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PRIME MINISTER
OCCASIOIAL ADDRESS
BY THE PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA
THE HON RJL HAWKE
UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
19 APRIL 1984
CHANCELLOR, VICE CHANCELLOR, FELLOW GRADUATES, FELLOW
STUDENTS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
YOU WILL UNDERSTAND THAT IN ACCEPTING THIS HONOUR CONFERRED
UPON ME BY THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, I DO SO IN
NO MERE FORMAL WAYS
IOR CAN MY DEEP APPRECIATION OF THIS HONOUR AND OF THIS
OCCASION BE ADEQUATELY EXPRESSED BY ANY MERE FORM OF WORDS.
I CANNOT, HOWEVER, HELP BUT REFLECT THAT IF, 30 AND MORE
YEARS AGO I HAD CHOSEN A DIFFERENT PATH, I MIGHT JUST HAVE
ACHIEVED A DOCTORATE IN MY OWN RIGHT.
As IT IS, I ACCEPT IT AS YET ANOTHER OF THE RICH
PRIVILEGES BESTOWED UPON ME BY THIS UNIVERSITY AND THROUGH
MY ASSOCIATION WITH IT.
I ENTERED THIS UNIVERSITY IN 1947. THAT WAS THE
SAME YEAR I JOINED THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, So
TWO OF THE GREAT FORMATIVE AND ENDURING ASSOCIATIONS
OF MY LIFE BEGAN TOGETHER HERE8
I ACCEPT THIS HONOUR AS COMING NOT ONLY FROM THE
UNIVERSITY ITSELF BUT, IN A VERY REAL SENSE, FROM
THE PEOPLE OF WESTFRN AUSTRALIA,
FOR, MORE THAN ANY OTHER UNIVERSITY IN AUSTRALIA,
THIS UNIVERSITY WAS THE CREATION OF THE PEOPLE AND
THE COMMUNITY CREATED AS A ERE UNIVERSITY AND
DEDICATED BY THE PEOPLE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA TO THE
PRINCIPLE OF EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL.
AND SURELY THE GUIDING PRINCIPLE UPON WHICH THIS
UNIVERSITY WAS FOUNDED FINDS A PHYSICAL REFLECTION
IN THE CAMPUS ITSELF BOTH THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND
THE MOST AUTHENTIC AuI. ALJ. IUi CAMPUS IN THIS COUNTRY,
IT IS A MATTER OF HISTORICAL RECORD THAT THIS
UNIVERSITY SERVED AS THE MODEL FOR ALL THAT WAS TO
COME LATER THROUGHOUT AUSTRALIA, AS THE COMMONWEALTH
MOVED, UNDER SUCCESSIVE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, TOWARDS
ACCEPTANCE OF FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR TERTIARY
EDUCATION IN OUR NATION.
THUS, IT WAS THE FORTUNE OF MY GENERATION OF
WESTERN AUSTRALIANS TO ENJOY A PRIVILEGE NOT EXTENDED
TO OUR FELLOW AUSTRALIANS IN THE OTHER STATES FOR
MORE THAN 20 YEARS AFTER,
BUT THAT WAS ONLY ONE ASPECT OF OUR GOOD FORTUNE.
IT WAS EASY FOR THOSE OF US WHO GREW UP IN POST WAR
AUSTRALIA TO BELIEVE THAT THE OPPORTUNITIES AND
CHOICES BEFORE US, AT LEAST IN THE MATERIAL SENSE,
WERE WIDER THAN THOSE OF ANY PREVIOUS
GENERATION OF AUSTRALIANS.
THE WORK OF POST WAR RECONSTRUCTION, WITH ITS
CARDINAL PRINCIPLE OF FULL EMPLOYMENT, HAD BEEN
CARRIED OUT BY THE CHIFLEY GOVERNMENT WITH A SUCCESS
UNMATCHED ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
THE PLANNING FOR RECONSTRUCTION HAD IN FACT BEEN SET
IN TRAIN BY JOHN CURTIN WELL BEFORE THE END OF THE WAR.
