EMBARGO:
ELECTIONS ...
1>
8.30 P.M.
13 "1AY 1974
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THE POLICY SPFECH
BY
THE PRIHE rUNISTER are._ OF AUSTRl\.I.. IA _...... •
F
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BY.,i\Ci'TOHN,
N. S. t\'.
29 APRIJ.. 1974
Men and Women of Australia, Just 17 months ago, I stood here, and from this place and from this city I asked you to choose for Australia a new team, a new program t a new drive for equality of opportunities. You gave us a clear mandate to go ahead with our program for the nex-t 3 years. For 17 months \"e have driven ourselves to carry out your mandate to carry out the program I placed before y,·:m. Now the government you elected for 3 years has been interrupted in mid-career. Our program has been brought to a halt in mid-stream. p
Everything we promised, everyt.hing we have achieved i everything you expe-::ted of us ~ your expressed hopes for yonrselves I your families, your nation - ctll this is suddenly th~eat.ened. It is threatened by the actions of the men you rejected a mere 17 months ago. It is threatened by the actions of men elected to the Seno.t.e not in 1972, b 11t in 1967 and 1970. It is threatened by Ir;en \'1ho r~fnsed to stand by the umpire' s verdict ~ your verei~t - to give ~s a chance, to give you a chance, to S'ive A1l3J:'.ral~.a a ne\"1 char.ce. These men who have falRified democracy now ask to turn back. Tm..' n bClCk to \'?11a:c.'? Think aga.in how it '\-laS when you elected us in 19·/2. Ul\empJ.oym~nt 'I.'1as at its worst for 10 years. Our rate of g~owth was one of the world' s worst ~ a paltry 2%. The Australian dollar T:Ias grossly undervalued. Foreign nonEy ,,,,as flooding in to buy up A~stralian resources and Australian indastries on the cheap. Accelerating numbers of migrantD were leaving in disi~lusion. J·mstralia was still deeply involved i:::. thG \',;'ar in Viet Nam. Our whole foreigzl policy was based on hostility to China. totJe were running ail nrmy on t.he cheap by con:;cripting young men. There \'.7ere young men i:1 pris.;)n f0'~' their conscience. AustraU.Cl 'Has a deep1.. y divided nation. Our young people were becoming ali€:nat.ed :::'rcm t.he r.tainstrec:.m of Australian society. The disrespec·t in which our national leadership - the Liberals ,"ere held at 1":.ome had sp::<,~ad t.:.o disrespec-t for. Australia abroad. you
Think again, indeed! riaxk today ~ S contrast. The Australian economy is one of the most buoycmt and vigorous in the \'lOrld. Full employment has been ~estored. Business activity is at its highest for a deccde, company profits are at record levels and business expectations are at an all time high. Through our economic policies and our social security program, A'..lstrali.a';; pro sp:;:::;: i ty ':'s becoming more fairly shared than ever before. Abroad I Austral ia has ne~7er stood so tall. We have buried old anim0s:i.+:i~s. Ne c.re held in ne~J' respect by old friends and allies. Never in her history. h~s Australia been more secure.
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We have ended national division, national disunity by ending our involvement in Viet Nam, and ending conscription. We have opened up new and expanding markets for our farm products. By J?lacin~! fa'mily :reunio:1. fO:r" migrants above mere recruiting, we have stopped the mig::an::' drift.
For ·the first time Aus".::ralia has a government determined to promote hust.re.lian o\'mership 2.nd control of Australian industries and resources. For the first time fer a generation Australia has a government dedicated to eq'o:ml opportuni ty for all its ci·tizens. We have more t.han doublt~d spending on schools. Ne have abolished ~ces at: unive:r"Gi t:i.D.S colle·;es of advanced education and - going one bett8~ than bur pledge - at technical schools. For the fi::st. time ctUsi:Loalia has a government determined to wake the cf)nditj.o~1S 0': life !r..o:':e equal for all Australians, ',olhereV2r they live in E>_uTL=a2.ia ~ For the first: time .AustrCl.~.ia h;;:3 a government seriously concerned to sive cq~ality of cppor·tunity to women. For the fir:Jt time Aus·':.ralia has a national government involving 5.tself directly in th8 affairs of our cities. For tte f:'.:rst tiDe At!st::-alia has a government ready to give local ~iove:::-r:.m.2nt direct acee;'38 to t~h8 ::1.ational finances. Fo~ the first tim8 ~~gtraJ.ia ha~ a national government pr€~~areQ to CO·'vp2j:"at.e ~.:l rene'trlil":.g O'L".r decaying urban transport syst0ffiS.
For the first t.:i.rr.e AU5t.rc~lia has a national government deterwined to fulfil its constitutional obligation towards the aboriginals. I'or th~ fi=st tiI':'8 Auet.ralia. h2'.s a government determined to prese::-"e 7 prot:ect and p!lhailCe A.ustralia' s national es·tate - onr na.·;:u.cal and histcr:~cal inheritance,. what we keep from our paG~, what we tr~nsmit to ths future. For the fir':';: t:imc Aust:;.~alia has a national government which recognises the significance of the arts and artists in our society. Our SUFPort for the arts has released an unparallelJ.rji b:.l=~d:. o£ creativity in this nation.
These achievements are just some of the fruits of programs based on expert advice. lie sought and obtained the co-operation of the most highly qualified Australi.an men and women to enquire into and to report upon basic requirements in Australia's social and economic structures. These reports are public. The \Jork of these enquiries and commissions is the basis of a continuing f cohererl"!: . cmr.prehenshre program. The net路" ini.tiatives I announce tonight are the ne"'j dimensions and expanded fruits of tilis ~lOrk. This premature election means that these fruits are being denied the Australian people. It has Iueant deferring our entire legislativeprcgra~. t1e have this legislation ready to go, it is crucial legislation, and \'1e have it ready. v-le as!~ you to send us back -::'0 get on "lith 路the business - your business. In the Parliament that has been dissolved four referendum bills had been twice rejected by the Senate. Under the Constitution the Governor-General is submitting each of them to the electors. Six other bills had been twice rejected by the Senate. 'I'hat is \'lhy under the Constitution the Governor-General has dissolved both Houses of Parliament. The Senate had also rejected nine other bills. Some of them had been introduced a second time. \'Jhen the Parliament was dissolved 21 bills were waiting to be passed. The government will reintroduce all these rejected and pending bills in the new Parliament. Also, 107 new bills have been alreaGy drafted and are awaiting introduction in the new Parliament; a further 104 bills are being drafted on the_90vernment's instructions. Our programs - the programs you en.dorsed in 1972 had been developed over the previous six years. They were published policies., they \vere debated in public; they \'lere scrutinized in Parliament. Time and time again as an Opposition, we put positive proposals up for debate in Parliament.. By contrast our 0Pi)Onents have never since put up a single proposal for examination by either Parlimnent or the public. ~'Jhen they forced this election, none of us knew anything of '-lhat they proposed. All \<'1e ]<:new was what they opposed. And that I s really all we knm'l now. In defence of their wealthy friends and vested interests, the:y rejected the democratic principle of equal electorates, they blocked attempts to democratise and modernise tile trade union movement, they denied representation in the Senate to the people of the Uorthern Territory and the Aus路tralian Capi tal Territory; they sought to deny to local government direct access to national revenues and borrowings; they preserved for foreign mining interests >che right to exploit our off'-shore resources. rriley preserved the inequity, ineffi.ciency arId injustice of an antiquated health scllenle. They have prevented one million of our fellow-citizens from having any protection against hospital and medical charges.
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By shelv~ng the Tr~de Practices Bill they left the door open to monopolies and big corporations to fix prices, organise cart.els and <:~xp'loit. the hustralian customer. By shelving the ~.u5tralj_an lndustry Development Corporation Bill they blocked the most; effective instr"L~!t\ent for ensuring Australian control of our industri(;-)s and developing n~w industries. They left the door 0E/en t.o foreign takeovers and foreign exp10i tation of the l\llstralian economy. Yet you had given us a clear mandate for everyone of these proposals they have opposed and obstructed.
These are the men who forced a
election. affecting your lives I your families and t:heir welfare; your nation I s future for the next three years on tht";: basis of policies cooked up in the last three \'leeks. Fhcn they destroyed my government's pover to govern ·they had no more idea of ''lha.t their policies would be than you did. All they :mew is that ·they ,",ere out to destroy the :'Jhi tlam Government. The Leajer of the Opposition in the Senate admitted on tl18 night of the dissolution of Parliament :':J2 €:llharkr""oj on a course some 12 months ago to bring about a House of Repr.esentative~ election".. In the five weeks tha.t the Senat.e sat this year votes were taken on 43 occasions.. 'l'he three opposition parti.es combined to defeat t~,e govc:rnr:~ent on. 42 of those occasions. 'l'hey had made t.Ile pa:::'li~un8nt unworkable. Now they are asking you to rnake a
p~emature
~judgement
:'}hat a sp(~ctaclc~ this r:n.:st present to the world In a ~;1orld where everywhere democracy is und~r challenc;e. no other country in the warld could an Upper nouse, elected 3~ years ago and 6~ years ago, use an outdated ~ajority, a chance majority, t.o bring dOI.-In th(?! government elected by the people only one and one-third years ago. l\nd in Aust?:'alia this had never been before attempted by the Senate. Until our opponents lost office, after 23 years, it had never even been thxeatened in the Australi.an Parliament.
One result of their actions is that for only the third time in 1'.ustralia I s his·tory, we are to have an election for the whole Senate as '-lel1 as the Bou::::e of Representatives. In addition, you ':!i11 be a3}('?d to support refer0nr'tum proposals to make the Australian demccra.c.y more eql!.it.ablc and. more efficient. REFEREl\!DUJ.I.~S
The last occasi.on on which you voted fer the whole of the Senate and the HO'.13E~ of r~ep:cesentatives ''las 1951. The fi.rst referenduro PI:oj?cs.~l is' d.c;;siqn"C:, to a.void the situation after 1951. Barely tt~ ~~?rs aft2r the 1951 double dissolution there had to b~ an clectio~1 fol.' half. the Senate and then a year lat~r a selJarat.e House of Representatives election.' It is quite wrong to suggest that the present dissolution of both Houses of itself synchronises future elections for them.
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It does nothing of the sort. The elections for the two Houses will remain out of kilter unless you accept our referendum proposal. Au~tralia has too many elections. Since 1963 we have had' a national election every l~ year!:L That is not good for Australia. It does not make for good government or for a healthy Parliament. Australia needs a period of ~tahl(? governmeu·t. Australia needs a period of stable leadershi.p. Ee enter upon a time of di.fficult decisions. Such c:lecisions can be taken only by a united government 1 a united leadership, a united Party, a united nation. And our govermnen"i:o alone offers such unity, such leadership. We need a Pdrlia~ment which reflects the will of the people as fully and accurately as possible. Our referendum proposals are designed to achieve this.
