Malcolm FraserMr Chairman, fellow heads of government and Sir Sonny RamphalMr Secretary-General: I regard it as a great honour to be asked to speak at this opening session of this great Commonwealth conference.
May I first congratulate you, Mr Chairman, on the immense efforts you and your fellow countrymen, together with the members of the Commonwealth secretariat, have made in preparation for this meeting.
Now that we are all together, in this splendid hall, in the lovely city of Melbourne, which bears the name of one of my predecessors, we are able to appreciate how fruitful those preparations have been. Can we all of us thank the citizens of Melbourne for the wonderful, warm welcome we received as we entered this building. It was greatly appreciated. You have provided us with an ideal setting for our discussions. Now we must ensure that those discussions are worthy of all the hard work that has preceded them.
May I echo, Mr Chairman, your welcome to the countries of the Commonwealth who are represented here for the first time: Zimbabwe, whose affairs I seem to remember occupied rather a lot of our last Commonwealth conference in Lusaka: Vanuatu, which had difficulties but we were able to overcome them: and Belize, which became independent just in time for Mr Price to be with us today. May we send our good wishes to our other new member, St Vincent and the Grenadines, which are not with us but which we welcome to the Commonwealth family.
We meet today as heads of government of the Commonwealth for the first time in the Pacific region—in which there are now eleven Commonwealth countries. We meet, auspiciously, in the 50th anniversary year of the passing of the Statute of Westminster, which has come to be regarded as the starting point in the development of a Commonwealth of independent nations. We meet in a country that is one of the founder members, and whose policies and attitudes have played, and continue to play, a most significant part in that development. Indeed, we are all very aware of the ways in which Australia has given a lead in Commonwealth thinking, particularly in the development of Commonwealth regional conferences.
Mr Chairman, when I spoke on a similar occasion at our meeting in Lusaka two years ago, I said that the Commonwealth must be more than a meeting place, more than an agency for technical cooperation
what is the use of being a Commonwealth unless together we stand for certain principles? We must proclaim and practise the ideals of democracy, personal liberty and equality before the law.
I think that at Lusaka, at Lancaster House and then in Zimbabwe itself, we showed the world that the Commonwealth can apply these [end p1] principles, can overcome difficult problems and can give a fresh impetus to democracy. I too am proud that the democratically elected representative of the government of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, sits with us today. We wish him, and all the people of his country, well.
But Mr Chairman, the tradition of democracy and liberty has another face, and one we should remember. Whatever our difficulties it is important for the Commonwealth that in our discussions during these coming days we show the same broad spirit of co-operation and understanding of others' problems that led to our success in 1979.
Mr Chairman, you and others have referred this afternoon to some of the subjects that we shall be talking about during our meeting. Perhaps I may touch very briefly on one of them.
The prospects for the world economy continue to cause deep concern. And the problems facing some developing countries are a special source for anxiety. You, Mr Chairman, and the Secretary-General have a particularly close interest in these matters. I hope that our meeting will provide an opportunity for a thorough discussion of these problems and that it will pave the way for fruitful exchanges at forthcoming meetings such as that in Mexico. But the solution to our problems lies not in the redistribution of existing wealth—there just is not enough to go round—but in the creation of new wealth. And that means taking a practical and constructive approach to these matters.
Of course, our gathering will also provide a chance for us to discuss a number of critical political issues including Afghanistan, the Middle East, Southern Africa and Cambodia. But I do not wish to embark on the discussions we shall be having over the days ahead. Let me just say this: we pride ourselves that our purpose is not peace at the expense of freedom, but peace with freedom. This conference is about the use we make of that freedom: for we know that the victories of peace are as challenging as the victories of war and that they endure longer.
I hope that at the end of our week's meeting we will look back at our endeavours with the satisfaction of having achieved something useful, and will emerge from it strengthened and confident in the future of our Commonwealth association.