C
PRIME MINISTER
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA
HON R J L HAWKE
DELIVERED AT LUNCHEON
HOSTED BY M. JEAN LEQUES
MAYOR OF NOUMEA,
VICE PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTHERN PROVINCE
NOUMEA 28 JULY 1990
Mr Mayor
Ladies and gentlemen
Thank you for your hospitality and for the warmth of your
welcome to Hazel and me. We appreciate very much the
excellent arrangements that you our near neighbours have
made for us in New Caledonia.
I do not believe that anyone visiting Noumea and meeting so
many community leaders, as I have done this morning, could
fail to detect the spirit of optimism that seems to permeate
the community in New Caledonia.
I have been particularly impressed by the commitment
displayed by all parties to the Matignon Accords, and by the
determination to make them succeed.
For all these reasons, let me say that you have the respect
of all Australians and our best wishes as you proceed with
the important tasks ahead of you.
I commented last night on the stark contrast between the
prevailing spirit of cooperation and shared endeavour, and
the bitterness and futility that so damaged New Caledonia
for much of the 1980s.
It is a truly significant achievement that peace and
stability have been re-established in New Caledonian
political life.
New Caledonia is richly endowed with two strong and deep
cultural traditions. Both these flourishing cultures have an
enduring contribution to make to the emergence of a single
harmonious New Caledonian society. Both deserve full
respect; both must receive full recognition.
And, equally important, you are now committed to a process
that will lead to an act of self-determination in 1998.
As I said last night, Australia would have been
uncomfortable deeply so with any outcome that denied
such a choice to the people of this territory.
Of course there are profound differences between loyalists
and independantists about what you see as the best long-term
outcome. It is not for me to take any side in this.
But we welcome the fact as do our Pacific neighbours
that a real act of self-determination will be made. And we
welcome the prospect flowing from the Matignon Accords
that when it is made this will be against the background of
an experience of harmony and co-operation, not the hostility
and bitterness of the past.
Our concern both from the point of view of the territory
and of the region generally -is that a viable future for
New Caledonia must recognise the rights of the indigenous
people and it must safeguard the rights of all other longterm
residents.
I want to assure you that whatever the choice New
Caledonians make in 1998 and it is your choice, no-one
else's you can be assured of Australia's continued
goodwill and friendly support.
You will find us a reliable friend of stability and a firm
supporter of the processes of reconciliation.
It is of course a very natural thing that Australians should
support you and should understand the significance of what
you are trying to do.
That support and understanding springs from the deep roots
of our common historical experiences.
Of course, we are different in size and economic diversity
not to mention that you are a French territory and we were
British. But the differences that arise from such circumstances are
less significant than the enduring similarities between us.
When Europeans first came to our two countries they
displayed and indulged a similar nostalgia for the Northern
Hemisphere.
When Captain Cook landed on this island, he called it " New"
Caledonia because the pine-clad ridges reminded him of
Scotland. In the same way, Australia had been given the early name of
" New" Holland.
b 3.
For that matter, Vanuatu was known as the " New" Hebrides,
and " New" Zealand and Papua " New" Guinea received similar
proofs that the Europeans saw these places as Southern
Hemisphere replicas of Northern Hemisphere originals.
In fact, the new arrivals arrogantly, but typically for
their time turned a blind eye to all the evidence that
they were intruding onto the territory of cultures that had
flourished here for millennia. The early Europeans in
Australia were undoubtedly guilty of that.
In calling everything " new", the Europeans in the South
Pacific were simply showing themselves as proudly selfconscious
expatriates.
To speak of Australia, I have always felt that even though
it is just over two hundred years since the arrival of the
Europeans, we are in many ways a much " newer" society now
than we were then.
This newness is not only measured by technology or education
or economic strength, but, of critical importance, by the
makeup of our people themselves.
We are a nation of immigrants. With particular rapidity
since the Second World War, Australia has drawn immigrants
from virtually every country in the world.
But as each new wave of people has arrived, the sense of
being expatriates transplanted to a foreign soil has given
way to a sense of belonging to, and commitment to, their new
home.
We are not only a more talented and more dynamic community
as a result of these diverse origins, we are also much more
united and much stronger.
Let me say it again: our diversity, our multiculturalism,
has become, for Australia, a great source of strength.
In that regard we are very much a " new" society tolerant,
harmonious and largely unfamiliar with overt communal
violence and tensions.
That is why I said earlier that it is not surprising that
Australians should understand and support you in what you
are now trying to do in New Caledonia.
Because here, you too are building a new society and in
doing so you are seeking strength through your diversity,
and tolerance through honest talking and fair dealing.
I am not pretending in any of this that there are precise
analogies between Australia and New Caledonia. I am
certainly not laying down any detailed prescriptions about
the future of New Caledonian society.
I respect you too much for that.
4.
But I do believe this: we are going to be neighbours for a
very long time.
We who live in the Pacific and who share this region
understand well, I believe, that differences can only be
solved, and long-term solutions found, through cooperation
and mutual trust.
That is the single most important lesson of the Matignon
Accords. And my discussions today have vividly shown me
that this trust and commitment does exist.
The success of the Accords means that I can today address
New Caledonians not as two divided rivals but as one
emerging united community.
So what I have seen today what I see when I look at this
gathering now are the faces of a truly " New" Caledonia.
That is why I believe the Accords do offer the best way
forward for you. I earnestly hope in the interests of all
New Caledonians and the harmony and prosperity of the South
Pacific region that the effort will be maintained and the
progress continued. I congratulate you on the success you
are achieving.
I I I