Our proposal to synchronise elections for the Senate and House of Represp.ntatives Vlas recoMmended as far back as 1958 by the a11-"party Constitution RevieN Committee es1:ablished under Sir Robp.rt I·1.enzies in 1956. The second proposal is to allow the Constitution to be altered if a majority of all the electors in hustralia. approve and also a majority of the electors in not less than one-half of the States; this proposal was also recommended by the Constitution ~ev.iew Committee in 1958. The third proposal is that after July 1976 there should be equal electorates in the House of Representatives and in every State Houze of Parliament; the method has been perf~cted for the u.s. Congress and State legislatures by the U.S. Supreme Court over the last 10 years, in Australia it Nill be applied by the IIigh Court. 'rhe Senate opposed your having a vote on any of these i.ssues, f~ven those recoITiInended as far back as 1958.· But .." here the Senate b1ice rejects referendum proposals the Constitution gives you, the people, the right to vote on· them regardless of the Senate's rejection. It is not without signifi.cance that our opponents used their numbers in the Senate to block your chance of having your say as electors on proI>osals to make Australia a more stable democracy and a more eq:ual democracy. Despite their obstruction, you will, at referendums on the sw~e day as the elections, be able to have your say. I kno\'l that these matters requi.re your thought and your time if you are to make a reasonable judgement. I ask you again as I asked you two weeks ago, to give close thought to them and five minutes of your time for the future {",)f AusttOalia on the 18 f·lay.
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'J'BE ECON0i1Y li"?e Australiens all nON' face together one of the great historic challenges of our time, to ~ake democracy \>1or]q -to make the parliamentary system "'Jork, and ma]~e it work better. 'He shar:-; 'chis challE:nqe with most: other parliamentary democracies. Equally r r;r'ith them, "lith all major trading natio:ls ~ f;Ji th all I!d.x.ed eC011.omies 1 \'V'e share the problem of inflation. r-Ie are all seeking "lays by t.,rhich the expectations f the ,.,.ishes, t.he asp:LJ:;&tior~8" the hopes of every member of the ccmmunity can be reconciled \voit.h f:r:eedom, good order, security, stability. There is no simple answer! no one answer, no e"sy cure. But if a solution is to be found or even attempted: we need a s'i;:rcng: cou::ageous, united leadership. ,,'Je need i.lt th8 same 路time, a national leadership !?assionately corH::e:;,~ned about. 'che preservatioll. of the democrati.c system and a leade~shi? compassionately concerned to protect the weaker members of th.~ C~)::~~.iunit'{. I suggest t:> you that our government, since y,-')u elect.eo it only 17 months ago, has sho\ID such dedica~ion and has shown its capacity for firm and courageous decisions - decisio:".s w;'''d.ch ;V'e!"c some'::imes initially unpopu12r r Oppos(~d by pmverful inte):es-t.s, but which have proved their correctness and which have proved the doomsayers wrong.
\1orld events u!1~ t.ile :~ol.:i.-:~ies of our predecessors inevitably meant a higher rate of inflation in 1973 than in 1972. He helve acted f~.riI11y '1:0 In8de.rat<:"thase pressures.
has slm'1ed.
And these policies arc beginning to t-iork - inflation
All 01.1::- efforts to curb inflati.on have been opposed or obstructed by our op?onents. ~here we took administrative action, they criticised. 1fJheretvC took legi.slative action, they obstructed. ~here we sought more powers from you by ...' lay of referendum 1 ~:he'y 0ppOfWd. Where \'Iie helve sought cO'~operation with tbe St?.tes I governments of t:he same political persuasion as our opponen-:-:s h,,~~7e failed -to pass the necessary legislation. l-:..dminisi:ratively .. '!,~7e cu.t to.riffs by 25% to reduce the price of impor.ts uit!t:y.,:路;: damaging .i'\u.stralian industries. ~'1e have twice revalued 'ehe AU3tri11ie,n dol:'.aX' reflecting its true status as one of the world's strongest currencies. By legisle.tion, \',e have tried to promote competition. As long ago as 1963 the present. Chie;': Justic(;> Sir Garfield Barwick pointed to 路the nee(3 to outlaw collusion bet'tleen _ corporations in fixing p:d.ces above their genuinely competitive level. Last Septemb8r t':'s introduced le<':'13..s1aticm to do just that. Our o't)ponents in t-lle Sena.t.,::; coraDined three times, not just to oppose this legislation, but to prevent it from even being
debated.
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Only t:he Labor State of sout:h .A.ustralia has co-operated in setting up land cmr®issions to stop the spiral in residential land pri.ces. The average price for a home site in Adelaide is $ 5,000 and hr.'l.s begun to stabilise. The average price in Sydney is $18,500 and is still rising.
Not content with obstructing our efforts, our opponent.s in their election promises nmv prepose economic vandalism. Their policies mean soaking the average Australian \lagc and salary earner. 'i'hey mean. cutti~g back on opportuniti.es fur creative employrnent. They Ioean the same sort of unemployment I~lr Snedden as ri'reasurer created bvo years ago. They mean the same .i:ise in indirect taxes t"hich they imposed ·when in government they pretended to rec1UC8 income tax in 1970. ~rhey E1ean disrupting our program for help to all AU8tralian schools. Their policies mean that once ag-ain; as ha.p1?enE~d so often in the Ion!] life of the prev i.ons government, 1\.ustnd.ian children .- year after year - "..d.ll be set back in their opportunities. tihen ?:ir Snedden speaks of cutting back on government spending he means cutting back on schools;· on health, on soci~l ~ecurity. They are the only fields where meaningful cutbacks can be made. lrJhy nhould the children 'of Australia, the migrants, the old, the handicapped. the sick, the ret.arded, the aborigi.nes, the disadvantaged gro.ups pay the price for ~r S~edden's economic fantasies? Let our oppofJen:cs saY clearly, honestly f unequivocally, that 'their \<Jeapons in the fight against iljflation in Australia are, to be the children of ~ustralia, the aged of Australia, the handicapped of Australia, the aborigines of Australia; the disadvantaged people in our Australi.an community. For that is what their policies mean. These are the consequences, the undoubted consequences of their rag bag of proposals.
Forget their half-baked proposaJ.s and look at the performance - their performance of obstruction in opposition, their perfornlance of mismanagement in govE:rnment.
You will recall how for a disastrous week before Christmas 1971 the t.hen coaliti.on governm<::mt nearly fell apart about the international value of the J·mstralian dollar. The r~eader of the Country Party'" the man ,.<7ho \o]ants to bE-~ Treasun~r, the mar.. '..\Those remedy for inflation is to double the price of oi.l - thr"'i1t.ened to vralk ou·t of the qovernr.ient unless he got his "\flay. lmd get his disastrous '."'lay he did. Their di.vision as much as their actual decision. to devalue di.d great harm to ;~ustr&lia in. those days. Australia cannot afford a repetition - yet nothi~g is more certain, than that the return of our opponents to government would mean deep, unbridgeable and continuing division and damage on the matter of the value of the Australian dollar. Division on s~ch a matter means undermi.ning the strength of the ll.ustralian dollar
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Following the decision in 19'71, this nat.ion ,-vas flooded· with
millions of dollars of ur.wanted foreign capital, capital which sought to buy Austra1.ia up on the cheap. You must not allow it to happen again.
This vas;: j.nfusion of for.eign money vIas one of the
root causes of the infla"cionary problem which \ole have faced . ever since we came into government. The men who created that problem nm'T ask you to give them back ~he government. The same men created the major economic prob1E::m .- much more than an econo1!lic problem ~, a social and human problem _. whi.ch we first had to face whep- we came into government. It was
the problem of unemployment. The Budget of 1971 created Australia's worst unelnploynlen·c for 10 years The man ,~ho made that Budget., the Treasurer v7110 presided over that unemployment, is the present Leader of the Opposition. We promised to res·tore full employmef1t. t'Je have rectored it. Every comparable country in the uorld shares the problem of inflation. y.··!e are distinct from all those countri.es in this: that in Australia alone there is no unemployment, in Australia alone, unemplo~nent and inflation do not march side by side. Our opponents by their divisions, by their decisions t started the ne\-l round of inflation in Australia. Yet simultaneously, they created unemployment. And these are the men who ask you to give them control over your economic affairs. 0
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- 9 'l'P;XATION . . . . . ,.
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The ne,..,. ~'T.osperity our policies have created, the restoration of full employment we have achieved., the rise in wages and salaries has brough~: ne\' pro:Jlems, in particular for the lmver and miDdle ~lage and salary earners. It haG created a whole neu range of problems and nel-! inequities in the field of personal taxdtion. In September 1972 our prddecessors appointed meMber.s of a Committee under the c~lairmanship of i'lr. Justice Asprey to inquire into the structure and operation of the present Commol1viealth taxatioh system and to formulate proposals for improving the system路 by making changes in it, abolishing a~y existing form of taxation or intrcducing new forms of taxation. The Committee \"JaS tc;> have r-cgard to the effects of the present system upon the soci.<1l, economic and business organisation of the community and upon the economic cHid business organi.sation of the cotnmunity and.upon the economic and efficient use of the resources of Australia and to the desirabili.ty of a fair distributi.on of the Durden of taxa路cion and of a system of collection \'lhich T'las not unduly complex and did not involve the public o~ the administration in undue difficulty, inconvenience or expense. 'rhe Treasurer, jAr.. Crean, and I h,ave had discussions wi th the Asprey Commit.tee , WhICl1WTfr ~make a report to us by ~. 1 June. Its recommendati.ons \'1i1l therefore be taken into account In this year s Budget, \-Then we shall be givinq urgent consit4.eratlon to the restructuring of the t~xation syst~. I
In my Policy Speech in r!overnber 1972 I promised that we \~uld expand the terms of reference of the Asprey Committee to include State and Local Govermaent taxation systems and collection methods. The Premiers of South Australia, ~~stern Australia and Tasmania agreed to cooperate but the responses of the other Premiers made it impossible for the Committee to carry out the expanded inquiry. Last month, however, at a Constitutional Convention standing cOInlni ttee \'lhich I chaired, it was decided that Common\'1ea1th and State officers should confer and report on the respective occupancy by the CommonvJeal th, State a.nd Local Governments of the fields of income taxation .. excise duties and sales tax, vehicle and fuel taxes, death duties and land and property ~axe::;. %~ sha1~ be cons'.ll ting ~l!.lly Hi tht':1e States on those l.te.lns of shared taxat:icJn, such as death duties, on which our officers are to report. The Treasurer has already announced in Parliament that the estate duty la\l] is to be amended to estab:'..ish a Board of Relief to hear applications for rolease from liability for duty in cases of serious hardship. Such a Board has proved its \路,7orth in the case of income tax. The estate dutv board wi.ll be EmpOlt/ered to relea~ an estate from:~ll or part the du~V-pa;yahle where payment \\7ou1d impose serious hardship on a beneficiary or beneficiaries and where relief granted would be for the henefit of beneficiaries so affected. .
of
- 10 One aspect of estate duty is particularly unjust the taxation of the matrimonial home. This practice constitutes a failure to recognise the role woraen play in our society. The person \'lho looks after the home and i:he family contributes as much to the economic value of the faMily home as the person "'1ho goes to \>lork. In est.ates in \V'hich the T':1.atrimonial hOMe or an interest therein passes to fhewi«mv or widoTiJer of the deceased the value of the deceasedis interest, up to a limit of $35,000, shall be excluded from the dutiable value of t!"le est.ate~ the proportion of the va1t:I8 exel~p~ rrcrn-2fU'tyWIll b{:: rec1uc'ed"bY 2% for every $1,00£ above this limit. This is one of the very fl3\'1 completely ne'" undertakings in this policy speech. It will cost only about $10 million per yea.r but will ensure that no \"l i(1 0\1.7 or "lido~·1er \·!ill have to sell the family home in order to meet federal esta.te duty.
