t LUNCHEON IN HONOUR OF 1IT. HUBERT HUIVPHmEY,
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE U. S.
AT CANBERRA 19th FEBRUARY, 1966
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER MR. HAROLD HOLT
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Vice-President, your Excellencies,
1Ministerial and Parliamentary Colleagues, Distinguished Visitors
from the United States and any ct. 1, ers of you tL-hat I may have
omitted: It's a very great pleasure and privilege for the
Head of an Australian Government to welcome to this country
a distinguished leader in the Administration such as we have
here today in the person of Mr. Hubert Humphrey. It is, I -think,
more than ten years, 11r. Humphrey, since we had a visit from one
of-ycDux Vice-Pr esiderri's. In fact, it w I tUhink the only visit
we had ever had at that point of time from a Vice-President of the
United States. In a sense, therefore, it's been a long time
between Vice-Presidents, but if today's talk is any indication
I think vie will be seeing each other much more frequently in
future than perhaps wie h-ave in the past. Because, as is evident
enough, your country and ours are fi. nding each other increasingly
involved in the problems of Asla and in particular of South*-East
Asia There is no occasion to dwell at length before an
Australian audience or public on the close and warm relationship
between our two countries. We have inherited a common tradition,
a common democratic-tradition from the 1Ilother of Parliaments in
the United Kingdoi7., you adapting in your own wvay the Parliamentary
system to your own needs, we in Australia with a Parliarnuntary
democracy serving ours. And we have in the space of the last fifty
years fou-ht together in the cause of freedom, twice together in
two great world conflicts. We were the first country to declare
ourselves with you in the cricis of Korea, and we are one of the
few countries serving with you in a military capacity in Viet Nam
at this time, and the warmth of our friendship has cemented the
mutuality of interest which exists for us in this part of the world.
We across the other side of the Pacific Ocean have
watched admiringly the growth over the years of the mightiest power
that the world has ever known. It has been something of an
inspiration to us. We have a great land mass to develop, roughly
the size of the United States itself if you leave Alaska out of the
picture; and we recall that it was only twelve years after your
own Declaration of Independence that Australia had its first
suttlement. What is not always realised in this country is that
you were only four million people when our first settlement
occu-rred in Australia, but over the intervening years you
have grown to something over 190 millions of people, establishing
the most powerful nation that the world has ever seen. We
believe that by the same principles, by the same encouragement
of enterprise and initiative which has marked the American story,
we too can grow to be a great sister nation in the Pacific and
we are heartened by the example that wie see in you and we are
assisted very greatly by the encouragement, by the flow of
American investment and citizens to this country from time to time.
But more immediately, of course, we are caught up together in the
problems of South-East Asia, and for our part, recognising the
contribution you made to our own security in the darker days of the
Second World War, wie are grateful again for the firmness of
purpose and the resolution which your President and the American
people are showing in relation to the issue in Viet Nan~.
We, with you, view this as part of a great international
conflict. We see this as one of the critical struggles in the
history of the free peoples everywhere. This goes far deeper in
our judgement than the preservation of the people in South Viet Nam
against intrusion and aggression from those who would wish to
destory the integrity of that country; important though that is,
we see this as part of the menace of Communist expansion throughout
the world and what happens in South Viet Namn is in our eyes not
merely of interest1, to the people of that country, niot merely of
interest to us in relation to our own security here in Aistralia
although I believe that too to be involved, but we see it as
of significance for the cause of free peoples everywhere, and I
know that is how your President and your Aidministration see this
struggle. Nowi, Sir, we have watched with admiration, too, the
way in which your President has looked upon this not merely
as a matter of military achievement, not merely as a goal to be
gained by military means and then the rest of the story forgotten.
