[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[January 1, 1992]
[Pages 3-4]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks During a Luncheon Cruise in Sydney Harbor, Australia

January 1, 1992
    Mr. Premier, thank you, sir. I prepared rather extensive remarks I'd 
hoped to give, but the Premier said we're making short remarks here at 
lunch. So, I tore up this. I will forego these, but simply to say that 
Barbara and I first want to thank everyone involved for this 
extraordinary hospitality.
    There is no way that I can tell you what it feels like to travel 
with so little hostility on the street. And I'm starting right at home, 
you know. [Laughter] I'm a man that knows every hand gesture you've ever 
seen--[laughter]--and I haven't learned a new one since I've been here, 
so something is terribly wrong. [Laughter] Because we just feel a 
genuine warmth from the people along the way, right from the airport 
into town. And then this morning I went running, and early birds, those 
that were sober enough to get up, were out there waving away. And so, it 
has been a really heartwarming experience for us to be back.
    I will note that this relationship is of fundamental importance to 
the United States. I also know that there's some apprehension in this 
part of the world--here, then north

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to the ASEAN countries, maybe even in Japan, possibly in Korea--about 
the United States role in the world. And I understand that because 
people look at the evolution of change in the Soviet Union; they see the 
freedom of the Baltic States; they see the interest that we all had, and 
thank God for Australia's early support, steadfast support, in the war 
against Iraq; they see us working very hard to bring parties together in 
this Middle East, people that have never even spoken to each other. And 
they're saying to themselves, ``I wonder if the U.S. cares? I wonder if 
the United States really wants to remain involved?''
    They see us working on a trade agreement with Mexico in which Canada 
would participate. And some in commerce in this part of the world are 
understandably saying, ``Where are we going to fit in? Does this mean 
we're going to have one trading bloc in Europe and one trading bloc in 
America, and then somebody else look to some different kind of trading 
bloc in Asia and Australia?'' And the answer to that is no. And the only 
thing I want to say here, having been denied my full speech which would 
have taken 45 minutes, is--[laughter]--that we will be involved. We're 
going to stay totally involved in this part of the world.
    That's the first point. And the second point is, we know friends 
when we see them. And the longer I am in this job, the more important 
true friends are. And we have a couple of differences, and we'll talk 
about those in Canberra. We talked about them here today privately. But 
the differences are so overwhelmed by the common purpose and the genuine 
friendship that they're not even registering on the radar screen.
    So, we are blessed. We Americans are blessed by having this long and 
tremendously important relationship with this wonderful country in which 
you all live. And we're grateful to you. We won't let you down. And we 
will stay involved right up until the very end of eternity because we 
know it's fundamentally in our own interests. And we hope like hell it's 
in yours.
    But I just want to wish each and every one of you a wonderful new 
year. And yes, sir, Mr. Premier, you have started the year off in a 
glorious and grand way not just for the Bushes but for all of those 
Americans that are privileged to be with us here today. Thank you for 
your hospitality. And may God bless Australia. Thank you.

                    Note: The President spoke at 2:16 p.m. aboard the 
                        ``John Cadman III'' in Sydney Harbor. In his 
                        remarks, he referred to Nick Greiner, Premier of 
                        New South Wales.