PRIME MINISTER
EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
CANBERRA 22 JANUARY, 1988
My latest appearance at this most important Australian forum
was, of course, just before the Federal Elections last July.
It will not have escaped you that, had we made a different
decision about the timing of the election, many of you might
well be about to go on the campaign trail over the next few
weeks. As it is, we are now able to have the Bicentennial Year
absolutely free of party politics, at the national level.
Well, shall we say for perhaps a week.
However that may be, I do want to say one thing very
seriously. I count it as an inestimable privilege to have been elected
leader of our nation and Prime minister of Australia in this
year of the Bicentenary.
I say that in no spirit of false pride.
But the duty does fall, in part, to me, to articulate on
behalf of the Australian people, the meaning and purpose of
the Bicentenary: and, in particular, to seek its true
meaning for Australia's future.
And that is a rare honour and privilege indeed and may I
say, a great responsibility.
Even so early in the Year, I think it has already emerged
what the Bicentenary does not mean.
It is not to be an occasion for vain glory or empty
boasting. There is to be no meaningless flag-waving or drum-thumping. 0 ' 20 '? 8
2.
In the gatherings and events I have already attended or
witnessed through television, one could not help but feel
that, underlying the evident enjoyment and enthusiasm, there
4 is a seriousness, a thoughtfulness, a reflectiveness on the
part of the Australian people -and not least, and most
significantly, on the part of the younger people.
And if this perception of mine proves correct as I am
convinced it will in the days ahead then it will be
further evidence of the new maturity of the Australian
people a maturity which has been demonstrated so amply by
their conduct in recent years, and by their response to the
unique challenges we face in these times.
* 2 And that of course, goes to the heart of the true meaning of
the Bicentenary.
Because one of the tests of our maturity is our capacity to
learn. The Bicentenary is as much about learning and reflecting as
it is about celebrating.
The very nature of the specific event being commemorated on
Tuesday Australia Day gives an impetus to this process.
A less mature people, a less self-confident people would
scarcely choose the commemoration of such an event for the
celebration of their nationhood.
That we are prepared to acknowledge the grim and harsh
reality of the origins of modern Australia is itself
testimony to our national maturity and self-confidence.
No-one of my generation could fail to be aware of the vast
changes which have occurred in our attitudes to our history,
our culture, and our relations with the rest of the world,
especially the peoples of our own region.
It is a process of change which may be said to have begun
with the fall of Singapore in 1942.
It has been an accelerating process in recent years -and
for most of those who have lived through it, an exhilarating
process.
And I believe that, in the years to come, the Bicentenary
itself will be seen as a decisive point in the process th~
process of deepening our sense of national identity,
national responsibility and national maturity.
We have altered the focus on our past.
With that new focus on the past, has come a reassessment of
the past. 004
Aknd for none of our fellow Australians will this
reassessment be of greater value than the Aboriginal people.
I do not wish to suggest that the Bicentenary is the sole
cause of this reassessment.
Rather, it is part of a process which has continued ever
since the people of Australia voted overwhelmingly in the
Referendum of 1967 to change the Constitution and give the
Commonwealth the power to make laws affecting the lives of
Aboriginal and Islander people.
Specifically, I reject out of hand any insinuation that the
policies of the Australian Government represent some sort of
vindow dressing for the Bicentenary, for consumption
overseas. That kind of claim not only demeans the Australian people,
but detracts from the unanswerable justice of the Aboriginal
cause.
Nor is the cause advanced by attempts to draw up an
indictment of criminality against the entire Australian
nation. The Australian people should never be asked to accept that
their entire history as a modern nation must be predicated
on the notion of a collective and irredeemable guilt.
But they will respond and respond with great generosity of
spirit to the claims of truth and justice.
And there can be no doubt that the reassessment of the past
for which the Bicentenary has provided a focus and, to
some extent, a catalyst has sharpened the perception of
the truth and justice of those claims, throughout the
Australian community.
On 10 December, 1987, the minister for Aboriginal Affairs,
Gerry Hand, delivered in the Parliament the policy statement
entitled, " Foundations for the Future".
I believe that was a landmark statement a landmark for the
Australian aboriginal people, a landmark for all the
Australian people.
Because, it does five things of tremendous significance.
it acknowledges the descendants of the aboriginal people of
Australia as the prior occupiers and original owners of this
land. it acknowledges the dispossession of their land by
subsequent European occupation. 004 080
4.
It acknowledges that the dispossession occurred without
compensation and with no serious attempt to reach agreement
with the Aboriginal people on the use of their land.
It acknowledges the deep disadvantages and deprivations the
Aboriginals have thereby suffered and continue to suffer.
And it pledges the Australian Government and the Australian
people to an earnest and continuing effort of rectification
and reconciliation.
