DEATMN OF
NQ DATE
M/ 34 20 February 1973
EMBARGOED for release until
0001 hours Wednesday 21 February.
PRIME MINISTER TN INDONESIA
Following is the text of an address by the Prime
Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Whitlam, at a
State banquet given by the Government of Indonesia in Jakarta
tonight, Tuesday, 20 February:-
" I regard this occasion as a narticularly hapry omeifor
me and my Government. It is one that brings me a special
personal satisfaction. T1his is my eighth visit to Indonesia,
and my first as Prime Minister of Australia. Apart from a
brief visit to New Zealand, this is my first visit as Prime
Mini'ster to an independent neighbourinE country.
This is not by chance. Relations between Australia
and Indonesia have always been cordial and strong. It is my
Government's intention that they will become stronger still.
I stressed this during the recent elections. The Australian
people have endorsed the objective. Individually there is much
our tw. o countries can achieve for the welfare of our region.
There is even more that we can achieve together.
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In visiting Indonesia I am most pleased by the
opportunity to renew personal contact with President Soeharto.
I attach great importance to establishing relations of mutual
confidence with him. I deeply admire his qualities of leadership
which combine dignity and realism with great positive
achievements. Under President Soeharto Indonesia's course
has steadied and become firm. This is a source of great hope
and encouragement to Australia.
What, Mr President, lies at the basis of this confident
relationship that we have? We can hardly be more different in
history, in size, both of population and area, in cinlture, in
language and in origin. It is, of course, a curious thought
that, had the trade winds not blown so persistently from the
south east, Australia could well have been, indeed almost
certainly would have been, a continent populated by Malays.
It nearly happened. There is much evidence of Javanese interest
in an abortive settlement in the north west of Australia.
We do not have a commonly shared colonial history. We
in Australia are a transplant. We are the descendants of the
colonial authority. In all too sad a sense we are the colonizers,
and my Government, Mr President, will strive mightily to right
the wrongs that have-been done to the original Australians. 3
Of course, there is some recent history from 1945 on
which has contributed to our friendly relations. There are
national and neighbourly ties in security, in trade, and in
the contacts of proximity. Wc perceive that each of us is
really very important to the other. Others have come to the
area and have gone, or are going home. We are both going to
stay here. Our future is intertwined forever. And, for all
our differences, we share, I believe, tolerance, humour,
friendliness, reasonable modesty and an unshakeable belief
in the brightness of our destiny.
I believe that Australia and Indonesia and let it be
said, Papua New Guinea as well are necessarily involved in
one another's destinies. This has already been so. No countries
in the region have a firmer foundation of trust and co-operation
on which to build.
SAustralia was one of the first countries to support
Indonesia's struggle for independence in the postwar years.
The Australian Labor Party and the Australian trade union
movement actively encouraged your independence movement, both
bilaterally and in the international sphere. The United Nations,
through a Good Offices Committee on which Australia was the
Indonesian nominee, played a mediatory role in the peace
settlement which led eventually to the transfer of sovereignty tc
an Indonesian Government representing the Indonesian people.
That link is symbolised tonight by the nresence of the Honorable
Sir Richard Kirby, the President of our Conciliation and
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Arbitration Commission, who, as His Honour Judge Kirby, was the
Australian Representative on the Good Offices Committee, and
whose'affection and regard for your country has continued
undiminished. In the difficult days of confrontation there were
enough people of wisdom in both countries to keep up the bridges
of friendship. Today, Australia and Indonesia remain steadfast
supporters of the United Nations, of which Indonesia became
the 60th member in 1950 when her struggle for national independence
was won. I am sure it is an auspicious sign that Indonesia and
Australia will be working together in partnership especially
during the coming two years as members of the United Nations
Security Council. We welcome the great progress you have made since the
difficult days of 1965. We admire the efforts your country has
made to strengthen the security and Drosperity of our region.
Your concern for the welfare of the region has been shown by
your active suopport for ASEAN and your sponsorship of the Asian
Conference on Cambodia in 1970. We respect your free and active
foreign policy, and your reluctance to become involved in
obsolescent military alliances.
