PM Transcripts

PRIME MINISTER 5/ 93
STATEMENT BY THlE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING, MP
MR FISCHER AND THE MABO JUDGEMENT
Thc remarks made by the Leader of the National Party on Western Australian radio
yesterday so distort the known realitics of thc Mabo Judgement, Australian history and the
contemporary ambitions of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, one is obliged to
conclude that Mr Fischer may have intended themi as an incitement to fear and resentment.
Eleven days into the United Nations International Ycar of the World's Indigenous Pcople
this is Mr Fischer's contribution.
Mr Fischer knows that there is no serious attempt on the part of Aboriginal Australians to
re-claim all of Australia, nor any desire to thrcatcn vital national industries, and he should
havc made that clear to the interviewer who suggested it.
Mr Fischer also knows that there is no " guilt industry" in Australia, and to suggest one
exists is a slur on the dccnt conccrn, loyalty and good will of the vast majority of
Australians. As I said in December in our effort to find fair, rational and just solutions to this historic
problem, guilt is not a constnictivc emot ion. But a recognition of historic wrongs and
continuing injustice is not guilt. A desire to see justice done and an abiding care for this
country and its people is not guilt. The belief that the good name of Australia should
rnot he sullied by prejudice and discrimination is not guilt.
Rather, these arc sentiments which will advance Australia's cause and raise the hopes and
self-estcem of all of us.
Mr. Sattler's attitudes arc his own business, hut a national lcader like MY Fischer should
never have conspired in supporting and disseminating them.
In this International Year of the World's Indigcnous People, and in this decade when
Australia secks reconciliation with the first Australians, he. should withdraw them.
It is equally to he hoped that the Coalition Leader, Dr Ilewson, will totally dissociate thc
Opposition from the views expressed by Mr Fischer, especially given Mr Fischer's
assertion that his Liberal colleagues will " go all the way" with his views.
CANBERRA 12 January 1993