EMBARGO: 10: 00PM
FJR MEDIA FRIDAY, 30 APRIL 1982
CORAL SEA BALL
It is a very great pleasure to have Mr and Mrs Bush with us
here tonight. I understand that you, Mr Vice-President, have
some familiarity with Australia from a previous visit. But
more particularly you are no stranger to the region in which
we live. For not only were you involved in the Pacific War,
where you won three air medals and the Distinguished Flying
Cross, but in more recent years you were the first incumbent
of the U. S. Office in Peking from 1974 to 1976.
A visit by an American Vice-President is a highly significant
event in itself, but in Australia-America week, the visit of
a Vice-President who was a distinguished and courageous
participant in the Pacific War is particularly appropriate,
particularly significant.
I am delighted that both you and Mrs Bush were able to accept
my invitation and that of the Australia'n-American Association
to visit us now when we commemorate tw'major land-marks in
the close relationship between Australia and the United States.
Our common purpose this evening is to commemorate the Battle
of the Coral Sea, a victory which Australians will always*
remember with profound thankfulness. But we are also celebrating
this week the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Entry into Force of
the ANZUS Treaty, a treaty which remains a cornerstone of the
relationship between our two countries, and which was founded
on our shared experiences in the war in the Pacific.
The significance of the events which took place early in 1942
is beyond the living memory of two-thirds of the Australian
population, yet it has a special meaning for all-of us. I
was just old enough at the time to sense the widespread unease
in Australia in the months between Pearl Harbour and the Battle
of the Coral Sea, but it was only later, and with the benefit of
hindsight, that I be gan to really understand what people hadfelt.
To understand that the fear of invasion and occupation
of Australia had been so real and so widespread. People really
wondered whether to move to the country or whether they would
be safer to stay in the cities.
.4
I
I 4
I '-4
I At the beginninj o~ f 1942, thle alljies' pro; p-cs i thet P if i
looked very gl~ oomy indec. d-, Not onl~ y had cjre-at; q ( capital shipz of.
the U, 5, Pacific Fleet been sunk * at Pearl zftr. o ut he end
of 1941, but in February .942 Siraooha~ fa'llen. Vchad ex.-iei
the first effects of oni our ov: n territcay witLh the Ytcrabir of Datrwi77,
and in early I-, ay thie Nd iippinve. 3 11' d 1 a Yco fallYen Those ex'ents
appeared to bFe a preud U tthe actua. inlvas ion Of AustaiiaU,
and the feelingq of g. oom and desponei by p ssily al; its deepiest
just before 7 miahy 19,42 '. hmth,% first r, Ajor sCa bM:* tlCo Int
the Pacific took olace,
The victory which the US, won at the ba~ ttle of the Coral
Sea was niot measured sim~ ply inl terms of th), e riuro her of erie-my
ships sun} X, its significance was stra. teciic rather: than
tactical as it prevetited Japnn from est ' h'lishing~ nayal.
Supremacy in the Pacific Ocean. ' or the Battle of the
Coral Sea w. as the precursor to tbe Battle of Midwa~ a
month later, and the dam-age inflicted on the eneiry's iships
during the Coral Sea BAttle could well have ti-pped the
balanoed, thex eby ensuring thle allies' victcoy at 0-1i saftl3e
of Midway restoringj tile balance of naval E)~; rinr the 1lV-cifio
and p,. ttig the allies oil the offensive,
Togethei.: with thle l. ater activ. ities of oiu: troops on the
KQkca Trail, the Battle of the Coral Sea seocured .2wtrailia
against tile threat of lnvdsioni and it perf:. tted the United
States to have ). arqely vinhindered access to Austrdlia for the
rest of the war.
I rememer the sense or-relief which wa-, felt when, early ill
1943, the first major IJS. convoy stteaed into Port ' Phillip
Bay in Melbourne, an~ event which, bumt, or the B;. ztt. of Lhe
Cora. Seat would 110t have beeln possible at al..
Ouir expe r ' ience together in wai helped to set the scene f or an
irncreasinqgly close relatioshijp between our c. oulntries in piac.
It is hardly surpirising that there is enoirwo) us~ aTt and
affection for Americans in Astre]. ia, and 1 know that t his wa rrnt t
ii s r e c ipr--o cat1. e d b y T, r I c* a is I for) r w, h ei in Iv is it t Ii, Uriited
States I meet peopl. e wrho were in Amstralia during tho S e C ortd
World Plar and in brlen: yas
It may surprise some peopl. e here to ]. ern thAt. in 1.6 of thle
years sinco the ] Battle of the Coral 8ea, Auc-itrA. 1iens: and
Americans have foht sida by sklch afnd if yDou ad~ l irk
peace-keepirtg initiative, in one w.. ay or another ' we ia'it stood
sidr-by-side in defence of fredom & rid 2Qry-nevery One
of those 40 years. Indeed if-i. s less than a week since
Austr~ alia and the US. sitharked on a new pe-ace--Keopi. rqas
tojether with other couri4ries, j. in the Sinai., jointly sterving
the intereats of peAce inl an area~ rermote fr.-i ouir ow; 1 shores.
