascertain what the
attitude of the Swedish Government will be.
Mr. Palme: May I immediately reciprocate, because whatever
the field is, whether it be the environment, or in disarmament
questions or in the General Assembly or in the Security Council
in the United Nations, we always have the same experience that
our representatives can work very much on the same lines. And
I feel that it is important that countries of our size try to
both take an active part to show solidarity in all the international
affairs.
Mr. Whitlam: We are not so large that other countries suspect
our political motives or fear our economic power. They can
believe that what we are trying to do is, in fact, good
international relations, fraternal relations.
Mr. Palme: In my contacts around the world, I see more and
more that this type of cooperation of the medium sized and
smaller countries is wanted, not least in the many countries
of the Third World that now are finding their rightful
places. Mr. Whitlam: Well, of course, Australia is surrounded by
developing countries, countries of the Third World, countries
which in the last generation, or in the case of Indo-China,
within the last couple of months, have achieved independence,
and, accordingly, we are very much aware of the needs of
developing countries for trade as well as aid, and that
they need to have international self-respect. We applaud
the efforts that Sweden has taken under your Government and
Mr. Erlander's Government in this respect in Indo-China,
the attitude you expressed politically and also -the assistance
that you have given with aid and rehabilitation. It's been
a noble precedent and we try to emulate it.
Mr. Palme: Your position is very important. Just because
you are in the region where there are many countries of the
Third World, where you have much more first-hand contact than
many other countries have. In this international cooperation,
I think what we are doing right now is important because there
is in many places, a reaction against technical development
and against the advances of industrial society. This can be
understandable when technology leads to undesirable social
results, but on the other hand, one must never forget that
it is the technical development that has allowed our countries
to come up from poverty and misery and to create welfare for
our peoples. Therefore, we had to control technology, and
also give it the possibility to develop for the benefit of all
countries and for mankind, and I think it is important to stress
this in the modern world..
Mr. Whitlam: In our area it is true that in many of our
neighbour countries, there is some revulsion against advanced
technologies because they have often increased the distance
between the people in office or in power, through whose hands
the new techniques pass, and the rest of the population. It
would be a tragic result if higher techniques increased the.
disparities, the inequalities in the developing societies.
Nevertheless, as I was saying to this gathering at this
function in Melbourne, it is by concentrating on its strengths,
that a country like Sweden in the course of just over 40 years,
has come from the poorest country in Europe to the richest
country in the world the smallest per capita income to the
largest. You have concentrated on your strengths and it is
something that we aim to copy in Australia. You have preserved
democracy, you have a welfare state and you have a thriving
mixed economy.
Mr. Palme: I don't think you need to copy anything because
really, you are following the same path with a very developed
industrial economy on a mixed economy basis and the extended
welfare for the people. We can thus, because we are on the
same level of development, learn a lot from each other, in the
social fields and the labour market field, and many others.,
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So we are really learning much from you and I see my colleagues
are very eager to come over there and discuss with your
people.
Mr. Whitlam: We have Mr. Bengtsson . of course, with us today.
Mr.. Palme: I hope he behaves.
Mr. Whitlam: We haven't got these two-way Ericsson telephones
on him the whole time, but I believe so. Both as Environment
and as Labor Minister, he is a very good colleague. My
colleagues in these fields have shared experiences with him
to our advantage and he seems to enjoy it too.
Mr. Palme: Last year we had Mr. Cameron. I had a long
discussion with him. I suppose you see him often. Would
you give him my regards.
Mr. Whitlam: I see him constantly. He is constantly on
radio talk-back programmes. If he were on a programme like
this, there would be no holding him! I will tell him that
you remember him and that you speak so kindly of him. Thank
you very much for your reference to him.
Mr. Palme: I hope that this Technical Week will be of
some interest to you . and show you what we are trying to
develop in this very small country. We try to specialise
in certain things.
Mr. Whitlam: I'm most glad that Swedish technology has
brought us face to face again. I hope that it will not be
too long before you, in my country, or I, in your country,
can speak face to face without scores or hundreds of people
watching us. It's very good for my Government to be working
so closely with your Government in so many fields and I have
very much appreciated the opportunity of speaking to you
face to face again through the Swedish technology and the
opening of Swedish Technical Week-in Australia.
Mr. Palme: I really look forward to seeing you again in
person in my country and I'm glad that technology gave us
this chance of ' a preview of our future meeting.
Mr. Whitlam: Thank you very much, Prime Minister.
Mr. Palme: MTr. h aPlnmek: you, goodbye.