VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND
WELLINGTON
STATE LUNCHEON 28 March 1968
Speech by the Prime Minister, Mr. John Gorton
Mr. Prime Minister, The Deputy Leader of the
Opposition, and Distinguished Guests:
The first thing that I would wish to say to you and
to those of you who have come along to this lunch is to thank
you for the honour you have done me and to thank you for the
opportunity of having met you and your Cabinet and now having
met, even if vicariously, such a representative section of
New Zealand opinion. I do not know, Sir, whether there are in
fact representatives of the South Island present, but there is
one thing I think I should make clear and that is that although
on this occasion my visit is unhappily confined, on past occasions
I have been to the South Island and have travelled from Christchurch
on the way to regions further south, where I had, at McMurdo
Sound, happy associations with the New Zealanders stationed
there so it is not a completely terra incognito to me as far
as that is concerned.
You were very kind in your remarks to me. There are orn~ n'
two things, before I launch in to what I really have to say of
serious moment to you, which unfortunately I cannot answer. You
asked me how many Rugby matches somebody had won. I do not know.
You see, I am an Australian Rules player myself. I share with
you entirely, Mr. Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the feeling
that this visit is too short, but while it is unfortunate that
one cannot have enough of a good thing, at least it is highly
fortunate that one can have some part of a good thing, and that
is what you are giving to me.
This, Sir, is the first time on which I haves spoken to
a gethering outside of my own country as the Prime Minister of
Australia, and because of that I think you will agree it would
be natural if I were rather nervous. In fact, to let you into
a secret, if you have not discovered it already, I am rather
nervous. But I can say this I am not as nervous as I would
be if I were speaking to a gathering anywhere but in New Zealand,
or to any other than New Zealanders. It is really and this
sustains me no new thing for an Australian to find himself
in company with New Zealanders. Indeed, it is in keeping with
what has happened over the last half century and more.
Australians and New Zealanders have had common goals in the
harsh arbitrament of war on Gallipoli, in France, in Greece,
in Crete, in the northern deserts of Africa, in Korea, in
Malaya, and now in Vietnam and during that time, and I
believe that this is true, those common goals in war which
were attained when the militant Fascism and Nazism of Germany
were overthrown, which were attained when the military invasion
of South Korea by Communism was overthrown, which were attained
when terrorism was prevented and destroyed in Malay-e, have forged
a link between our peoples which is enduring and which will, for
as far in the future as I can see, endure.
But we have now before us goals in peace. We have
now before us goals which beckon us to try together to make
the most use of that opportunity which together, and together
with other nations, has been won in war. It is of this that
I want to speak to you, but before I do, let me just say this.
There has been much speculation in newspapers and by individuals
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on both sides of the Tasman as to whether there should or
should not be some form of political unity, and indeed the
Deputy Leader of the Opposition mentioned this, between our
countries; some kind of arrangement by which each one, I
suppose, of our nations I have never seen it spelt out
should give up some of the sovereignty it possesses, some of
the national identity it cherishes. I have no chance of
seeing what in some unforeseen future might occur and I
speak of an unforeseen future. Whenever, if ever that kind of
thing occurs, it can only occur by the nations and the
individuals in the nations of New Zealand and Australia saying
so. But this I say to talk about that now, to worry about
that now, to raise the questions which are involved in that now,
is, I would have thought, not only irrelevant but tending to be
damaging, because it can lead to suspicion; it can lead to
resentment; it can lead to impediments in the gaining of goals
which are quite clear before us and which do not require this
kind of solution in order for those goals to be attained.
So let us put that on one side. Let us put it out
0 of our minds, and let us reconsider what can be done by us both
as we are, with our sovereignty, without worrying about these
future things; these matters which can be achieved by you and
us, bearing in mind that both of us are relatively technically
advanced nations, relatively wealthy nations, relatively
isolated nations as far as the European origins from which we
come are concerned let me put to you what it is that I see
as the closer co-operation-for a common end.
