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PRIME MINISTER

FOR MEDIA

ELECTORATE TALK

21 FEBRUARY 1982

HMAS Tobruk, the Royal Australian Navy's supply ship, left  last week for the Middle East with the eight Australian  helicopters, and other equipment for Australia's contingent  in the Sinai Peacekeeping Force. The troops of our main  contingent, numbering in all about 120 men, will fly' out

later, in time to establish themselves at their posts by  20 March. But their big starting day will be 25 April.

That is the date laid down in the Treaty of Peace between  Israel and Egypt when the Israelis will withdraw their military  and civil personnel from the remaining parts of Egypt's  Sinai territory which they occupied during the. 1967 Middle  East War. That date will mark the end of a whole era in the

tragedy of the Middle East conflict.

Australia's participation in the Peacekeeping Force means the  association of our country with a new chapter. This new  chapter is one which could not have come into prospect without  the courage and determination of the leaders of Egypt and  Israel to achieve the peace which now exists between them. The Peacekeeping Force is there because these two countries,  which were at war, want.it to be there to guarantee peace.

The Peacekeeping Force will underpin the achievement of peace  within one major area of a region which has been the most  unstable in the world since the Second World War. The  hatred, suspicion and bitterness which have arisen from the

special circumstances of that region led to four wars in  the space of one generation. These wars have threatened  world peace. We know that any future war in that part of  the world will seriously jeopardise the fragile stability  overseas which is so precious to Australians. The vital

interests of too many important countries are caught up in  Middle East affairs for another outbreak of war there to  leave Australia unscathed. No one can be certain about  peace anywhere. Peace requires strenuous efforts if it is

to be maintained.  It requires constant vigilance, constant  awareness, but above all a preparedness to make sacrifices. We are prepared to make such sacrifices.

Peace will fail by default if all nations wanting peace leave  the actual pursuit of it to others. It has never been part  of the Australian tradition to let this happen. In the Middle  East already Australia has contributed to a number of  peacekeeping operations. We have contributed men to the United  Nations truce supervisory organisation, and men and helicopters

to the United Nations Emergency Force in another part of the Sinai

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We have contributed police to the United Nations force in  Cyprus and Australian defence force personnel to the United  Nations military observer group in India and Pakistan.

The United Nations has a record in these peacekeeping operations  of which it can be proud.  We would have preferred that the  Sinai Peacekeeping Force be a further part of that record. But faced with a Soviet veto of a United Nations mandate for

the Peacekeeping Force - faced with a choice between a  force which could be set up outside the United Nations umbrella  and no force at all, we were not prepared to let the Soviet  Union achieve its obstructionist objective in the search for  a Middle East peace. There is no reason why the United Nations  should not at some time in the future extend its mandate to  include this peacekeeping activity. Nor is there any reason,  of course, why the United Nations must always be associated  with successful international efforts to mediate in situations  of conflict and maintain the peace.

One of the most successful episodes in recent years in resolving  conflict and hostility between nations was the Commonwealth  contribution to the implementation of the Lancaster House  Agreement by which Zimbabwe attained its independence. Australia  was a key participant in the negotiations leading to the  Agreement. We were one of the principal contributors to the  military force ensuring that the ceasefire led to a stable

political settlement. We are also going to play a role, under  Commonwealth auspices, in the training of the Ugandan army  to help the government of Uganda overcome the disintegration  of that country after the years.of Idi Amin's destructive rule.

When the Government took its decision last October to participate  in the Sinai Peacekeeping Force, we did so on the condition  that there would be significant European participation.  We  were not then certain that there would be wide-ranging

international participation, but we felt that a country like  Australia had a unique contribution to make in starting the  ball rolling. Our decision has indeed been vindicated.  Last October, among the major countries, only the United States

had committed itself to participate in the Force. Since  Australia took its decision-Britain, France, The Netherlands  and Italy, as well as New Zealand, have joined the Force.  These later decisions have been most gratifying to the Government

and in retospect we can see our decision as being a catalyst  to the events which have subsequently taken place.

There again,.when we took our decision in principle last year,  fears were to be heard about the reactions of the Arab states.   which, objecting for their own reasons to .the Egypt/Israel  peace treaty, were thought to be poised to retaliate against  Australian interests if we decided to join the Peacekeeping

Force. In the event there has been no adverse reaction, no  threats to embassies, no measures taken against our trade, no  interdiction of movement by Australians in Arab countries.

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What seems to have happened is that these other countries have  had a higher regard for the achievements that Egypt has been  able to make - both in regaining its territory and in establishing  the basis for peace with Israel - than had the critics of the

time. Moreover, even though these countries do not themselves  support the Camp David Accords, they understand very clearly  Australia is seeking to advance the cause of peace in the  Middle East.

No one can doubt that the return of the Sinai to Egypt is  but one part of the complex of problems which any comprehensive  and lasting peace in the Middle East must solve. A solution  to the Palestinian issue is clearly central to the future

stability and peace of the Middle East. Our troops will not  be involved with the issues making up the dispute between  Israel and the Arab countries over the Palestinians' rights.

But in our participation we are concerned that our contribution  should have the maximum positive influence in continuing  and broadening the peace process in the Middle East. The withdrawal of Israel from the Sinai, if it can be achieved

successfully, will be a large contribution to confidence among  the disputants. Such confidence is a vital ingredient of the  new chapter which will open in the Middle East after 25 April.  Australia will be looking to all the parties to the dispute  as well as the United States to ensure effective progress  in these other vital areas. .

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