PRIME MINISTER
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
PARLIAMENTARY LUNCHEON FOR HER MAJESTY
QUEEN BEATRIX OF THE NETHERLANDS
CANBERRA 25 OCTOBER 1986
Your Majesty,
Your Royal Highness,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
I know, Your Majesty, that this is not your first visit to
Australia. However, it is your first visit as Queen of the
Netherlands and indeed this is the first time the reigning
monarch of the Netherlands has ever visited our shores.
I am, therefore, delighted to extend to you and to Prince
Claus a very warm welcome as our guest in our Bicentennial
year. Your visit is a significant reaffirmation of the close and
warm friendship between our two countries.
Coming on top of the Netherlands' involvement in many of the
Bicentennial activities including the Parade of Tall
Ships, the International Naval Salute, the Bicentennial Air
Show and, here in Canberra, the generous Dutch participation
in the Floriade your visit is also a timely recognition of
the hundreds of thousands of Dutch men and women who have
come to Australia to make their new home here.
I am sure that you will both be warmly welcomed by all
Australians as you travel around this country and no doubt
you will be greeted with special enthusiasm by the
Dutch-Australian community. I
Australians are of course proud in our Bicentennial year to
celebrate the achievements of the last two centuries, and to
acknowledge our enormous debt to those who have built our
democratic and prosperous society.
But today we are particularly'aware that Dutch links with
this continent extend back nearly another two centuries
before the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788.
The first Dutch contact with Australia was that of William
Jansz in the vessel " Duyfken" in 1605. 2327
Thanks in large part to the efforts of the Dutch United East P
India Company, Australia's maps still bear testimony to the
pioneering role of the Dutch navigators in exploring our
coastline. Y( Di
Indeed the whole continent was known for many years to the
rest of the world as New Holland surely a title based more i
on optimistic patriotism on the part of the Dutch sailors a
than an objective observation of this large, dry and g
occasionally mountainous continent. A,
Dirk Hartog in the " Eendracht" left his famous pewter plate T
fixed to a wooden pole on Cape Inscription in 1616. That e
plate is currently touring Australia in the ' Shipwrecks' S
Exhibition and we are most grateful to the generosity of the
Netherlands' famous Rijksmuseum for. lending us a piece of C
our shared history which is known to every Australian 0
schoolchild. e
The State of Tasmania bears the name of Abel Tasman who I
sighted the western coast of the island in 1642. wi
Two mountains in Tasmania have been named after Tasman'sr
ships, " Heemskirk' and " Zeehan". I am delighted that youT
will be able to unveil a fountain commemorating Tasman's T
visit on Thursday during your visit to Hobart. P1 A
Your Majesty, if the seventeenth century was the first 0
period of Dutch contact with New Holland it was by no means A
the only one. ei
Because in this century, the people of Australia and the
Netherlands fought and died together in defence of their
common goals of democracy, freedom, tolerance and opposition t
to totalitarianism. r
And in the years after the Second World War, in a great
surge of immigration, Australia was enriched by the arrival
of large numbers of men and women from the Netherlands.
Dutch Australians remain proud of their heritage. Indeed,
more than 150,000 Australians identify themselves as of
exclusively Dutch descent and more than 60,000 speak Dutch
at home. within our multicultural society that does not
make them any less Australian. They have through their
enormous contributions to the building of our nation, proved
beyond doubt their commitment and loyalty to their new home.
The contribution of the Dutch to Australia covers a broad
spectrum, including especially in the arts: the film
director, Paul Cox whose most recent film honors Vincent van
Gogh; the artistic director of the Dance Company ofNew
South Wales, Jaan Flier; the director of the MildurA Art
Gallery, Ernst van Hattum; to name a few.
The older generation will certainly remember the radio
comedian known as " Mo" who made a tremendous contribution to
the development of Australian comedy in the first half of
this century. His real name was Harry van der Sluys.
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3.
only this week, Victorians have been thrilled by the great
performance of the famous Dutch cycli'st Adrie van der Poe1
who won the Victorian Sun Tour.:
Your Majesty, as well as the warm relat'ionship based on the
Dutch community, Australia enjoys a close bilateral
relationship with the Netherlands stemming from the historic
involvement of both countries in the Asian/ Pacific Region,
and the economic and commercial role of the Netherlands as a
growing investor in Australia and as an entrepot. centre for
Australian exports to Europe.
The determination and adventurousne ss of the early Dutch
explorers, who discovered Australia by-chance in their
search for trading opportunities, can-provide a lesson today
for Australia and the Netherlands. in the new trading
circumstances of the late twentieth century there is the
opportunity for Australia and the Netherlands to discover
each other again, to the mutual benefit of both countries.
In 1987 the value of exports to the Netherlands stood at
$ A620 million and the value of Dutch exports to Australia
was $ A560 million. This is a substantial economic
relationship, but we can do more.
Traditionally our trade relationship has involved Australian
primary products such as coal and foodstuffs. Today we in
Australia are convinced that we also have other things to
offer in particular, as the spectacular growth of the
Asia-Pacific region continues, I would particularly
encourage Dutch businesspeople to pay regard to the
investment potential of Australia.
We have much to offer, both in our own right and as an entry
to the markets of our region: our stable, political
environment, our efficient financial system, our abundant
natural resources, our well qualified reservoir of technical
and professional expertise, and our highly competitive tax
structure.
The potential Australia provides for European countries
looking for a springboard into the lucrative and developing
financial and trading centres of this region cannot be
overemphasised, for Australia has excellent relations with
the countries of the region.
The Australian Government is keenly interested in the single
market process in Europe. Already, the European Community,
taken as a whole, ranks as our second largest export market
and our largest source of imports.
The development of a single market with 320 million
inhabitants a market larger than any other in the
industrialised world will surely have a profound impact on
global economic and trading relationships. 292P .
At the same time, Australia strongly believes that the
positive rewards of the single European market, which is to
be achieved by 1992, will not be reaped if an inward
looking, " fortress Europe" approach is allowed to develop
but I am confident that this will not eventuate.
Your Majesty, the range of areas on which I have spoken
clearly demonstrates the warmth and closeness in the
relationship between the people of our countries.
Already your visit is adding a new dimension to that
friendship. I would like to give you our special thanks for
agreeing to lend your name to the establishment in Canberra
of the Queen Beatrix Floriade Sculpture Collection. This
c6llection will not only reflect your personal interest in
sculpture, it will also provide Canberra's young sculptors
with a valuable opportunity to contribute to the aesthetic
development of the nation's capital.
I again welcome you, His Highness Prince Claus and your most
distinguished party to Australia and wish you a most
enjoyable visit.
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