SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P. J. KEATING, MP
ZIONIST FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIA
36TH BIENNIAL CONFERENCE
HYATT HOTEL, MELBOURNE
28 MAY 1994
I am always grateful to be invited to speak to the biennial meeting of the
Zionist Federation of Australia.
This is the third time I have had the opportunity to address you. As a record,
it doesn't go near matching Mark Leibler's but it is enough to make me feel at
home here.
It is particularly good to be talking to you this year, when so many of the
Federation's long-standing goals seem closer to realisation, and when the
signs for a more peaceful and secure future in the Middle East appear better
than they have for years.
The changes in the world since the end of the Cold War have sometimes
startled even the most hardened sceptic.
What seemed impossible is now familiar the democratic revolutions in
Eastern Europe and Russia; the pace of economic growth in China and
Vietnam as they have dropped the old tenets of central planning; the
progress towards settlement of apparently intractable conflicts in regions such
as Cambodia.
And most recently, of course, we have seen Nelson Mandela's historic
election as President of South Africa.
None of these changes has been accomplished without difficulty. All of them
generate new sets of problems.
But the astonishing thing, when you look back ten years, is that they have
happened. So it is with the Middle East.
Mark Leibler uses the right phrase In his President's Report to you this year
when he says that, with the Madrid Peace Conference in October 1991, the
Middle East entered a new epoch.
The lessons of history and the lessons of history in the Middle East more
than elsewhere are that we would be wise to temper our optimism with
realistic caution.
And for the key participants, the stakes are so high that prudence is always
called for.
However, with agreement on the Declaration of Principles between Israel and
the PLO on 13 September last year, an~ d the signing of the agreement for
autonomy in Gaza and Jericho, it is possible to have expectations, as well as
hope, for a more peaceful future in the region.
As I said in Parliament on 5 May, Australia warmly welcomed the autonomy
agreement. It is a real milestone in the quest for a peaceful settlement in the Middle East
and a tribute to the leadership of Prime Minister Rabin and PLO
C hairman Arafat, who held their nerve in the face of terrorist attacks by
violent opponents determined to disrupt the process.
Anybody looking for a reason to break off the negotiations would have found
many. It was no time for faint hearts.
The result is also, of course, a tribute to the untiring work of other
peacemakers, like Shimon Peres.
Now we look to the next stages of the process to agreements which will
bring a lasting peace with Israel's neighbours, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon,
and to the successful completion of the next round of Palestinian autonomy
negotiations.
With same contrast, Australia's international Interests lie overwhelmingly in
the Asia-Pacific region. That is where we do three-quarters of our trade.
That is where our key security interests are engaged.
That is where our future lies.
But we cannot and should not ignore the Middle East. The stakes there in
both strategic and human terms are so great as to Impose their significance
on all the areas and members of the international community.
That is why the Australian Government is keen to see the cause of peace so
actively supported.
And our help has been of the most practical kind.
It Is seen in our three-year, $ 15_-mil -lion program of assistance to economic
development in Gaza and the West Bank for such things as training, health,
sanitation and water resources.
The success of autonomy will depend heavily on whether these basic
services can be delivered.
It is seen in our participation In the working groups on Arms Control and
Regional Security and on Water Resources, which have been ' set up as part
of the peace process.
It is seen in our military commitment to the Sinai MFO, now under Australian
command, which helps maintain confidence on the border between Israel and
Egypt.
And, not least, it is seen In the work of individual Australians and Australian
non-government organisations who have dedicated themselves to improving
conditions on the ground for ordinary citizens.
It is a welcome truth and a reflection of the changes at work in the region
that the views of the Jewish community and the Australian Government on
issues facing the community and on the Middle East have probably never
been closer.
Nor have the views of the Australian and Israeli Governments.
But even when in the past we have disagreed with particular policies of
individual Israeli Governments, we have never wavered and will never
waver from our commitment to Israel's right to exist within secure and
recognised borders.
And, beyond that familiar phrase, we will never waver from a deeper
conviction that the international community Is a better place, a more decent
place, for the contribution Israel has made and will yet make.
That is why we have been so willing to work to ensure Israel's full
engagement in the mainstream of International activity.
It is why we worked so hard with Israel to rescind the odious United Nations
resolution 3379, which equated Zionism with racism. We voted against its
adoption in 1975, and we co-sponsored its rescission in 1991.
It Is why we have supported Israel's efforts to broaden its diplomatic ties in
the Asia-Pacific.