The present income tax law allows concessional deductions for dep~ndants to Australian resident taxpayers only where the dependant.s are themselves resident in Australia. In the case of a migrant '.;.rho comes to Australia intending to Dring his wife and childre~ out to this country as soon as he has nade a home for them, a period of 5 years is regarded as a reasonable time for the \'life and children to join the migrant in Australia. If he maintains the family during this period income tax deductions for the dependants are allowable to him. However, migrants who are maintaining dependent relatives overseas with no view to bringing them to Australia, or who may be prevented from bringin:] them to llustrz: lia by restrictive emigration policies in force in some countries, are ~nable to qualify for a tax deduction for dependants. !~-!~__~Y Government's intention to extend the provisions of the income tax la\ls' governi.ng dependants I deductions so as to entitle Ee~Dle in these sit.uations to t.he taxati.on advant.nges availa 1Jle aJready to all of us main-t:aining dependont relatives '-"ho reside in. Australia.
CUSTOMER PROTECTION The A.ustralian Government has already taken important measures to protect the safety and economic interests of customers. They include the 25% tariff cut. and decisions to ensure cheaper colour television sets and P .Tl .. ra.dios. r,Then passed, the Trade Practices Bill ..,ill make safl~ty standards--mandatory f and ~vill require specifiec.:t information t.o be clisclosed when specified goods and services aie offered for sale.Collusive price-fixing by cor.!:,orations -;7j1.1.1he-prohibited and the protection of customers ';iTill ':c--pro!T'Dted through the encouragement of a competitive'climate in induf3t:.r;i":-- Last year we established the Interim Con~ission Consumer Standards, which has recommended that 2. permanent body succeed it.
on
He "rill estahlish a Burean of Cust.omer Protection. 'The Bureau "Jill ensure -that cons"iliUer--i-iiterests are propf.!rryconsulted and represented in all aspects of governmental activity on consumer protection.
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The Australian Government lahoratories will be oriented tOHards pl'~o.duct tes-E.Tngi-the results of such tests 't.d 11 be mad e pub 1 J.. 9_. -----.. ~JEt:'] .$.T~W.GTURES
The greatest burden on the Australian economy, the biggest drag on our national prosperity is the inefficient, costly structures inherited from the past. Th~ great theMe of our legislative program - the program nrnv disrupted and deferred by this premature election - has been one of n?form apd renovation. {,1e rE:ccgnised from the beginning that the reforms we were seeking for Australian society ~ for a more just and humane !'.Ustralian society - vould be possible only t.hrough reforms in 路the structure of the government it.self. The acctJuulated deadwood of inefficiency of our urban spra.,,-;l, nncoordina ted local govermnent bodies, too many trade unions, obsolete communications; archaic public transport systems, lack of hospi.tals 'VJhere most people now live, our land use and abuse, the duplication of essential services because of a misinterpretation of the true meaning of federalism, an education system '>J'hich until last year n.ever took adequate account of needs - it is all these archaisms, anachroni:sms, and inefficiencies which generation after gener~tion, have built into the Australian economy such high costs for such poor returns. And this is precisely \\7hat 'tve have attempted - to reform ane restructure institutions and systems whose ineffic~ency or antiqui ty impuse a tremendous burden on the Austraj.ian economy and the Australiarl Society. . Th(~ CO:1sti tution states ~ "There shall he an Int.er-State C0!111nission I i . One of the first acts of the Henzies Government in 1950 't"las to repeal the act establ.ishing the COImnissiol1 passed by the Fisher Labor Government in 1912. The Government ,路iill re-establish the Conunission this year.
We have completely remodelled the 6epartmental structure of the Australian Government. To give organisational thrust to our ne~;J priorities \ve have created nel;.r depar.tments ~ Minerals and Energy, Urban and Regional Development, Ahoriginal Affairs 1 Environ!l\ent and Conserva tioD and Nor.thern T)evelopITIent. ~le have remodelled and reinvigorated other c1epart.'Ttents and have amalgamated and are arna.lgamating still others. T;:7e have a more efficient administration. Even more important, the national government is nO~'l equipped to involve itself in nmr,] important and urgent fields. In 1972 I said~ "We shall need the help and seek the hel~ of the best P~ustralians. Ke shall rely of course on Australia's great Public Service. ~e shall seek and \-.. . elcome advice and co"路operation from beyond the confines of Canberra".
- 12 To promote further the efficiency of the Australian Puh1ic Service "It will -:r;c headed by -one of Australials most distinguished and eXDe=ienced for~er public servants - a great servant of the Austrct1ian people - Dr. H.C. Coombs. ~e shall establish a ~oyal cor';Yli.ISsrS~Il'
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I have already - announced -our acceptance of the recommendations of Sir Jam(~s Vernon s Royal Commission on the Post Office tha~ the Post Office should be independent of the control of the Public Service Boare and that a separate ----Australian Postal ComI:ii~jsion-a'D.(f路t\.ustralian Telecommunications Commission (incorporatinq. the Overseas Te!_2CQIrJTIUn路icat:tEE..搂. Cornmission) should be established. f'e shall follo\~ the sarr-e principle in the transport f:i.e}.c:.-;:m:" OAN'l'AS, the l-l.ustralian l?a~iona1 Raih\Tays f oU]:: airI?ort_ and stevedoring operations and, J0:tntly ':.1ith th<~_re5pective States.!. the I:Tevicastle dockyard an0. the ~'iaryborough shipyard, .
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lATe have armed the administrative machine "-lith new capahilities and ne\,7 organs to deal ~vith the increasingly complex and difficult proble:ns of planning fo:( the needs of a gro\'Ting industrial society" Some of the ne," bodies 'I:Jere given permanent statutory form, such as the Schools Commission, the Social Ttlelfare Commission, the Hospitals and Health Services Commission, the Prices Just.ification 'I'ribunal and ,the Pipeline Authority; others had to.heir sta.tutory charter utterly transformed slich as the Grants Commission, tr.e Cities Cor-anission and the Industries Assistance Cow~ission. Obviously, our new deparbnents, statutory authorities, the commissions and enquiries advising the Government and the ~ar1iament cannot operate without staff, ""ithout advice, ''I!ithout qualified men and ".;omen. Of course that. costs money - not a cent too much, not a cent too soono Yet~ for the sake of paltry路 short-term savings, at the price of lcsing the tilue and talent.R of men and women who have agreed to serve their country judges, academics, state plililic servants and businessmen, our opponents propose to throttle these neVJ activities; they intend to cut off the source of expert and public advice so essential to any planning for the effective, efficient, most humane and least expensive ways of dealing ~vith A~stra1ia's accumulated social and economic problems for the rest of 'chis century. The fact is that we have to spend a little and plan a lot - now, in 1974 - if we are to build a decent, htL."!lane, efficient society for the generations to comp.. j'
So "Ie have btgun basic and quite massive reorganisation of the structures Hhich go'"ernments use in Australia to carry out the people r s business~ This ",e propose to conti.nue to do. In seme fields, nota!Jly cducation, ~. 1e ,,'ere able to act im~nediate1y. In other fields, "'Ie had to wai t fo]~ more information and more Gxpert advice - so we i~~ediately ~et about getting that advice and recruitin~ the experts. In other fields t like health insurance. we have met: concerted obstruction. But in all fields and all levels, t.he wor}'~ qoe::; on. It must not be interrupted. It must. not be disrupted. It must not he destroyed.
EDUCNfION The value of the work of our neVI COIlU'11issicns and Committees of Enquiry have been great and continuing. Th.e Karmel Committee on Schools, now instituted as the Schools Commission, has transformed t.he outlook for Australian education. . THe have almost doubled Australian GOV8l:'nnu:mt spending on education. That l;ioney has beert distributed according to the needs of all schools. Ne have assumed full financicl.l responsibility for tertiary education. ~ie have abolished fees for tertiary and technical education. For the first t.:Lr::le ue are giving assistance to teachers' colleges and pre~schooJ teachers' colleges on the same basis ~s universities and colleges of advanced education. v7e are giving much more generous allC'i.yances to students and have more than trebled the number of teaching scholarships.
The parents of Australia well }:nmll - and history \-dll record - that the greatest single achievenlent of our Governm8nt in its first year was to change the face of education in Australia, and to change the basic attitudes of the .Australian people tm路mrds ed\;;cation. If ''1e had achieved nothing else, ~,,,e v;ouJd be remembered for this ~ that ,.,e buried once and for all the futile and divisive debate over 50-called "St.ate rights:: and "State aid II for schools. vJe not. only freed 'last amounts of money for schools; we freed the whole debate on education so that fron now on, parents, teachers, and educational authorities can engage rati.onally in discussion. about w'hat is re~.lly best for our schools and \'lhat is truly best for our children.
Of course, many reforms still remain to be made the Austrc3.1ian education system. The Schools Conunission is already conduc-ting a study of those groups not receiving full benefits from their schooling: the culturally disadvantaged chilo, the linguistically disadvantaged, the emotionally or intellectually disadvantaged. The greatest inequity in the system hmo/ever, as the Karmel Cormnittee itself remarked, is its bias against girls~ the fact that so few girls as compared to boys sit for their final sc;1.oo1 exarils or continue into the technical tr.ades or enter the professions. This is one of the major reasons \'lhy "lamen are concentrated in t.hf~ less well paid jobs in our society. I have asl:ed the Co)'omission to s路tudy the causes of this situation and reCOT!1.rneno. re)~'ledi.e5. \'li thin
~'le have drafted a bill to establish a Curriculum Development Centre.
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CHILD CARE The advice of the qualified and the concerned men and women now being- made available through our commissions and enquiries ena.bles the Government to implernent its broad vision of the nature and purpose of education in a modern society. {11e \vant not only to provic!.e "Jider op?ort.unities for education for a lifetime r \olG Vian'c to provide opportunities for a lifetime of education. Such opportunities must be made available if Australians are to be abl("~ to lead full and happy lives rewarding to themselves and to tb.e community. In a society undergoing such rap:',d change as onrs, the plain fact ·is that a majority of people wilJ. chang'e their occupo.tion more than once in their lives. Redundancy is no longer the lot of manually skilled workers alone. Few occupations are going to he left untouched by tIte technological revoluti.on. In the next Parliament our big initiatives in education will conC0rn the care and education of pre-school children, technical training, and adu1 t retraining. r.rhe foundations of our initiatives rest on ~tJ()rk done by the Social t'lelfare ~ommission, t.he Pre-Schools Committee, the Kangan Committee on Technical and Further Education ann the Cochrane Conunittee on hdult 'rraining and Foe-Training.
