8TH D11I310fi 630OCIAT12gla gi4aL J; iApgR& DIN~ t huaa
16th Fera 1962
USnmeeh bZ the kZimWMinsterO te ! iL. Rk. t Mnl
sirs I am very greatly honoured and very riatterad by your
invitation to be here. I'm afraid tldat 1 haves been something of a
nuisance over this matter because at first a date vas fixed your
date, the 15th and then it turned out by the inscrutable wisdom of
the electors ( Laughter) that certain things had to be done and I
needed to have a conference of the Premiers, and so I had to put you
to the sreat inconvenieance of altering, for this purpose, yesterday
for today. 3ut all of you notable izarriors will undei stand that I
eculdn't be here last night because, like tne apostle, I was
" fighting wild beasts at Sp~ eus". Laughter$ applause)
And even when we had rinished the Conference of Premiers
this morning rather unexpectedly from my point of view because
there dere a few Items st1u1 efst I pointed to the most important
remaining one at five past one today and said, mNov I have a
Conference this afternoon with the First Sea Lord of England" -who is
visiting us on matters that are quite germane to your experiences
" and I must be lown in Sydney to . ight, I have an Important ongageowt,
so could vie meet at 2 o'clock*. Then, you know, remarkably enough,
it tuned out that on* Iremier had to catch a plane at twop another one,
had to catch a plane at 2.30 because,, you know,, when you ha-ve the money
in the beg Y u don't hang around ( Laughter) You might be robbed,
( Laughter) And I gave my celebrated imitation of a man to whom time
was no object so long as It finished by four o'clock. In the result
at ten past on e had concluded all our businessl ( Laughter) And
went home and packed my bag and cam back to the office and tried to
clean up some of the accuulations of le,; Itimat* business over the last
two days, and then say the First Sea Lord, and then case down hers.
Tomorrow morning I go back I's happy to tell you that I've made no
appointment tomorrow until noon ( Laughter) and that, It'a happy to say,
will not be with any 1' remier who wants money. ( Laughter)
Sat tonight first of all I deeply approciate the honour you
have done me In inviting me to ame I know of no trualific ition tVat
I have to be here. -3ut in the second place Iviant to tell you how much
I1 have enjoyed being here so far because e have heard two
speeches which, to so, were very moving speeches by Dr. Fisher and by
the famous and celebrated Gen. Gordon Jeto lpplause)
Sir, the one concession that I must make be ' or* I say a few
things that may matter a little more Is thist that having sat in
conrerence with the Premiers and the Treasurers and with Treasa& ry
officials, viearing one suit all the week a~ nd -, ligrather baggy in
it, as you might 1zuaginet I brought down a freshly pressed suit with
ms and when I dent over and put It on tonight I found t . at the pockets
4~ o 9 rull of papers. I thought " Now how odd. Zhat jaupers have I?"
And all of a sudden ihen I looked at them I roalised that this must
have been the coat I was wearing on polling night, ( Laughter) because
the first piece of aper showed what at 10.30 was my 2.. stimate of the
rnumor of seats I was losing; and at Ul o'clock I crossed that out
and added a flow names to it; by midnight 1 had no more saats to add.
It -was obviously a season of prayer 4nd faating. ( Laughter) And I
thought " Now that's very intert-3ting" because this has all remirdled Me
of what It is like to be on the verge of dereat -and perhap.,; that is
something to r member on a night like this.
I hope, you will allow me to say without making any invidious
distinctions, how delighted I was when I arrived at this Tiotel tonight
to be received by that great and pood marie Charles '-nderson. ( Applause)
I am, as you know, the last man to engage in party politics. ( Laughter)
This is completely foreign to my nature. But I am told remotely that
you have an election on in New South Wales not mine, tut somebody
else's. I hope that without trespassing in the arena of party polities
you will allow an to say that I don't understand how any electorate
that had the honour to be represented by Charles Anderson should foigo
it at a General Election. However, whatever happens to me, he'll be
back. ( Applause) Now, Sir, General Bennett has tonight referred to a number
of histori events all of which I know I can confirm. I thought
perhaps I might just say this to you about them and I want to develop
this because I want to demonstrate to you, if I can, how what appeared
to be defeat has turned out to be of the most enormous significance to
Australia. At the very end of 1940 we had a report by the military
experts on the position in Singapore and in Malaya and it was so
disturbing that that was the very reason why, at the end of 1940
having a shrewd idea that I wouldn't remain in office too long alter I
got back because my majority was even sketchier than it is at this
moment, I went off to snland, The prime purpose of the Journey was
to see whether we couldn t strengthen the defensive position in
Singapore in relation to Malaya and the Far East because there was an
enormous deficiency of aircraft and there was a great weakness in
landward de ence. There was a naval base there were all sorts of
provisions of that kind for sea warfare, Lt there was a tremendous
deficiency, particularly in aircraft. I don't think I've mentioned
this before but if I grow old enough and silly enough to write any
memoirs I will have to state in some detail that the prime obJet of
that journey was to secure air defence, particularly by fighter
aircraft, in and around Singapore and Malaya.
