Speech
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer
Adelaide, 16 April 2000
Queen's Birthday Luncheon of The Royal Commonwealth Society, South Australian Branch.
E and O E
The Commonwealth - Charting a New Course in a New Century.
Introduction
Thank you Madam President (Mrs Betty Thorp, President of the Branch); distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
It is a great pleasure for me to be here with you today. Thank you for your welcome and for giving me the opportunity to speak about the Commonwealth of Nations, here in my home State of South Australia.
I want at the outset to recognise the work that the Royal Commonwealth Society does. With its worldwide network of branches, the Society plays an important role in building the people-to-people links which are such an important part of the modern Commonwealth. I believe that, in an era of globalisation, these links will become even more important to the organisation. I pay tribute to the work you do, here in South Australia and elsewhere, as an indispensable part of the Commonwealth's future.
Your celebration today of the Birthday of Her Majesty The Queen is indeed an appropriate occasion at which to contemplate such questions. In her role as Head of the Commonwealth, The Queen helps to link the countries and peoples of the Commonwealth through the interest she takes in their various activities, as evidenced by her recent, very successful visit to Australia. She has fulfilled that role superbly for almost half a century and seen many changes to what she has described, in her message for Commonwealth Day 2000, as 'an organisation so diverse and widespread'.
It is particularly noteworthy that the theme for Commonwealth Day this year was The Communications Challenge. The Queen spoke in her message of how 'advances in communication technology are particularly helpful in fostering the non-governmental networks which help to make the Commonwealth so unique'. This is undoubtedly an area of change to which the Commonwealth must learn to adapt. It is pleasing to note that the International Headquarters of the Royal Commonwealth Society in London has created an impressive Internet website (www.rcsint.org), to help prove the point!
The changing Commonwealth
I have now lived long enough to be able to appreciate personally how much the Commonwealth has changed over the years. When I was a teenager, around the time that Sir Robert Menzies retired from office, the Commonwealth had only 22 members. Now it has 54, covering roughly one quarter of the countries of the world and one quarter of its population.
In Sir Robert's day, it was a simpler organisation. Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conferences, for example, tended to be more intimate affairs than is possible at Commonwealths Heads of Government Meetings - or CHOGMs - today. Even before Sir Robert's retirement in 1966, a decision was taken to create the Commonwealth Secretariat in recognition of the need for greater co-ordination of various Commonwealth activities.
The great increase in membership reflected a deeper change, of course, as the Commonwealth became more multi-racial and multi-cultural in nature. As more and more colonies and other dependent territories of the former British Empire acquired their independence and joined the Commonwealth - in Asia and Africa, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and the Indian and Pacific Oceans - the cultural diversity and geographic spread of the organisation grew. It is now the Commonwealth on which the sun never sets!
And this change was inevitably reflected in the range of interests and concerns which the Commonwealth pursued. Apartheid, decolonisation, majority rule - words like these convey some of the great Commonwealth issues from that era which spanned the latter part of the twentieth century.
There is a real sense in which the Commonwealth lies at a crossroads at the beginning of the new century. Some of the great issues which gave the Commonwealth much of its political force and presence in international relations are no longer there. Apartheid has been defeated, majority rule is an accepted principle, and the work of decolonisation is virtually complete. We need to look to the future and find our sense of direction for the challenges that lie ahead.
Today, I would like to focus my remarks on what the Commonwealth does well and how it might be able to do better. In looking to our past experience, we will, I believe, find the signposts which will help us to chart a new course in a new century.
Looking to the future
In his valedictory speech to the Royal Commonwealth Society in London, just a few weeks ago, former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku said, and I quote,'Of the Commonwealth's increasing relevance and value in the 21st century, I have no doubt'.
The task before us, as members of the Commonwealth, and for you, as part of the Commonwealth's vast network of associated organisations, is to ensure that this increasing relevance and value is achieved. It means recognising where the Commonwealth's strengths lie, building on them and identifying where and how those strengths can be used effectively to meet the challenges which will face Commonwealth countries in the years to come.
There has probably never been a better time to undertake such a task. Many international organisations are facing the same challenge - the UN is probably the most visible one of them all as it prepares for the Millennium Summit later this year to review its role in the 21st century. The Commonwealth has also in a sense closed another chapter in its history with the departure of Chief Anyaoku, who achieved much during his tenure. During his time and as he himself described it, he presided over the 'development of the Commonwealth as a community of democracies'.
For Australia, in particular, our membership since CHOGM 1999 of both the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group or CMAG, and the High Level Review Group set up to review the role of the Commonwealth, plus our role as host of the next CHOGM in Brisbane in 2001, means that we will have important opportunities to contribute to this process of change.