There a~e at present abo~t 1.3 million children of pre-school age. For more than one in four of these children, there is no parent at home during working hours. Of these only one in every 10 attends a child care centre. A child in Canberra has t'\',rice as geed a chance of a ti::ending a pre·-school as a child in Victoria and four ·::'imes as good a chance as a child in IJe\'l South Wales" At least 15, 000 chi.ldren are left totally unattended during t.he day. Thonsarids more are left to the care of brothers or sisters. Furthermore, for too many of our primary school children there is nOlvhere to go outside of school hours or during vacations. Too !l1any children begin school \vi th educational, cultural or psychological disadvanr.ages. The Government's program for these children reflects the reco!Th.'11enda tiop..s of the Pre:-fc!lool CamIlli ttee, -whose report, was tabl~ last r"e~oml0'" -·-t~lo Soc': a·1-;'leJ fa ~ ronuni scion \lh; cl~ _ _ ._-;-_c . 1...1 ....... .. iJ_",''1as established bv an actpass,~d ~C3.Sf-P;V(~Illberi a r ;(1 the Priorities P.evie-;::] ,Staff. --..The .J?Eogrzl.m Hill develop_a var-ie:£Y of services including the develoJ2ment. of f.~mily day care prograrrls, day centre~_ f>reschools 1 p.laY::fr~ups, aut_~ide of 5011901 care,. emergency and occa~3ior-a1 care, to(.dle::-:-s groups and baby'-:::>i ttJ.ng pools. Provision 'flill bemade ::':01:' paymi'n-t ofc--ar0W'i:--elatives, f.riends or ..:~pigh};our~'J.'he·s~:'her.l.~-~1ITI~diversE? and flexi:Jle !.o rec0.9E-is_e d~fferent neGd~_.9j:__~~f:E.grent. commu!l.itie~. ~
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To encouraae the cI:'eation of child care centres in industry, \1e shall rCl'u(;ve t.he--i3~ly in. -:f::he Income -'fax AC-t:, ""hich impedes the tax d0duc~;ihilit.y--oF-~;pendl..Dgby-companies on child care ~ ------------~---------------. -----------
- 15 We envisage that 500,000 children will benefit by l~i1stralian cbildren Hill have access to local centres designed to take ca:re of their educational, health, psychological and other needs. All children, not just the 4 year--olds, V,h2tiler cared for in their m.m home or in full, part-tirae or occasional carer Hill have access to freo pre-school education.
1977 and that by ls>S{) all
Child care service:;; vrill be subsidised! i th parents contributing to tl"'.e COS"C according b-:> "tl~e:i..r meons, the main thrust of the program in the first years being-to assist disadvantaged chi1.dren. It is estir:ta-tec1 'that: the cost of this program in the first year - a program of vision and imagination based on a compCi:.:-;sionate underS1.:anding of the needs of the child f the parent and. the cornmuni ty - "Jill be $130 million.
~'Je are deterTllined that 'technical education shall cease to be the cinderella of l~ustralian education. The reports of the Kangan and Cochrane Committees vJiIl provide an effective and expf~rt basis for lYJld Hew initiatives t.o allO~l technical skills to find their proper and honoured place in a changing society. These proposals represen-t a major attack on social inequali ty. ~'Je have drafted a bill for. a Technical dnd Further Education Co~~ission. -
In March last year my Goverr~ent appointed a special manpower commission to study IT!anpo~1e:r. policies abroad. tle nO'\.o7 propose to amal(Janlate all existirlg training schemes into one n8\\1 National Employment and Training Proi-r:am. L'LE.!I..T. ,,,,ill \Vork in close "collaboratiun vli th t:he trade'lm.ion movement and employer organisations to id8ntify i~~ediate needs und to make long-term proj ecti.ons of labour needs to Ineet -che futun: demands of industry. tle will offer relocation assistance to these who find themselves in regions or industries affected by economic, structural or technological change. In thG provision of its training facilities, ~~.E.A.T. will give priority to persons affected by changes i~ tariff policies and those made redundant by technolog¡' ieal change. H.E.A.T. \'>Jill provide traini.ng o'?portunities for all persons without discrimination on grounas of race or sex â&#x20AC;˘
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Our retraining program Hill help ensure that our present unprecedented growth in employment opportunities can be met and maintained. Increased productivity and our growing prosperity depend upon our. ability to make full use of the 'clho1e of our available manpO\路ler.
STRUCTURAL ct.:'\:~GE ,
The Government realises that, in times of rapid technological cha.nge a mechanisqI is needed to promote and rnaJ~e easier the movement of employees from Olll'= occupation to another, from one industry to another, from one region to another. Accordin91y,
th.~ Goverfl.Tile!1t has decided to struct~E~l ad~stm~~t assistance to i~dividuals
introduce and empl0.xers.
Individuals~.
includinLsmall m\Tners and
Et1ral..J?Foduc~.~i adversely aff;:;."~~.:t:.:L_$~E .~. ~tur~~!- c.hange will be E:lig~~)le for ~enerpus incor;K~ I~}~.ntenunc0 payment~, I:etraining: as~.i~tance and reo-Ioea U;..on' grant~-! ~nd firms "':!:.ll be eli5lib1e _for consultancy _.9:ran"\.?f loan guara~~ ~Dd, \;!~1e&e. reJ,sw?nt J cJ,osu~QQ:.'1l2.~. n_搂.:a.t:LoJ;J..
This scheme will improve the ~ustra1ian economy in the interests of the consumer and will provide industry with a better resource base and pattern of skills.
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HIGRAHTS
We recognise the outstanding contribution migrants have made to our productive capacity. Our primary concern, however, is not their economic value but their happiness as settlers and citizens. Pc have be~!un a vigorous drive t:o help migrants overcome the disadvantaqe inseparable from life in a new country. The ~umber of social workers and welfare officers working amongst migrants has bec~ more than doubled. Some 1;500 special teachers have been employed in sc~ools at l\ustralian Government cost to give special tuition in English to 60,000 migrant children t';'lice the number receiving it nnder our predecessors. Provision has also been made for emergency classroom accommodation. For adults 'che number of specialised courses - int~lsive or accelerated courses, courses in industry, courses for '-JOmen and arranqements for one-twa-one tuition in mi.grants I . o'Vm homes - has been developed or expanded. f
)\ligrants have res!?onded and have demonstrated a nel,'l interest in ide.ntif~ing \.,rith AU5tralia~ The number "lho have become Australian citizens in 1973 has increased by 48% over 1972, and the number returning to their countries of origin has declined for the first time in 9 years. SOCIAL SECURITY
For too long Australia has demeaned herself and millions of our fellow-路citizens by the idea that those unable to work, or to engage ~li th full vigor in the lyork and leisure of a vigorous community deserved charity bu路t lost their right to self-respect and dignity.
. He inherited a system of social welfare based ahnost entirely on the concept of cash payments. It\'e i.nheri路ted a system whereby society accepted that it had fulfillec its obligations to the disadvantaged sections of the community once it had settled upon the level of cash pay:nents for: t_hose deemed to be in need. It ",as an easy Kay 路to fob off our collective conscience. It ~!las a system v!hich too!;;:" little real account of true need. It \olaS a system ~.rhich did nothing at all to provide its beneficiaries - or victims - with a chance for dignity, a chance for rehabilitation, a chance for taking a real place in the living community. T~1e Social Helfare Commission has been established to help the Government set goals for social ,;,'elfare and to allO\>l the cOp'lJnunity to help determine theGe goals 'l'lle public reports of the Cormnission serve as a standard by uhich the community can judge the Governmen"t s decisions and performance. <
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Certair..ly cash payments foT. all ela:::.,ses of pensions and welfare benefits have been significantly increased.
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Since tak~ng office, we have increased age and invalid pensions by 30% - a significantly greater increase than the rise in average weekly earnings or prices. We have introducec a number of new benefits and improved a number of existing ones. He introduced the Supporting ::1others Benefit and the Orphans Pension. !'Je abolished the discrimination of classes of vlidows - all widOl'lS no".. receive the same amount. We have increased the grants and liberalised the conditions for Aged Persons Homes, the Home Care program and F~habilitation allowances. Ne have proceeded to abolish the means test according to our promised schedule. ny Government's overorriding con.cern, hm"ever, has been to overhaul the entire system so that Australia shall be, as once she was, as she ceased to be in the coa.lition years, a pioneer and a leader. The Australian Assistance Plan has been established to expand and enhance, co-ordinate yet diversify the activities of welfare agencies, official and voluntary alike. The Plan places emphasis on the need for human contact, counsel and compassion as an addition to cash payments. Funds on a costsharing basis with local government and voluntary agencies have been made available in 35 regions throughout Australia. In 1975 the Australian Government vlill make funds available under the Pl~n to eyerx region in Australia. NATIONAL COHPENSATION We are determined to place the security, the welfare of those who suffer incapacity through accident or sicknes3 on a sure and certain basis - on the basis of confidence and freedolu from financial anxietv for themselves and their families. Australians should not have to live in doubt or anxiety lest injury or sickness reduce them to poverty. We want to reduce hardships imposed by one of the great factors for inequality in society -' inequ.ality of luck. Accordingly f in ;!arch last year I we est:ablished the Hational Rehabilitation and Co:nlpeusation Comlnittee under the chairmanshin of nr Justice T~loodhouse of the New Zealand Court of Appeal. I~ Pebruary its terms of reference were extended to cover the sick as well as the injured. It is expected to report at the end of June. BONELESS f''iEN ADD t:'1OJ:mN f:1y Government has decided to in路troduce a program to help meet the material needs and raise the dignity of homeless men "and women.
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This is a T:Jrogram devised in response to a muchneglected need ~ it. will be of benefit to the young as Nell as the old. It tolill be of benefit to any persen in immediate need: to the permanently homeless, to the deserted or disturbed woman and her children, to the aboriginal or teenager in want or distress, to the battered ''lOman or the batte):-ed chile! ,to the single parent in short, to anyone '..: i thou t su:pport or an income. NURSING HQ;<mS
In keeping ""ith the government's commitment to pr.otectil~g and improving the posi.tion of the si.ck and the aged, the governllient will sUbsta1]ti a1:Si .:!:.!l.crea.:?e benc_ti<ts..12aid to Dursin拢!. home patients to take into account the increa.sed cost.S inc1..u:red bv nursing homes. 'l'he estimated cost of' this in 1~174Tr5 is $6 "million. <
In addition an alternative fOi~ of financial assistance will be offered to religious and charitahle orqanisations 90nducting x:ursing under \.rhich ,..t.he ~pc:tatin.g defTCItso~ ---the homes \'!l.11 be met by the government. The government is ,'lell advanced in dis"C"ussions with representatives of these homes regarding this arrangement which "lill enable these homes to improve still further their s~:,andctrds and facilit.i.es. f
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The ~inister for Social Security, ftr. Hayden, will announce the details of the proposals and other welfare measures in the government's welfare policy speech in Melbourne on v~ednesday.
