WZ.
PRIME MINISTER
FOR MEDIA FRIDAY, 27 MAR~ CH 1981'
' SPERCfl ON THE ' OCCASION OF TH2Z HANDING-OVER OF THW ITALIANk
-EARTHQUAKE APPEAL CHEQUE,
' Mr ChAirMan, Your Excellency, Your Grace,, Mr Premier t,
Paxijamentary Colleagues, other distinguished guests,.. ladies
gentlemen.
~ Lstk er" a eathquake-in'Southern Italy was one ofth
~' worst natural disasters to occur in the w ter wol this
cetr. The extent of the tragedy was immense:* 3,000
people lost their lives, many thousands were injured,
~ qatrof a million people were renaie aT iblebs. The
ipact 6f the devastation wasicompounded by the fact that it
-v ame with the onset of the full severity of winter. The
magnitude of the disaster, the loseof 1i a~-nd -the--hardship
faced by the survivors touched people everywhere, and aid * came
from many countries throughout the world.
Australians always respond quickly and generously tocalfo
-assistance, and there was never any doubt that we would, play
our poart . in the international effort to assist Italy. " But
~ ere was' a depth and quality of respunse from all sections9-
of' the community which revealed a very important element of
t. he* chsaater of our society.
Australians of Italian origin responded magnificently and the,
.,. rest ' of the comunity did more than just provide ' financial
assistance to another of the world's disaster areas. There was
a feeling that we had all been affected because a signfiet
gopin our nation had suffered a great hurt.
The -arthquake was a disaster-that-tovchernot only Auistraliams
of Italian origin but all of us, of whatever background.. -The
natin'srespontse was akin to the sharing that occurs
wth44_ a-. famil1y, when one member of that family is goin
through a tine of Borrow.
I. believe that this response ' Shows yet again that Australia
i~ s T~ gof age -as a multicultural society. Today# we
: recognise the fact that Australians can retain a particular
affection for the country from which they or their parents
originally migrated and still, be Australians in the fullest and
A beist sense of the word. And,' we are increasingly seengr that'
it also provides a further foundation for the cohiesion and
j unity of our country based4 on-shared feelings and concerns.
if 2.
: This is tellingly illustrated by a small event F~~
Victorian off ice of the earthquake appeal. An old l1ady,
dressed in black, arrived carrying two collection tins,
filled with donations.. The vo~ u~ eer-staff begaato speak*
with her in Italian and soon discovered that the lady spoke
no English and no Italian. She was Greek'.
I have no Youbt. that the appeal organisers. have many other
incidents demonstrating the way in which our society. worked
together.-Collections were arranged at, spr rke, tetcrer
anid schools; companies. and unions, large and small, contributed
Aixertl-y to.. the appeal; executives and shop stewards
Worked together-to assist collections at. the workplace;
F. churches of all denominations took up collections among
their congregations; and entertainers and performers: of.
clibYe-bf Iamahl, John Farnham.. the Australian
I Opera and the Melbourne Theatre Company donated their'.
services free-of-charge to the appeal.
Aside from monetary contributions, State and Territory,
Governments provided manpower and premises to the various.
state Appeal Committees. Here in Victoria, government
premises were. immediately made available on a 24-hour basis
following the earthqua1~ e.
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~ L. The Commonwealth Government made an initial donation of'
half a million dollars. We agreed to match dollar-for-dollax
the grants made by the State and Territory Governments and
we made. donations to the appeal--tax-eductible--
The Commonwealth has also facilitated the issuing of visas
for intending migrants from-tha-eartbanake area... A senior
officer from the Australian Institute of Multicultural.
Affairs worked as the Secretary of the National Committee
and staff from my own department, the Department of. Irmagratfion
and. Ethnic Af fairs and from7E-eAu sraian E-ia-s y in Rome
haemaintained an advisory role and provided assistance to
the National Committee.
It is no easy task to organise this wide range of activities
and contributions and the splendid organisation and drive
provided by the appeal commiittees At. ationaI. and state
levels deserves the higliest recognition.
In Victoria, the State Comittee was made up of over
people, drawn from clubs.-.-cni-sUtTcm, inbarest -groups,
chambers of comxnerce, political parties, the clergy, student
groups, businesses. This Committee worked together, in
xin Ison and . co-operation. Its members fanned out into the
suburbs, the factories,. the clubs, the churches. -; Z
7-
S The example of Victoria is paralleled in othe taer , where
telethons were organised, telephone ring-ins and doorknock
appeals took place and a host of othear-. actimiñ.ñ ea
were arranged to raise funds.
6 V. 1RO All this reflects not only the human concern that naturall
follows such a disaster. it also deosrtes tbit Eiire
are no barriers when a coimunity, comprising differentgroups
and a variety of interests, is united in purpose-..
To achieve the magnificent result,. which. is evident in the.
figures, has taken the effort and concern of hundreds of
peOPleiiwhohave-ualuntaxily-devoted their time and effort
to the appeal and the contributions of hundreds of thousandis
-of Australians of many backgrounds.
The total amount raised in Australia will be over $ 4 -millionr,
with the figure in Victoria close to $ 1h million. This
* money will be spent on the construction_ of kindergartens
and homes for the elderly. , The use of funds for -projects
of lasting and identifiable value was adopted very successaLlly
following the earthquake in the F~ riuli region of 1976. 1
-am confident that the national comittee will ensure that
the money raised in Australia will be appropriately spent.
Ladies and. gentlemen, let us hope that. the wounds inflicted
tpnthe Italian nation by events beyond human control will
-soon be -healod -and-let -us-recognise and build upon two
legacies which the tragedy has left.
-Thei first is a strengthened bond of friendship between the
peoples of Italy and Australia. We have responded at a
time of need and our assistance will provide practical
projects whose daily use will serve as a reminder of the
links between our two countries.
e-socm--rofound, legacy is that we have demonstrated that
we are a nation in which there is unity in+ diversity. -We
have shown that when it counts we are able to work together
i. Jn R port the-particular concerns of a -part of our
community. This is a quality of which we can be justly
proud, and it is a sign of national maturity. There can be:
no doubt that it is a quality on which we can rely to tackle
any fasw Iich iialia * May face in the years to come.
It has been xny honour to serve as the patron of this most
impertant--appeal;.--Thank you.
-oooOO0oo---I