STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER
PARLIAMENTARY RESOLUTION ON THE
ANNIVERSARY OF THE OUTBREAK OF THE
SECOND WORLD WAR
31 AUGUST 1989
Mr Speaker
I move that this House, remembering:
that 3 September 1989 is the fiftieth anniversary
. of the outbreak of the Second World War, and
that nearly 34,000 Australian servicemen and women
died in that conflict,
expresses its profound hope that the troubled peace since
the end of the War will become a permanent peace in the
world, and in particular
reaffirms its deep and continuing gratitude to
those Australian men and women who served their
country in that War, both overseas and at home, and
its continuing sympathy to the families and friends
of those who died or were wounded in combat; and
resolves to ensure that the sacrifices of those men
and women were not made vain, by meeting our
Nation's continuing defe -and security
responsibilities and by working to preserve and
extend the goals for which the War was fought: a
peaceful world, in which the human rights and
democratic aspirations of all men and women are
inviolate.
Mr Speaker
O On Sunday the world will mark the fiftieth anniversary of
the beginning of the Second world war, the second time in
our century that the tragedy of global conflict engulfed us.
It is appropriate that the Australian Parliament should mark
this event on behalf of the Australian people. AS this
motion notes, the anniversary of the outbreak of the war is
a time for us to recall with deep gratitude the sacrifices
made by all those Australian men and women who fought
overseas and who served at home during the Second World War.
It is a time to recall, in particular, the debt we owe to
the 34,000 Australians who died in the conflict, to those
who suffer still as a result of their experiences in the
war, and to the families and friends of those who died.
So much has changed in the world over the past half century,
and in Australia's place in it, that it is sometimes
difficult for younger Australians to appreciate how much we
owe to the generation which responded so bravely and so
enthusiastically to the dreadful challenges of 1939 and the
years that followed.
But it was the heavy human and economic price they paid that
resulted in the final defeat of fascism and imperialism, and
the liberation of the peoples of Europe and the Asia-Pacific
region from the crushing weight of two barbarous tyrannies.
And this victory, in turn, permitted the creation of the
most positive and dynamic feature of the world we have
inherited: the collection of free, democratic and equitable
societies in North America, Western Europe and East Asia
that has been the driving force behind the development of
the more prosperous and peaceful world order that now
beckons us.
Australia reaped another benefit from the tragedy of the
war: the immeasurable enrichment of our society through the
massive influx of new settlers who fled the devastation of
their war ravaged homes to build a new life in the clear
Australian atmosphere of freedom and opportunity.
It is true that the eventual victory in the Second world War
did not secure for all people the democracy and human rights
so painfully regained for some. As we have been reminded in
the most moving way over the past few months in places as
diverse as Beijing, Hungary, Poland and the Baltic states,
the democratic impulse has been smothered for long periods
throughout many parts of the world.
But it now seems possible, Mr Speaker, that parts of the
world which had appeared frozen in repression may finally be
able to take their place with the rest of humankind as we
move to a more cooperative and prosperous future. We are
privileged to be living through an exciting and challenging
time in international affai-rs. For the first time in our
often unhappy century we can contemplate the idea of a world
in which another global conflict seems improbable.
Appalling problems remain, of course. In places such as the
middle East, where the suffering of the Lebanese people is
so tragically prolonged, and the gap between Arabs and
Israelis so apparently unbridgeable, and in South Africa
under the abhorrent yoke of apartheid, peace still seems a
distant and elusive hope.
But, on the whole, we are entitled to permit ourselves a
degree of optimism about the future.
3.
So this anniversary, Mr Speaker, gives us opportunity and
reason to remember that we have only reached this
potentially benign point in human history with the help of
the sacrifices that were made by ordinary Australians during
the Second World War. It gives us reason, too, to remember
one of the great lessons of that war: that peace and
security are fundamentally intertwined.
Having recently returned from observing the Kangaroo ' 89
exercise, I am particularly conscious of the role the men
and women of our Defence Force have played not only in time
of war, but also in preserving the peace. They serve us and
our nation well.
Mr Speaker, just as Australians can look back proudly on the
part we played in helping to win the war, so we can reflect
with pride on the way we have helped to sustain the peace.
In recent years, Australia has made intensive efforts to
0 contribute to an international climate aimed at protecting
and expanding peace.
Through our active work in multilateral arms control
organisations, by our diplomatic activities in our own
region, and through the influence we have exerted within the
councils of our alliance relationship, we have been able to
work towards a safer world.
In particular, Mr Speaker, we have made our voice heard
loudly in support of the very welcome measures that have
already been taken by the superpowers to reduce their deadly
arsenals of nuclear weapons although much more has yet to
be done; we have worked tirelessly to reduce the risks of
other countries joining the nuclear club; and we have been
at the leading edge of international efforts to prevent the
proliferation of the modern plague of chemical weapons.
And as we consider this motion today,' Mr Speaker,
Australians are helping-to keep the peace on behalf of the
United Nations, often in dangerous and uncomfortable
conditions, in Namibia, in Cyprus, in Southern Lebanon and
on the Golan Heights, and along the battle-scarred border
between Iran and Iraq.
I call on Honourable Members to support the motion before
the House, and to join me at the conclusion of the
consideration of the motion in a moment of silence,
recalling the courage of those who died in the Second world
War, the resilience of those who survived, and our common
hope that by our actions we will repay the debt we owe those
Australians in the best way we can: by ensuring that such
sacrifices are never again made necessary.