Talking points for a Speech

on the Announcement of  Australia’s indigenous film gift to France on the occasion of the Baudin Bicentnenary

Adelaide, 5 April 2002
(Check Against Delivery)

Baudin Bicentenary: Announcement of Australia's Indigenous Film Gift to France

Introduction

• Your Excellency, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
• It is wonderful to be with you today, and to participate in one of the many events of Encounter 2002
• that brings together communities across our State, in celebration of the achievements of two great figures of early 19^th century discovery and exploration – Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin.
• It is two hundred years since these two remarkable men met at the aptly-named Encounter Bay.
• Imagine what it must have been like at the time – two expeditions, one British, the other French, meeting up in what – to them - was indeed a remote corner of the globe!
  • It is a remarkable story.
• I believe very strongly - with many of those behind the Encounter 2002 project - that we owe it to Flinders and Baudin to recognise and commemorate their accomplishments
  • today, in particular, we celebrate the strong bilateral relations we in Australia have with France, the home country of Baudin.

Baudin and Flinders

• The meeting between Flinders and Baudin, to be celebrated this weekend at Encounter Bay, marked one of the earliest examples of scientific interaction on our continent
  • interaction that continues today in the strong scientific and technological cooperation between Australia and both the United Kingdom and France.
• The United Kingdom and France were at war in 1802: but, far removed from that conflict, Flinders and Baudin did not perpetuate the hostilities
• instead, they pursued their scientific missions peacefully and cooperatively.
• This anniversary represents a wonderful opportunity to highlight the great achievements of these two explorers.
• Commodore Baudin’s expedition gave shape to much of what was then a great unknown land, exploring the coast of Western Australia, Van Dieman’s Land and the uncharted southern coast
  • many places along the coast bear the name given to them by Baudin and his crew.
• Baudin’s expedition also left us with a rich visual legacy, which we see here today: the drawings of Lesueur and Petit, talented illustrators from Baudin’s crew, provide an important and enduring record of Australia at the time.
• I’d like to thank Mr Ron Radford, Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia, for allowing us to use this venue today.
• The Baudin expedition was also one of the earliest examples of cultural interaction between Europeans and Aborigines on the Australian continent
  • by all accounts, Baudin and his crew were careful and respectful in their contacts with Aborigines: sadly, this was not always the case with early European explorers.

The Baudin bicentenary

• I want to acknowledge the strong cooperation and support between Australia and France in developing joint activities to commemorate and celebrate the Baudin bicentenary
  • and, particularly, the work of Michel Rocard and his Terra Australis Committee, of which President Jacques Chirac is patron.
• As part of the Federal Government’s program of support for the celebrations, my department sponsored Mr Rocard’s visit to Australia last August
  • In addition, our Embassy in Paris showcased South Australia in June 2001 at a major Encounter 2002 promotional launch
    • attended by former Premier, John Olsen, and high-level French dignitaries and officials.
• My department, with the French Embassy, is also funding or supporting a range of other commemorative activities, including
  • twin city and friendship arrangements; visits by French journalists; commemorative projects throughout this year; a joint commemorative postage stamp that was launched yesterday – simultaneously in France and Australia
    • and a project close to my heart: helping Adelaide University raise business sponsorship for its international science research centre on Kangaroo Island, and related post-graduate scholarships.

Australia’s gift to France

• I am pleased to announce that the Federal Government, in conjunction with the Australian Film Commission, will be presenting the Government of France with a gift of contemporary films by leading Australian indigenous film makers
• The collection, entitled ‘Exploration: Indigenous Australian Film’, consists of 16 award-winning short films by young indigenous writers and directors.
The films explore a wide range of issues relevant to contemporary indigenous Australia: the role of traditional law; survival in inner cities; race relations; mateship; family relationships; spirituality; landscape; identity.
• This important film collection will be permanently held in France and used for educational and cultural purposes.
  • It will showcase Australia’s indigenous film-makers in one of the most important cinema-going countries in Europe.
• I would like to acknowledge Ms Sally Riley – Director of the Australian Film Commission Indigenous Section - who is with us here today, and who has contributed two films to the collection.
• And I would like to thank the Australia International Cultural Council – a number of whose members are here today - for its funding support for this project.

Conclusion

• I can think of no better way to provide a lasting memory of the Baudin bicentenary
  • It is a fitting one indeed, making contemporary the encounters between Baudin and the original inhabitants of Australia - an interaction, if you will, between the old and new worlds that not only defined much of Baudin’s travels 200 years ago, but that today remains relevant to relations between indigenous and immigrant peoples
  • And it is a gift that I hope will help to inform future generations and inspire cultural understanding between the peoples of Australia and France.
• I wish the Government and people of South Australia every success in the staging of Encounter 2002
  • not only will these activities mark an event of great significance for our State, and for Australia
    • they will also leave a legacy of lasting benefit for our community.