AUSTRALIA
PRIME MINISTER
UNEDITED TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME 1IMISTER'S ADDRESS TO THE
COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT -MEETING, LONDON, 9 JUNE 1977
The remarks made by the Prime Minister of' Singapore and the reply
from Guyana yesterday have prompted me to try and put one
or two points from an Australian perspective.
First could I say that I think there is much in what
the Prime Minister of India has said to us. As one of the newest
representatives here I would be disappuointed if a number of heads
of government, as we are, sat round for a few days but were not able to
make some advance on one or two of the vexed and difficult
problems that concern us all and issues on the agenda of
Southern Africa, economic issues, 11orth-South issues. It would
be a disappointing conference if we could not see an advance
in these areas at-the end of the day.
There is an inter-relationship with what happens, that almost
makes Singapore and Guyana both right in what they said yesterday.
That might sound oad, but there is a many-sidedness to the
truth of certain situations. I woc. ie'-r whether it does not lie
in the interaction of power, of ideas, of actions and that it
is an understanding of that that is part of our basic dilemma.
As Guyana said, there is a third option, or certainly appears to be,
between a very stark choice of Communism on the one hand or
a nti-Communism on the other. At the same time there is a
certain reality that affects us all. We might not sometimes like
that reality and what the Great Powers do certainly what the
Super Powers do, but what other countries do in many ways
affects us all, or affects a number of us. Sometimes they
might take actions that affect us Intentionally; quite often
they might take actions that affect other countries
unintentionally. However, the point I would like to
develop is that I do not think it is possible for any of us really
to say that there is something going on that might be affecting
a significant part of the world, but that does not affect us all.
What is involved is sonething that -will affect us impinge upon the
way we can go about our own business. Let me develop this
for a moment.
It is not just military power, or the power of ideas or
economnic power or numbcer alone f!: idetermines the course of
world events, although quite clearly all these things have significant
impact on it. It is the inter-relationship of the complex network
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of all these things that'ult imat elY determines what happens, whether
it is in my part of the world, or whether it is in other parts.
If I could give one or two examples. The choice. was mentioned
yesterday between Communisifi and anti-Communism, and
Prime Minister Lee mentioned some facets of Communism which appearto
' have been the same: that refugees always flee; people do
not seem to want to go to Communist regimes; the countries
have not escaped its embrace once it has absorbed them.
On the other hand, I believe, it is very clear to all of us that
there are great differences between the Communism practised in
different countries or at least in the attitude of those countries.*
It would be hard to say Russian and Chinese Communism is the
same or Yugoslavian or Vietnamese Communism. Do we know
yet how divergent Communism in different countries is going to
become or do we believe that in the future they will become more
and more the same?
In the nature of things I think it is more likely that there would
be a divergence and perhaps an increasing one, but quite obviously
South-Easth Asia is much affected by the course , that China takes,
by decisions that China makes, or fails to make, by support
for activities-outside its own borders one way or another, and
South-East Asia can also be much affected by the course of
Vietnamese actions, by the relationship that develops between
the present states of Indo-China and China itself.
We cannot avoid being affected at least in my part of the world
by the flow out of these particular changes.
In another area where I believe the Australian position has
often been much misquoted by the media I think any statements
I-have made or my Foreign Minister has made have been moderatethe,
Indian Ocean. We have been concerned for balance, balance at th.,!
lowest possible level, and certainly do not want to see any arms
race between super powers or anyone else in that particular area,
but we do-want to * see a balance. People might-disagree with that,
but I have not really heard that concept itself attacked.
Why is that area important? It'is not only important-to the
littoral states, but it is also important to Japan, as a source
of oil supplies which must get through the trade routes.
If that were at any stage,* at any time, interdicted there would'
obviously be very serious consequences niot only for Japan but
for the course of action that-* Japan would have to take to protect
her own future. So again we have an inter-relationship and I think
sometimes we might fail to stand off sufficiently far to understand
the full consequences of actions that might take place in one
corner, and to note that those consequences might be
in much wider areas.
Prime Minister Lee also mentioned the question of trade and
protection. I believe this is something that affects all of us,
but it is also a subject which we all intrinsically look at from our
own particular points of view. I know quite well that Asian
countries, for example, would want a greater degree of trade
with Australia, greater access to Australia's markets, even though
those markets are in total relatively small. But protection
on our protected goods, manufactured goods, has in fact come down
about thirty percent, and for the last several years Asian trade
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with Australia has increased its penetration of our
markets by twenty-nine percent each year. I do not think as
great a rate of penetration as that is really sustainable
without domestic effects-which could obviously be serious
and result in domestic reaction that one would not, want.
