1.-
PRIME MINISTER
EM1BAR~ GOED UNITL DCLzVZ! RV CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
STATE LUNCHEON
WELLINGTON 20 NOVEMBER 1987
Prime Minister David Lange,
Opposition Leader Jim Bolger,
Ladies and gentlemen
New Zealand and Australia have a unique relationship.'-
We are next-door neighbours by virtue of our geographical
proximity.
We are brothers and sisters by virtue of our historical
ties: born in the same era and with the same tradition of
democracy and individual liberty.
And by virtue of our proud record as ANZACs in two World
Wars, fighting for the cause of freedom and a safer world,
we are, enduringly, the closest of friends.
But as strong as are those ties of geography and of history,
we would be doing ourselves a disservice if we characterised
our relationship as one which is fixed In time and bound by
the limits of the past.
For the real strength of the relationship between New
Zealand and Australia lies in our people and in their daily
exchanges aross the widest range of business, family,
sporting, cultural and political activities.
Some Kiwis even crossed the Tasman to attend the Adelaide
Grand Prix and although, regrettably, their preslnce was not
rewarded with victory in the celebrity event, they greatly
addea tv ito diqtinction.
Those constant exchanges between Austrailao and New
Zealandera arn based on warmth and openness and friendsni
or, in the case of the virront Australian tour by your
cricketers, they are based on the warmth of intenje rivalry.
It is those exchanges which are responsible for ensuring our
reiationship remains relevant to contemporary needs and
flexible in the face of changing circumstances. j
For it would be foolish to assume that the needs and
circumstances of our relationship and of our region are
immutable. New challenges and new difficulties will arise which make it
all Lhe more importont that, where we disagree, we can
honestly explain our policies tu each other, and, where as
haopens far more fsequently, we aqree, we can work togetner
to achieve our common goals of a prosperous, pc ceful and
stable region.
It is of great importance that Australia and New Zealand
continue to work together in the South Pacific where we have
so many common interests, and we are both determined to do so.
The need for the closest co-operation between us was
highlighted this year by the military overthrow of the
legally elected government of Fiji. The full consequences
of this tragic situation have yet to emerge. But I wish to
put on record my deep appreciation of the fact that at both
the South Pacific Forum in Apia and at the Commonwealth
Heads of Government Meeting in Vancouver, David Lange and I
were able to work closely together to achieve what for all
practical purposes has been a joint and realistic approach
to the Fiji problem.
Australia has also been grateful for the tireless work of
the New Zealand Government in support of a multiracial
indeoendent New Caledonia, the common objective of all the
; V % Arec of I., m geith Panii Forum. We each have an
important long term interest It stabi-Liry La-How CalAdonia
and the changes we seek are, whatever may be said in somquarters,
designed precisely to achieve that stability.
There is no secret about our disagreement on the issue of
access to our ports by allied warships.
Australia adheres firmly to our policy on welcoming ship
visits by our US ally. We accept the need for strategic deterrence.
We recognise that you have a different view. I am not suggesting
that this disagreement is not serious or that it is in any sense
behind us. iiut I believe it is a sign of the maturity of our
relationship that we can have this important disagreement
without allowing it to corrode our overall friendship.
In our bilateral defonr'e-relations, for example, our traditional
exchanges continue. Over the past year, our Defence Ministers
have been in close touch, and they have, through the
appropriately named ANZAC Ship Project, agreed in principle
to equip our navies with the same light surface combatant vessel.
This makes good politioal And strategic sense.
Australia and New Zealand also work togethUL in the cAnse of
disarmament. We value our co-operation with you in the
search tor a Comprohan ive Test Ban Agreement and, of very I .' 2
great relovance to the future of our region, the conclusion
of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty. Both our
countries welcome the results of the INF negotiations
L L U4&. Lvsa uaq. th-~ t7n itca 51cr-.. o and
forward to further balanced reductions in nuclear weapons.
In the vital negotiations over the future of international
trade, too, we are together making our presence felt. In
the Cairns Group of Fair Traders, we have helped create a
much needed third fnrnp in + hA trade negotiations which, as
the rUruguAy roun, progresses, ig making an indispeneablo
cnntrihtiiifn to the effort to bring down pro~ eotioniot
barriers and reverse the corruption of international
agricultural trade.
I had the honour in Geneva last month of announcing, on
behalf of the Cairns Group, a set of proposals to provide a
long term framework of reform within which agricultural
production and trade can take place with minimum distortion
and disruption. I believe we have a unique opportunity to
work together to move the logjam which has proved so costly to
the growth and prosperity of efficient agricultural exporters
such as New Zealand and Australia.
The opening up of our two markets which took place under
NAFTA and, more recently, under CER, has been a tremendous
example of the mutual benefits of free trade.
CER has provided, for many companies, tho firct atop into a
foreign market. It has exposed them to the complexities of
operating in an unfamiliar environment and to those new
management skills associated with international operations
that are essential if thoco oompanico are to go on to
compete on world markets. Beyond the clear economic
advantages that CER has provided to both: our economies,
this may well prove to have been its most important
contribution. The results of the first five years of CER are gratifying
by any standards. Trade barriers have been drastically
reduced, exceeding expectation4s, and AaueLly L. iaJ
between our two countries has increased to the benefit of
us both.
Our task in the review ahead is to confirm the success of
CER. We can do this most clearly by accelerating the
comoletion of the free trade area. We should also seek to
demonstrate that further development of CER is possible.
The argument in favour of a closer economic relationship
assumes even greater validity in an era when both New
Zealand and Australia are engaged in the task of economic
restructuring.
4.
Restructuring involves decisions which are seldom easy or
comfortable. But it is the only route by which our nations
can ensure their prosperity and growth in the contemporary
world economy.
It is fitting of course that both Australia and New Zealand
are being led through this task by Labor Governments
committed to and capable of dealing in a realistic, credible
and resolute way with very testing economic circumstances.
Both of our Governments have understood the need, for example,
for restoration of stability in our countries' finances,
cipreglAtion of financial markets and other institutional
reforms, and repudlctlui wf iaiwaiid-looking protectionism
in favour of renewed economic competitiveness.
As a result, within a matter of weeks of each other, we
again won the confidenoe of our respective electorates in
historically unprecedented circumstances for both of us.
But I think we both recognise that we cannot rest on our
laurels, that we confrunt luajV-Ltsu L. Naka requiring
patience, discipline and restraint and that we need to
eschew self-indulgent gestures urged on us by the
advocates of the warm inner-glow.
Next year is Australia's Bicentennial year, celebrating the
European settlement of our country 200 years ago. I am
grateful for New Zealand's generous efforts to help us to
make the celebration memorable, not least through your
substantial participation at Expo ' 88 in Brisbane, and your
generous gift of the ' Akarana' which I look forward to
visiting with Prime Minister Lange on Monday.
The Bicentennial will I beilieve be a great occasion not
just for celebration but, I hope, for reflection. I know I
will be understood in New Zealand, whose Maori heritage is
so strong, when I say that I want our Bicentennial year to
include due recognition by all Australians of the fact that
our 200 year occupation of the land follows over 40,000
yeArs of fruitful and pcauful stewardship by an Aboriqindl
civilisation whose depth and richness we relative newcomers
Are Rtill coming to understand,
Let me close by extending an invitation to as many New
Zealanders as possible to cross the Tasanw next year to help
us celebrate our birthday.
Ladies and gentldmen,
I propose a toast to the lasting friendship between the
people of New Zealand and Australia.