He has, from the outset, and you have devotea so much of your
own energies to this aspect, seen the necessity for social and
econz: mic aasistance which wul bring to the peoples of this
area and, in tine with an improvement in standards throughout
the area generally, victory also over those age-old enemies of
mankind to which you referred on your arrival in Australia
yesterday. We know that these great evils of hunger, of disease,
of illiteracy, of lack of employment opportunities, that these
things in an enlightened community can be met successfully and
conquered. It has been an enlightened and imaginative attitude
on the part of the President and members of his Administration
like yourself that they have seen * the totality of this problem,
that they have seen its relationship to the world scene generally,
and we would hope that as this becomes more clearly perceived
around the rest of the free world that others will join with you,
as we in our own small way have done, not merely to give moral
support to your cause but to assist in a material way either in
a military capacity or perhaps more generally in terms of
economic assistance throughout this area.
You, Sir, come to us as a very welcome visitor and you
bring with you the most distinguished and influential delegation
from the United States, I think, that this country has ever
known. iewelcome w,, ith you an old friend in Ambassador Harriman.
I would like you to know that he has given us great assistance
from the information and advice he is able to bring so freshly
from discussions himself in various parts of the world. Whenever
any of us go to Washington, we know that we have a warm friend
awaiting us there in the person of yourself, Mr. Ambassador.
And speaking of ambassadors, we would like you to
report to your President that we arc grrateful to him for sending
to us that splendid representative of your country, the Aimbassador
of the United States here in Australia, M. r. Ed Clark. He and I
established a warm basis of friendship from the outset. I know
this has been a general experience of any who have come in contact
with him and America could not wish for a more effective represen-
tative in this country nor we for a warmer friend of Australia.
You in the various capacities you undertake, Mr.
Vice-President have interest in space research and aeronautical
matters and you will be aware that here in Australia there is
another tangible link of our friendly cssociations with you -through
the tracking stations which have now been established at various
points in Australia. But just as in -this and in so many other
ways we find it useful to maintain together the friendly and
fruitful links of co-operation, we believe that it is in the years
ahead perhaps that our greatest contribution together will be made
to the welfare of a significant area of the world, and through this
a contribution to the peace, the stability and the prosperity
of the world as a whle.
We, for our part, in A'ustralia would welcome early
talks and discussions with you and with Great Britain and Novw
Zealand on somo of the problems of the area. I don't mention just
those four countries in any excluding sensec in trying to keep
anybody else out of the discussion, but to face the matter
realistically in the sort of problems that vie have to meet here
in the years ahead. Here are countries which can make a significant
material contribution together and I believe it is of first
importance that we should be able to co-ordinate efforts to
discuss together problems which arise and to which, by mutual effort,
we may be able to bring some assistance or somc solution.
This is particularly true in the economic and social field.
We in Australia frequently can perform a useful service by the
technical advice v.' c can bring to countries that are themselves
passing through a developmental phase, and in those and other
ways, Australia, limited though its resources may be in a country
of less than 12 million people, Akustralia can make its own valuable
contri but ion.
Sir, you have come at a difficult time through a most
arduous and exacting journey in key areas of South-East A* sia
and A.' sia generally, but I am quite certain that if the Australian
people had been a~ ble to share our experience of this morning when
xhad the most stimulating and heartening and illuminating talk from
you, they would have no hesitation in their mind as to the justice
and good sense of our cause or the strength of the support they
would bring to it. I believe, Sir, that you will find in this
country support as strong as you will find anywhere in the world,
even perhaps including your own country, for what you are doing.
I can speak to you as not merely the Head of the Government, but
as the Leader of one of the two Governme~ qnt Parties and tcll you that
there isn't one member of the Government Parties who does not
subscribe wholeheartedly to the policy which the United States is
adopting in relation to Viet Nam. I think, Sir, I can claim that
that is a rather bctter scoring record even than the Congress can
deomonstrate for you.
Well, gentlemen, you are not here to have me speak at
length and we are all anxious to hear from the Vice-President.
We have established already, I would hope, in your minds, the
warmth of the welcome here in Australia, and shortly I shall be
asking all to join me in honouring the toast of our distihguished
guest, but as ovidence that that warmath of welcome is general
throughout Aiustralia, I san going to ask Mr. Calwell, the Leader
of the Opposition, to join in supporting me in the toast which I
shall shortly be submitting. Arthur, would you please speak.