But then again, what Australia can do in trade, what another
country can do must relate to other parts of the world.
I will not go into this in any detail, but I think there are
certain difficulties especially where you have pressures
to have less protection on manufactured goods and pressures
in relation to agricultural goods..
I know in -relation to developing countries the LOME Convention
has given some degree of access, bu t whether that is comissary
with the kind of access that the developed nations that
Europe expects for manufactured goods, I would somewhat doubt.
We have seen in the last few days how some manufactured products
from Japan have been banned in Italy for the time being.
How long the ban will last I suppose nobody knows, but
does anyone stop to think what impact that is going to have?
If that is starting to introduce into -manufactured goods the
kind of protective devices that have hitherto only been used
by the Community in agricultural commodities, then the consequences
for a country like Japan are going to be enormous and go far beyond.
the immediate perspective of trade or the inability to trade
and in this area perhaps Japan is a long way from Europe.
Australia's perspective on Japan' s necessities might be
quite different from Europe's, but as we would see it, Japan,
which is pre-eminently a manufacturing and trading nation,
with a resource basically for her own people alone, needs
to have access to markets, needs to have access to raw materials
and also regards as important her defence relationship with the
United States.
If the defence relationship with the United States were upsetand
there is no suggestion that that would occur the present
course of her policies, as the Prime Minister of Singapore
indicated, I think yesterday, might well have to be re-thought,
even though that could involve a change in her Constitution
but if market access to the only areas in the world which can
presently give Japan the markets which are necessary to sustain
her United States and Europe begin to be denied her,
then the consequences for the Pacific region, and for far beyond,
I believe, would be very great indeed. I do not think we should
ignore the fact that two or three ministers of the present government
have said that they take some signs in the trading of the world as
consequences that caused Japan to arm and go to war in the thirties.
Again, banning the import of manufactured goods in one line,
Italy to Japan, people might think is an action which has no real
great consequence, but how does it * go? Where is the next step?
W~ hen does that road end, because if it goes too far, the
consequences would be very great indeed. Part of what I am saying
is that there is one world, in a number of areas, such as in trade,
and in what happens to the inter-relationship between nations,
it is also one world geographically, because whether it is
the Southern Pacific, or Asia, these areas can be affected
by the policies of major powers, whether those areas wnat to be
affected or not. We would hope for example, that there is never
a competition for influence in our area or the area to the north
of us, but if that competition for influence emerged could any
one of the* countries in that particular area stop it against
major powers? I think it might be very difficult to
stop. So again, it is a question of what everyone does that
affects us all. The course that Japan takes, I have indicated,
could have repercussions over a much wider area, even though we did
not want it. Europe involved the whole world in world wars twice and now
we hope that the European Economic Community and its political objective
will prevent that ever happening again. Again, wherever we live,
there is a possibility not only of being infected but by
being involved even against our worldo-and I think
this again indicates it is not really possible to shut doors
and pre . tend that problems of difficulties do not exist.
The question of human rights, which is very much in our minds
and ' in the minds of many people, obviously affects the relationship
between nations and the problems of Southern Africa are going to be
discussed at a later occasion, but there there are the policies
pursued by countries which are an offence to human decency and
are a scourge on the dignity of man. How long will they continue?
I think there is no policy more offensive than the policy of
Apartheid, and whatever one might think of it in terms of*
its own logic, it is doomed to failure, but at the same time to suggest
that what happens in Africa is not going to affect relations between
places in many different countires nobody is suggesting that: now.
but agai'n, emphasising the point that there is inter-relationship
between what happens in one place, with what happens in another
place, even though it might be on the other side of the world.
It cannot be ignored.
Just a couple of other points. I sometimes suspect there
is a danger of habit for international forums. The problems
are there and they remain. We are here this year. If they are
not solved we will be back again in a couple of years and maybe
progress will be-made before then. I would hope the Commonwealth
can put aside the danger of habit, and have a renewed approach, as
the Prime Minister of India,' think, wanted to. see in major problems..
What: happens is not really separable and we cannot pretend things
are not going to affect us. I suspect the presence of everyone
here is a recognition of that. We should make sure words
do not become a substitute for action, but at the same time we need
a tolerance which has already been demonstrated in the diverse views
around this forum. We need to understand the consequences of
our actions not only on ourselves, but on other people sometimes
far from us, an inter-relation between what we-do., and
what other people do, is very real; -that it needs to be understood
and I would very much hope than when we get to the specific
areas, and are recognising some of the points that
have been made during the course of this debate, we will be able
to take advances on specific areas which will come before us.
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