PRIME MINISTER
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
LAUNCH OF " YEAR OF CITIZENSHIP"
SYDNEY 30 SEPTEMBER 1988
Exactly four decades ago today, onl 30 September 1948, the
Australian Parliament began to debate the Nationality and
Citizenship Bill the legislation which established for the
first time the principle of Australian citizenship.
I am proud that it was a Minister in a Labor Government
the great Chifley Labor Government who initiated that
debate. Arthur Caiwell, the then Minister for Immigration
delivered the second reading speech in Parliament on this
day in 1948.
But I do not refer to Calwell in any partisan sense.
Because I believe we can all be proud of the decision taken
on that occasion to debate and legislate for the then novel
concept of Australian citizenship.
In the wake of the sacrifices made by Australians in the
Second World War, and at a time when Australia had taken the
historic decision to welcome an unprecedented influx of
immigrants to our nation, it was a visionary and deeply
appropriate act to create Australian citizenship.
Today, 40 years later, we mark this important anniversary,
in three important and, again, deeply appropriate, ways.
First, we welcome at this 1988 citizenship ceremony 88
people who have decided to declare publicly their commitment
to this country by taking out Australian citizenship.
second, we celebrate the fact that, in the 40 years since
Australian citizenship was created, two million people have
chosen to become citizens. The two millionth person is
expected to take out citizenship somewhere in Australia
during these weeks.
Third, I want to take this opportunity today to build upon
the progress of the last 40 years by launching a new
initiative in regard to Australia's citizenship: the Year
of Citizenship.
2 3 5 6
Over the next twelve months of the Year of Citizenship, we
will be seeking to raise the level of understanding in the
community of the true meaning of Australian citizenship. In
particular we will be encouraging those Australian residents
who have not done so to take out Australian citizenship and
to join us as fellow-citizens of this great nation.
So at several levels this is truly an important day for all
Australians. But let me address myself principally to these 88 people who
are here to take up Australian citizenship.
As a group, you represent a tremendous diversity of
backgrounds and nationalities, of ages, occupations and
cultures. You come in fact from some 40 different countries and for
the record let me list them all: Bangladesh, Belgium,
Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czechoslovakia, Ecuador,
Egypt, Fiji, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Greece,
Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy,
Israel, Ireland, Jordan, Korea, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malta,
Mauritius, New zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore,
South Africa, Switzerland, Tonga, Turkey, United Kingdom,
United States of America, Vanuatu, Vietnam and Yugoslavia.
With a list like that, who needs an atlas! It is clear that
you represent, in your diversity, the diversity of the whole
world. But for all that diversity as a group you have as
individuals all come to choose Australia as your new home
and you have all arrived at the same decision today: you
have all decided to take on the same rights and
responsibilities as citizens of Australia.
In doing so you remind us of the all-important truth of the
Australian story: that we are and essentially remain a
nation of immigrants.
we are drawn from 130 nations as well as from the ancient
culture of the Aboriginal and Islander people who cared for
this land for more than 40,000 years.
And in taking out citizenship today you also remind us of
the counterpart to that historical fact: that Australians
of all backgrounds have, through commitment and hard ffort,
worked side by side to build a peaceful and prosperous
nation. I do not seek to pretend that newcomers have in every case
been instantly or easily welcomed in Australia. Prejudice
and discrimination have, unfortunately, been features of
Australia's history. 23 7
But I do assert that what unites us all as Australians is Aith
far greater than what may seem to divide us. have the
We share a common land, a common loyalty and a common Quee
aspiration to raise our children in peace and wellbeing. In
other words we share a commitment to Australia. And sour
It is that commitment, and that commitment alone, which mul t
determines whether you are an Australian or not not your
language, not your religion, not your style of dress or Beca
country of origin, more soci
As people have been proving for two centuries in this land, dist
it is commitment to Australia that counts. Sm
Today you are demonstrating that commitment in the most i mpl
profound and important way by becoming Australian ithe
citizens. But
Ladies and Gentlemen, Au Srt
our
The decisions to migrate to Australia and to take up
Australian citizenship are among the greatest decisions one And
could take in a lifetime. race so w
Forty years ago, the Nationality and Citizenship Act gave
Australians a means of expressing their commitment to their IThe
country and their pride in their identity as Australian must
citizens. Ud
The Act was passed by both Houses of Parliament and became assu
law on Australia Day 1949. eros
one of the provisions of the Act was to institute a solemn, Ladi
impressive and memorable ceremony at which citizenship could
be conferred. That is what we are here for today. In t
crea
Before the Act, Australian citizenship as a separate bein
national identity had not existed. Some people did not
believe it should come into existence. They believed the It i
new Bill would impair Australia's allegiance to our British two
motherland a view that is not to be dismissed as ignorant impo
or frivolous but rather must be understood as very much a mill
product of the time. Ac
Britain is, of course, the-source of our system of as r
parliamentary demnocracy, our legal system, many of our tbe fo
traditions and our language. There will always be a special affi
arlewlaaytsi onbse hippr oubde twoefe nt haBtr ihteariint aagned. Australia and we should TThee s
But Australians recognised in 1948 with the creation of will
Australian citizenship, and they have recognised with
increasing force ever since, that we have a new and more One
independent role to play in the world. our strategic ties, the
our trade relations, the composition of our people all cent
have changed dramatically in the last forty years. woma rece
2358 . I
4.
