INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION ADDRESS OF
CONSUL GENERAL EARL M. IRVING
THE REGENT THEATER, MELBOURNE
JULY 3, 2006


The Honorable John Brumby, Treasurer and Minister for Innovation, Minister for State and Regional Development representing the Government of Victoria; 

The Honorable Tim Holding, Minister for Police & Emergency Services and Corrections;

The Honorable Andre Haermeyer, Minister for Manufacturing & Exports, Small Business & Financial Services;

The Honorable Jacinta Allan, Minister for Education Services, Employment and Youth Affairs;

The Honorable Ted Baillieu, Leader of the Opposition and the Honorable Andrea Coote, Deputy Leader of the Opposition;

Distinguished Members of State and Federal Parliaments;

Councilor Gary Singer, Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne;

Chief Commissioner of Police Christine Nixon;

The Honorable Pete Peterson, United States Ambassador, Retired;

Former Melbourne Consul General Frank Bennett;

Members of the Consular Corps

Distinguished guests; 

My fellow Americans;

I am delighted that so many of you are able to join us on this chilly Melbourne evening.

We gather tonight because tomorrow marks the 230th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the date that recalls the founding of our Republic.  In many ways like Australia Day, people in the United States will be putting up the flag in front of their house, watching a parade, having barbecues or picnics, going to baseball games or the beach, and, in the evening, they'll be watching big fireworks displays.

My favorite is the one held over the Washington mall, where the re-creation of “bombs bursting in air” flash red, white and blue, onto the Capitol Building, the White House, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.  These are the places that embody for Americans many of our most treasured values.

The Capitol Building: the seat of Congress, representing the voice of the people in their government.

The White House: not a palace but a home -- a temporary home the American people provide to the person they choose as the chief executive and civilian commander of the armed forces.

The Washington Monument: that stark, towering obelisk of near-perfect classical symmetry -- pointing heavenward -- almost an invitation to greatness for those who would follow in the footsteps of our first President.

And the majestic Lincoln Memorial: - where people stand in silence -- or amid whispers -- in tribute to the slain leader whose vision preserved our union and abolished slavery.  Lincoln’s words inscribed on the white marble walls are memorized by school children across the country. "Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation; conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

That great speech, called Lincoln's Gettysburg address, drew its inspiration from one of America's most compelling moments.  It harkens back to the reason we celebrate tonight - that day in 1776 when the American colonies declared themselves independent from Great Britain through the signing and publishing of the Declaration of Independence.

Largely the work of Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration not only heralded the birth of a new nation, but also set forth a philosophy of human freedom that would become a dynamic and enduring force throughout the world.

Jefferson crystallized the reasons for taking up arms against Britain.  He described "the Course of human events," as he called it, which made it necessary to dissolve the political bands connecting the colonies with England.  He wrote:  "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

When we consider "the course of human events" that was the catalyst of America's independence from Britain, it's easy to see it as leading inevitably to the system of government we have today.  But, in fact, there was nothing inevitable about any of it.

A vote was taken late in the afternoon of July 4, 1776.  Of the thirteen colonies, nine voted in favor.  Two, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, voted no.  Delaware was undecided and New York abstained.  On several occasions throughout the years of war that followed, the entire outcome repeatedly hung in the balance of a given battle, or even certain votes taken by the new Continental Congress.  Even in our earliest days, bitter acrimony marked the relations of the first two political parties.

The historian Joseph Ellis, in his Pulitzer Prize winning work, Founding Brothers, argues that at the beginning of John Adams term as America's second President, chaos was the order of the day.  He writes: - "Political parties were congealing into doctrinaire ideological camps, but neither side possessed the verbal or mental capacity to regard the other as anything but treasonable,".  And imagine, this is from a group of leaders with a long history of parliamentary experience and political liberties.

It’s an interesting perspective when considering "the course of human events," as it were, in recent times.  The ongoing struggle in Iraq greets Americans and Australians daily in the morning papers and on the evening news.  At times, the way this war will end seems to us anything but inevitable.  Yet we believe this people, long oppressed, deserves a chance at Democracy - at Freedom.  We know the road to democracy can be a hard go.  It requires a vision and a belief in the ardent desire of all people to be free.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was born in Birmingham, Alabama, went to segregated schools, and witnessed the violence of white supremacists desperate to hang on to a way of life at odds with our founding principles.  She could be excused for finding it difficult to believe in democracy in America or anywhere else in the world.  Nevertheless, in a speech to students in Sydney last March she observed, and I quote, “in my lifetime, Birmingham transformed, America transformed and I stand before you as a black Secretary of State, something that I think 30 or 40 years ago many would have thought to be impossible.  Now it seems perfectly natural…I would therefore ask you to think about what might happen in your lifetime.  Think about in your lifetime -- where freedom may spread.  Think about in your lifetime -- the peoples who will finally escape from tyranny and have the dignity that comes with democracy.  Think about in your lifetime -- the world not as you see it now but the world that you want to see.  And think about in your lifetime what you can do to make that world a reality.”  End Quote.   We know Victorians and Australians share these values.

You might be surprised to know that full diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Australia date only from 1941.  But our multifaceted relationship with Australia has deep roots, reaching back to the earliest days of British settlement.  Americans were involved in Australia’s whaling industry as far back as 1792, and American prospectors worked in the Victorian and Tasmanian gold fields through the mid 19th century.

The visit to Australia of America’s Great White Fleet in 1908 marked both a coming of age for the United States in world affairs, and the beginning of a security relationship between the U.S. and Australia that has seen the two countries fight together in every major conflict since World War I – a distinction we share with no other country.

Today that friendship continues, underpinned by a common devotion to the defense of liberty and commitment to the principle of the “fair go,” or as Thomas Jefferson put it, we are all created equal, each with the right to pursue life, liberty and happiness.

Clearly, our relations with Britain have changed since the early days of our republic.  Our special relationship with London today is strong, enduring, and hardened by the many tests it has met and overcome.

To our guests from Australia and other countries, thank you for the expression of friendship in joining us this evening.  My wife Jeanne, son Michael, daughter Zoë, and I have found living in Melbourne a delightful experience.  It is our first posting in the developed world and we are almost used to the uninterrupted electricity supply, the clean tap water, and the multiple telephone plans we have engaged.

To my fellow Americans who've joined us this evening, let us recall the example of our founders, and commit ourselves to spreading broadly the “good news” of America among those we meet.  In this way we will best pay tribute to those who, 230 years ago, pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to guarantee our freedom.

Thank you.