CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
STATE BANQUET PAKISTAN
6 FEBRUJARY 1989
Prime Minister,
It gives me enormous satisfaction to bring greetings from
Australia to you and the Government and people of Pakistan as you
once again assume your place among the democratic family of
nations. It is also a great personal pleasure to be the first head of
government making a bilateral visit to Pakistan since your
election as Prime Minister.
The last Australian Head of Government to visit Pakistan was the
previous Labor Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, who was received by
your l~ ate father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in January 1975.
Prime Minister,
In your autobiography, you quote the great American
revolutionary, Thomas Paine: " Tyranny, like hell, is not easily
conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder
the conflict, the more glorious the triumph".
You and the people of Pakistan have indeed been through difficult
years. But as you yourself wrote, you kept the flame of
democracy alive during those years, and now with the restoration
of democratic rule, you have won the glorious triumph of which
Paine wrote.
Your personal struggle in support of representative government
and democratic processes has been much admired in Australia and
throughout the world. There is no need for me to dwell on the
cost of this struggle to you and your family.
But I do say that the successful and peaceful elections held last
year, and your firm commitment to strengthening democracy in
Pakistan, give cause, for the greatest optimism and deserve the
congratulations and support of the international community.
Prime Minister,
As a former political prisoner yourself, you have already, since
you assumed office, been active in advancing human rights issues,
including the release of large numbers of such prisoners. You
have also announced policies to alleviate illiteracy and poverty,
to improve the status of women in society, to tackle corruption
and to combat the narcotics trade.
These initiatives together make up an important and chal] lenging
agenda for domestic reform. Your commitment to combat drug abuse
and the cultivation and trafficking of narcotics is one area in
particular where my Government is very keen to assist your
efforts and enhance our co-operation.
Prime Minister,
Now that representative government has returned to Pakistan, we
should look for opportunities to build a more substantial.
bilateral relationship between our two countries.
In this task we start from a reasonable base of existing links
between us.
Australia was one of the first countries to open diplomatic
relations with Pakistan, with an Australian diplomatic mission
being established early in 1948.
Australia's first Muslim community consisted of people from what
is now Baluchistan and the North-West Frontier province of
Pakistan. This community built Australia's first mosque, and
some of their descendants are numbered among the 250,000 Muslims
who live in Australia today.
Since the independence of Pakistan, our two countries have worked
together on a range of political and humanitarian issues,
including those associated with the Soviet occupation of
Afghanistan. Sport provides another sort of link, one that draws our peoples,
not just our governments, together.
Names like Mushtaq Mohammed, Asif Iqbal, Sarfraz Nawaz and,
today, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad and Abdul Qadir are as familiar
to Australians as they are to Pakistanis. We look forward to
your cricketers making a full test tour of Australia next year.
In addition to our shared obsession with cricket, hockey and
squash, our two countries have much in common.
And yet Prime Minister we can do better. We can add new
substance to the relationship. This, I believe, is particularly
so in the field of trade and economic co-operation.
These are areas which, if developed properly, could see
significant benefits accruing to both countries. We need to
encourage a greater understanding in our respective business
communities of the opportunities that exist, and we need to
encourage proposals for expanding business and commercial links.
One specific form of activity awhich could be pursued more
vigorously is the setting up of joint ventures, particularly
those centred on the transfer of technology.
Prime Minister,
In suggesting closer economic co-operation, I am aware that our
two economies are at different stages in their development, and
that there is a number of immediate challenges which you face in
the economic sphere.
I know that among your current concerns is the shortfall in
Pakistan's wheat supply because of the drought. I would ' Like to
take this opportunity to assure you publicly that my Government
is sympathetic to these concerns. To this end we will provide an
immediate emergency aid contribution of 25,000 tonnes of wheat
valued at some A$ 5.5 million.
Australia has always stood ready to provide humanitarian
assistance to people in need and we hope that this contribution
can assist in overcoming the difficulties facing your people.
In addition to the immediate food aid, my Government is also
interested in enhancing our development co-operation program with
Pakistan. I look forward to exchanging ideas with you tomorrow
on what we might be able to do.
Prime Minister,
One of the greatest challenges facing us as we move towards the
last decade of the twentieth century, a century sadly
characterised by bloody global and regional conflict, is
establishing the basis for a peaceful and more prosperous
twenty-first century. We cannot leave as our legacy to future
generations an international order that is characterised by
instability, intolerance and fear.
There are encouraging developments, as a result of moves by the
Soviet Union, the United States and China, to replace the
confrontation of the past with constructive dialogue. In my
recent meetings with the leadership of these countries, I have
been impressed by their determination to tackle difficult
questions and to take forward issues that were once the subject
of impasse or intertia. Australia has done whatever it can to
encourage that process.
One issue that has affected both of us is Afghanistan, which was
not only a cause for regional and international instability, but
also a focus of humanitarian concern.
The conclusion of the Geneva Accords leading to the withdrawal of
SSoviet troops from Afghanistan was an important and commendable
achievement. It highlighted the very positive changes underway
in the Soviet Union and was a profound demonstration of the way
in which improved superpower relations can have a direct and real
impact on regional disputes.
The international community appreciates the substantial
contribution by Pakistan in providing a safe haven for the
estimated 3.5 million refugees from Afghanistan. As you know,
Australia has rendered assistance to these refugees through
contributions of food aid and other assistance worth over
million. We have also pledged a contribution of $ 20 million to
the appeal launched by the United Nations special co-ordinator
for Afghanistan to assist Afghan refugees in returning to their
homeland. Another area in which we have witnessed the positive benefits
from this new spirit of co-operation between the superpowers, is
in the field of disarmament, where important commitments have
been made to reduce the nuclear and other weapons arsenals which
threaten our very existence.
In South Asia, Australia has watched with concern the threat of
nuclear proliferation. It was in this context that we welcomed
the recent initiative taken by you and Prime Minister Gandhi in
signing an agreement prohibiting attacks on each other's nuclear
installations. It is our hope that this agreement will lead to
further steps which can help to assure that the nuclear programs
pursued in the region are directed solely towards peaceful
non-explosive uses.
I would like to restate the Australian Government's firm
conviction that the widest possible adherence to the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty is essential if we are to eliminate the
spectre of a nuclear holocaust.
Prime Minister,
We acknowledge Pakistan as an important member of the South Asian
region. Australia, indeed the world, has a clear interest in
stability and peace in South Asia. It is for this reason, as
well as the potential for improving the living standards of the
member countries, that we welcome the dialogue and co-operation
being forged through the SAARC. It is for the same reason that
we applaud the steps which you, so early in your period in
office, and Prime Minister Gandhi in India have taken to reach
out to one another and reduce the tensions which have too often
affected relations between your countries.
Let me place on record that Australia warmly welcomes your
Government's decision to rejoin the Commonwealth. We have always
supported this and speaking for Australia would welcome without
hesitation your representing democratic Pakistan at the next
Commonwealth Heads of Government in Kuala Lumpur in October.
I began, Prime Minister, by referring to your autobiography.
Since the author does not exist who resents favourable quotation,
let me end in the same vein.
" Nobody who loves Pakistan," you wrote, " can help dreaming of a
great and prosperous future for our country and for the people.
But drastic steps must be taken to preserve that vision."
You are ushering in a new period in Pakistani history a period
of hope and reform, and we hope, of peace and prosperity.
We wish you well as you undertake the hard work that lies ahead
of you.
I thank you for your hospitality, and I look forward to welcoming
you soon to Canberra.