Of course, at that tine, it turned out to be impossible.
It's easy to forget these things, but at that time, when I vas in
England in early 1941 there was no second front except the fronts
that the British were fighting on with their Commonwealth allies
America was neutral, the Middle East presented a dreadful problem, we
had all the problems of getting things through the Mediterranean, and
in the result you couldn't succeed in getting modern aircraft, or even
sub-odern aircraft, for the Far East. All t at they had were needed
in the battle for the old country, or for the battles that were being
organised in the Middle East.
The result was, as we all know that when the Japanese came
in and at that time, frankly, I thought they would, that was why this
expedition was taken on there was such a deficiency in air cover that
their tactics on the land and by the sea succeeded. dell this was a
tremendous tragedy, I don't blame anybody for it. I think that as the
facts then stood it was an unavoidable one,
But I don't think we ought to stop there. I don't think we
ought to say that this is just the final history of the event. If,
Sir, on the 15th February of every year you Just celebrated a defeat,
this would be a depressing event. But I don't believe it myself,
because 1 want to give you two, or three, outstanding reasons why the
efforts and the sacrifices and the suffeings of the Division, and of
the Air Force attached to them and of the Navy which served so
heroically in the defence as the Japanese came down, are immortal
events, and -hy I believe that they have not been thrown away.
The first reason that I ive you is one that has been
referred to by General Bennett himself. I have never been able to
understand why anybody, at any time, doubted his courage.( Applause)
He had shown his courage far too frequently to be ancused by other
people, and lesser people, of a lack of it. This is too silly. He's
long since forgotten it. I refer to it only to assure his that people
like myself have never, never entertained such nonsensical ideas.
3.
Irememier -I fasn't the ?. rime Ministers I had been relieved of that
post by a discrimna~ ting group of people,, before theso events -sitting,
as an Opposition mamm) er 0or the Advisory lar C uncil when he produoed
his training manual on jungle darfare and I can cofr everything
that he says about it* This became of supreme Importance in the Nov
Guinea and the Islands campaigns, and ias a tremendois contribution to
ultimate victory. B3ut may I go oeyond that? You have all been reading lately
about the proposals that -ure on foot for ai greater Malaysia Malaya$
plus jingapore, plus North 13ro PlU3 Ja. rawaic plus Jruei -those
proposal3 promoted by the Tunku A1dU1 Rahmans our zrecit and friendly
leader of Malaya to establish on this crescent a realfter Malaya which
would represent a friendly group of nations closely integrated with
each other, 3tanding betvaen us, peoaphically, & nd more than
georaphicaily, and the Communist throat coming down from Asia. This
is a ramarkable coniception,
And why ha-! it been promoted by halaya as a friendly power,
as a membe.-of the Commonealth? AW has It been promoted with the
whole of those ideas in mind? It has been promoted be~ cause behind you
you lert in Malaya an undying stmnsa of comradeships of mzutual help,
of admiration. has only to go to Maiaya today, as I've had to
myself ) nee or C. dtce, to realize how high the tocksof Australis and
of Australians are in that country. ! md 1 vouldit have you underestimatLe
for one moment the significance of that in these great moves
that are now occurring to iestablish a1 greater Malaysia which under no
circumnstances would tolerate becoming Cotrsiluit but wvbichs inl the
broad sweep is on our side, and on the s2. de of the free iorld.
Nov I ask you to remember that ladies and 4entlemen. This
is fro~ c the point of view of a pra.-tising working politician, who has
had saae responsibility for the affairs o! his country. This is a
great thought that joa ought always to have in your winds. It must
have been God knows that people like myself can't und-. stand it it
xust have been a bitter inoiat to r the point avlaodleda
defeat. 3ut to ackcnowledge defeat for the time and to go for the rest
of your lives thinking that that das the ~ iial defeat, would be the
greatest tru& gedy of all. And I be& of you, throw it out of your minds,
Because all those events have left their indlible mark on our friends
in these countries, and, I believe., on the fiature of 33outh-2. ast Asia.
