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EMBARGO: 8: 00PM
PRIME MINISTERI.
FOR MEDIA SUNDAY, MAY 3 1981
ADDRESS TO THE STATE ZIONIST COUNCIL OF VICTORIA
On this occasion, which celebrates the 33rd anniversary of
the founding of Israel, a memorable evefft for other nations
and other peoples as well as for the Jewish people, I think
it is appropriate to reflect on. the significance of Israel's
experience for Australia.
Both Israel and Australia are young societies, both established
in countries of immense antiquity. And yet how different
is the character of the antiquity of the two lands for there
is a real sense in which the vast majority of Australians
would be more familiar with the age-old names and places in
Israel than with the oldest names and places in this country.
Australians have had to come to terms with Australia. It was
an alien land, and only in comparatively recent times have
we come to feel fully at home in it and familiar withit.
environment How different is the situation of Israel.,
There was an age-old homeland repossessed. The challenge
was not to know it, but to defend its survival.
I suggest that both countries have attracted their people
because ( 5T an-idea. For Australia, that idea has been
freedom -the longing of people to be free of oppression and
fear, and the search for opportunity to build ones own life
in a land of peace, where security is not in question from
day to day. Freedom has also been a dominant idea for Israel
the freedom to realise the dream of home for an age-old
people, and to follow the vision of justice and peace.
And if Australia was harsh environment for Australians
to come to terms with, how much harder has it been for the
Israeli people to maintain their commitment to their vision.
But there has been a preparedness to risk much
to risk all, for the sake of that vision.
it is the presence of a dream which has given rise to the
magnificent spirit of Israel and which supports its
capacity as well as its right to survive. The fire of conflict
in the defence of that dream has, I believe, produced a realis~ m
and a standing which make the people of Israel an example to
other'nations. The proximity of danger encourages realismi,
because the costs of delusion are potentially mortal. ./ 2
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The Australian people too have fought for their ideals
and have realised their national identity as a result.
Both nations still face the risks of an'uinstable world.
But Australians have been fortunate in the enjoyment of their
freedom,-without the constant challenge to national survival
which has faced Israel. We have been able to pursue more
pleasant ways, and to concentrate far more on redlising
our private ambitions and ideals, at least in recent decades.
As a result, we have built here a way of life which I
believe is without compare in the world a way of life
with higher levels of confidence, openness and trust between
people than exists anywhere else in which freedom and
individual achievement has become taken for granted.
That difference is fundamental to our attitudes -we
tend to take for granted what Israel has never been able
to assume national survival. The result is that Australians
often have alow awareness of matters affeeting our national
security. I am often asked: Why does Australia, as a middle-ranking
power, speak out in the way we do'on matters which are
more directly the business of the super powers? The attitude
is that as a middle-ranking power, Australia cannot do much
about these issues, so the conclusion*-is often drawn
that it would be more sensible to confine ourselves to matters
of trade and aid, and of regional and local security.
It is sometimes even suggested that Australia is in some way
demonstrating an unrealistic and grandiose view of its place
in the world by concerning itself with major questions that
involve world peace with Soviet imperalism, with European.-. j:
security arrangements, with the future of Israel.
The best answer to this question would be to take th6
person asking it to any Australian town, from the largest
to the smallest, and invite him to look at the memorial
he would find there to the Australians who'died in the wars
of this century. The lists are long.
Too many Australians have died in places remote from their
home in Europe, in the Middle East, in Korea, in South-East
Asia for us to be unconcerned about the preservation of
world peace. Their sacrifice not only confers a right but
imposes-a duty on Australia to speak on these issues.
The middle-ranking countries of the world should recognise
that they have a role to play. It would not only be foolish,
but a political and moral failing to assume that nations such
as Australia should be seen but not heard on the great issues.
It is not--some exaggerated and unrealistic notion about the
extent of the influence an Australian voice can have which
moves me to speak out on these issues. It is rather my
belief that in a Western world characterised by a great deal
of self doubt and division, and by a degree of disillusionment
which has not yet been wholly overcome, every-contribution
to clarifying issues and strengthening resolve is valuable.
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Obviously there is a limit to what a nation of 14 million
people can do, but there are some things-Auist-alia can do.
Our history shows that the great issues of peace and security
affect us all, even if the threats are far-away.
The graves of Australians in the Middle East and'Europe
provi-de a basis for our right to speak out and the basis
of an obligation on every Australian government to do so.
our responsibility to the future-6f this country provides a
further-basis -of a right to speak out.
All wisdom on matters of security and world peace does not
reside with the super powers. A nation of the middle rank,
realistic about protecting its own vital interests, must
form its own independent judgments, and then speak out
on their behalf.
That is a matter that Israel well appreciates it is
less well appreciated here. No . Israeli government would
believe that anyone but Israel would define and defend
Israel's vital interests and the broader interests of regional
peace. And in saying this, you will not understand me to
imply any lessening in the degree of support which Israel
is entitled to expect from other countries.
In Australia, there is a temptation to commit on e of two
dangerous errors. The first is to imagine that distance is
so protective of Australia, that Australia can afford to
be inward-looking and unconcerned with wider issues of security.
The other is the equally dangerous assumption that irrespective.-
of what we do, Another country can be relied on to secure..;-
our national interest, that our great historic allies..
remove from our shoulders the necessity to do anything o-f
substance ourselves, or to form our own independent Judgments.,
Both assumnpt ions are wrong. They are mistakes that tend
to occur wqhen a people has enjoyed long peace and where
conflicts have been far away. They are errors that would
seem strange to Israel.
Israel is a nation unmistakably independent in its thinking
and strong in its expression.. There is a realis m in its thinking
which is a valuable example to Australia. We in Australia
need to realise that-our interests are bound up with world
peace, that we should be concerned with relations between
the super powers, and prepared to speak out on behalf of
our own independent judgments about the ways in which
Australia's interests can best be served.
. Some two-years ago at Harvard, Solzhenitsyn spoke of the
prevalence in the West of a self-deluding interpretation of,
the contemporary world situation, " It works", he said,
as a sort of petrified armour around people's minds
it will be broken only by the pitiless crowbar of events"
We must hope that Solzhenitsyn is wrong in his conclusion
that.' only after bitter experience will people see things
as they are. ./ 4
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But he is surely right in identifying the capacity for
self-delusion as a critical danger. I-believe we are fortunate
to have in the United States at the present time an
administration whose foreign policy is based on principles
which will contribute effectively to securing peace.
When this is the case, it is a sign not of dependence, but
independence, to say so clearly and unequivocally.
So much depends on the President of the United States that
if he embarks on a course which we believe advances our
ideals we should say so. He depends on the support of a
congress which i's in turn greatly influenced by American
opinion. The American people in turn are influenced by their
awareness of what people in other countries are thinking.
our concern with the future of our own children and our
own country must lead us to become invojyed in putting
our conception of what the situation requires. This is not
a presumptive view of what can be achieved by 14 million
Australians. We are not powerless to work for good in
these great issues.
We in Australia can take heart fromi the example of Israelwhich
shows what a small nation can do when it is de termined
to defend what it knows to be right.
I make these points not to raise issues of foreign policyin
the Middle East, issues on which the Government's policies
are well known and firmly held. I make them rather to record
the recognition by the Australian Government of the magnificentachievement
embodied.. in the State.. of Israel. I make thev...:-
also to express the opinion that the experience of Israei*
shows the vital importance of smaller nations making their
own independent assessments of their interests and -ideals.