E&OE...................
PRIME MINISTER:
On behalf of the Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia, I am
pleased to bestow upon Mr Nelson Mandela an Honour in the Companionship
of the Order of Australia.
DAVID CONNOLLY:
Prime Minister I present to you Mr Nelson Mandela who has been appointed
an Honorary Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia
for Services to Australian-South African relations and for his outstanding
leadership in bringing multi-racial democracy to South Africa.
[Prime Minister bestows insignia upon Mr Mandela]
PRIME MINISTER:
You get two politicians in the same room and they compete for who speaks
first!
Mr Nelson Mandela; David Connolly, the Australian High Commissioner in South
Africa; Mrs Connolly; Ministers of the South African Government; Mrs Helen
Suzman, a former very distinguished member of the South African Parliament;
ladies and gentleman.
This is a very special and precious ceremony for many Australians and many
South Africans. Many exaggerated words are used about men and women and
their contribution to the world and their contribution to the relief of
human suffering. But the words of praise that have been uttered by so many
in relation to Nelson Mandela are, in every sense, truly justified. He is
in every sense of the word a man of this century.
He is a person whose moral and physical courage inspired a nation. He is
a person whose leadership brought together people who it was never conceived
could work together in peace and love and in harmony.
For somebody such as myself and the Australians present who have never known
anything other than the proposition that all people are born equal, and
that equal opportunity is available to all, because that has been the experience
of our homeland, it is beyond understanding for us how a person who suffered
as much as did Mr Mandela, has nonetheless displayed such incredible grace
and dignity and moral leadership in his responsibilities. And in the process
has set an example to the world.
His deeds are well known. The contribution he has made to bringing about
a multi-racial, democratic South Africa is acclaimed around the world. His
moral example is without peer in our generation, and importantly for us
today, because this is an Australian South African celebration, it is appropriate
to acknowledge the links between our two countries. And I would like on
this occasion to pay tribute to two of my predecessors, Malcolm Fraser and
Bob Hawke, from opposite sides of the political divide within Australia,
that both of them played a determined role in bringing about change in South
Africa. And both of them on this occasion would like, I know, me to speak
on their behalf to express their respect and admiration to Nelson Mandela
and for what he represents. He has done great things for mankind. He has
done great things for South Africa.
What he has achieved since his release from detention not so long ago is
quite remarkable. And I have had the opportunity on this, my first visit
to this beautiful country, to spend some time with his successor, Thabo
Mbeki at the Commonwealth Conference and to marvel at the progress that
has been made in building the new South Africa, and marvel at the way in
which so many daunting challenges have been overcome.
There are many things about Nelson Mandela's life that have touched different
people in different ways. And as is so often the case in our human experience,
it is the symbolic gestures at the right time and in the right place with
the right sense of occasion that really leave an indelible impression upon
us. And I think many of us will remember that remarkable symbolic gesture
by Nelson Mandela in donning that number six jersey belonging to Francois
Pienaar after South Africa had won the World Cup in rugby only four years
ago. It touched the heart of many people who had been of another and different
political view from Mr Mandela and it was truly a symbolic gesture of a
truly uniting national leader.
I am especially grateful that Mr Mandela has allowed his name to be leant
to the fellowships, the awards which are given to gifted young South African
students and academics and they will henceforth be known as the Mandela
Awards.
Although he is no longer President, he has continued to play a very active
role in bringing his great moral influence to bear in world affairs. And
I am especially grateful for what he did in his discussions with Xanana
Gusmao, the East Timorese leader and also the strenuous efforts that he
undertook to secure the release of Peter Wallace and Steve Pratt, the two
Australian CARE workers who were so unjustly imprisoned in Belgrade.
So to you Mr Mandela you are a great man of this century. You are a person
whose moral leadership, your moral depth, your political skill, your compassion,
your capacity for forgiveness and reconciliation have given to the world
an example that I don't think in our lifetime we will see again. So it is
a particular privilege for the Government and the people of Australia that
you have been pleased to accept the honorary award as a Companion of the
Order of Australia. It is the highest award in the Order of Australia and
I can think of no more fitting citizen of the world to receive that award
than Nelson Mandela. I thank you for what you have done for your country
and for your example to all of mankind. Thank you.
MR NELSON MANDELA:
Prime Minister Howard, I find it very difficult to address you in that manner.
I prefer the usual way in which I speak to you to say John, but I don't
know whether the Australians will forgive me if I become so familiar to
you.
