7 March 1997 ADDRESS BY THE PRIME MINISTER
THE HON JOHN HOWARD MP
TO ROTARY CLUB OF AUSTRALIA
e o e
Thank you very much Tony, to Malcolm, and to all the other very distinguished office
bearers of the Rotary Club of North Sydney and all the other members of Rotary,
bother here in Australia and around the world and can I say how very touched I am by
this award. Those symbolic gestures in life a always in a sense more rewarding and
have a lot more meaning than more material gestures. And to be recognised in this
honouring way I am not a rotarian, although I have attended so many Rotary
functions in my life as all of my Parliamentary colleagues present here, and I
acknowledge their presence particularly Joe Hockey and Gillian Skinner who are the
two local members for this area, federally and State. I feel as though I know and
understand Rotary extremely well and I take the opportunity as Prime Minister to
acknowledge the tremendous contribution that Rotary makes towards building a better
Australia and building a happier more cooperative world.
We'd never be able to keep Australia going without the help of literally hundreds of
thousands, if not millions of Australians who volunteer their time and their energy and
their effort to doing those things that no government, whatever its attitude may be, no
government can ever do. Australia has a tremendous tradition of volunteerism. Being
a volunteer and getting out and helping people in an unsung, very very selfless fashion
has always been an important characteristic of being an Australian. We're very good
at it, and although of course as you all know the Rotary movement started in the
United States. The natural appeal of Rotary to Australians was very understandable.
And the way in which so many Australians joined Rotary and through the years have
cooperated in the local efforts of Rotary, have involved themselves in the international
exchanges, the encouragement to community involvement and community self-help,
the building of an understanding of what good citizenship is all about. The nurturing
of the notion that our society is really a lot about mutual obligations. We have mutual
obligations each to the other. We have rights but we also have responsibilities. As a
society we also have an obligation to look after those within our midst who are less
fortunate than we are and from time to time we have a right to say to people who are
assisted that it's part of the mutual obligation of being a member of the Australian
community that something is done in return for the effort that is extended to help them.
And Rotary has been very much part of this and in the process hundreds of thousands
of Australians have found a great deal of personal satisfaction in involving themselves
in the affairs of Rotary, in raising fuinds to help needy causes, in promoting very
importantly international understanding. And I was reflecting as I drove here tonight
from Gladesville just how many people, how many young people I know, including
members of my extended family who have been the recipients of those great
international student rotary exchanges which are one of the great ways in which young
people have learned about other countries and the understanding that is so important,
particularly in a world where communications and the globalisation of the world
economy has demolished and removed the differences that used to exist.
So in many ways Rotary is owed a great debt of gratitude by the Australian
community, and I want on behalf of the Government to express my personal gratitude
to all of those rotarians in Australia who over the years have done so much to build
and nurture the spirit of Rotary and have made such a magnificent contribution to
improving understanding here in Australia and for making it between peoples and
between nations.
I am very touched by the honour that you have paid me tonight. I do feel a quiet pride
in the fact that it was possible in the wake of that awful tragedy to seize the
opportunity and the moment to do something very positive to change at least in one
area for all time the direction of our society.
It was a very interesting as well as a very challenging exercise, and may I acknowledge
thle assistance I received from both sides of politics; from the Leader of the Opposition,
Mr Beazley; the Leader of the Australian Democrats, Senator Kernot; from the NSW
Labor Premier Mr Carr; from Peter Collins, the Leader of the Opposition here in NSW
and all of the other state Premiers. And I particularly acknowledge the contribution
that was made by my deputy and the Leader of the National Party, Tim Fischer whose
constituency found the adjustment process more difficult for reasons I hope you all
understand. If you were an urban Liberal Member or an urban Labor Member it was a
little easier to put your hand up for gun control laws than if you were a rural member
and I think that should be acknowledged and in that context I also especially
acknowledge the leadership role taken and displayed by the Premier of Queensland, Mr
Rob Borbidge.
It was one of those occasions when a community wanted something done and a
community wanted something done very decisively and those who hold public office in
this country are often criticised for failing to match the moment or failing to seize the
occasion. I think on this occasion the elected representatives of the Australian
community whatever their politics overwhelmingly did the right thing by the Australian
community and the significance of the event cannot be underestimated. I never
accepted the inevitability that Australia should go down the American path so far as
personal violence, particularly gun violence was concerned. I am a great admirer of
many things American. That country has contributed enormously to the stability of the
world and contributed enormously to the way of life that people in, what is loosely
called the western world, enjoy. Like any other country which is a role model in some
areas, it is not in other areas and the pattern of urban violence, the number of deaths
from gunshot wounds in that country. The systemic violence that is found in so many
parts of the United States is something that I certainly wanted to do all in my power to
stop spreading to this country and I think in a small way what the governments and the
political parties of Australia were able to achieve in the wake of the Port Arthur
disaster in a small way we have made a contribution to building a safer Australian
community and what impressed me was the reaction across the board of people to
what was done. I had people coming up to me in the streets and saying I didn't vote
for you last time and I never will vote for you but I do agree with what you did in
relation to gun control.
I remember going to a test match, it was a Rugby Union test match between Australia
and South Africa at the Sydney Sports Stadium in June of last year and I was invited
onto the field to meet the teams and I was still in the infancy of my Prime Ministership
so I didn't get boo-ed. It is a great Australian tradition after you've been in office for
a couple of years to get boo-ed when you go onto the field. And I met the team, and I
was very interested in the reaction of the crowd because the gun control issue was still
raging very strongly and I was interested in the reaction of the crowd and the number
of people who called out " hold the line on gun control laws" and afterwards at the
reception, interestingly enough two or three members of the South African football
team spoke to me about it because that is a country that is wracked by an enormous
amount of violence and has tragically enough a murder rate that is amongst one of the
worst in the world, and so it was a very interesting experience and it did remind and it
did remind I think all of those who were involved in it of the capacity of people in
public life if they act in concert and they act out a sense of commitment to the common
good that you can achieve things, you can change directions and you can give to the
community a sense of reassurance and I think it is particularly important and in a sense
symbolic that this award and this event should take place on the eve of the
international day for women which is tomorrow because amongst the strongest
expressions of support that I received for what I did and what my government did was
fromn women in Australia including a very large number of women who lived in rural
Australia and the number of women.... Security from violence is a very important
thing to all of us and it is a particularly important thing to women and to children and if
we've made a small contribution to building a safer and more congenial and beckoning
and more reassuring and dare I say it more relaxed and comfortable Australian
community as a result of that then I am very very grateful indeed.
But finally can I say that it wouldn't have been possible for us to have achieved what
was achieved without the goodwill and the cooperation of other people in public life.
It wasn't just achieved by me alone and I again acknowledge the contribution of others
including people who are normally my political opponents.
But to you gentlemen of the North Sydney Rotary Club and of the broader Rotary
movement, again my very warm thanks both for the contribution that your magnificent
organisation makes to the people of Australia and the Australian community and most
especially for the personal compliment that you have paid me and the honour that you
have done me tonight, I treasure it greatly and I regard it as a very special honour
indeed. Thank you.