Although the Oath or Affipmation of Allegiance which you
have just taken required you to declare your allegiance to
the Queen, it is not the Queen of the United Kingdom but the
Queen of Australia, our own Head of State.
And although the United Kingdom remains the single major
source of immigrants to Australia, we are today a proudly
multicultural nation.
Because as a result of immigration Australia is a richer,
more exciting, more diverse, more prosperous society, a
society made up of people from many lands united into a
distinctive Australian identity.
Some participants in the so-called immigration debate today
imply that we can turn back the clock in some way and undo
the past 200 years.
But we cannot repudiate the multicultural nature of
Australian society because to do so would be to repudiate
our very identity as Australians.
And we must never again embrace discrimination on grounds of
race as a principle of our immigration policy because to do
so would be both morally repugnant and economically insane.
The white Australia policy is dead and it is buried. It
must have no place in Australia's future.
Under this Prime minister and under this Government, I can
assure you there will be no return to discrimination and no
erosion of our commitment to multiculturalism.
Ladies and Gentlemen
In the four decades since Australian citizenship was
created, some two million people have taken the decision
being taken today.
It is appropriate that we celebrate the attainment of the
two million mark in some special way even though it is
impossible to identify who precisely will be our two
millionth citizen.
Accordingly, two people in this group of 88 have been chosen
as representatives of the two million people who have gone
before you in swearing their oath or making their
affirmation of allegiance to their new home, Australia.
These two people symbolise all-those who have become
Australians in the past and the thousands and millions who
will follow them in the future.
One of them is a young man born in Edinburgh typical of
the millions who have * come to Australia over the last two
centuries from the United Kingdom. The other is a young
woman born in Saigon typical of those who have come more
recently to find a new home in Australia. 2 359
Nigel Stoker is 33. He arrived in Australia four years ago
and is taking up citizenship today with his wife, who is
French.
Ngoc Anh Nguyen is 19. She arrived in Australia in 1982 as
a 12 year old who spoke no English and who had spent five
months in a refugee-camp.
Together, these two young people represent our future: for
it is the young people who have the responsibility of
ensuring Australia remains the tolerant and prosperous
society it is today.
It is appropriate, too, that Ms Nguyen, as a woman, reminds
us-that the Nationality and Citizenship Act for the first
time gave women, whether married or single, an equal right
with men to hold Australia citizenship.
Just as we are proud to celebrate our two millionth citizen,
we should be equally concerned that a very large number of
Australian residents who are qualified to become citizens
have not done so.
Indeed it is estimated that there are one million people
eligible to become citizens who live here as non-citizens.
It is to encourage those people to follow your example, and
to remind all Australians of the value and importance of
citizenship that I have pleasure in launching the Year of
Citizenship. over the next twelve months we will be making special
efforts to encourage not require, but encourage as many
eligible people as possTMle to take up citizenship.
Substantial financial and administrative resources will be
devoted to the campaign over the coming year.
I want to see a lot of ceremonies such as this conducted
throughout Australia. I will be participating in some of
them myself and I trust other Members of Parliament, along
with our local and state government counterparts, will also
make a special effort to become involved.
Those of us who are Australian citizens by birth rarely have
occasion to make a public affirmation of our commitment to
our country. We are never required, as new citizens are, to
take the oath or affirmation of allegiance to declare our
allegiance, and to promise to observe the laws of Australia
and to fulfil the duties of an Australian citizen.
Yet all of us have a duty to ensure that Australia remains a
peaceful, prosperous, decent and just nation.
We all share a responsibility to Australia and the
declaration of these 88 people today reminds us of that
duty.
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6.
0 Because as Arthur Caiwell said 40 years ago, Australian
citizenship symbolised not only our pride in Australia but
also our willingness to offer a share in our future to the
new Australian citizens among us.
s These new citizens, he said:
" will be able to say, as proudly as any of us, ' I am an
r Australian'. Perhaps those words will mean even more to
those who remember life in less fortunate lands than to
us who enjoy the freedom of plenty, the sunshine and
social equality, of this great democracy.
s " This vast and virile country which we are privileged to
hold, and for the development of which we are
responsible, can be made as great and noble a land as
we, with our collective brains, muscles, and devotion to
high ideals, wish it to be."
n, Ladies and Gentlemen,
As the Prime Minister of Australia, I welcome you as my
fellow citizens and I wish you well in all you do in the
future. Many different paths have brought you here to this point in
d your lives. From here let us work together as fellow
Australians, combining our brains, our muscles and our
idealism to building the great nation of Australia in
prosperity, peace and freedom to make it into the future
what it surely is today, simply the greatest nation on
earth.
y 0 ye to r a a 2361