PRIME MINISTER
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
PRIMIE MINISTER'S REM4ARKS AT THE
1VnESENTATION OF THE AUSTRALIAN PEACE AWARDS
THE LODGE, 22 OCTOBER 1986
I am sure that none of us6 here least of all those whose
efforts andc achievements have earned recognition as
recipient3 of Australian Peace Awards regard such awards
as an end n themselves.
The individual3 and organisations selected for these Awards
represent only a very small proportion of the many
Australians who are working for peace and who have given
effect to the ideals of the International Year of Peace with
dedication and commitment.
Just as the Government believes that the issues of peace and
disarmairent are too important to be left to the super-powers
and the other nuclear powers, so by your efforts you have
demonstratod that ordinary Australians believe these issues.,
cannot be left to Government. And you are right.
The Australian Peace Atwards seek to recognise the
contributions which Australians have made across a wide
range of octivities designed to promote arms control, peace
and international security. In particular, the Awards
honour efforts made to strengthen the United Nations as the
principal international organisation devoted to the
maintenance of peace; to promote international co-operation
and the resolution of conflict on the basis of the UN
Charter; and to focus attention on the important building
blocks for creating lasting stability and peace in the
world, including effective and verifiable arms control, the
protection of human rights, the interrelationship between
peace, economic development and social progress, the
elimination of racial discrimination, and other related
issues.
The recipients of these Awards whom we honour today have
contributed towards these objectives in a significant and
inspiring way.
Your contributions cover a wide range of activities
including promotion of the ideals of the IYP among trade
unions, women's groups, rural communities, municipal
organisations, academia, aboriginal people, and others.
2.
Despite its diversity, your work has a common theme: a
desire to leave a world at peace as the inheritance of the
next generation.
On behalf of the Government, I warmly congratulate you on
your achievements and on the valuable work you are
undertaking. You have not succumbed to the paralysis of despair. It
would be a tragedy if our young people, in particular, were
to be so weighed down at the remote prospect of nuclear war
as not to care adequately about their own self development
or to contribute to our society in a positive and energetic
way. You have sought to decode the often confusing language of
arms control, its acronyms and its technical jargon. You
have not allowed the so-called experts to monopolise the
debate.
Above all, you have let the political leadership of this
country, and of the international community, know of your
desire for tangible progress towards a saner, safer world.
For our part, the Government will continue to exert pressure
on the super-powers to reach arms control agreements for
deep cuts in their nuclear arsenals leading to their
ultimate elimination. It would be a disaster if the
progress made at Reykjavik were to go for nothing and the
arms race to continue its bizarre and dangerous course
unchecked. We need not only your support but your continued
representations and pressure towards this end, which is of
critical importance for Australians and for all mankind.
I congratulate the many Australians who have contributed to
the success of the IYP in Australia.
Today we congratulate, in particular, those Australians who
have made an outstanding contribution.
Through the presentation of these Awards, we honour you for
your idealism, your practical work and the inspiration you
have given to others.