AND THE CHIEF ARCHITECT OF THE RECONSTRUCTION, UNDER
BOTH CURTIN AND CHIFLEY WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST
GRADUATES OF THIS UNIVERSITY AND ONE OF THE GREATEST
PUBLIC SERVANTS IN THE HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA DOCOR
COOMBS IN THE OFFICIAL RECORDS, " NUGGET" COOMBS
EVERYWHERE ELSE.
SO, BY THE END OF THE FORTIES, AUSTRALIA, WITH THE
WESTERN ECONOMY AS A WHOLE, WAS ON THE THRESHOLD OF
TWO DECADES OF UNPRECEDENTED AND ALMOST UNINTERRUPTED
ECONOMIC GROWTHS
NOBODY OF THAT GENERATION IN SO MANY WAYS, THE LUCKY.
GENERATION AT LEAST, NOBODY OF THAT GENERATION WITH
ANY SENUITIVITY OR ANY SENSE OF HISTORY OR RESPONSIBILITY
COULD IGNORE, IN 1984, THE CONTRAST WITH THE SITUATION
OF THE PRESENT YOUNG GENERATION OF AUSTRALIANS, AND THE
TREMENDOUS PROBLEMS AND PRESSURES WHICH THE TIMES AND
CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE IMPOSED UPON THEM$
YET THIS GENERATION IS, ON THE WHOLE, THE BEST
QUALIFIED AND BEST EDUCATED GENERATION WE HAVE SO FAR
PRODUCED IN AUSTRALIA@
So IT IS, I BELIEVE, A TASK OF THE UTMOST URGENCY AND
HIGHEST PRIORITY THAT THIS GENERATION SHOULD BE ENABLED
TO ENJOY THE FULLEST MEASURE OF OPPORTUNITY, OF
EXPECTATION, AND OF SELF-FULFILLMENT AS WE PRIVILEGED
STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA TOOK,
ALMOST FOR GRANTEDp A GENERATION AGO,
AND JUST AS AFTER THE SUPREME CRISIS OF WORLD WAR II,
THE FOUNDATIONS FOR A NEW ERA OF GROWTH AND PROGRESS
WERE LAID BY THE FAR-REACHING PROGRAM OF POST-WAR
RECONSTRUCTION, SO THERE HAS TO BE A NEW NATIONAL
RECONSTRUCTION, AS WE EMERGE FROM THE ECONOMIC CRISIS
OF THE LAST DECADE,
AND THAT IS WHAT MY GOVERNMENT IS NOW UNDERTAKING.
THE TASK OF NATIONAL RECONCILIATION, THE TASK OF NATIONAL
RECOVERY AND THE TASK OF NATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION CANNOT
BE PLACED IN SEPARATE COMPARTMENTS. THEY ARE EACH PART
OF AN INDIVISIBLE, TOTAL ENDEAVOUR,
THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC SUMMIT CONFERENCE A YEAR AGO
SYMBOLISED THIS APPROACH. AND WHILE, PERHAPS, I SHOULD
NOT CLAIM THAT THE CONFERENCE ACHIEVED MORE THAN A
BEGINNING A IMA BEGINNING TO OUR NATIONAL APPROACH
TO OUR PROBLEMS, I THINK I AM ENTITLED TO POINT OUT THAT
SINCE THEN / 210,000 NEW JOBS HAVE BEEN CREATED IN
AUSTRALIA, APART FROM ITS INTRINSIC VALUE, THIS TURN-AROUND IN THE
EMPLOYMENT SITUATION HAS HELPED BUILD A NEW SPIRIT OF
CONFIDENCE IN AUSTRALIA CONFIDENCE IN OURSELVES,
CONFIDENCE IN EACH OTHER AND OUR NATIONAL CONFIDENCE
IN WHAT WE CAN ACHIEVE TOGETHER, .0
AND IT ALLOWS US TO ADDRESS OURSELVES AS A NATION
TO MANY FUNDAMENTAL, BUT LONG-NEGLECTED STRUCTURAL
PROBLEMS IN OUR ECONOMY AND IN OUR SOCIETY.
THIS LONGER TERM NATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION WHICH WE,
ARE NOW ABLE TO UNDERTAKE REQUIRES A BRINGING TOGETHER
A CO-ORDINATION OF NATIONAL POLICIES ACROSS THE WHOLE RANGE
OF OUR NATIONAL ACTIVITIES INDUSTRY POLICIES, EDUCATION;
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, SOCIAL SECURITY, TRADE POLICIES
AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS.
NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE POST-WAR RECONSTRUCTION
AND, INDEED, IN A WAY NOT CONSTITUTIONALLY POSSIBLE OR
POLITICALLY FEASIBLE IN THOSE DAYS WE, AS A NATIONAL
GOVERNMENT, IN CO-OPERATION WITH THE STATES, THE BUSINESS
COMMUNITY AND THE TRADE UNION MOVEMENT OF AUSTRALIA,
ARE ADDRESSING OURSELVES TO THESE PROBLEMS IN A
CO-ORDINATED WAY,
BUT THE NEW RECONSTRUCTION IS BEING CARRIED ON IN A
SOCIETY, A NATION, A REGION AND A WORLD INFINITELY MORE
COMPLEX, MORE CHALLENGING, MORE DIFFICULT AND, SOMETIMES
MORE DANGEROUS THAN THAT WHICH EXISTED CERTAINLY IN
OUR PERCEPTIONS A GENERATION AGO.
44 ALTHOUGH THAT WAS THE GENERATION OF THE SO-CALLED
" tCOLD WAR, THE SUPREME QUESTIONS OF INTERNATIONAL
PEACE, THE THREAT OF NUCLEAR WAR, THE PREVENTION
OF THE PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS, ARMS
LIMITATION AND DISARMAMENT WERE THEN PERCEIVED
AS NEITHER SO URGENT, NOR SO DAUNTING AS THEY ARE TODAY$
NOR, IN THOSE DAYS, EVEN IN A WORLD WHERE ENERGY WAS
CHEAP, o ABUNDANT AND APPARENTLY LIMITLESS WERE THERE
THOUGHT TO BE INHIBITIONS AGAINST DEVELOPING NEW SOURCES
OF ENERGY. THE QUESTIONS OF NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT AND THE
DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR POWER WERE SEEN AND, I BELIEVE,
RIGHTLY SEEN AS SEPARATE QUESTIONS* ALTOGETHER.
NOTHING COULD MORE SERIOUSLY REDUCE THE EFFECTIVENESS
OF AUSTRA4IA' S EFFORTS THE DEEP DETERMINATION OF MY
GOVERNMENT TO PLAY A SIGNIFICANT AND INDEED A LEAD ING
ROLE IN THE CAUSE OF DISARMAMENT AND THE PREVENTION
OF NUCLEAR WAR THAN THAT THESE TWO SEPARATE AND DISTINCT
ISSUES SHOULD BECOME CONFUSED.
INDEED ARTICLE 4 OF THE NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION
TREATY THE VERY BASIS OF OUR EFFORTS SPEC[ FICALLY
IMPOSES ON RESOURCE-RICH COUNTRIES LIKE AUSTRALIA A
MORAL OBLIGATION TO SHARE OUR ENERGY RESOURCES,
INCLUDING URANIUM, WITH THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
-8-
A THUS AUSTRALIA AND ITS ELECTED GOVERNMENT HAS A
DOUBLE OBLIGATION THE OBLIGATION TO BEND ALL OUR
EFFORTS TOWARDS DISARMAMENT AND THE OBLIGATION TO
SHARE OUR RESOURCES,
WE ARE DETERMINED TO FULFIL THOSE OBLIGATIONS EQUALLY.
AND IN SO DOING WE OF MY GENERATION AS I SAID, IN
SO MANY WAYS, THE LUCKY AUSTRALIAN GENERATION CAN.
FULFIL, IN PART, ITS OVER-NIDING OBLIGATION AND
RESPONSIBILITY TO THIS PRESENT GENERATION AND THE
FUTURE GENERATIONS OF AUSTRALIA,
AND IT IS IN THAT SPIRIT WITH A REAL SENSE OF MY OWN
OBLIGATIONS TO THIS UNIVERSITY AND TO THE PEOPLE OF
WESTERN AUSTRALIA WHO BUILT IT THAT ONCE AGAIN I
EXPRESS MY DEEP APPRECIATION OF THE GREAT HONOUR YOU
HAVE DONE ME TONIGHT,