22 March 1997 TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER
THE HON JOHN HOWARD MP
ADDRESS AT THE CARE AUSTRALIA
ANNIVERSARY DINNER
GRAND HYATT, MELBOURNE
E& OE
Thank you very much to Malcolm Fraser, the Chairman of Care Australia; to my
Parliamentary colleagues, Kim Beazley, the Leader of the Opposition, Robert Hill, the
Leader of the Government in the Senate, Barry Jones, the National President of the
Australian Labor Party, to other very distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
Can I say firstly how very happy I am to share this very special occasion marking the
anniversary of the establishment of Care Australia. It is an opportunity to reflect
upon the selfless contribution of so many people who work for a magnificent and
generous organisation in the relief of the very unhappy circumstances of people all
around the world.
Care is an organisation that as Malcolm mentioned began in the United States at the
end of World War II. I didn't know until tonight when Malcolm mentioned it, and it
shows that you still keep learning things from former Prime Ministers, that Care had
been instrumental in such a major way in breaking the Berlin air lift.
To those of us in recent years Care of course is, I suppose, ineradicably associated
with the suffering of people particularly in Africa. And it's an occasion such as this for
me on behalf of the Government to thank those men and women of Australia who have
gone to these very troubled parts of the world, given of their effort, in some cases
given of their health and their lives to relieve the suffering of others.
And none of course has been a better and properly honoured example of that than
Malcolmn's own daughter, Phoebe, who's with us tonight whose contribution has been
quite remarkable. But I know that she would not want herself to be singled out, but
she's but one of many Australians who have done such magnificent work.
Care is an organisation that has sustained by the generous help and the generous
donations of people in Australia. It's an organisation that has had amongst its
executive officers people with whom I've had a great deal of connection. And I can't
let an occasion like tonight go by without remarking on the presence of Tony Eggleton
who did such magnificent work for Care. Tony and Malcolm and I, of course, go back
a long way and I'm so delighted to be here tonight and to be in company of both of
them. And can I say very genuinely how much I respect what Malcolm Fraser has put
back into the community since he ceased his active parliamentary political days. He
has set a wonderful example of community service and it's one that I respect
enormously. And an occasion like this, of course, is an opportunity to reflect upon the importance
of non-governiment organisations in the provision of overseas aid. It's also an
opportunity to reflect upon the ongoing importance of official government assistance.
Australia provides, and I acknowledge the point that the Chairman has made about it
not quite being enough, but Australia nonetheless provides in the order of SI1.6 billion
of official overseas assistance. And I guess many of you would know that the country
that receives as a nation the largest single portion of that is Papua New Guinea. And
at a time when the affairs of that country are occupying the attention of the
Government and occupying the attention of many Australians, it's opportune and I
think appropriate for me to say to those in the Australian community who criticise the
fact that we have any overseas aid at all, let alone argue about the particular level of it,
it's an opportunity and I think it's right to say that if we are concerned about the
stability of that country and if we have concerns about its immediate fuxture in current
circumstances we can only imagine what might be the case if that country had not,
over the years, been provided with significant levels of aid by Australia. It is not only
an exercise in humanitarian assistance of relatively wealthy nations such as Australia to
give official assistance, but it is also a matter of the long term self-interest of this
country to give intelligent overseas aid. At the present time there's an inquiry being
conducted into the structure and character and nature of overseas aid chaired by the
former Chairman of Woolworths, Mr Paul Simons. And the Government will have
that report and will be responding to that in the near future. But let me say to all of
you that whilst there will be debates about the actual level of aid, and there will be
proper submissions put to my Government as they were put to the predecessor
government of Australia, I think I can say without any fear of political contradiction
that official overseas aid in significant proportions will remain a very important element
of Australian budgets for years into the fiuture.
When we think of non-government organisations, of course, we think of the generosity
around Australia of literally hundreds of thousands of individuals who give, in many
cases small amounts but for them proportionately very large amounts, to help
organisations such as Care and the other great non-government organisations. We also
think of the very generous corporate support. And I want to acknowledge the
contribution of corporate Australia and the philanthropy of corporate Australia to
organisations; such as Care.
In the context of the Government's ' work for the dole' scheme I have spoken often in
recent weeks at what I call the notion of mutual obligation within our society. And
I've expressed the belief that a society such as our own will only hold together
cohesively and effectively if we are underpinned by a pattern of mutual obligations.