Now, these are not mere forms of words.
They represent a'profound shift in concepts and attitudes
which have been fundamental to the relationship between the
original inhabitants and European settlers on this
continent, for the past two hundred years.
That is the reason why the words we propose in the preamble
to the Act establishing the new Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Commission is of such very real and genuine
significance. I make just one more point in this connection.
The resolution of this issue will not be quick or easy.
But the key to its resolution undoubtedly lies in a clearer
understanding of the true nature of the relationship between
the Aboriginal people and the land.
We are now recognising what was largely ignored previously*-
the realisation that, before our occupancy of a mere 7 or 8
generations and 200 years, came, perhaps, as many as 2000
generations, and 40,000 years of a human culture of
remarkable sophistication and adaptability.
And I do suggest that the clearer and wider understanding of
this basic fact is another of the valuable results of the
Bicentenary, and the new perspectives it has provided.
This is something which illuminates our whole understanding
of human culture and civilization.
It is something which alters the perspective of our own
relationship with each other as Australians.
And this brings me to my next point about the Bicentenary.
I deeply hope that,. from it all, will emerge a new
understanding, a new appreciation of the role of immigration
and immigrants in our nation's life and growth.
There is nothing trite about saying that we are a nation of
immigrants. 004 081
I
But, if we once grasp the fact that the original inhabitants
represent some 2000 generations, how utterly insignificant,
then, becomes the difference between those of us who claim a
few generations in our Australian genealogy, and those of us
who were born overseas wherever born or however recently
arrived. None of us is entitled to claim real " Australian-ness" on
the basis of ancestry alone.
Each generation of immigrants each source from which we
draw our immigrants brings enrichment and strength to our
national life and culture.
in determining the relationship we have with each other and
our capacity to work together as a community, birth and
background are not the fundamental considerations.
And I hope the realisation of this will emerge as one of the
best results of the Year of the Bicentenary.
A-nd in that way, I deeply hope that the commemoration of the
Bicentenary will be seen, in retrospect, as part of a great
act of bonding between all Australians, whatever their
national or racial origin.
I said before that those of my generation had lived to see a
transformation of attitudes in this country.
Beyond question, the major factor behind that change has
been the immigration program, instituted by the Chifley
Government and followed through by all successive Australian
Gave rnments.
I have no hesitation in saying that the most important
factor enabling the Australia of today to meet the new
challenges of our time is the strength, flexibility and
adaptability we have been able to achieve in the post-War
years. one word describes it all the vigour of this nation.
And so much of that vigour derives from the willingness we
have shown to welcome into our midst people and families
from every quarter of the globe.
I believe this has been a major element in the capacity we
have shown, as a nation, in the past two years, to respond
to the challenges and difficulties imposed on us by events
and trends overseas.
It is my firm conviction and the guiding principle of my
Government that above all else what we Australians want
for our future is a just, fair and tolerant society.
Le-gislation and policies are not the only way by which this
will be reached. 0 04082
6.
Give and take between groups is needed to produce such a
society. And i use " give and take" as an expression of the Australian
way the fair-go.
And our history has shown clearly that " give and take" the
fair-go is most readily attained if the economy is
expected to grow and if, in turn, the fruits of that growth
are seen to be shared fairly.
That is the key to Australia's future the understanding
that prosperity and equity are at once mutually dependent
and mutually. supporting.
That is why my Government gives equal prominence both to
getting economic policy right and to promoting social
justice.
As a nation and as a Government we have had to make hard
choices. And there are hard choices and hard decisions to come.
Because of world events, we have had to look very critically
at the way ahead what we are doing as a nation, where we
are going as a nation.
We have had to begin a long and difficult process designed
to shift our economy and to shift the future directions of
our economy.
We have had to move to make our economy less reliant on
trade in mining and agricultural commodities which has
stood us in good stead when the going was good.
That was the historic foundation of our prosperity.
in the halcyon days of the fifties and sixties, we failed to
build more strongly on those foundations.
Now, we have had to make our economy more reliant on other
activities, which we can do just as well, but not so easily
-in the fields of processing, manufacturing, high
technology, and services.
In that change of direction we have already come a long way
-much further, much better than the cynics and sceptics and
knockers would have predicted a mere two years ago.
It is unfortunately true, I may say, that there is a
surprising amount of negativism amongst self-appointed
commentators in this country.
I do trust that, in those circles, the cultural cringe is
not going to be replaced by the cultural whinge. 00408
As I go around the country, I hear stories great storiesabout
the new things that are being done, about the exciting
things that are happening stories of innovation,
initiative, enterprise, a new awareness of new
opportunities. There is example after example of Australian producers of
manufactured goods of the most sophisticated kind, taking on
and beating the best, in the world's most competitive
markets. And so often, those success stories come from Australians
vho have made a new start in-Australia.