HEALTH The government is determined to fulfil its constitutional responsibj.lity for providing hospital benefits and medical and dental services and to give all Australians access to high quality health care at reasonable cost. Our proposr'tl for universal health insurance put to you and strongly supported by you in the elections of 1969 and 1970 as well as 1972, was twice rejected by the SenaLe. It was among the rneas~res on T/thich tile GovernoJ:-'路Ceneral granted the double dissolution. I.t Nill t:i:t8:cefore be one of the first measures brought befcreth2rle~;r--Parl-iarl)en-t.--f.1eantin:e more than one million 1'.us路tralla.ns are--itill unp:r.otec路ted against hospital and medical charges. . We "ri.ll ext:ena. medical benefits to cove:r consultations ,-Ii th optometrlsts-.---------,-----.
-'20 -
We propos~ to restore free hospital treatment established by the last Labor GQ7.:::~r.n;llEmt in :;.~;4 '"} ,md o.:Oandor~cd by the I'1enzies Government in 1952. ~';le shall offer ~.:O share ;,'Ji th the States half . cot 0 f n.3.I~_ - 1_;",\ 1-. ~'T-;--l-;:-:;;:-~'::;;;;:::··'';· .r:._",,-;;-,.~ (.t- ,"- d' .th e co.:.> •• g !lO~P-:·_i'L. 1:"':..'.::~:.'.:.~~::::..:::-...~::.::::.2..~_~;:2'!~....9-E __ ~_c:'-~. Fu:r:ther_,_thE: n2.tio~cq:.-.9-t:?7.~n2-E!~n.!: is -2.~cs(.:.!l f prePil red to build, staff and operate hospitals in ~r22S an6 regions now inadequately serve,L-'-00' h:~:i/e alre'iiCiy"·dP-:,oroYic'hed--:-t.he -State-:-s-.-We have offeree": ';0 provide l:E~.~f ·the cC'~;-t of building and operating D. nel,,! Gel)eral RospitCll =.n L,::;.unccstCl1 and 'J-lholly build and operate a ne'\v Homen' s- hospi·tal in Hobart o '
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11e ha\''t~ offered to ccn.s-:':ruct a:"1d operat.e ~:eaching extensions at t:he ROyCll Newcastle Hospi·taJ. \·lit.hout:. cc·::;. to the H. S • t:]. Gover ,(lInen t . In the J.c:st B1.~cget ...ie S2t aside $4 million to proceed \'Tith the building of 2.. teaching hospit.a). at {'·?es·tmead f N. S. t·-]. Though this project has b8er: pl<.:'.Ened by the N.S.:,J., State gm.rernmc.m t for six years r 'i;hat qovernmenl r..i:,r.:; infol.-m{~d us tha1: they are unable to spend the mO",lel \'12 haVE provi.ded. OUl:' offer still stands. The money is there _ It is up to ·:.:h'Ol 1'1 < S. \'J. S'~ate gO'(';'ernment to use it.
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T,"1e ~:;11311 insti·tGt.e a domici1::.arv dent.:-..l service for _._-_._------------~-_._-._-------.-_. the chronically ill and frail age~, ~o serve 10,000 people at a cost of $60P·~OQ_o-::-mnually..- - - - - - - - - . - -..--------.-----
r..aborato:d.8S
We shall :!.. sccnstitutc thE:: COi1lmom·7eclJ. th Serum and est,::;il.D"jh"aP!1cr·lna.cenflcai ccmmi"'sSIOn to research,
produce and \-JhoT"es~J.e-~rug-3 2,ion~;' th-e- busIn~ l.ines the V9rnon Ho~-ar comrr'l:ssT~~~~tc;r--t~os_t9fEi~i~
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CITIES
:n all these matters - in education, social security, health - He have had t:hese srea·t objeGt.iv(.::s~ to reduce inequality, to promote equ.31ity ( ) f OPFortunity r to rn.u.}~e the system itself more efficien-c and equi table. A.II ·;:.hese <:1iHlS are cO~'!1b:t.ned in the biggest ne\',' '2ffort my gcven:'TDe:nt ha~ ma.:.'e - in cnr great cities. in our grm'Jing centros all around. Aus·tra2.ia. At_ last :?'>.ustralia has a national government prepared t.O involvf~ itself in the affairs of the places ~'.7hen=; mDs"L Aus·sra.:Lia:a;~ live - our cities and ou:c centres.
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.~.
We have recognised, as I said in 1972, that "a national government which cuts itself off fror. responsibility for the nation's cities is cutting itself off from the nation's real life!'. In its direct involvement in cities the Australian Government has entered the mainstream of Australian life. That new i.nvolvement has been centr.al not only to the affairs of the great majority of Australian peor-Ie,-it is central to our relations with State government and local government. \'Te not only \'lant to remould, modernise, revitalise our cities; VIC ~.. ,ant to remould, revitalise, l'1odernise the relations beb"een the three levels of govermne~t - national, sta·l:.e, local. f,·Ie have involved the national government in matters whicil previously were left to the States - or not done at all. If they were left to the States, tl:ey 1'Jere too often done inaclequc1tely 1 or not done at all. If left to local government, they were too often done inadequately, financed unfairly - or not done at all.
In this fie2.d ",e l1ave had some examples of splendid co·-operati.on \-lith the States yet equally we have met some of the worst obstruction from the States. The Albury/~rodonga agreement to create Australia's first large centre a"Jay from the seaboard since the founding of Canberra has been a splendi..:l example of co-'operation. ~']e have also made agreements with the States for new growth centres, finance for sewerage and gr:mts for urban transport. It \olould have been unheard of un~il 1972 that c~!l Australian national government should involve itself :1i~ec~ly in regional development, s~werager urban transport. Because previous national governments even \~ith all their monopoly over the really big and growing sources of revenue, \vould not involve t.hemselvGs; nothing effective was ever done about decentrnlisationi our great cities had the largest unse\'lered areas of any com?arable cities in the ,.;orld i and our urban transpor~ systems were approaching breakdown. Of course it has been impossible in so short a ti:-ne to reverse the trends resulting from decades of neglect. But we have made a beginning - a great beginning. LOCAL GOVERNNENT
Yet crucial to making n good continuation and a good culmination of these effo::-.ots isthi2 ro:i..e of local government. And it must be said tha'c our efforts to raise the status of local government and to giv8 local government direct dccess to the nation I s finances have met -';'iH:h scant co-operation from state gove~nments. He have sought to ';nakt~ local government a genuine partner in Australia 1 s federal system. ~e have remodelled the Grants Commission to allo :l J.oc'::'.l government bodies to make submissions and to allmv the Comm.ission to make recommendations on the amounts of ffion'''y needed to reduce inequali·ties bet',~een regions and within states·as traditionally it used to do as bet"Jeen the States. t
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" The role we assign to local government is the real anS\ier to charges of 'centrnlisrh~ Under a variety of programs we have provided local government with the funds to undertake a range of activities previously inadequately carried out or tdtally neglected. The Australian Assistance Plan, the programs for community health, area improvement, the national estate, the arts, tourism and recreation and aborigines - all these provide funds for community activities to bz organised by local government. vJe deliberately have made and shall make I09al government a vehicle fur 路our ,J.egislationon., aged persons r' c iwm~s and hostels, sheltei.'ed empIoyment, 11'i1.l1Uic'iiPf.>E!c1' childreri, m~~ffi ". on ''lheels, home care and nursing, nursing homes and homeless men and women.' These are all activities which c'ahnot be closely regulated 'from the cehtre and are hest planned and lioplemented by local governmer..t "\7orking with local communities. They justify assistance from the nation's finances but not 路increases in rates. ~l]e insisted on local government representation at the Convention on the Constitution in September last year. We made local government representation a condition of participation by the national government.
At that Conventi.on I put the case for local government representation on the Loan Counci.l. The States' Premiers then, and at a special Premiers' Conference in October, turned down our proposal t.hat local government should have a voice and a vote in the Loan Council. T~1e foul: th referendum nO'\' before i'Olt ,.,ill take the next crucial step in raising the status of local government. tt will enable the national government to m('!ke grants direct to local government bodies, if they wish, and to borrow money on their behalf, if they wish. Only if this is done can local government acquire reasonable access to the nation's finances. Only if this is done can local government carry out the increasing responsibilities and bear the increasing burdens which federal and state governments alike impose upon it and which the people need. Only i.f this is done can inequality bett,'leen regions be reduced. It remains true, as I said in 1972, that more and more the standard of life of the Australian citizen depends not so much on hm'l much he earns but where he lives.
URBAN
TRlillSPORT
We are providing $31 million this year to the state governments for urban public 路transport imp1:ovement:. He are J2.!:oposing to provide another $41 million to complete prci3ects commencing this year. Hal.f" t.he money has' been allocated for' thf~ acquisiti.on of new railway rolling stock, J:.mse~:i and trams. Other major projects being assisted include quadruplication of the railway line between Granville and Penrith, construction of a number of additional tracks in nelbourne to
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relieve congestion and increase t~e capacity for express services operating to outer subur~an arsas, anC electrification of urban rail links in Bris~ane and ,'\delaide. From 2S fa~ back as 1907 each mainland State government has from time to time ccnsented to the Corr~onwealth Government constructing oX' extending :r-aill-Jays j.n its state ~ these railways have al\\'ays been country lines and hav€~ usually involved State expendi ture. r.... ast February my govel'mnen t sought the N. S • N. government I s consen-c to constr~..lct a raihlaj in -the metropolitan area, to be constructed and operated -vli-cr..out cos~ to t.he N.S.l'J. government. The raih.!2.y system ",1e seek t.0 Cr)nstru::::t will radiate from Parrcu-natta to Hoxton Park, Co.stle Hill and th=ough Carlingford to Epping. It will allow the introduction of the best contemporary signalling practices and carriage sets. I have told the Prend.er ·that '.-Ie llish t.o provide funds in the next Budget-for-the commencement of construction and the -orderr~of rolling stoc], and eguie.men~:
HOUSING
We recognise too that ·where Australians live is less and less a matter of truly free choice~ bu~ a matter of the availability ~nd price of residential land. I regret to say that here agai.n, in our effor ts to hold clown the price of land, '-Ie have
met State government obstruction. ]"rom the time \ole took off ice "''Ie have been negotiating "-'ii'en ".:he S"taJt:es to establish land commissions to clear and develop land at new centres or on the fringes of existing cities. The Com~issions, by selling building blocks at a fai.r price, wo~ld help dan:pen spiralling land costs. They ~'lould alGo be a key to better town planning. In the last Budget '·1e allocatsd $60 m.illio!l to be spent over t\lO years by the land commissions. Only one State - the Labor State of South Austra.lia - has so far passed the necessary legislation. The former Labo:::, ?dministratioi.'1 in I'Jestern Australia passed the legislati.on in the Leg~.::lat1ve Assembly, only to have it rejected in the Upper House.
