:
4.
As an affluent country with vast natural resources in
a world demanding an increasing volume of resources, Australia
faces both opportunities and challenges. The opportunities are
to serve other nations and ourselves by using our resources. The
challenges lie in the obligation on Australia to play a part
commensurate with its status as an affluent nation with abundant
resources in meeting the needs of the world.
Australia's geographic location near the less developed
nations of South East Asia and the Pacific region places particular
importance on this obligation.
There is a tendency to see Australia either as an
unwilling part of Asia or as an outpost of Europe in an alien
environment. I believe we should build the confidence in ourselves
which would enable us to see Australia not as part of Asia or an
outpost of Europe. We are Australia, a unique nation continent.
We have a history, institutions, attitudes, interests and
objectives of our own.
We are unique in providing a home for many people from
many countries and cultures, predominantly European. But the fact
remains that the vast majority of the Australian population was
born in Australia. Their connections with other areas are less
direct as time passes.
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