The great need now is to keep the process of innovation,
initiative and enterprise going.
Mquch has been said in recent years about the new directions
in which the Australian economy must head and the great
opportunities which are open to us here on the edge of the
fastest growing region in the world the Pacific Rim.
I will not repeat on this occasion the analysis which has
brought us to this point. But as we look ahead it is B
appropriate for me to re-state some points which are crucial
to our ability to sustain growth through trade.
The first and perhaps most obvious is that Australia has
a particular interest in promoting an open world trading
system. I and my Ministers have given the message of free trade, and
the massive advantages to world living standards which can
be derived from it, in every international forum open to us.
But we cannot expect to reap the benefits of free trade
vithout sustained effort on our part efforts to pursue
trade promoting policies ourselves and efforts to place our
industries in the best position to be able to exploit our
emerging opportunities.
it is true that we have already taken massive and successful
steps to improve our competitiveness, lift our exports
( especially in non-traditional goods and services or
markets), contain the growth of our indebtedness and promote
an export culture in Australia.
The role of the union movement the willingness of workers
to create jobs through sustained wage restraint, an
unprecedented attack on outmoded work and management
practices, including under the auspices of the current two
tier wages system, and reduced industrial disputation, has
been indispensable. 004084
So, too, has been the willingness of entrepreneurs to try
new ventures, to innovate, to exercise initiative, to set
new and higher standards for product quality and reliability
of supply and to take risks in order to reap the rewards of
trade.
But the task is far from complete indeed given our rapidly
changing world, and especially the massive changes in
prospect among the giants of our region such as China and
Japan that task will never be complete.
The reality is that our prosperity will not be handed us on
a platter. We will have to match and better the
productivity, the product quality, the creativity and the
entrepreneurial flair of the world's best across all
sections of the economy, even those not directly engaged in
trade.
That is a task for all of us. It is not one which we can
take lightly. It is one which can be facilitated by the
actions of Government but in the end must be executed by
individuals.
None of the reforms introduced so far by my Government have
been painless. Equally, we can predict with virtual
certainty that none of the reforms which we will find it
necessary to make in the months and years to come will be
painless. But we know that unless the right reforms are put
in place, on time, we could sentence ourselves and our
children to a much diminished future prosperity.
The path we have followed for the past five years through
the deregulation of our financial system, the restructuring
of significant industries, the dismantling of artificial
investment barriers points the way ahead for Australia in
the 1990s and beyond.
The fact is that Australia now faces the uncertainties of
the future with three major advantages.
First is a track record of having weathered a series of
storms and of having found timely and correct solutions.
Second is an economy which is increasing~ ly competitive,
dy'manic and export oriented and thus more able to cope
with changing world conditions.
Thirdly, and far the most important advantage, the skills,
intelligence and resourcefulness of our people.
For the rest of this century the development of this most
important of all our resources must be, and will be,
Australia's highest priority.
So we can enter our third century with confidence. 004085
it is a confidence based on a sober assessment of the
difficulties and problems, and of our resources to meet
them. But most of all, it is a confidence based on our confidence
in ourselves.
I have said that the essential ingredient in making an
Australian is, simply, a commitment to Australia and its
future. There is one even higher commitment to make, and I make it
again on behalf of the Australian Government and Australian
people. And that is the unremitting commitment to seeking a secure
and peaceful world.
without that, all our other efforts and achievements will,
ultimately, have been in vain.
In this memorable year in our history, we stand, in the
counsels of the world, higher than we have ever stood.
Our voice on the vital issues of peace is heard and
respected in Washington, in Moscow, in Western Europe, in
Beijing, in Tokyo and in the great region to which we
belong. Australia's voice has been at the forefront of those urging
the super-powers towards meaningful negotiations leading to
the agreement on intermediate nuclear arms.
The prospects for real progress in disarmament between East
and West are better now than at any time in the post-war era
that is since the dawn of the nuclear age.
We must not relax now.
Rather we will intensify our efforts.
There are further developments of enormous significance, now
shaping the world in which Australia will live in its third
century the momentous changes taking place in the People's
Republic of China and in the Soviet Union.
Australia is well placed to play a constructive role in
encouraging these developments of immense consequence and
hope for humanity.
Ladies and gentlemen, and through you, all our fellow
Australians: We stand together on the threshold of the third century of
one of the most remarkable experiments in nation-building
ever attempted in the course of human history. 0 0 4 086
I No beginning could have been more unpromising.
And certainly, we have many Australian achievements huge
achievements to celebrate.
But as I have always acknowledged at home and overseas -we
Australians have mistakes to rectify, amends to make and
wrongs to put right if Australia is to achieve its full
promise of what it can be and should be simply the best
and fairest nation on Earth. 004087