TJe have found the housing problem one of the most difficult of a.ll our inh{~ritances from the previous government. During the two yea:;:-£: prior: to December 1972-, there \-las a massive grO\\'th in money supply wi thin li.Dstralia and vast SUInS vlere channelled to t.he housing industxy for private d'~1elling construction. The result 0:;: this was that the housing industry became grossly over'-extended I long delays occurred. in the supply of materials and 12.bour t:o buildinq 5ites, construction ·times were greatly exter.ded and excessive cost rises became the order of the day. Public housing progrt.J'"z for v!hich the government a~~~~~-"CC o~ r.? ~?'O G~ ml·.L~liO" l'n .l-07~/~/4 ~ore .. ,-' ;:, .J- a -,..J not being fulfilled because of the demand for resources in private housing and other builc.i~g construction.
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While maintaining all our efforts to recover from the position we inherited, ue propose further measures to reduce housing costs and the-burden of paying for a house. A major program has alreany been launched to produce a uniform housing code and recon~ended practices for dwelling units of various types ranging from high to medium and low density housing.
This is aimed at simplifying and rationalising many of the unnecessarily complex and non~'standard items \rJ'hich add unduly to housing costs and which do not contribute to the quality of living. HOUSE INSURANCE
The government is determined to give homer-owners the opporuunl.ty to insure their prope:r:'ties for Im\Ter premiums and against natural disasters. The Commomvealth Banking- Corporation introduced on 1 Febn:ary a House Insurance Scheme vIi th rates more favourable than those set by any insurer other than the Defence Service Homes Insu~cance schem3, .... ;hile the latter scheme provides \¥'ider cover than other insurers i as flood victims in Br.isbane have come to realise. A.cC01-·(Unqly the government ..Till set up an Australian Government Ins"tiiance -·Office ,-,Thich '""ill c.?.E':J2~te ac't?:yely in arrforms of insurance and which, in particular r will ?rovi~e the
v;1de~osSIb~cover for homes -atTheJ.owesFposs:Lb!..~premiu!!ls.
INTEREST DEDUCTIONS
Ne will help nei" home buyers to rearrClng~ the_ir mortgage reE·a12nerit~. The Treasurer and the r1inister for Housing will have early discussions with the major lel1ding institutions on this matter. Our intention is to help a rearrangement of mortgage pay}!tents so th,3t younger home O\·mers ~.'lTill pay less at a time ,,-,hen the oemands on their income are highest and begin to pay more later in life when they are better able to provide higher repayments. Ne arc thoroughly a"Jare of the burden interest rates impose on those bnying their 0\\1fl home, particularly young married couples. He are t:etermirced to ease ~hat hurden for those in greatest neec..
In ~y 1972 policy speech I undertook that until int:erest. rates can be reduced a Labor government vJould ird:rodue a sche.me of tax c1eductibD.ity for h.omt~' interest paylr.ents. .All ~a~'?5~~Ihose a~tDal inc0!:U~~ 5.s _~j ,g_QoO or £e~~:!... \vill be entit"led to deduct lno~ of tl1e.i!~ i.nt.erest rat":! })2.ymen ts. The :oercentaqe
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announced- 5_D Febr1J.ary -l§'74-[8 (~ti!3T6--<::oii'it:oeTIec~t··Iri-JUIY
of 1974._- The legislation has alr:?ady been dra-fted.
;~he
scheme
provide direct tax relief not only for new home buyers, but also for nearly all those who are at pre~ent paying off their homes.
~dll
ENVIRommNT Incr~asingly Ausi:ralia.ns hdve come to see the relation between their O~m homes; t~eir suburbs, their cOQrnunities, and the ''lhole Australian environment. Pe are the first generation of AustraliaIls to become sharply aware of the conflicting demands bewYJ'een grouth and pre32rvation of ·the envir::mment. Our govermuent is the first 1111st.ralian gO\Ternment: Lo attempt to develop sound en'lirop.. i 1Iental policies to reconcile these demands, to ensure that gxm.,th and development are not bought at the price of the destruction of the nation's natural and historical inheritance. We :believe that the pollu1;er must pay, not future generations of lmstralians.
One of my first: actions ~JaS to'.confer \-lith the Premiers of N. S. ~.?, Victoriii and Sou·th j~.l.lstral::"a on the functions of the River T.-'lurray Commission, which have been virtually unchanged for
60 years and which are now quite inadequate to safeguard the urban and rural users of Australia's greatest waterway.
l']e have drafted an Envi.ro:l1TIental Protection Bill providins for envi~onmentall:ffipact statement;3 and publ~c'""'fiearings on them.
I ha.ve proposed to the Premiers ~hat joint environmental impact statements be required on all I?~'Cifects tor State \'lOrks 'tinancea by the Loan Coun;::rr:-r;vel.·Y ?rc:r.u.er e~cep'E-:e11e\'~u€eh!5land Premier has agreed to di3CUSS En1S pro?6sa~ ---~._-"--.----
I ha'le also r;>rop:Jseo too the ~'remiers that joint environmental impactstaE~-nen·cs b~r2~pirrE~afor prl.vate projects Involvi.ng exr:6rts -.-~o quote ((x .-:Tustice liOpers~ratl0nal Estate Conunittee on Inquiry ~ '!The Constitu,t-.ion gives the Australian Government power ~o control the e~port of goods and, in particular, the export of minerals and. timber. It can require that it be satisfied that the exploitation of mineral or timber resources, or the manner or extei1t of that e:;:ploitation, ~d.ll not adversely affect the environment before giving o. l:~cense to export." Our government will exercise tha~ power~ regularly and effective~ .1" ~ 1" '. d d ... ':2' b o n t .h_L-~.:> .~. . s VJ..c. Sr...... ._~.:-.::....an d .'. ....b.r~~2..2nl.H~J.1£...cJ... v].ce. C:'
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We have drafted a National Parks and Nildlife Conservation Bill. It will gstablish D Pational Parks and ~vildlife Commission anc-:·:rer,;TCe-t-ornandc:'ie-·aad develop national parks, incluc:ing ~:uch al."easi.l5~zaK2cfl1-:"'-ti1eGreat Barrier Ree!; the Central Austra]J~·:a-I({(irness, the AusJ.:.:r-allan Ali/s and the vacated (!.efence lands in s~g;neY-~iarb'?.irr-a ncr-1-'ortPfilI!i,p__~ay. ,'[he Governm::mt hiJ.s bann;~,~ -1.:.1-.(: e~(p0J;t of products of kangaroos and related spe~ie5., It has done dlis to convince the international' COf.',l:<lUnity 'chat Aust.raLLa s'tresses the if'portance of '''ildlife cO:1servatirm and 'co indicate to the States that it is not satisfied ~,'ith .th0 lack of uniformity in ~heir approach to conservation proJrams for kCl.:i1garoos.
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FOREIGN CONTROL OF RESOURCES The national estate belungs to all Australians. tve have accepted the responsibili.ty of the national government. to help protect it and preserve it for the ben8fit of all Australian.s. Equally, we have accepted our responsibility to protect Australia's resources so that nenceforth Australians ~lill have a greater f':hare in the control a.nd ownership of their O\in resources. tve have tried to stop the great Australian sell-out. vle have tried to r.elp Australians buy Australia back. In these aims we have met unrelenting obstruction from our opponents. For years the Australian Labor Party advanced the idea of the ~t!stralian Industr;t: De"!elopment CorJ>0ratio~ and in 1972 undertook to expand its activities 路to enable it to join with Australian and foreign companies in the discoverYr development and processing of Australian resources. Eight months ago we introduced the legislation; the Senate stalled it. Companion legislation for the Hational Investment Fund had the same fateo Through this fund we intend to help ordinary Australians invest in the development of their own resources and industries instead of sUbsidising to the tune of millions, foreign investor~, and multi-national corporatiO!lS. The N.I.F. will raise funds by operating savings and superannuation plans for the general public and by offering securities and invest.ment bonds~~-Doth private and instit路ut~onal investor~.
Further, the Senate twice reiected the Petrol and Hinerals Authority Bill. This is designec1. as our basic instrument. for ensuring development of our energy and min.eral resources and to ma'dmise the ovlI1ership and control of these resources by Australians. It was another of the measures on \olhich the Governor'-General grard.:ed the double dissolution and it alE"?. will be promptly brought before tpe new Parliament. Our opponents' pattern of resistance to measures designed to prolT.ote Australian ownership forms part of a pattern of encouragement of foreign ownership they set ~~n in Government. The great sell-out occurred T,'1hen they formed the Government. They ore still U1e apologists for foreign O\"nership. Their return to ~ffice would again open wid~ the door. As a result of tfleir policies, 68% of our en(~rgy resources are cOP-.trolled ovcrsec::~s Just hov; wide o la:' opponents opened the door is now being revi?aleo.. The Department of l1inerals and Energy set up by t:ili3 Government hilS nm'l received a t.horoughly documented and iml?<:l.:L'cial report on the mining industry the Fitzgerald Report. 0
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"Australians now knO\'l for thE:! first time the e,:tent to \1ihich they have been sUbsidising mining invcst:o:t:':] _. ma.inly foreign corporations. 'fne profit. on their operations for the last 6 ~lears was $2,000,000,000. Our predecessors developed a system of taxation concessions so generous to these struggling corporations that the Australian taxpayer gave $341,COC,OOO in subsidies and concessions. But the compa~ies paid only $28611 in taxes and royalties, $55 million less. He have been paying to be exploi'1.:ed. The Fi t_zgeri\ld ~~')ort. w;:lJ ~8 tt~ st~\rt:.~ng poipt~_9r the formulation of-E2,licies aimE:d_at.....!f1a~iI~ising the r(~t.ur.n to I\l1stralia of her-natural endm'Jme!-it_ of mi1.1E:..;;:al an;d ene:cqy l路!~.:.?-~路!:..th. \ve yTi 11 continue t.o pursue Hi th vigour the surveillance
of all foreign takeover proposals fer shares or assets of
existing Australian companies. W8 have establishea surveillance of new foreign investmen':.: proposals for which exchange control approval is required. We have given particular attention to certain industries. Australia is well furnished with financial institutions so there ~s little advantage in allowing additional insti tutions to be established by foreign interest.s. This is particularly th8 case in the field of insurance. In the area of minerals we have indicated clearly that it is our objective to reduce the extent of foreign o~ne~ship and control and to maximise Australian contro]., paxticularly of anergy resources, Furthermore He have stopped the sell-out of AlJ.s路cralian land, and exchange control approval for foreign investment in real estate. has been lim.i ted. The Governm~nt will proceed \,.rith the furth(~r definition of guidelines:f(>rrorei.on invesbner;-E-and T dll extenc. the present system~ of ~urveillan~e- an<?: !"evi.~~"-:::~.!.o ,:1 9_Ei~~1~1 scj;eenIng. process of :Eo:reign tal<eov~!-"s -,::!nd nE?,~jiT.~ct forei9n. i..nvestmen.E.. This screening P;::'CC3SS l'.n6er the co-ordination of the 'l'reasurer will seek to develop per~ormance guidelines particularly in the areas of export franchises, research and developrne~t, licensing if technology, purchasing policies, and 'tax avoidance. i
ENERGY The \'vorld energy crisis forced a critical test of , the resources policies of the Australian Government. They met that test triumpl1al1tl~l.~\'e have no int.ention \'1ha,tsoever to use our possession of vast resour<.:es to g-ang路 up against the resource users. We stand ready to join with other nations in search of solutions. We recogni.r:i8 the int.erdependence of our economy and our prosperity with our grea.t trading partners particularly Japan, I-Jorthcrn lunerica anrJ, Europe Be are, , however, determined tha~ our resources command a fair price in l,lOrld market:!:;. This tde are achi8\.ing.. Through export controls. and_discussions with exporters the C0vernreent has obtained~higher returns for exporters. I
u
.~
28--
For the first time ap Aust.17.11ian gov(~rnment has used its authority to reinforce the bargaini ng power of Austra.lian exporters. \~e shall not sell our resources on the cheap. Australia has em(~rg8d countries. 路路-t1e have m:1.ninmm heavy crude oil and ,-:e have been affected by escalating crude oil r~cn
as one of the \vorld' s energy dependence on imports of r.:m,ong the countries least prices overseasu
To obtain advice on how this situation can best be used for the continuing benefit of all Australians the government has set up a Royal Commission und.er 1'!1r. Justice Collins to enquire into all aspects of petroleum products, refining and pricing. Further: we approved las'c year the creation of a Pipeline Authority to pl."ovide for the t.ransmission of natural gas by an interstate pipeline system. The first s'tage of the National Pipeline System \.. .ill link Sydney to-;:he Gidgealpa fields. It is ul tima-tely proposed that the pipeline vlill continue toPalm Valley. In view of the critical energy shortage in ~vestern hus路tralia a joint Co~monwealth-staEe study is under l>lay to eval~ate the feasibility of a p~peli:L1e --li~k between Palm Vaij:~f Kalgoorlie f Perth and the natilral gas fields on the I~orth-f'Jest
sh-eI-f":--'
.