We provide assistance for those within our own community who through no fault of
their own need assistance, and on occasions it is not unreasonable that something be
asked in return from them and that is a principle that I've articulated in relation to the
work for the dole' scheme. And I don't think it is wrong for me to articulate that
same principle in relation to the obligations of those in the community, including in
corporate Australia and those in the more affluent sections of the Australian
community who can afford to do so, that a principle of mutual obligation exists in
relation to their support for and contributions towards worthy causes to organisations
like Care.
Australia provides for its corporate citizens a climate of unrivalled political economic
and legal stability. Quite legitimately, companies and their managers will complain
about this or that government policy, whoever is in power, or this or that set of
economnic circumstances. But if you look around the world there are few countries in
which it is easier to do business. There are few countries in which, in overall terms,
there is a more beckoning business environment and business climate. And I have no
reluctance, particularly on an occasion such as tonight, I have no reluctance at all in
asserting in that context the principle of mutual obligation. There is an obligation on
those within our community I don't state it in any kind of hectoring or preaching
sense, but I state it perhaps, to some degree, in a self interest sense so far as the
corporations are concerned there is an obligation to make contributions to
organisations such as Care. And of course tonight's magnificent dinner marking the
anniversary of the foundation of Care Australia is supported by so many
Australian companies and so many Australian individuals who've given very
generously of their time and their resources, of their money over the years to support
Care. I had the opportunity earlier this morning of spending a fascinating hour with the
former Chairman of the American Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin-Powell. And he
remarked upon the fact that the world has changed so much over the past few years
with the collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War that we no longer have
the enemy we'd had for most of our lifetime. And that that rivalry between the
communist world and the capitalist world, that rivalry between east and west, which
had really patterned and determined and conditioned our responses and our attitudes
over such a long period of time, the disappearance of that had left almost a political
void, almost a political vacuum. But we also agreed that it had given the world a
tremendous opportunfity and had given many people a great sense of hope about our
capacity to turn our attention to the relief of suffering and unhappiness and distress in
particular parts of the world. And none of us, not only on occasions such as this but
none of us generally can of course be other than impressed very heavily by the
enormous gaps between the rich and poor around the world as well as the growing
evidence unhappily of those gaps within our own society. And the contribution that
Care makes to the relief of human misery, the contribution that it makes to the
provision of resources that will generate self help and self support and providing
people with a way of lifling the pall of dependency on others and generating hope and
optimism about their own fives and their own future is of course a very, very worthy
aspiration now, as it always has been, for mankind.
And whatever may be the difficulties within our own domestic economy, whatever
arguments we may have about whether this or that way of doing things could be
improved within Australia. We are amongst the most fortunate, the most blessed and
the most happy and stable and wealthy of societies in the world. And that does put a
moral obligation as well as an obligation of long term pragmatism upon the
Government of Australia and upon the citizens of Australia to make proper provision
for programmes and organisations that are determined over a period of time to help
those who need help most. And the challenge is immense. The marvels of modemn
communications have dramatised human suffering into the living rooms of Australia
and the living rooms of the world and the living rooms of the affluent in a way that
hasn't been the case in earlier years and all of us, as a consequence, are very conscious
of that. But of course there is that danger of disaster or ' poverty fatigue' as I think the
experts have called it, that danger that we see so much of it that we become numb,
almost indifferent to it. And that is why we need organisations such as Care to
intelligently mobilise on an ongoing basis for concern of the community and the
concern of the Australian people.
But ladies and gentlemen can I say how much I respect and admire the work of Care.
Can I remark upon what it has achieved in Australia over the last 10 years. Can I
thank on behalf of my Government, and I know on behalf I'm sure of the Opposition*
as well, can I thank Malcolm Fraser and all those who've worked for Care, who've
given their energy and their talents and their commitment. It is a noble cause to help
those who suffer and it is a noble cause to reach out and gather up the less fortunate
and in many cases the wretched and underprivileged within our world and within our
society and Care has been in the forefront of doing that in a practical, efficient,
effective manner. I salute their contribution to mankind and I wish Care Australia
continued success and continued achievement in their great mission of relieving human
misery and promoting human progress.
Thank you. 4