PRIME MINISTER
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
TOAST AT LUNCH IN LENINGRAD
29' NOVEMBER 1987
Mr Chairman
Distinguished Representatives of the Leningrad Soviet
Ladies and gentlemen
Thank you for the welcoming remarks which you have addressed
to me and to the members of the Australian party.
It seems appropriate that my visit to the Soviet Union
which I have been looking forward to immensely should
begin in a city which has played so important a role in the
history of relations between your country and the West.
Among the many proud traditions of your city, its
achievements as a cradle of culture, humanism and
modernisation are conspicuous. Peter the Great's building
of the city symnbolised his determination to build a modern
state. Here the Decembrists struck the first blow for
greater freedom and justice in Russia.
Here your literary geniuses, Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky and
Blok created works which crossed national boundaries to
exercise a profound influence on the intellectual
development of men and women throughout the world. Here
Dmitri Shostakovich, whose name will always be linked with
Leningrad, learned his art.
Here was assembled one of the finest collections of European
painting at the Hermitage which my wife, my party and I will
be visiting with great interest this afternoon. From here
many of your explorers set out on voyages of discovecy to
distant lands, among them the great Miklukho Maclay, who
visited Australia and carried out pioneering research in
Papua New Guinea.
In a word, your city became not just a great cultural centre
but a centre of cultural exchange between Russia and the
outside world.
2.
am commencing my visit to the Soviet Union within weeks of
the 70th anniversary of the Russian revolution, at a time
implications not only for the peoples of the Soviet Union
but potentially for the world.
Clearly one aim of perestroika and glasnost is to open wider
the window to the West. As such, they contain the promise
of fundamental and sustained improvement in relations
between East and West. much can be done to replace
hostility with trust by promoting a freer exchange of ideas
and freer contacts between peoples. The Australian
Government welcomes the measures already taken by the Soviet
Government in this historic process.
we are gratified that Leningrad too is playing a role in
these very positive developments. The works of the Nobel
prize-winning Leningrad poet, Josif Brodsky, are to be
published in the Soviet Union, though he is now resident in
the West. Such decisions do much to enhance the reputation
of the Soviet Union, and to build that trust which is the
only firm foundation for a new era in East-West relations.
This morning I laid a wreath at the cemetery where hundreds
of thousands of victims of the tragic days of World War Two
lie buried. I did so not only as a tribute to the enormous
sacrifice of the people of Leningrad, but also to express
the resolve shared by all of us that such a vast human
tragedy must not be allowed to occur again..
Mr Chairman
In speaking of this splendid city Pushkin wrote of..
" Peter's creation your severe, graceful appearance, the
Neva's majestic current, the granite of her banks, the
tracery of your cast-iron railings, the transparent
twilight, the moonless gleam of your still nights We
are privileged indeed to be shown Leningrad, of which you
are so justly proud, and to enjoy your generous hospitality.
I wish to thank you for this, and to propose a toast to you,
Mr Chairman, and to the people of the hero-city of
Leningrad.