AW( A
PRIME MINISTER
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY EMBARGOED UNTIL-DELIVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
LUNCH FOR THE PRESIDENT OF. THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC
CANBERRA 23 NOVEMBER 1988
Mr President,
It is with great pleasure, that I welcome you to Australia in
this, our Bicentennial year.
I welcome you especially in the name * of many hundreds of
thousands of Australians who are of Greek origin, and who
have made an invaluable contribution to the development of
this country in our first two hundred years.
Australia is a distinctively'multicultural nation, one that
takes great pride in the fact that so many people from
vastly different countries and cultures have chosen to make
their homes here. We have been enriched immeasurably by the
contributions of our diverse popul~ ation and this year in
particular we pay tribute to our diversity and to the
strength which we, as a society, have derived from it.
Mr President,
I welcome you to an Australia in which all Australians are
encouraged, within the limits, of our laws and institutions,
to take pride in the ethnic origins and history with which
they identify.
The right to maintain and develop one's culture, language
and religion and, just as importantly, the responsibility
to accept the rights of others to do the same lies at the
very heart of multicultural philosophy.
Multiculturalism offers each of us the opportunity to-have
our traditions accepted, and our viewpoints heard: it asks
each of us to accept that others, have equal rights.
Greek Australians have made an outstanding contribution to
the development of our varied and vibrant multicultural
society. They have combined pride in their Greek past with
an overriding commitment to the future of Australia. 37.1. 7
The Greek Australian community has made its impact in a
number of fields: the arts; the media; the law; sport; all
levels of primary production and business, including fishing
and ship building; and politics in particular, I am
pleased to say, through the Australian Labor Party.
But it is not only individuals of Greek descent who have
made a contribution to this country. Greek community
organisations such as the Greek Orthodox Church and local
Greek associations and welfare bodies are respected and
influential organisations that have done much to improve the
quality of life in this country.
One very publ'ic manifestation of Greekm-Australian culture is
the various festivals held in the capital cities of
Australia. In Melbourne, the annual Antipodes Festival, which I try to
attend whenever I can, brings together the Greek Australian
community in a celebration that draws tens of thousands of
participants. There would be few greater sights in
Melbourne than Lonsdale Street on the opening night of the
Festival.
Mr President,
I have had the pleasure of working closely with Greek
Australians throughout my public career. My own electorate
of wills has a large Greek community with whom I maintain
close contact. It is because of this familiarity that I can
say with conviction that the Greek community holds a special
place in Australia and in the hearts of all Australians.
Outstanding features of the Greek Australian community are
its commitment to hard work, to the principles of freedom
and democracy, to strong family ties, to educating the
younger generation and to caring for the elderly.
Greek-Australians have played a central role in creating the
competitive, fair and forward looking society which is
Australia today.
Mr President,
Aus -tralians came to admire these values during world War II,
when our two peoples fought, side by side on Greek soil. The
heroism shown by your peoplein assisting Australian troops
who, in their turn were helping the Greek nation, will never
be forgotten. The Australian-Hellenic War Memo rial unveiled
earlier this year by Mr Haralambopoulos will serve as a
continuing reminder of that heroism.
Australians also came to admire the struggle of the Greek
people to assert democratic values during the dark years
between 1967 and 1974. We know too, Mr President, the
personal price that you paid during that struggle in defence
of those great values.
3718
The people to people link between our two countries
continues to be close.
g Along with thousands of Australians who have made the
pilgrimage to Greece to see the roots of Western
civilisation and to experience the warmth of Greek
hospitality, Hazel and I remember with great pleasure our
visit to Greece in 1986.
Mr President,
e The common commitment of Greece and Australia to a peaceful,
less threatening future has seen our two Governments working
closely together on important international issues such as
is nuclear weapons disarmament.
Although our two peoples share much in common, our primary
interests are in developments in our own regions. But on
0 these matters too, we can offer each other much support. 4
n we know that the Greek nation continues to be troubled by
the fourteen year old division of Cyprus, and by the
problems that flow from this. Australia has consistently
supported moves to achieve the restoration of an
independent, united, sovereign, non-aligned Cyprus. We hope
that the talks between Mr Vassiliou and Mr Oenktash, on
which they are about to report to the United Nation's
Secretary General, will be fruitful.
e Australia also recognises that the future of Greece lies in
an its membership of the European Community, of which it is
al currently President. As you know, we enjoy close links with
the European Community. Already the European Community,
taken as a whole, ranks as Australia's secohd largest export
I market and as our largest source of imports.
The development by 1992 of a single European market with
320 million inhabitants -a market larger than any other in
he Ithe industrialised world -will'have a strong impact on
global economic and trading relationships.
Australia is concerned that any such impact be a positive
one. It would not be helpful if 1992 was to give-birth to
an inward looking economic bloc. We also look to further
I, progress being made in winding back inefficient agricultural
he .~ subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy.
s er If Europe is to continue to be a potent, dynamic economic
ed force into the future, it must maintain an open economy
after 1992. Strength comes from competition, it does not
arise from introspection and retreat.
Mr President,
Australia is this year celebrating two hundred years of
ce European settlement.
r
Your visit in this important year, and the visits by many
other world leaders, have added much to our celebrations.
Special thanks should go to the Greek Australian
Bicentennial Committee for planning and co-ordinating
Greece's generous role in our Bicentenary.
The Greek Pavilion at World Expo 88 in Brisbane and the
participation of your naval training ship ' Aris' in our
Bicentennial Naval Salute, were particularly welcome.
Of course, the highlight of your country's involvement will
be the exhibition of Macedonian antiquities which you will
open tomorrow.
The exhibition the largest of its kind ever to leave
Greece spans 4,000 years from Neolithic times to the Roman
Conquest in 197 BC.
Included in the exhibition is the priceless gold myrtle
wreath from the Tomb of King Philip II one of the richest
treasures of antiquity. I am sure that this exhibition will
delight and instruct thousands of Australians scholars,
students and the general public.
Mr President,
As part of your visit to Australia, you will be journeying
to Melbourne, which we proudly claim as the largest
Greek-speaking city outside Greece itself.
I can assure you Greek-Australian friendship will survive
the rivalries which will undoubtedly develop between Athens
and Melbourne over the hosting of the 1996 Olympic Games.
whichever city hosts those Games, there will certainly be a
proud Greek community, celebrating the seminal role of the
Greek people in fostering the Games of both the ancient and
modern Olympiads.
Mr President,
On behalf of all Australians, and not least our proud
community of Greek-Australians, may I welcome you to
Australia and wish you a happy and memorable visit.
3720