Let me first talk to you about co-operation for a
common economic advancement and for the enhancement of trade
and employment opportunities and increased. populations between
our countries. There was originated not so long ago I think
in January 1966 the New Zealand/ Australia Free Trade Agreement.
Before that time, of course, we had one of those elements which
are claimed to be so significant as a result in Europe of the
creation of the Common Market, because we had taken for granted
the opportunity for New Zealanders to travel to Australia, to
work in Australia, to live in Australia; the opportunity for
Australians to travel to New Zealand, to work in New Zealand,
to live in New Zealand and this interplay of a work force was
one of the great benefits claimed for the European Common Market
in Europe. ' Ve have had it, and have taken it for granted. Not
only have we taken it for granted, but we have discovered that
those New Zealanders who come to Australia and who do live there
and work there have to a highly disproportionate extent attained
the highest offices in our country, and run such things as the
Snowy MountainsAuthority, which is one of our greatest developments.
I do not think we have done quite so well over here, but this is
something of significance, which we have.
This New Zealand/ Australia Free Trade Agreement was
reached on top of that, and I sometimes think that because that
Agreement has not resulted in an immediate and dramatic change
in the balance of payments situation between the two countries,
and because there are, as there will always be in such Agreements,
some areas of exacerbation, that we could tend to write down the
benefit of the Agreement already and the ultimate benefit to both
of our nations. This was not intended as an Agreement which
overnight would alter things dramatically. It was intended as
an Agreement which, as the years passed and as duties were
progressively reduced for the most part over a period:. of
eight years for matters stated in the Treaty would tend to
free trade between our two nations, would tend to help redress
the balance of trade between our two nations and this, I think,
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it already shows not only promise of' doing but I think some
performance in doing, though, as the Deputy Leader of the
Opposition pointed out, we are four times the size of New
Zealand and you would expect some disparity in trade figures
between a nation four times the size of another.
But let me put this to you. Over the last two yearsand
this is roughly the period of operation of the Treaty
whether entirely due to the Treaty or not I do not know,
but over the period in which the Treaty has operated, our
exports to New Zealand have fallen off I think by some
million or $ 6 million. New Zealand's exports to Australia
have increased, I think by between $ 1 million or $ 2 million,
and this is a move towards what ultimately is suggested to be
the result of this trade Treaty. Of course, each nation will,
as the Treaty operates, seek to protect its own vital interests
if they become disrupted, but still the Treaty was signed and
so far this is an indicationz~ of what is flowing from it. It
provided for a whole list of nominated products which over a
period of eight years were to have duties progressively released;
but again, as a symbol of hope in the way in which this Treaty
is being approached by, I think, both of us, may I tell-: you
this. There was the matter of excuse me if I sound indelicateundressed
timber from New Zealand, which over a period of eight
years was to have duties progressively reduced. There was an
appIcation that we, the Australian Government, should waive
this and should at once say, " No, we will not reduce it over a
period of eight years; we will immediately abolish all duties
on undressed New Zealand timber coniiig to Australia." And
only a week ago it has not yet been announced in my own
country my own Government decided that as a result of that
approach we would agree and we will abolish at once all duties
on undressed New Zealand timber coming into Australia. A
small thing, but an indication of the way in which this Treaty
can work to our common and mutual advantage.
