Embargoed Against Delivery ( 12.3Opm AEST, 19 February 1992)
ADDRESS BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING, MP
BATTLE OF AUSTRALIA COMMEMORATION SERVICE
BICENTENNIAL PARK, DARWIN, 19 FEBRUARY 1992
Today we pay tribute to those who died here in Darwin in
1942 Australians and Americans who gave their lives in the
defence of this country and freedom everywhere.
The raids on Darwin, the loss of life, the great destruction
of this and other northern communities, the tragedies of so
many Territorians forcibly expatriated from their homes
these things we Australians have not properly acknowledged.
Today we acknowledge them.
Today we pay tribute to their courage, and recognise the
debt we owe to the people of Northern Australia.
No nation should fail to honour those who have given it
devoted serviLce. No nation should forget its past.
This and subsequent raids on Australia's northern ports were
acts of unwarranted aggression, yet it has to be said that
there were worse-actions during the Asia-Pacific War.
The Japanese conquest and occupation of the region involved
unspeakable suffering for large parts of the population, and
for Allied prisoners of war, including many thousands of
Australians. These events cannot and should not be forgotten.
Indeed, among the countries of the region a common awareness
of the history we share will strengthen the basis of' trust
and cooperation in our relations.
In Japan's case, more candid recognition of responsibility
for past actions will enhance the wider acceptance and
legitimacy of its emerging leadership role in the Asia-
Pacific region.
Yet we would certainly be wrong to think that only Japan has
lessons to learn from those events fifty years ago.
The attack on Darwin was a striking symbol of the
uncertainty of our position in the region.
It was also unmistakeable proof of the inadequacy of our
responses. Fifty years later, of course, there are still
lessons to be learned.
A lesson in strength and independence of mind, for instance.
We might remember the folly of relying so totally, for both
policy and defence, on Great Britain.
Increasingly we had been living in a fantasy land of an
exhausted Empire. We treated Asia with a mixture of
condescension and fear or worse, we ignored it altogether.
Yet there is a positive lesson to be learned as well we
adapted. Australians, accustomed to regarding themselves as
British, resolved to turn to the one country that could save
the day without prejudice to their British origins they
forged a friendship with the United States which endures to
this day.
It will do us no harm to reflect on the virtues of changing
old preconceptions and being ready and willing to respond to
new realities.
To the generation of 1942 it was quite unthinkable that we
might voluntarily become a part of Asia. That we might ever
be friends with Japan was entirely out of the question.
Yet we have made those changes. We have built friendships,
trust and understanding. We are playing a creative role in
the region, and the opportunity is there to expand that
role.
The bombing of Darwin was a tragedy. But it was also an
awakening. And there is no doubt that we have learned from
the experience.
Yet there is much more to learn, and a good deal of it, I
think, concerns our own society, our own attitudes.
I
It is significant, for instance, that it took 49 years for
an Australian government to recognise the role that
Aboriginal people played in the defence of Australia.
During the war, groups of Aboriginals, including special
Army units, patrolled areas which spanned almost the entire
Arnhem Land coast. They were involved in the rescue of
Allied airmen and the capture of enemy airmen.
Yet they received very little recognition and until last
year little or no remuneration for their services.
I am very glad that on this 50th anniversary we can at last
pay tribute to all those Australians who served their
country. The bombing of Darwin brought home to us how isolated and
vulnerable so much of Australia was how difficult it was
to make and defend a nation on such a vast continent.
Today we might remind ourselves that we will do that so much
better if we include in all our national goals, and all our
national pride all our people.
Ladies and gentlemen, in the hour of peril in 1942
Australians responded as you would expect a free people to
respond they found in themselves and each other untapped
resources of strength and purpose.
They learned the value of cooperation.
They made an all-in, national effort.
Today there is, of course, much to learn from that as well.
We must find in ourselves that same resolve and spirit which
helped to turn the tide.
If we do this we will be able to speak to the world about
those things which Australia cherishes about freedom and
fairness, about tolerance, and independence we will be
able to have some influence, we will be able to pay our own
way and we will be able to say that the memory of those
people who died here in Darwin has been truly honoured. I
L