Wanna rate Julia Gillards speech to the US Congress? Go on… I know ya do!
First up though, America is NOT feeling unloved as this report claims. Secondly, the South Pacific is a Polynesian territory, richly diverse in many cultures living side-by-side along with Australia and Kiwis. Polynesian voices, and Polynesian leadership being allowed to shine is now paramount in terms of human rights conscious pathways forward to grow the South Pacific economically and with defense.
It is a fine opportunity for the South Pacific to lead by example in conjunction with China and India’s human rights records improving. Supporting Polynesian voices in key roles, is the only evidence that this will be occurring as we serve others with respect as much as our own ambitions in the world as intelligent people who care for others in healthy people-relationship and culturally-shared dialogue with landscapes and territories the founding people of these territories have tended for centuries, being held paramount in the development of these territories economic growth, simply because these people are the experts in these territories, from a scientific perspective of these societies well being. They know more about what this part of the world needs more than we do.
If we can achieve that kind of growth model, then we are being humane and human in our growth as people alongside each other and beside each other, not ‘lording over.’
Alright, here’s Julia wowing the US Congress in ‘the red on red’. What I like about Julia is her “to the point” delivery. She knows what she’s doing. She gets on with it. She’s refreshing. Thanks Aussie.
Phillip Coorey writes for SMH writes - “The US is feeling unloved at the moment and Ms Gillard was there to stress how important and needed it still is. More so given the rise of China, which in the US is perceived as a far more negative prospect tha[n] it is in Australia, be it economic or militarily.
“You were indispensable in the Cold War and you are indispensable in the new world too,” she said.
Ms Gillard received six standing ovations and 10 seated rounds of applause. She herself choked back tears as she neared the end of the speech and urged the US to be bold in order to get back on its feet.
“I firmly believe you are the same people who amazed me when I was a small girl by landing on the moon,” she stammered.
There were tears in the audience as well. The hardline Republican Speaker, John Boehner, welled up when Ms Gillard told the story of the New York firefighter, Kevin Dowdell, who died a decade ago on September 11. Like so many who died in the twin towers, no trace of his body was ever found.
Three years before, Mr Dowdell had helped train Australians in preparation for a terrorist attack on the Sydney Olympics.
He gave a battered FDNY helmet to one of the Australian firefighters, Rob Frey. When Mr Dowdell was killed, Mr Frey tracked down his two sons, Patrick, a solider in Afghanistan, and James, a New York fireman, and gave them their father’s helmet.
James Dowdell and Mr Frey were in the gallery this morning and rose, Mr Dowdell clutching the helmet, to an ovation that almost lifted the roof.
It was a magnificent piece of symbolism that surpassed words.
While the prime aim of the speech was to reinforce the alliance into the future, it was not all praise and effusion.
Ms Gillard cautioned the US lawmakers against reverting to protectionism in a bid to lift its economy out of the slump.
Free trade equalled jobs and growth, she said.
She also sought to soothe fears about China, saying there was room for everyone to benefit economically.
“My guiding principle is that prosperity can be shared,” she said. “The global economy is not a zero-sum game.”
This provoked spontaneous applause.
Underlying it all, however, was the observation that, with China and India on the rise, the Asia-Pacific would become the world’s most important region in economic and military terms.