The kirid of co operat on that he~ soccurred ov. er those 40 years
gives r-eaning to the formal. arrartgemerits wh'x, ae iniv. rsary
we are also celebratincj at. this~ tre-the kAJ), US line
In its purstwit of si; ahility, ecuritj.-y and' p! ace, differit-.
AVNZUS is fron. the shackles twhici hind the si.-c. alledi "' Allies"
of the other super powr e ANZLS ai\ ia-nce ha., Z al). Ays been
an instrux~ cnt for peaceful. cQ--operationr and sncunrity.
I @/ 3
2 2-
-3-
It is a relationship based on mutual respect, entered into by free
people to prbtect and promote their interests, with none of
the fear seen in Poland, or Czechoslavakia or Hungary, or any
of the other countries of Eastern Europe. We are bound
together by a common belief in freedom and democracy, and
the desire to choose how to live our own lives, principles
which are held to be paramount in free nations.
We all recognise, Mr Vice-President, the enormous efforts
that the United States has made in the interests of world
peace and stability over the last 40 years, for as the largest.
democratic nation, so mucho6fthe burdenof defending freedom
ana democracy has fallen on her shoulders. But while the
United States undoubtedly is the cornerstone of the defence
of freedom throughout the world, this defence is not a
burden that it should bear alone.
I was once asked why Australia was concerned with the great
issues, the relationships between the United States and Europe,
and between the Western Alliance and the Warsaw Pact. And
what right, I was asked, did Australia have to speak on these
issues. We are a nation of fifteen million people and clearly
our physical power is limited as a consequence. But that
doesn't prevent us having a view to be put, and -I hope to be
be heard. The freedom, the liberty of Australians, depends
as much upon the working out of the relationship between
the Western Alliance and the Soviet Union as does the
freedom and liberty of Western Europe or the United States
itself.
And while in many of these things we are not a principal
party, we are nevertheless vitally interested. Peace and
freedom are too important to be left t. 0 the super powers
alone. Over and above that, the Australian Government has
an obligation to Australians.
We, not Americans or Europeans or Englishmen, must be
protectors of Australian liberty, of Australian democracy..
We owe it to our fathers who fought for peace and liberty
to see that we fulfil that obligation, and we owe it
more to our children. We owe it to them to make sure that
peace does not go by default simply because those who want it
leave its defence to others.
We in Australia recognise that if we wish the United States
to do what is necessary in defence of world peace, we
must do what we can on our own account, and I believe
this Government has lived up to that obligation in many ways.
Mr Vice-President, today's world is facing threats to its
stability, to its security, -more serious
than any that have arisen in the last forty years.
We see the enormous and superior military strength of the
Soviet Union; we see a worsening economic situation in many
countries, leading to serious and tragic levels of unemployment
and hardship; we see poor nations increasingly overwhelmed by
the burden of debt; and developed nations unable to devise
solutions to their own economic problems let alone those of others.
-4
Against this background, the meetings taking place next month
at the Versailles Summit of major Western economic powers, and
at the summit of NATO heads of government in Bonn take on
added urgency.
Following Afghanistan and Poland, there are some problems
to be tackled within the Western alliance. These are compounded
by economic difficulty and uncertainty and it will be. harder
to achieve the necessary unity and sense of purpose.
In all of this, the burden of leadership rests on the
United States, on President Reagan, and I am sure you would
all want me to wish him and his administration well in the
great and enormous responsibilities that will be with them.
Mr Vice-President, I thought it appropriate in this year
in particular to speak of the origins of the on-going
relationship between the United States and Australia, because
it has a particular relevance to the problems that need to
be faced, and it does not hurt to remind ourselves the
relationship between the United States and Australia is not
just one of shared values and interests, but one which is
based in history and shared sacrifice by Americans and
Australians. Since its inception in 1948, the Australian-American
Association has worked tirelessly to promote understanding
between our two countries, and to provide a continuing
contribution to the development of friendly contacts.
I know that I speak for the Association as well as for
myself when I say that we are indeed vgry grateful
Vice-President George Bush and Mrs Bush have been able
to join us for the celebration of Australia-America week.
We know the pressures of office and we are glad to see the
United States recognising its interest in Japan, South-East
Asia, Australia, New Zealand and China by the Vice-President's
visit to the Pacific area.
It is timely and welcome, and the discussions we had earlier
today have been of great value. Mr Vice-President, I bid
you welcome to Australia.