SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER, MR. E. G. WHITLAM, AT
A PARLIAMENTARY LUNCHEON FOR HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN, PARLIAMENT
HOUSE, CANBERRA, 18.10.73
The head of Government, and the head of the Opposition
to the Government, will now be able to join in a welcome to our
Head of State I welcome Her majesty as Queen of Australia.
From tomorrow that title will, in this country, take precedence
over all our other titles.
I, of course, am still rather new to hobnobbing with
Royalty. You will forgive me, therefore, if I drop a name
occasionally. ( laughter) It was at Windsor ( laughter) on Good
Friday, that Her Majesty was gracious enough to say how gladly
she welcomed the suggestion for the change in her title her
Royal Style and Title. The new title expressly, directly, clearly
the role of the monarchy in Australia. ( applause)
It is the Queen herself who, under the Constitution,
under the two Houses, makes up the Australian Parliament. It
is in the Queen that the executive power of this nation is vested.
It is to the Queen that the salaries of the ministers are to be
paid. It is in the Queen's name that the Governor-General assents
to a bill passed by the Houses.
Tomorrow, in fact, the Queen will assent to a Bill passed
by both Houses. There is no difficulty in getting this Bill through
both Houses it is the Royal Style and Titles Bill. But the Queen,
tomorrow, will discharge further of her functions as Head of State.
For the first time, I believe, the Queen herself will swear and
administer the oath of office to a minister. The Queen for the
first time, in Australia, will sign letters of credence. They
will be for her Australian aibasssadors to Japan, the Soviet Union
and the United States, and a letter of commisnion for her High
Commissioner to India. She will complete the formalities for the
ratification of treaties with our nearest and greatest neighbour,
Indonesia, and with another of her realms, Canada. She will apply
laws to the Coral Sea Islands territories. I don't want to raise
questions of off-shore waters or seabeds there are too many
distinguished visitors from some of the Australian provinces for
me to do that. And tomorrow, in assenting to the Royal Style and Titles
Act Her Majesty will appoint the new Great Seal.
Now, on this occasion, Her Majesty comes to Australia
to perform and celebrate a very great occasion for Australia, at
home and abroad the opening of the Sydney Opera House. It is
an event which has been long awaited and long deferred.
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I think on each of your recent visits Your Majesty will
have been told that the Sydney Opera House would be opened soon.
You live in the midst of the monuments of history so Your Majesty
will realise that these things do take a little time. This has
taken 14 years; the Parthenon took 15 years; the Royal Church
at Westminster took five centuries. This building will stand in
our region with buildings as great as Borobodur, Ankor Wat. And
they will say the Sydney Opera House. It will be used as long
and probably by even more people than Westminster Abbey or the
cathedrals of equal age or the Pantheon itself. This building is
in Sydney. The earth has not anything to show more fair than
Sydney harbour. ( faint laughter) I would have expected a greater
manifestation of national spirit in the National Capital. I will
say it again: the earth has not anything to show more fair than
Sydney harbour. I'm really only warming the audience up for Mr.
Snedden and Her Majesty. ( laughter and applause)
Now there are indeed sermons in these stones as well as
songs. The course of the planning and erection of the Sydney
Opera House was not always plain sailing. While it took time in
the courage and initiative and the enterprise and inventiveness
to bring about this great building, we must also acknowledge some
of the timidities and frustrations and jealousies and compromises
which played their part in its story. But it is a magnificent
building. Our civilisations are known by their buildings and future
generations will honour the people of this generation the people
of this kingdom by this building. ( applause)
Any occasion that brings you here Ma'am is very much a
family occasion. Last time you brought Prince Charles and Princess
Anne. I am sure it would be the wish of this gathering that you
should hear at first hand the pleasure it brings to all your people
in this country that Princess Anne is about to be married. We look
forward to welcoming her and her husband when you come here next
year. And next year, of course, Your Majesty will also be visiting
Papua New Guinea a self-governing part of Your Majesty's realms.
And you will be illustrating at first hand the opportunity which is
afforded to the people of Papua New Guinea through the free exercise
of choice of their people to serve an independent nation and to be
a member of the Commonwealth of which you are head.
I must express, also, on behalf of this gathering our
pleasure that you have brought your husband with you. Indeed I
think I can say it is with some relief that he has come again.
I'm speaking not only of the fact that when he was last here in
March there were no ladies other than Senatrices at the gathering.
That was an uproarous occasion and the Speaker and the President
well remember the afternoon which followed. This is a very much more
decorous more demure occasion; the Parliament will be better for
it. I am not only expressing relief on behalf of the Presiding
Officers for the good name of the Parliament, I am also expressing
relief mna very more self-interested way. I am the first Prime
Minister since Sir. Robert Menzies who during his term of office has
been able to survive a second visit from Prince Philip. And indeed
I read in the papers that a couple of weeks ago some of my colleagues
were about to urge me to cable him " come quickly". At last the jinx
has been broken. Prince Philip has abandoned his role as the Nemesis
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of Australian Prime Ministers. We have long ago got over our
misgivings. When you Ma'am as heiress presumptive took as your
consort another Philip we had misgivings because the last Philip
who was a consort to the Queen of England did play rather too
strong a political role as we still read. Now, of course,
Prince Philip has eschewed all forms of political activity.
He has devoted himself to many good causes in this nation. One
perhaps might pick out, in particular, the issue of conservation.
It is the field which is so free of petty jealousies and frictions
and pressure groups. There is an automatic consensus on the public
good on any conservation issue. And while all around are losing
their positions, at least Prince Philip is able to'survive.
In welcoming you once again to Australia and to the
Australian Parliament on behalf of the Australian people, let
me adapt : the words of the first Elizabeth when she addressed her
Parliament:" You will find in all your realms a better and a
stronger people but never will you find better friends than in
your Parliament of Australia".