It Is why we continue to be active In making representations to the Syrian
Government regarding the welfare of Jews in Syria.
It Is why we urge Arab governments to lift their anachronistic and
counterproductive economic boycott of Israel.
Uke any strong relationship, our friendship with Israel is given weight and
value by the ties which exist beyond the actions of Governments, between
the people of our two countries.
The Zionist Federation of Australia has been an essential element of this
facet of our relationship, of course.
I want to note here the major role which Mark Leibler and the Federation
played in keeping the problem of UN Resolution 3379 at the forefront of
public debate in Australia and before the Australian Parliament where both
Houses voted unanimously in favour of the efforts to rescind the resolution.
Similarly, your Federation has done important work in sensitising Australian
opinion to the injustice of the Arab economic boycott of Israel.
But a lot of the Federation's most Important work has been in relation to our
own society.
On these questions, our views are close.
For this Government, the promotion of tolerance and respect for cultural and
religious differences, and a decent concern for the other members of this
diverse society, is at the core of our view of what It means to be Australian.
The Government continues to believe in the importance of involving
community groups in the development of policies.
Some of you will know that the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs,
Senator Bolkus, will be appointing in the near future a Multicultural Advisory
Council. Helene Teichrnann will be well aware of this, because I was
delighted to hear that she has accepted an invitation to be a member.
The Council will advise the Government on specific matters such as the
cultural diversity dimensions of the Centenary of Federation and the Sydney
2000 Olympics, as well as on the means of fostering greater debate and
better understanding about Australia's cultural diversity.
I should note, in speaking of Senator Bolkus, that this Government continues
to regard Immigration and Ethnic Affairs as sufficiently Important to warrant
the attention of a senior Cabinet Minister.
We are preparing to take a further step to safeguard our record of tolerance
with the introduction shortly of nationai legislation on racial vilification.
The Australian concept of tolerance embraces freedom of opinion and
freedom of expression. These are fundamental to our sense of ourselves.
However, some forms of expression are sufficiently offensive to be intolerable
in a decent society.
This was brought home to me when I opened the Children of the Holocaust
exhibition at the Australian War Memorial in February. The suggestionby
some that the Holocaust never happened fosters incipient racism and, in the
eyes of the Australian community, is obnoxious.
Mnother example was the jailing of people for a series of violent attacks in
Perth inspired on racial grounds.
While most Australians are offended by the racial aspect of those crimes, the
perpetrators were jailed under laws which do not recognise that aspect of
their behaviour.
Racial vilification and racial violence are offensive to the Australian
community. Our laws must reflect that.
The racial vilification laws will dissuade those who seek to incite violence and
hatred against particular groups defined by ethnic origin.
The existence of a legal prohibition should of itself persuade most of the
intolerant to think twice before parading their prejudices.
It will ensure that those invited to publish racist slurs have a legal ground for
refusing. But there will still be breaches of the law, and the Cabinet is considering how
they will be dealt with.
We are not interested in elevating racists to the status of martyrs.
But the vicious and the reckless who would attack Individual groups must be
made to know that they are assaulting the values of the entire community and
that there is a price to pay.
The very existence of such a law is a public and collective statement by the
community that there are types of behaviour it will not tolerate.
By taking such a step we will reassert the value our community places on
tolerance and respect.
For the past ten years, Mark Leibler has been at the forefront of the Zionist
Federation of Australia's efforts to promote the cause of closer ties between
Australia and Israel, and the aspirations of the Jewish community in Australia.
I first met Mark about eight years ago, talking not about the Federation or
about Israel, but about taxation reform in Australia The work we were
engaged in then and since was not quite as difficult as reconciling the
interests of Israelis and Arabs, but it sometimes seemed the views of the
participants were just as resistant to change.
Ten years is a long time at the top of an organisation like this.
It is a tribute to Mark's skill and his commitment that the Federation has
remained throughout that period so lively and influential an organisation. If
the Government has not always agreed with Mark and the Federation, noone
should ever think it was because your President and his team failed to
carry your views forcefully even relentlessly to us in Canberra.
So I want to add my voice to all those congratulating him.
The contribution he has made over that decade has not been simply to the
Federation and the Jewish community. It has been a much broader
contribution to public debate in Australia about some of the key issues
affecting the nature of this society.
It Is a contribution he can be proud of, and for which we are all grateful. We
look forward to just as productive a relationship with his successor, and to our
continuing dialogue with the Zionist Federation of Australia.