I have no doubt that over the period ahead there will
still be difficulties. There will still bo people in Australia
saying, " You cannot bring blue peas in from New Zealand, or it
will destroy something or other in Tasmania", and there will be
people in New Zealand saying, " We have not really got a big
enough market for our lamb or whatever it may be" l; but these
things can be ironed out, they can be a matter of discussion,
and on the history of the Treaty, so far I believe there is room
for great hope that we will not only have this ability for
employment to move backwards and forwards, but for trade to be
progressively freed to our common benefit, and for joint ventures
of New Zealand and Australian capital to build in New Zealand or
in Australia manufacturing processes such as Comalco, for
example, is building in New Zealand to take advantage of power
from your hydro-electricity capacity, providing employment here,
profits for both of us, and, through profits, an opportunity
for growth for both of us. You, Sir, spoke of the need to help
nations in our region, and I too speak of the need to do that,
and also, as far as possible, to protect ourselves as Britain
goes, as I believe she will completely go, from this part of
the world. That depends on growth, both in population and in
economic resources, to carry out those tasks, and in so far as
this Treaty helps and I believe it does so it will help both
nations to attain what you would, I am sure, agree are , tignificant
go~ als. / 4
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In the field of defence itself lies another close
area of co-operation, not of integration of our Armed Forces,
not of a common commander, one star, for running the Armed
Forces of both nations, though it may be at some stage if a
Task Force is required for some particular purpose the best
commander might be picked from whichever country can provide
him but rather the study in common by an Australian Defence
Committee and a New Zealand Defence Committee of what each
nation was going to require for the purposes of its defence
over thc next three years or whatever time it might be, so
that as far as possible a compatibility of arms might be
achieved, so that we would find, for example, that squadrons
might be partly of New Zealand flights and partly of Australian
flights, and could operate together with the same kind of aircraft
and the same kind of ancillary equipment and same kind of ground
control; so that we might see that if fleets at sea, comprising
partly Australian and partly New Zealand vessels were put in
convoy then the ammunition used was as far as possible the same,
the signals used were as far as possible the same, and the
compatibility was there.
I do not need to spell this out, but it must be clear
that for any given expenditure of national resources on defence,
if two countries are likely to co-operate in defence in the
future as they have in the past and I believe they will then
from that proportion of national resources so devoted, greater
effectiveness can be gained if there is common study at the
beginning of the kind of arms, the kind of logistics, the kind
of spare parts which best will allow the integrated operation
and that is different the integrated operation of forces from
our two nations. And this we seek.
In our approach to foreign affairs there has been for
some time past the closest co-operation which I think is possible
between two countries, and this is whether it means an approach
towards a problem of external affairs posed because of the present
incoherent state of so much of the world, or whether it relates
to assistance in the economic field to try by that way to turn an
incoherent state of the world into a coherent state. These
together, again, are things which we get. They are of great
assistance. They do not require a surrender of sovereignty
by anybody. They do require the abolition of suspicion and
resentment in our own country or in yours. They do require not
only that politicians should say these things and believe these
things, as your politicians and ours say them and believe them,
but they require also that those charged with the industrial
management of a nation should belie-ge those things and should,
by getting together with their counterparts in Australia, and
Australians getting together with their counterparts in New
Zealand, translate the opportunities provided by political
agreements reached into the practical terms which provide the
employment and growth and economic strength we both require.
I am happy to say, again, that there are signs enough that
this already is operating, and I am confident that in the years
ahead not only will we achieve these advanced goals I have spoken
of they are fairly easy not only am I confident there is
unlikely to . be any rift between our approaches to foreign
affairs, but I am confident that firms both here and in my own
country will make their decisions and build their factories on
the assessment of a market available to a firm here or a factory
here; the Australian assessment of a firm or factory in Australia
on the assessment of a market ho-re.
If this happens, as I think it will, and is built on
that goodwill already here, and is built on that experience
already gained, and is built on those sacrifices already jointly
shared, then I think that we have an opportunity and will be able
to take advantage of that opportunity. Perhaps, if this is not
going too far but perhaps let me put it as a dreamer to call
in this regional new world into being to redress the balance
of the old, as once was said about the calling of the United
States into being and when it is called into being, and when
it redresses the balance of the old, it will, if it is properly
done, remove many of the causes of dissension and lead to a
happier and a better life, not only for us and the peoples under
our care, but for the peoples in the region from whom geography
and morality must ever prevent us from being separated. That
is why I attach so much importance to this visit and to the
Australians'and New Zealanders'continued efforts in peace in
the Anzac tradition formed in war.
Thank you.