The l-\ust!:'al:Lan Government is working closely wi til the Hestern Australian Government on a study of a major industrial complex in the Pilbara based on the utilisation of the abundant supplies of natural gas, iron ore and salt in the region. The report will provide the basis for decision on our future roIe!lndeveloplnent of the area.. It wi 11 he ready in J-une. PRI~ffiRY
INDUSTRIES
Aust~aliais future as an exporter rests increasingly upon our newly discovered mineral resources The farm secto~, however, reulains anel \'lil1 long remain fundamentally important to our trade ,. fundawc-mtally importa.nt to Australia 1 s prosperi ty. 0
Iv:Iy colleague, Senator \Jriedt, the Hinister for Primary Industry, will deliver the government's rural policy speech in Goulbu:cn on ~Jed:-lesday. Let me 1 l1ovlever, outline the Government's general approach and record. Most Australian farmers this year have enjoyed unexaml.J1ed prosperi,ty. '.rho average net income of Australia's 190,000 rural holdings this year is about $15 1 000. The average for the previous 6 years was less than $6 1 000. Our policies have contributed in no small meaSll.t"~, In ?articnlar, ~ve have sought aid to farmers to take the best advantage of present favourable conditions to obtain new markets. ~Je want to encourage industries \<lhich have solid, long term p:::-osj?ects of selling their produc~s at a good return to the farmer.
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To this end, we hav';; vigoreusly expanded existing markets and opened new o~es. The Trade agreement ~'li +:h the People 5 s Republic of China is only the mcs·t notable an(':: noveI examp.:"e. y-;ri thin the terms of this Agreement t substi'm·d.n.l long-tE;rm CO::lt.:;:acts have been arranged for the supply 0= 1'I.U2··::;!:aJ..i.3.n \vhP[,t. 2.nd suqar 7.0 China. It is beyond question that the government of China wll~ honour absolutely any agreement, nonethelGss r ~:::C'J.itical rela.·tlcns cann.::>t but affect trade relations. Our prompt reC''i0n.J_ t.ion 0= t:'-.e People ~ s Republic was hdisputably a significcint f~ctcr i~ ~he co-operative and generous spirit ''lith "thich both s5.des nesot:iatec1 thp. Trad2 Agreement. In additic:1, the ArstraU.an Government has reached a ne\'l level of understanding 0.1 L:::.c.e .vi i.:h ~rapan, ~che Pacific region, eastern Europe and ~he $oviet Union. vie ha"vc pc:.sn8c1. 30 l\Ct.D for the ':;:cotectiop. and reconstruction of primary ~!ldustl:.·y in generaJ. and for such specific industries as wool T ",heat, mer.. !:, eggs ~ wine, honey, apples and pears. We have drafted 15 furthe~ bills fo~ nit~ogenous fettilizer subsidies and \·;heat sta.bilization and fo:r: the sugar, dairying, pig-farming, \"/001, ccmx:.ed fk'"l";.its cmd ap9l.e and pea.r industries. Although our ,-meat stabilization:;. plan \llaS endorsed unanimously by the }!..ustralizm ~'Jhea·;:-GrG;:le:.·s }'e<1erat.ion, it has not., been placed in jeopardy by the nc\'1 Hcstorn A.u.stralian government.
r'ly govern.!'1en·t conceded the correctness of primary producers' complaints about ~ligh tariffs. By re.1.ucing tariffs by 25% across the Boa:.-d "18 shall sa"le rn:-irna.~y producers at least $100 millio~ this flnanci~l year.
The ':l:'aT.'i.f:Z Board has been succeeded by the Industries Assistance Commission Ol~ ~he basis of ~ report we sought from Sir Llohn Cra\'lford. l:l.l.1:1l0'.lah i:he nel··J cornmission for the first time enables the go·.; ('X':1rDCmt 'C0 [..;e·?:~ expert :::lnd impartial adv':.ce on assistance for prirea~y ind~st~i2S on a regular basis, the Country Party in Do·cr. ;'louse.:: vot.ed against the Bill establishing it. I have already &sJ:ed ~=L'2 ConuTii.srJ'::"on 'co report on rural promotion and researc:1 and reconstruction on bovine brucellosis and tuberculcsis slc:mghter cOHrl:)ens.3."t.ion sc£wmes t and on assistance to the mushroom; a~ple and pea~, dried vine fruits, dairy and gold-mining inctustri~s and to Western Australian new lands farm8rs. The g("NcrDrnel:t 1 ~3 En·la.:'. "t.1.n?-" a :rcport from a conuni tt;ee of \'lhich Sir John CLa~tlfo:r:d is c::lso a. l~~~~rnber, en the principles \'lhich should be adopt.ed cO\'li:.rdD a naU.or:a: and rational rural policy for Australia.
Ne are pressi.ng ahead "/i-t.n Epecic:l studies of the Burdekin and Bowen Basins in Qu~ensland.
FLOOD MITIGATION The recent disastrous floods in Queensland have amply demonstrated the need for a positive, co-ordinated national approach to flood mitigation. Accordingly, I have personally invited the Pr~mier of·Queensland to submit a S~ate-wide plan on flood mitigation as the basis of consideration for Australian Government assistance. I await his reply. We propose that agr~ed flood mitigation schemes for river basins should be undertaken cor-operatively between the Australian i State anu local governments? as already applies in the case of New South Wales. I contrast this co-operative approach, this national approach with the attitude of the present Leader of the Country Party \ll11en he told the House of· R~presentatives on 16 l-iay 1963: IlThe problem of flood mitigation rests squarely on State Governments" • ROADS The present Commomvealth Aid Roads Act expires at the end of June. The Bureau of Roads made a report to assist the government in considering financial assistance to the States for the ensuing period. The iJlinister for Transport tabled the report last December. Discussions have since been held with the States and also, for the first time, but in accordance with the Bureau's recommendation, with Local GoverTh~ent authorities. These dis=ussioi1s will be resumed after the elections. Meanwhile the government has decided that it will press on with the construction of a national road systelu in those areas which fall within its own constitutional responsibilities.
~tself
First, the government will take responsibility for the whole cost of constructing and maintaining the principal road between the State capitals. In the interests of safety and economy a new 4-lane divided highway needs to be constructed at once between Goulburn and Holbrook; passing through Collector, Tumut and Batlow and coming close to Canberra. It will reduce the road distance between Sydney and Melbourne by 70 miles. The government will consult with the State and local government authorities on the precise route.
_ 31 ._
Secondly, the gove~nment will ~ake responsibility for the whole cost of export roads of particular significance. These include northern beef: roads (over the next th~ee years we propose to sl.Jend $24- "icd.llion En Queensland and $5.23 million on the Fitzroy Crossing-i,'!yndharrt"roacrTn- l'lt~stern Australia), and other rural roads joining mines to 路seaports and urban roads to major sea and air t.ei1"ilinoJ.s. . Thirdly, we shall make sE,.ecial provision for roads bet\'leen Canberra and neighbouring tmvns in FIe,., Smith \flales and between the Nort.hern - Terri to:cy an.d the three surrounding States. SEA TRANSPORT
We have appointed ~~. Malcolm Slli~ers, the former secretary of the Department of Transport, as a Royal Commissioner to inquire into the Harit.ime Industry. Hia report will be the foundation of a complete moderni.sation of路 the laws covering our ports anG our coastal and overseas trade. We are particularly aware of the burden placed on the Tasmanicul economy and on Tasmanians by their reliance on sea transport. tie have appointed Mr. J.F. Nimmo, a member of the Grants COmmission. ~s a Royal Commissioner to inquire into the impact of freight. rates on the Tasmanian economy. THE vl0R..'-FORCE
Here then is a picture of the nation - rich in resources, and through our policies, getting richexi rich in its ability to develop those resourceE and, through our policies, getting richer; a nation rich in ~he n~ans of marketing those resources at home and abroad, rich i.n 路the means of getting them to those markets at home and abroad ~nd, through our policies, getting richer. Yet we recognise that the basic Australian resource, the key to our \'ieal til and continuing prosperity, is the Australian workforce, as skilled as any in the world, as hardworking as any in the world. This workforce is overwhelmingly and increasingly composed of employees. More than ever before and the trend will contin~~ - the more skilled a person is, the more likely it is that he will be an en~loyee. For the first 路time the submissions before the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission have been positive and constructive. As soon as we were elected we reopened the e~ual pay case and our submission was successful.
-
32 ..
In the 1974 National ~;Jage Case, \'le argued that the m~n~mum wage should be extended to wome~ and the automatic wage adjustments to compensate for rising prices should be reintroduced. There are compellin~ industrial, social and moral arguments for the equal treatment of \'lOmen in the "lorkforce Further all women whether in the workforce or not, will know the need and the justice of automatic adjustments to \'lages eV'ery Llree months. If acce1?ted by the Commission these automatic adjuslments would remove the cause of many industrial disputes and would protect the family budget against the effects of inflation. 0
The vast majority of Australian employees are members of unions or employee associations. The };:ey t.o industrial efficiency is efficient employee organisat.~.on. Our opponents have obstructed our efforts to modernise and democratise Australian trade unions. There are too many unions in Australia. We have sought to reduce the number of unions.. There are too many needless strikes in Australia~ we have sought to remove the causes of needless strikes. In those efforts ''Ie have been opposed by our opponents in the Federal Parliament and have met with no co-operation from their confederates in the States.