1ir, that is my ateonj to * atim~ te the . mpset 11 these
things on the minds of the leaders and member3 of these countries in
south-east A-sia.
fiat I now iunt jou tocoo~ e buiCA. Wu .) ar oen coia., try. .4e are
not al-ays as interested in foreign -ffT4irs ais do might be; though
rather more than we 4erea T-4 we are more itareated ia :~ rign.
affairs than we 4ere it is lar~ ely baoxaase 4e ti.. ve as a nation, become
conscious of the signifcan~ ce ) f -; outli-.3L: the signiilicanoe of
these countries lying close to us with the throat lyingo behiLnd them.
This is one of the Treat reasons Arhy A~ us~ ralla has be.-omo more
conscious of foreign affairs, more onscio-is in 1jarticular, of South'-
. ast : 45jaf affairs than It ver wjas ov oreo
In the result . ihat has hapened? ,, tie Lf Vae early' things
that my own deplorable ;-vrnent did to ao one of tlli , rToaoters
of the South-.: Ast Asia Treaty )~ rganisation; and todai J-, t Is
something of enormous significinco to ere h; rAre a
def'ensive origanisation of mutual help,, of Iatual un4' rAtarndi'je of
mutual economic asisistance, vwth esnbracet nqt ; rmly ; rua~ t Zr-taln and
the U. nited 3tates and France and Australia and Ned Zealand, but also
' sian countries Pakistan, and Thailan~ d, oral the k K lipjpines. This,
is a unique organisation. So long as it exists, so long as all its
members stand up to it, , re have, in this corner of the world, a
de ' n17e -i harlis! 1 i 1-4ich we cm-n17. oe our most tremendous reliance.
Lt Is a rgional agreement in a reg; Ion bout which few pe~ ople thought,
and friw people cared, only 20 years ago,
h~ ow If it is true$ as I > eiiev* it to be, that today we are
deeplyr concerned in this area that today qof are deeply concerned to
see that we take our part in this great joint organisationt that this
is something that anab1e-is to hold up our hevads In the company of our
great anid pwrful friends like t he United Kin gdom and the United States
then I wan t say., Sir, to you, tonigtst and to all your aembers, that
what wan done by our forces, apparently so umaucoessfUlly, ap ontly
ending In some form of disaster, has in fact boen one o' the great
things to bring the Australian mind to understand how important this
g; reat soutfi.. last sian .) rpnisation is. ( Applause)
in other words, AIrq you can go through two periods on these
matteres you can go through a feeling in 4hich emotions are highi anid
sentiments are high; you can become accustomed, If I may just mention
a row names at random to think with pride of peopl& like Albert Coates
and " Weary* Dunlop aund the miracles that they performed; you can think
of Charles Anderson; you can think of' Clordon Bannett up thera with very
little knoledge alroady acquired, until the e-'; ents, happened and they
had to oe lea; neA by hard practice, fou can think of all these things,
and there is a high rfeeling about Lhem, there is R deep emotion about
tiem. I share them; you share t hem. jut In t he long rian, in the eye
of history it becomes nec.-ssarylp after a while, to say " das all this
wasted?" " Did all this comie and 4o and be forgotten exoept in a few
warm hearts anda few ! ively memories?" " Or were these awents events
whiich actually altered trw course of' history in this part of the
world?' It is because I believe that they did alter the course of
history in this part oi the . torld it is because IL believe what I have
been saying to you about our relation to South-East of Asia, to our
groat allies to whom I have referred it is because I believe that that
I also believe that your annual cel9? v~ tion is niot to be reearded so
much as a melancholy 0eet In which people look beck wiith sorrow
though of course we do -but as an event from which you look forward
with pride and with a realisation that these were great things, done
fur Austraia, arid, as I firmly believe, dlone for the world.
61r, I don't want to detain you any longer, It would have
been sufficient, from my point of view', to come down perhaps,, and to
say, and say trulyt Lhat I think It is a tre . endoux compliment on your
part to Invite me to be here. I would have hated to miss being here,
zsut above and beyond that It has given an opportunity to mo what you
might call the more or less precarious head of the Governmient -to tell
you something whuich perhaps only7 a an who ims 2rime Minister around
that time and who is now, by the Mc~ wcy of i~ rovldv. noe, ' rlme Minister
again some 17 years after It all ended can sre in proper retrospect,
and who could tell you what I have toll you tonight. I believe It;
1 mean it; and I hop* you vil accept it.