MEDIA RELEASE

EMBARGOED:  Not for publication  before 10,00 a ,m ,, '  " -  Saturday, 1stÃ¢ÂÂ April '78

ROTARY CONFERENCE OPENING

DISTRICT 965

Opening address by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister

For-'Trade and Resources, *

THE RT HON. J.D. ANTHONY, M.P.

Casino, 1st April, 1978.

V

When I learned of the theme of your conference -  "Communicate and Unite to Serve Mankind", I recalled the  words of the British historian Arnold Toynbee:

"The choice with which history confronts mankind is the choice between unity and destruction."

Few people, I think, would dispute this claim.

At the same time, there are grounds for believing  that, at the end of the day, we will not see the destruction of which Toynbee warns, but a world more united than it is now, or has been before. This unity perhaps will come, more as the  result of necessity than of any conscious effort to achieve it.

Nevertheless, I believe we should assist the cause of unity by  making a conscious, deliberate effort to move away from the .   narrow concept of nationalism to the broader concept of  internationalism.

Nationalism - patriotic feeling, a desire for national  independence - can be a very good thing; a powerful uniting  force in the life of a nation. But it can also be a disruptive force in the life of mankind. With today's new perceptions of the world and its future, we must broaden our outlook. We must

look beyond our own national borders, beyond arbitrary lines on  maps and fences on the ground. We must try to understand, and  accept the reality, that this planet carries on its surface one  human family - not an assorted collection of unrelated groups

of people, with few responsibilities to each other, or common  interests.  The many members of the human family in fact have  the most profound and important common interest - that of survival

Two of the areas in which this common interest is of  special significance are the two areas for which I have particular  responsibility - trade and resources. The current resurgence  of trade protectionism is an example - a disturbing example -

of the disruptive force of inward-looking nationalism. Trade  is one of the most important manifestations of internationalism. It builds national, and hence international, prosperity; it  creates interdependence and goodwill. It is one of the most

important kinds of communication.

But when, as a result of selfish nationalism, the  flow of trade is unfairly restricted by excessively high tariffs,  or blocked by other barriers, then, not only do individual  nations and their people suffer, but the cause of international  unity is harmed. Liberalisation of trade, facilitation of the

flow of trade around the world, must play a very important  part in the pursuit of world unity. It is an objective to  which Australia is firmly committed.

We are firmly committed, also, to using our abundant  natural resources in a responsible way for the benefit not only  of ourselves, but of mankind at large. As the custodian of large  resources of energy, in the form of coal, gas, uranium and

perhaps, in the longer term, energy from the sun - we have  special responsibilities in a world growing increasingly short  of energy. By using these resources in a proper and responsible  manner, Australia can play a major part in bringing about

international harmony and in assisting others to better their  living standards.

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As a nation which is currently a net exporter of  energy and is going to be one of the world’s largest exporters  of energy we carry great responsibilities. Certainly we have  in our hands the power to help reduce those tensions and

irritations, sometimes leading to outright conflict, which flow  from the inability of nations to secure the resources they need.

Perhaps the choice between unity and destruction is  nowhere more clear and urgent than it is in relation to the use  of the enormous power of uranium. Many people, no doubt, see in  uranium only the potential for destruction. Certainly that  potential is there - but I believe the fear of the destructive  potential of the atom is now so strong that it is acting as a  powerful stimulus to international unity.

And the need to ensure that uranium's tremendous .   energy potential is exploited sensibly and safely also is  motivating nations to work together. Intensive international  activity is under way to develop a world order and regime that .   will allow mankind to enjoy the benefits of uranium and avoid  the dangers.

It may seem a paradoxical thing, but I believe uranium  will prove to be not the agent of man's destruction, but a great  uniting force, bringing nations together as never before.

Mr. Chairman, I've long been aware of the fact that  it's very hard to see anything in its true perspective until you  can stand well back from it, and see it in its context. This  applies to our own district, our own town. It certainly applies  to Australia.  .

Looking at Australia, as I sometimes do, from London,  or Geneva, or Washington, or Tokyo, I see a picture quite  different from the view of Australia I get from Canberra, or  Sydney or Casino. I see Australia, and its industries, and its  people, not simply from a domestic, local standpoint, but as part  of the planet, part of the world's industry, part of mankind.

I see Australia not so much through the eyes of a nationalist -  although certainly I see much that gives me pride and confidence  in Australia - but through eyes that see our country from an  international point of view; from a wider point of view.

And this kind of view - this placing of Australia  and other nations in context, and in proper relationship to  each other - is fundamental to the understanding we must have  if we are to see the hopeful side of Toynbee's warning realised.

I mentioned Tokyo. I was there a few days ago. My

visit there reminded me yet again that the wide and deep links which  now exist between Japan and Australia provide some of the best  possible evidence of the way in which nationalism can be  transformed into internationalism.

The relationship between Australia and Japan a little  over 30 years ago was based on the strongest feelings of  nationalism and mutual antipathy. Certainly the manifestation of  that nationalism on each side sprang from very-different sources.

It was expressed, literally, in violently opposed ways.

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Today there is, of course, a very strong element .

of nationalism, of national self-interest, in the relationship. But at the same time the relationship is built on a foundation  of interdependence, of mutual interest, of internationalism -  to an extent rarely, if ever, seen in the world before, and in  overwhelming contrast to the situation of a few decades ago.

-  The cold economic facts are these: Japan is our

biggest trading partner; the biggest buyer of our coal, our  iron ore, our wool, our sugar and our grains. Australia and  Japan are locked together in an economic relationship of great  importance to each country. In addition, we are joined by factors

such as the Basic Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation, thd  Australia-Japan Foundation, the Australia-Japan Business Co-operation  Committee - and so on. What I would like to see is a relationship  based more and more on understanding, on contacts, on friendship

between the people of the two countries - people as individuals.

You know, Mr. Chairman, I've just spent 10 days in  Japan, with a very heavy program of official meetings with  ministers, officials and businessmen. But I was able to have  some time over the weekend I was there with our daughter, who

is living in Japan for six months with a Japanese family, and  attending a Japanese school.

Having seen the kind of relationship that Â«has developed  between Jane and her Japanese family and friends, I really wonder  whether it mightn't be a much better idea for the Government  to keep me at home, and send a lot of young Australians to Japan,

and other countries, to build the internationalism I'be been  talking about. '

Certainly you. people in Rotary have long been aware of  the value of such exchanges, and in fostering them you have  played a major part in creating better relations and communication  between nations.

Communication., in all forms, has been massively transformed  in recent years. Travel has brought people together. If  people, especially young people, had known each other as well 60  years ago, or 40 years ago, as they do today, through travel, I  wonder if the course of history in this century would have been  as violent as it has?

Mr. Chairman, I hope this conference, in its own way,  will further add to our understanding of the new world we live in. I hope it will help draw attention once again to the fact that t h e !choice facing mankind is, as Toynbee says, unity or .

destruction.

