PRIME MINISTER
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
ADDRESS BY THE PRIM MINISTER OF AUSTR~ ALIA
THE HON R J L HAMM! AC NP
AT A RECEPTION HOSTED BY THE MAYOR
VILLERS-BRETONNEUX SUNDAY 18 JUNE 1989
Mr Mayor
Distinguished Guests
Citizens of Villers-Bretonneux
I speak for all my Australian colleagues here today when I
say how deeply moved we are by the warmth and generosity of
the welcome we have received in Villers-Bretonneux.
We are indeed far from home. Yet there is no place in
France, no place in Europe, closer in our country's heart
and in our nation's memories.
It has been made so by the immortal sacrif ice of the f ifteen
thousand Australians who f ought and f ell in these f ields.
It has been made so by the manner in which successive
generations of the people of this region, especially the
children, have honoured that sacrifice and kept its memory
evergreen for nearly three-quarters of a century.
Mr Mayor
One cannot but reflect, on an occasion like this, on the
tremendous tides of human history which brought those young
Australians here, so long ago, so f ar f rom home so many of
them never to return.
We can now see that they were involved, with millions of
their comrades in arms -French, Belgian, British, Canadian
and American in a tremendous and terrible process which is
still at work to this day the unleashing of forces which
continue to shape the destiny, not only of Europe, but of
the whole world.
It is this terrible grandeur this-involvement,, not merely
in a tragic episode, but a tremendous epoch in human history
that gives meaning and dignity to their sacrifice. It is
that which reclaims their memory from the wicked and wanton
waste and unutterable folly and futility of war.
To that waste, the memorials throughout this region of
France bear silent testimony.
They have their counterpart in the cities, towns and viliges
throughout Australia. Even places which did not exist in
their present form have their links.
For example, Hr Mayor, you in Villers-Bretonneux have a
sister relationship with the town of Robinvale in the State
of Victoria, Australia. Robinvale became a township only
after the First World War and then became the centre of an
extensive soldier-settlement area after the Second World
War. But it was named for the son of a farmer in the
district Lieutenant Robin Cuttle, Military Cross killed
in air combat in these skies in May 1918.
Villers-Bretonneux itself, entirely rebuilt from the ruins
of 1918, is now known to many thousands of Australians who
come, year after year, to the memorial and the cemeteries.
They greatly appreciate the warmth of the welcome they
receive here, thanks to the active and continuing efforts of
you, Hr Mayor, and your Council11 of the France-Australia
Association; and of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
and its staff. They are greatly moved by your faithfulness
to the memory of their fellow Australians who fought and
fell in France. On behalf of the Australian people, I can
assure all here present that we appreciate how much your
efforts over the years have helped maintain the close ties
between our two countries.
It is, therefore, especially gratifying for me today to be
able to announce here that part of Australia's contribution
to the celebration of the Bicentenary of the French
Revolution will be the establishment of a scholarship fund
for the children of the Somme villages. The scholarship,
which will take the form of a $ 50,000 endowment, will
provide assistance to the children of this area to undertake
further education, in either academic or vocational fields.
The scholarship will be called the Sadlier-Stokes Memorial
Scholarship. The name has been chosen to commemorate two
Western Australians, Lieutenant Clifford Sadlier and
Sergeant Charlie Stokes, whose courage and initiative in
attacking and over-running a group of German machine-gunners
kept the allied counter-attack going, and permitted the
liberation of Villers-Bretonneux on the morning of 25 April
1918 itself the most solemn of our Australian
anniversaries the landing on Gallipoli on that first Anzac
Day in 1.915. Lieutenant Sadlier won the Victoria-Cross in
the Action, Sergeant Stokes, the Distinguished Conduct
Medal. Hr Mayor, I count it as a special privilege to be able to
make this, my second official visit to France as Prime
Minister of Australia on the eve of the celebrations of the
French Revolution.
The meaning of the French contribution to modern Australia
can be measured in a single sentence: the whole history of
modern Australia falls within the epoch of civilisation
created by the French Revolution. The Australian
Bicentenary and the Bicentenary of the Revolution stand a
mere year apart. During the whole period of its growth,
therefore, thp na~ tion now called Auctralia has been&
influenced and illuminated by the mighty ideas unleashed by
the French Revolution 200 years ago. From that perspective,
perhaps no nation in the world has better cause to join the
people of France in the celebration of the Revolution not
so much as a tremendous event in history, but as the triumph
of an idea about human dignity, liberty and equality.
Here, at the Somue, how powerfully are we reminded of the
words of the immortal Victor Hugo:
" On resiste a l'invasiom des armees; on ne resiste pas a
l'invasjon des idees." 1
A stand can be made against invasion by an army; no stand
can be made against invasion by an idea.
Two hundred years ago all Europe felt the force and truth of
those words.
Seventy-five years ago, Frenchman and Australians fought
together to prove their truth.
Today they ring around the world.