The Commonwealth's strengths
For many of you closely involved in the Commonwealth, some of the strengths of the Commonwealth are obvious.
The very diversity which I have already mentioned is a strength. In an age of globalisation, having an international organisation representing a broad range of nations, developed and developing, from nearly every region of the world and speaking the most important international language - English - is particularly useful. With 54 members, the Commonwealth is big enough to make a real impact on the world.
Our shared inheritance in language, culture and the rule of law forms the basis for the Commonwealth's ability to reach consensus and work in a constructive manner on a range of global issues. It also allows countries, like Australia, to engage most effectively with countries outside their immediate regions. Perhaps more than any other international organisation, it has encouraged the development of an extraordinary network of non government organisations, of which the Royal Commonwealth Society is just one.
On a policy front, the Commonwealth's commitment to addressing issues of concern and relevance to its member states, particularly through the biennial CHOGMs, has ensured its continuing relevance. This was no more apparent than at the last CHOGM in Durban where 47 of the 53 full members were represented at Head of Government level. In the light of what I have already said, it will come as no surprise to note that they came to discuss one of the most influential trends facing Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth nations, namely globalisation. Importantly, the Heads of Government recognised the need to seize the opportunities offered by globalisation but acknowledged the need to minimise its risks.
In recognition of the importance of this issue, Australia announced at CHOGM 1999 that it would continue its support of the Commonwealth's Trade and Investment Access Facility (TIAF), established at the Prime Minister's initiative, to help Commonwealth developing countries to manage the impact of globalisation. We also announced that we would fund a special training programme for trade negotiators from African countries to strengthen their capacity to take advantage of the new WTO trade round. One of the Commonwealth's most significant features is that it provides an effective forum where its 32 smaller states can express views and be heard.
From Australia's viewpoint, the Commonwealth's most important strength is its proven track record in promoting fundamental political values among its members including, in particular, democratisation, good governance and the rule of law. Australia's membership of CMAG, which was set up in 1995 to deal with serious or persistent violations of the fundamental political principles set out in the Commonwealth's Harare Declaration, demonstrates our strong support for the Commonwealth's role in these areas. I look forward to attending the first CMAG meeting of 2000 early next month at which CMAG members will review developments in Pakistan, Sierra Leone and The Gambia since CHOGM 1999.
In this context, Australia is also a strong supporter of the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation or CFTC as the Commonwealth's main vehicle for strengthening good governance in Commonwealth member countries, particularly through its work in supporting democratic and legal institutions. In recognition of this, Australia announced at the last CHOGM that it would increase its contribution to the CFTC by 10 per cent each year for the next three years
The role of the Commonwealth in the 21st century
The key challenge now is for the Commonwealth to harness those strengths in the most effective way possible in order to define and refine its role in the 21st century.
To be effective, the Commonwealth needs to be realistic about what it can achieve and this means focusing on activities in areas where it has a comparative advantage. Its budget is modest and it should not attempt, for example, to replicate the range of activities undertaken by the UN. This means withdrawing from areas of activity where others are more effective. In an era of diminishing resources and competing priorities, this is particularly important.
The Commonwealth has already shown where it can add value - it now needs to focus on how to strengthen and possibly expand its involvement in these areas and assess whether it needs to have a future role in others. There is also further scope for the Commonwealth to develop its links with and complement the work of other organisations. For example, the Joint Task Force between the Commonwealth and World Bank to deal with small states' issues has been a successful advocate on their behalf and was a step in the right direction.
Another aspect for consideration will be how the Commonwealth can improve and streamline the way in which it delivers its services and how the different bodies of the Commonwealth can interact more effectively. The internal reform process begun under Chief Anyaoku has already begun to address these issues but more remains to be done.
And finally, while the governance structures of the Commonwealth have served the organisation well over the years, we believe this is the time to assess whether they can be improved.
Conclusion
The next few years will be significant in laying the groundwork for a revitalised and relevant Commonwealth in the 21st century. The Commonwealth has achieved much in the past, particularly in encouraging countries to shape their own political and economic futures.
We remain confident that it will achieve as much if not more in the future, some of it under the leadership of the new Secretary-General, Don McKinnon.
Australia welcomes the opportunity to contribute to revitalising the Commonwealth as host of the first CHOGM in the new century, through its membership of the High Level Review Group and CMAG and through our active involvement in the affairs of the Commonwealth.
In the lead-up to this CHOGM, non-government groups such as the Royal Commonwealth Society will have an important role in fostering a greater understanding and appreciation of the Commonwealth throughout Australia. I welcome the support you give to that effort here in South Australia. Together, we can look forward to making a real contribution towards helping the Commonwealth grasp the opportunities of the new century.
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