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PRIME MINISTER
TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P. J. KEATING MP
ADDRESS IN ANZAC PARK, THURSDAY ISLAND, 12 SEPTEMBER 1995
E& OE PROOF COPY
Mr Getano Lui ( Chairperson, Torres Strait Regional Authority), Mayor ( Mr
Pedro Stephen), Elders, my friend Mr Ettle Pau ( Torres Strait Ex Servicemen's
Association) who presented a wreath with me, my colleague Peter Dodd,
distinguished members of the community, ladies and gentlemen and boys and
girls. Thank you very much for that wonderful warm welcome this afternoon. I have
always wanted to come to the Torres Strait. I am most happy to be able to
have come as Prime Minister and to come to this beautiful part of Australia.
I have been very moved by the speeches, the things that have been said by
your Mayor, by Miss Bakoi Bon ( high school captain), by Mr Waraka Adidi ( ex
serviceman), by Mr George Mye ( Chairman of Damley Island) and they all say
one thing, I think, and one thing that I certainly agree with and that is to say
that we are all pert of this great country Australia. We are all Australians, we
are Australians together. We will be Australians forever. And, that this great
multicultural country of ours is different in parts. We do have our separate, if
you like, ancestral backgrounds, but we have this commitment to this great
country and this great continent, held in trust for most of us by the Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people of this country. It is now our bounty to enjoy
thanks to this wonderful bequest which you as indigenes of this country have
given us.
I am pleased to be here today. I am pleased to be here with my daughters, so
they can see this part of Australia too and know that the land they grow up in
is one of tolerance, one of equity and one of decency and one of pleasure and
one of frendship and one were the environment matters to us all. The place
we can all enjoy together.
I was particularly drawn by the references to Eddie Mabo. This is, I think, the
right place to say that a good thing was done a couple of years ago. A truth
recognised, a lie overturned when the High Court said that the common law of
this country doesnt simply come from the tradition and customs of people of
European decen It doesnt simply come from the British common law. Now it
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is said by our highest court that Australia's common law comes from the
traditions and customs of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people.
So, it means that your customs and your traditions are as much a part of my
common law as they are of your common law. That is, in no stronger way
could it be said we are together and we are one than to say that our customs
and traditions and our cultures and beliefs form part of our common heritage in
our common law. From that law, of course, has sprung an indigenous title
which means you, as a people, are entitled to certain lands that have
traditionally been yours. This is a far greater right to come from the
recognition of your culture than to be given by some statute or act of
Parliament or act of grace or act of giving by a legislator because now it is
yours as an inherent right and perhaps it is late, but better late than never that
we have drawn a line in the sand and said that the lands which you make your
traditional connection with, that are not alienated are yours and we have set
up the processes for it.
The contemporary word was by the High Court, but the contemporary act was
by the Commonwealth Parliament in the Native Title Act and it all started here
in the Torres Strait Island. That is, in recognition of the justice which Eddie
Mabo sought, in seeking it and finding it, he has changed all of our lives and
all of your lives especially.
So, this is, I think, a good thing to ponder. We have got great ground to make
up and there are great social issues that we have to address, but we could
never address those, no act of giving from the Parliament or the Government,
no matter how generous can be as complete or as valuable as the recognition
of our essence as Australians our custom and tradition and law comes as
much from your traditions as it comes from non-indigenous, non-Aboriginal or
Torres Strait Island culture.
This is, in a sense, starting the slate again and the things we want to draw on
it are the things we must do together. I think it does underwrite the fact that
we are all members of the one country and that we are Australians and you
are as important to this Parliament of ours as the people from the regions of
Sydney as I am from or those other great parts of Australia, that we are all
Australians one and we are together. The proof of that is, in fact, the very
sacrifices which we have seen commemorated here today. In the Second
World War where Torres Strait Islanders fought in defence of Australia, fought
in defence of themselves and the rest of us, for the democratic values and the
culture and the tolerance we know our country has, but we knew that the
aggressor would deny us. Today, I give thanks on the part of all Australians
for that sacrifice, for those who suffered and for those who died and I want
that known and understood by all Australians.
Could I say that in speaking about your culture and your rights, George Mye
made reference to the fact that with ATSIC your fear is that the Islander
culture may be subsumed in the greater culture of Aboriginal Australia. This
has always been a risk, but one always believes that again in tolerance and
fairness, this will not be so. But, you are suggesting to us that there be a
Torres Strait Islander Commission. That you receive the funding from the
Commonwe ttl Pariament and not ATSIC and that you decide how this might
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be spent in the best interests of Torres Strait Islander people. Let me tell you
this is something the Commonwealth Government is prepared to consider.
This is something we are prepared to think about. This, of course, will need
discussions, it will need negotiation with our Aboriginal brothers and sisters to
know that we see that commitment to ATSIC as being a solid and firm one and
yet at the same time, it is possible that we can more adequately perhaps look
after the interests and the culture of Islander people. To see that it is not
subsumed in any Ohe culture Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal.
At any rate, I am pleased to be here today to see the Torres Strait or the part
of it I can see. To come to Thursday Island, to see you as a community, to be
among you, to speak with you and to receive your hospitality. I thank you for
the warmth of it. I most especially thank the children for comning in such
numbers. For all you people who have been so generous in coming to meet
me, my family and my party today, I give you my heartfelt thanks and best
wishes. ends