I remember that shortly after I had been released from prison, I visited
Australia. A program was arranged for me and I was very happy indeed to
look at it. As I was carrying out this program I received a delegation from
the aborigines and they asked me "who gave you the right to come here?"
I said, well, I was invited you know by the Government. And they said "well
you know this is our country." I said well, I'm sure it is - your country
as well. And they say "now you must come and visit us in our area." I had
to negotiate because they were very angry and I went to see them. And I
said to them that I am very sorry that I came there without permission but
at the same time I would like to say to that we have been arguing about
these questions in South Africa, but what we decided to do was to stop the
argument and to go to our enemies at the time and say let's sit down and
talk. And I said you make my task easy if you go to the Government and talk
to them and arrange what should happen when you invite somebody like me
to you country.
Now when I was told about this award, I thought of my younger days when
I was running around the hills of my village. At that time we thought that
Australia was another name for Sir Don Bradman. And we didn't know Australia
at all. Later of course we came to know about eminent citizens of Australia
like Sir Malcolm Fraser and Bob Hawke, as John has said, and now of course,
the man who cracks the whip is here.
Now you have referred to the Rugby World Cup in 1995. I want to start there,
because I want to show that we are equal. If you remember the very first
match was between South Africa and Australia and the Australians were the
reigning champions at the time. And I went to see our boys at Silver Mine
in Cape Town where they were stationed. And I said to our captain, Francois
Pienaar that the team that wins this match will go right through to the
final. And I said that the entire South Africa is behind you and that we
expect you to take that honour. And I was very happy indeed that we were
able to win, although I almost collapsed because of tension. Because I have
never seen a game against the All Blacks where there were no tries. And
where it was all penalties. And I think that it was when I was about to
collapse, that Stransky had a drop goal and that made the day for us.
But when Sir Malcolm Fraser asked me to intervene in Yugoslavia and get
your two journalists released, I was very much embarrassed because hardly
two weeks before that President Milosevic had asked me to come and pay a
state visit and asked me to condemn the strikes by NATO. I didn't know that
Sir Malcolm Fraser would ask me to undertake this type of mission. I wasn't
very polite to President Milosevic because I indicated that he was responsible
for what was happening there and I wouldn't come. Now I had to come back
to him and say please can you release those two? It was very difficult.
I suspect that had not her Majesty the Queen and Pope John Paul not worked
with me, I would not have succeeded, and perhaps the greater thanks, more
thanks should be addressed to them and not myself. I still played a very
small role.
Now it is always difficult to find the right words on occasions of this
nature, but relations between Australia and South Africa can only be described
by words intimate, and there is a wide variety of ties between us which
I will not go into. But during the war, the Second World War, I had decided
that I would never join. But the only occasion when I had doubts whether
I was doing the right thing or not was when the Australian troops passed
though Cape Town. Their behaviour, because this is the past, because at
the time we were so hostile to the South African army, that the very thought
of participating in a war where South Africa was involved was revolting.
But when we saw the Australian soldiers, the way they condemned racism and
the way they moved amongst us and visited some of our schools, made me feel
that I ought to be next to these men when fighting fascism. But those days
are long passed, but I still cherish the memories of the contact with Australian
soldiers and I am very grateful indeed, John, for this honour.
There are many men here and women here who, when I was President, when they
met me or passed me by they would bow. When the days were close for me to
step down, they would hardly look at me. It is worse now, and I hope that
by giving me this honour, they will give me some amount of respect. And
thank you very much for the honour. It means a great deal not only to me
and my family, but to the entire South Africa because it is not one individual
who is responsible for the praise that you have showered on one. We are
basically a team, collective leadership and there is hardly anything any
one of us does that has not been discussed before, very thoroughly by the
leadership of the organisation and an individual is merely there to articulate.
So the men and women that you should thank are sitting down there. They
have made even a greater contribution than myself, but I hope that they'll
allow me to keep this medal on their behalf. Thank you very much.
PRIME MINISTER:
We'll now have a toast....All right, well everybody has got to have a drink.
MR MANDELA:
Well, you know I don't drink champagne, I don't drink wine. The only thing
I drink is rum.
MR CONNOLLY:
Ladies and gentlemen will you please be upstanding and join us in drinking
a toast.
PRIME MINISTER:
I would like all to join in drinking to the health of a great man, Mr Nelson
Mandela. Nelson Mandela.
MR MANDELA:
May I respond, by asking you to raise your glasses to a really great man,
John Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia.
[ends]