PRIME MINISTER
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
37TH LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION
CANBERRA 7 MAY 1989
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
On behalf of the Australian Government and the people of
Canberra, I am delighted to welcome delegates and visitors
attending the 37th Lions Clubs International Convention for
Multiple District 201. I am particularly delighted to
welcome our friends from Papua New Guinea.
This is the fourth occasion your convention has met in
Canberra, so many of you will be aware of what a first-class
venue the National Capital is.
Since your last convention here in 1981, Canberra has seen
the completion of our magnificent new Parliament House. It
is a proud symbol of our democratic system of Government and
would be well worth a visit during your Convention.
When people hear of Lions they immediately think of
community service projects. These are very important, of
course, and I congratulate you for them. But Lions
encompasses much more.
Few people are aware of the broad objectives of Lions and to
this extent their understanding of the richness of Lions
International is impaired.
Let me mention one of particular significance. One of the
Lions' objectives is " to promote the principles of good
government and good citizenship". That is a goal with which
I fully agree. Indeed in September 1988, as we celebrated
our Bicentenary, I declared that 1989. would be the Year of
Citizenship. During this year we are emphasising the importance of
citizenship as a symbol of our commitment to our nation, and
we are urging people who live and work legally in Australia
but have not become citizens to think seriously about taking
on the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
Australian citizenship opens the door to fundamentally
important rights the right to vote and to be elected to
Parliament, the right to possess an Australian passport and
to receive the protection of the Australian Government
overseas, the right to permanent employment in the
Australian Public Service and the right to serve in the
armed forces.
Citizenship also carries real and vital responsibilities to
ensure that Australia remains a peaceful, tolerant and just
nation. All citizens share the obligation to continue the
hard work of earlier generations in building a nation that
is free and prosperous. we all must strive to preserve the
great traditions of our society: parliamentary democracy,
the rule of law, freedom of the individual, and a fair go
for all.
So in this way the Government and Lions are working hand in
hand to achieve objectives which we regard as fundamental to
our society.
Through the Year of Citizenship, Lions International in
Australia can encourage as many people as possible who are
not citizens to take the opportunity of becoming citizens at
one of the many Citizenship Ceremonies being conducted this
year. The essence of citizenship is commitment to our nation.
Citizenship carries responsibilities as well as privileges.
In this regard, the Lions objective " to take an. active
interest in the civic, cultural, social and moral welfare of
the community" truly represents citizenship in action.
Since your first club in Australia was formed in Lismore in
1947, Lions has given plentiful expression to your
commitment to our nation.
My Government believes that the commitment to a strong
nation, and the determination to build a sense of belonging
and loyalty, demands that a nation must endeavour to open
the door' to prosperity for all its citizens. we have a
special obligation to ensure that those less well off in
Australia are not alienated, by deprivation and lack of
opportunity, from the rest of the community.
Citizenship demands that those who are disadvantaged are
made to feel that they are not forgotten or written off but,
on the contrary, that they are valued and can rely on the
assistance of their fellow citizens to help them make ends
meet and provide for their families.
In this field of social justice, service clubs and
governments work closely together. It is true to say that a
partnership has grown up over the years in this area.
Social justice in Australia today would not be as strong
without your clubs.
While Governments play their part, service organisations
like Lions have an important role in complementing the
efforts of Governments. For your work you have truly earned
the community's gratitude over many years.
Last year my colleague, the Minister for Community Services
and Health, Neal Blewett, launched the " Kangaroo Creek
Gang", a National Children's Drug Education program. This
innovative program is aimed at all Australian primary school
children and is based on the premise that the harm caused by
drug abuse can only be addressed, in the long term, by
convincing our young people of the importance of avoiding
experimentation with drugs and the advantages of choosing a
healthy lifestyle.
Thanks to the Lions Clubs of Australia this exceptional kit
is available throughout the community for general use.
The very long list of projects undertaken by service clubs
is impressive. They have assisted in health promotion, in
home and community care services, in aged care services, in
disability projects and in child care centres.
The first Lions Club in Papua-New Guinea was formed at Port
Moresby in 1962 with the assistance of Australian Lions. It
has developed an excellent working relationship with the
Papua-New Guinea Government since then and provides all the
elements of community work that are synonymous with Lions
world wide.
The relationship Australia shares with Papua-New Guinea has
been forged over many years, and I look forward to
strengthening further the already close bonds between us
with the visit to Canberra this week by the Foreign Minister
Michael Somare, and, later, by Prime Minister Rabbie
Namaliu. Through creating and fostering a spirit of understanding
among the peoples of the world and through uniting your
clubs in bonds of friendship, good fellowship and mutual
understanding, Lions has developed into a genuinely
multicultural organisation and one which contributes to
building friendly relations throughout the world.
Your 1.3 million members are spread throughout the world.
On every continent, hundreds of thousands of Lions, of many
nationalities and creeds, are working towards your common
goals. Today you can look at your organisation and see that its
cultural and national diversity is indeed a source of
strength and unity.
In this respect, Lions has played an important part, and I
hope it will continue to do so, in contributing to mutual
understanding between the people of diverse backgrounds in
Australia.
Australia is one of the most diverse multicultural nations
on earth four out of ten Australians are immigrants or the
children of immigrants. Half of them are from non English
speaking backgrounds. It is a source of great strength for
Australian society that we acknowledge and respect the
cultural diversity of our nation.
Delegates and visitors,
I commend the 37th Multiple District 201 Convention
Organising Committee for providing this opportunity for you
to come together, to discuss, and plan for, the
organisation's future. In the true tradition of Lions'
gatherings, members and delegates don't just attend, they
participate, and I know you will vigorously continue this
tradition over the next four days.
The mission of Lions International is one of great
significance to the building up of an Australian citizenship
expressed in action and in tolerance for others' opinions
and backgrounds.
I wish you every success in your task ahead.
Once again, welcome to everyone and all the best for the
future and a successful convention.