Cultural links, too, are of growing importance in the
relations between our countries. We are proud that Australian
universities are currently training more than 200 Indonesian
post-graduate students selected by your Government. I take
this opportunity to announce that Australia will contribute
$ A200, OOO over five years to the UITE? C Fund for the Restoration
of the Temple of Borobudur.
I want now to explain to you the broad principles and
ideals that will sustain and guide my Government's international
relations. Let this be known to all:
With a new Government there will be a new emphasis
in Australian foreign policy of profound importance. I want
this nev! emn'hasis to be clear and unmistakable amonp, the nations
of our region, particularly here in Indonesia, where we attach
such importance to the warmth and cordiality of our relationship.
You may know that foreign nolicy decisions were among the very
first initiatives undertaken by our Government during its first
days of office. The aim of these decisions, as with all future
decisions, is to establish a re-nutation for Australia as a
natinn with an independent and distinctive foreign policy. We
want to be regarded as a friendly, tolerant and co-onerative
neighbour and at no time open to any suggestion of racism.
Let me be more snecific about Australia's intentions
in this region. We believe the oeaceful progress and development
of South-East Asia will-be more speedily achieved if the region
is insulated from great -power rivalries. We support the ASEAN
concept of a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality in South-
East Asia. While we support the concept and will encourage all
nations involved in our region to support it, we also acknowledge
our existing obligations to our friends.
We have declared our willingness, should Indonesia ./ 6
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so desire, to make arrangements with your Government and
equally with an independent Papua New Guinea to provide
assistance in the training of forces, and in technical facilities
and the supply of equipment. We seek no binding treaty or formal
alliance, merely an understanding based on mutual trust and
friendshipo. We will be charting a new course in our foreign
policy, with less emphasis on the kind of military pact that is
no longer relevant to the realities of the
The keystone of our foreign policy for the 70s will
be the search for regional co-operation. In this we look first
and foremost to our great neighbour and firm friend, Indonesia.
We will be discussing with Indonesia and all our friends in the
region the possibility of new forms of co-operation to complement
existing arrangements like A13EAN which we regard as a model of
regional co-operation. We see regional co-operation as offering
the best hope for peace and progress in our part of the globe.
Working together, in understanding and mutual trust, there is
much we can do to enhance the living standards of all our
neighbours and to mitigate the ancient scourges of poverty,
ignorance and disease.
This is our paramount task. We are impressed by what
your Government has already done, through its policies, and through
the national philosophy of Pancasila, to achieve progress for
your people and political and economic stability. We pledge our
continuing encouragement and support for a new form of regional
co-operation that will speed your progress and bring nearer the
fulfilment of your goals. 7
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The future peace and progress of South-East Asia will depend
largely on how quickly and successfully these goals are achieved.
This region, I believe, is entering a new and more
hopeful era. There are three principal reasons for my
optimism. The first is the ceasefire in Viet-Nam, which has
brought to an end 20 years of bloodshed, suffering and turmoil.
My second reason for optimism is in the Drogress which
Indonesia herself has made under your guidance, Mr President
to achieve peace and development, and to restore fully the
principles of-harmony and justice, democracy and freedom embodied
in your Constitution of 1945. A just and prosperous Indonesia is
an essential condition of a just and prosperous South-East Asia.
We in Australia have looked to you to set an example to our
neighbourhood of progress and social transformation. In this,
our expectations have not been disappointed. I am confident
that Indonesia's progressive development will continue.
The third reason for my optimism if T may be bold
enough to say is the election of a new Government in Australia
committed to close regional co-operation and determined in every
way to promote the peace and welfare of our neighbours, We hope
to gain increasing standing in the eyes of Indonesia and our
other friends as an independent, tolerant and helpful neighboulr.
There are still vast problems beforf us all, but also vast
opportunities. It is my earnest hope that, working together,
we can do much to advance the prosperity and happniness of all
our peoples.