EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
PARLIAMENTARY LUNCHEON FOR THE
PRIME MINISTER OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA
THE HON. RABBIE NAMALIU
CANBERRA 24 MAY 1989
It is always a great pleasure to welcome a visiting Head of
Government from a neighbouring country. It is, however, a
special pleasure when the visitor happens to be the Head of
Government of Australia's closest neighbour, Papua New
Guinea. I, therefore, most sincerely and warmly welcome
you, Rabbie, your wife Margaret and members of your party to
Canberra today on this, your first official visit to
Australia as Prime minister.
Mr Prime Minister, the ties of history and sentiment between
our countries, and the personal relationships between our
citizens, are strong and binding. We have known each other
for some time, of course, and Hazel and I have very warm
memories of the times we have spent in Papua New Guinea.
I know that the Leader of the Opposition also has a long
standing interest in your country.
one of the many real virtues of a visit such as yours is the
opportunity given to all of us to reaffirm and to strengthen
those already strong and close links.
For Australia and for Papua New Guinea, the South Pacific is
a region of the highest significance for our foreign,
economic and defence policies. We share fundamental
interests to encourage peace and stability throughout the
region, to foster trade and economic development, and to
maintain vital and robust democratic institutions.
It is in pursuit of these interests that Australia seeks to
develop and maintain partnerships embracing all Pacific
Island countries. It goes without saying, Mr Prime
Minister, that of these partnerships, Australia's ties with
Papua New Guinea are particularly warm and enduring.
These common interests are, of course, summed up in, and
encompassed by, the Joint Declaration of Principles signed
by our two countries in December 1987.
This Joint Declaration is important at a number of levels.
It provides an overall framework for the development of our
bilateral relationship a framework of mutual respect
between sovereign nations.
It enjoins our governments to consult on all matters of
mutual interest.
The Joint Declaration recognises that by virtue of both
history and geography, Papua New Guinea and Australia will
always be vital to each other's strategic interests.
Over the years the focus of the defence co-operation program
that Australia maintains with Papua New Guinea has moved
from direct involvement in Papua New Guinea's defence effort
to training, advisory and material assistance.
The essential thrust of our defence co-operation today a
program that accounts for around half of Australia's entire
defence co-operation effort seeks to assist Papua New
Guinea develop its capacity to field independent operational
forces. In recent years we have had brought home to us the fact that
in our region we cannot take for granted the continued
maintenance of democracy and democratic institutions.
At times as with the recent tragedy of the senseless
murders of Jean-Marie Tjibaou and Yeweine Yeweine we see
evidence of an undercurrent of potential challenges to peace
and stability in the Pacific.
Even so, the region's political evolution has, overall, been
relatively peaceful; even, when compared with other areas of
the globe, exemplary.
One of the principal vehicles of that evolution has been the
South Pacific Forum.
Through the Forum our two countries, and our neighbours in
the region, have created a valuable process of consultation
on all the issues we face, and we have achieved substantial
gains in social and economic development, including in
fisheries and communications.
The South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone is another
internationally significant regional achievement.
Mr Prime Minister,
Our shared trade and economic interests are manifest and are
indeed central to your visit. In your discussions over the
next few days, Australia's business community will be
listening very closely to what you have to say.
we also share broader trade and economic interests. We are
both vulnerable to the uncertainties of international
commodities markets. In a world where commitment to free
trade is too often eroded through short-sighted
protectionism, countries such as ours have to -work that much
harder to safeguard our legitimate interests.
Papua New Guinea is not a GATT member, and thus is not
participating in the present Uruguay Round of trade talks.
However, your support in pursuing the objective of a fairer
and freer world trading system is always most welcome.
Australia will continue to work with Papua New Guinea to
bridge the trade gap between our two countries. Papua New
Guinea already enjoys virtually obstacle-free access to the
Australian market. we will continue to assist you to
develop your export capacity to take full advantage of the
market opportunities which already exist, and to develop new
opportunities, including through the current review of our
bilateral trade agreement.
Papua New Guinea faces a most significant challenge in
transforming its huge potential wealth of natural resources
into sustainable and balanced economic growth.
I am optimistic that Australian capital and technology will
be able to continue making a contribution to your
development. My own Government's commitment to assisting your development
is symbolised by the Treaty on Development Co-operation,
which we signed this morning.
In that Treaty, we have agreed to continue the present level
of budget support for a further two years beyond the
previous three year commitment and, then, to taper it off as
Papua New Guinea's own proclaimed objective of fiscal
self-reliance is realised.
Mr Prime minister,
Economic prosperity engenders its own pressures. In the
closing years of the 1980s these pressures in many areas of
the globe have been manifested in enormous social change, in
threats to the environment and, at times, in dislocation and
upheaval. Papua New Guinea has had its own share of challenges of late
particularly of course, on Bougainville.
Yours is a diverse and complex society, but since
independence, Papua New Guinea has shown itself capable of
negotiating periods of difficulty with flexibility and
commonsense.
Like Australia, Papua New Guinea is immeasurably
strengthened by the resilience and vitality of democratic
Government. This is an achievement of which all Papua New
Guineans can justifiably be proud and I am confident it
will stand you in good stead for many years to come.
Mr Prime Minister, last November the first meeting of the
Australia/ PNG Ministerial Forum took place in Wewak. That
meeting itself a product of the Joint Declaration of
Principles was an outstanding success substantive and
mutually productive but also marked by great informality and
friendship.
These, of course, are the hallmarks of the Australia-PNG
relationship, and they were abundantly evident in our
discussions today.
Mr Prime Minister,
Let me reiterate, on behalf of the Government and of the
Australian people, the sincerity of our welcome to you and
your party. Rabbie, you could not be more welcome here. We
wish you well, in the knowledge that your visit will be both
successful and constructive.