Responsible leadership of Doth unions and industry strongly supports a reduction in the number of unions and of demarcation disputes bet\"leen rival unions. Our legislation to help union amalgamation has been twice rejected by the Senate. In February 1969 the Industrial Court pointed to the urgent need for the Australian, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australian and Western Australian Parliaments to remedy the problems created by conf licting and unco--ordinated federal and State industrial laws. In particular, this situation has caused industrial strife through competition for union membership within the same industry. Ne havp- acted urg'ently on this matter waich the Industrial Court said was urgent 5~ years ago. We have repeatedly asked the States to co-operate with us in co-ordinating legislation. Only South Imstralia has acted. We have met with no response in particular from New South Wales, tile State where the problem is most acute, most urgent. It is not my concern, however, to dwell on matters where 'VIe ha,re been frustrated, either by the Senate or the States. For the real story of the lD.st seventeen months 11o.s been one of continuing and positive aChievement. It has been a story of new initiatives carried through, of new beginnings, of new co-operation at all levels, to the great and enduring advantage of the people of this nation. Our aim has been to see that no Australian, nobody who 1ives in Australia and chooses to cast his lot with us, should be excluded from the family of the nation. He have sought to unite the nation and all wllo live in it.
- 33 _
We have sought to make opportunities more equal, we have sought to OIJ'en ne\-{ Opportl\n i t.ies; \"C~ ~lave sougnt .::~1e. enrichment of the lives of all our [Jâ&#x201A;Ź0t?le .. ¡,.;je llave sought t-o ra:i:.sp. opportunitwS: for all. citizens so that the nation mig11t no longer be diminished by the existence amongst us of the grosser inequalities, the grosser disadvantages, the grosser discriminations. ABORIGINES
In my policy speech in 1972 I said t:hat "All of us as Australians are diminishea \f.lhi1e t~)e Aborigines are denied their rightful place in this nation". December 1972 brought to an end a phase in the long history of Aboriginal Australians marked by shameful brutality, exploitation, neglect and contempt. He do not claim that our efforts have been Ylholly successful. But we have set a new course. We have at the very least opened a door to hope. Despite inadequacies much has been achieved and the road for the future becomes daily clearer. For the first time Aboriginal voices have been heard and heeded. From now on there will be through local co~rununity councils and at the national level through the NuA.C.C. Aboriginal bodies in close ,touch ''lith Aboriginal opinion and interests with authority to speak for them and to work in their int.erests. j1~T government, as one of its first acts, decided that Aborigines in the Northern Territory should be granted rights to their traditional lands where these could be established and appointed ~tr. Justice EoA. Woodward to advise us on how legislative autho~ity could best be given to that decision. The Hoodvlard Commission's report is complete and \"lill ~e published before the eleGt~.on. I"~overnment has not yet had the opportu."lity to studÂĽ the report \'lhich ',\'e are confident will qive expression to our fi.rn~_)ntentions. I am proud to head a government "lhich has taken this historic step. We have fUlly accepted the overwhelming instruction of the people ot" Austrolic-. gi \7en in the referendum of 1967 to accept national responsibility for Aboriginal affairsb The Uestern Australian Parliam~nt has passed the necessary complementary legislation to give effect to th': people's instruction and aCjreement. has been reached in principle on the matter with all States except Queenslandb No agreement has yet bee.n reached on the transfer of resporw:U.)ility for Aboriginal Affairs from the Queensland Government to the Australian Government, as the people so decisively demanded 7 years ago. He intend to eliminate the remnants of discriminatory Queensland legislation against Aborigines and Islanders, a hope declared but unfulfilled by Prime l'Jlinister Gorton. All Aborigines are now entitled to free legal aid from the Aboriginal Legal Services 'iJe established.
34. THE LAH We have sought, however, to bring ~egal aid within the reach of all Australians. ~e are concerned to protect and. enhance the rights of all Australians. T路.le are determined to give real meaning to the concept of equality before the r,a"1. The Australian Legal l'ir:1 Service has been established to ensure ready and equal access to the Courts to give every Australian equal protection before the law. The service is already functioning in all state capitals and in Canberra ann Darwin. Offices "'ill be C?pene1 in regional centres throughout Australia in the next 3 years. The refusal of Supply by the Senate has delayed our legislation to establish an Australian omhudsman and Administrative Appeals Tribunal. We want to simplify the law and make it less We have established a Law Reform Commission and have set up a Legislative Drafting Institute for training in the drafting of simpler ana clearer - and therefore better - laws. fIe shall legislate to extend to oublic servants the maximum possible freedom to exercise the civil and political rights enjoyed hy other citizens~ expensive~
Act.
We will proceed with our Freedom of Information
The referendum proposals before you are d(~signed. to protect路 and enhance Australian democracy, to estahlish true equality of representation in our parliaJTlentary . . p rocesses. . As a further protection against perversion of these processes, we propose to legislate for the disclosure of the ~o~ces of funds passing to all Australian political partl.es. The Government will aPI?oint a judicial inquiry into the structure of the Australian-5ecuritv services and into methods of reviewing decisions adversely affecting citizens or migrants. He 'VJ~ll re-int.roduce our legislat.ion for. the Superior Court of Austrfl.lia, a proposal laun.ched by Sir Garfield Bar~]icJ{ in 1961, de'leloped by the present Leader of the Opposition as A.ttorn(~y-Genera.l and in.troduced as a Bill byt~r Justice BOHen when he v.!as Liberal l\.ttorneyGeneral in 1968 - but rejecte<'l by the Senate opposition a month ago.
35. The !.'mstrC:'.lian Governrn.ent is convince(l. that the High Court of Aus路tralia must heco!1:1e the final cour路t in all matters pertaining 1:0 Australi,;t ano. to the legal rigl1ts and obliaations of its citizens. Ge will nroceed with our legislation to aholish uppeals'-to the Privy Council. Ue hi:\ve pansed three bills concerning gen~ral and life insurance. Fe have ,-lrafterJ legislation on neN insurance companiAs and on the supervision of insurance brokers. ~'Je have t\'!ice introduced but. not yet passed the Finc.ncial Corporations Bill. Ne \,rould have already introduced legislation for the control of the securitil=!=; industry but for the constant deferment of a report fro~ the Belect Committee on Securities and Exchange Hhich the Sen9te set up over 4 years 2..go. Ne shall introduce a ~'!ational Companies Act N'hich ..路.Jill estahJ. ishunno~mity - a principle sought by Liberal Governments since the late -1950 I S hnt aCknOl.,ledge0. to be unattainable through separate acts of the States. Pe have drafted leqislation to establish an export hank and to permit loans by the CorniT:om:7eal th Develop~!ient P.ank for tourist development projects~ ARTS Fundamental to our 路"hole philo~;ophy and fundamental to our programs is the idea of a viS'orous l\.ustrali.an national spirit - a healthy pride an~ confidence in ourselves, in our country's promise, in our capacity to lift the standards of our people an~ help our less fortur.a~e neighbours to a fuller and better life. To help cultivate a rich and enduring national pride, and to enlarge the people's opportunities for cultural ,fulfiLment, we have given high priority to the encouragement of the arts. We have reconstituted the Australia Council for the Arts and provided. $J.4 milli.on for the arts in our first nudget r. more than t~'ice the amount given :by our prec1ecessors. Ne have int:roduce1....L !Jut not ~.~1?assec, legis~ation for the ne~,T l':.ustralia ('ouncil r It "nIl he headed by Professor I~armel the Chairman of the Australian Schools Commission. It is not just: the artists theJ'1selves ~?ho Nill benefit. Our purpose is to make the arts more accessible to every AustrCilie.n, "t.O let every nan and woman share in their challenc..Te and enchantment and in the richer and fuller life they can bring.
36. In the past 17 roonths we have encouraged a greater participation of Australian creative and performing talent in radio, television ancl. cinema production. Never before have there been such opportunities for Australian artists. f7e are firmly committec1 to maintaining those opportunities and increasing them still further. In our next three years in office, we will i?rovi.de at very little cost, an additional radio network for the ABC in the 8ajority of rural areas that now receive a singl~ ABC service. t路-1e \"ill introduce PH radio for high quality
broadcasting of all kinds of music, heginning with metropolitan areas and regional growth centres. The previous government Has committed to creating PM in the UHF band rather than on the internationally accepted hand. The public inquiry which we established calculated that this would cost an extra $250 million. It would have been another FIll. The previous government also turned a blind eye to the technical possibilities of ne~路q lJ.路~ radio stations. Additional radio frequencies will enable us to expand the com~ercial services, establish educational and foreign language stations and make special provision for minority groups. t~e shall intro~uce colour television in .:\ustralia on 1 Barch next year. 'T.'hp- previous government baulked at asking the Tariff Board to inCluire into the cost of colour television receivers. One of'the first steps I took after becoming Prime ginister ""as to refer the matter to the Tariff Board for inquiry. Because of action taken by My government to date, colour television receives in Australia will be available to the public at a much cheaper price than \'lould have been the case had. th.e inquiry not been held.
We have established the Film and Tele\7ision School and we will introduce legislation for the Australian archives, the Australian l"1ational Gallery, the Australian National (1useum and Collecti"ons, the J\ust:r.:alian Film Ccrr@ission, ~erformers' protection, a public lending right and the book bounty. In short, as far as governments can act in terms of money and machinery, we are creating the conditions for a renascence of Australian creativity.
37 • INTERNATIONAL REL.i\TIONS
:,'lore than ever before Australians are entitled to feel prirle in their nation. '·'Te have never been held in higher respect abroad. ~~ore than ever before Australians are entitled to feel confident. I have said much about our resources. In the final analysi3 our richest resource, an irreplaceable one, is our national reputation. ~hat reputation has never been higher. I have said much about providing security for nIl onr cit~~zens. In its "ddest sense this country has neve~ bEen more secure. Australia now has basically a bipartisan foreign policy, not because of any ch~nge of hear~ O~ mirrc on the part of our opponents, but because \'1e as a govCrThllent rE::cognised and acted uDon ·the realities of world ~ffairs and above all the realities of our region. Our opponents have just caught np t·Tith reality. The fears, the ahibboleths on ~Jhich they traded for a generation ha~le been 8t';ept a,...ay. 'I'ry as they might, trlish as they might, onr cpi::>one:::.ts cannot return to the past.
It is because we recognised t.he realities of our times that our 7.oreign policy has been so successful and our Gefence rolicy so relevant. ~e approach the manageMent o? defence ma·::.ters ~'n the basis that the international ~it\12.~io:i1. and -the affairs of t:he region are in the process of rapin change. ~e su~ that defence policy and foreign poli~y had to ~e hrought into lint with these changes, into line \"lith -thece realiti.es. !';e saw hm" far both defence and foreign poli~y had become based on past concepts and deep misconceptions of th~ pres~nt, In 1972 I undCl,·took to lead this country to her rightful prouG and sec~re place in the world. ~e can be proud of 01.'1.1.: rep1~'!:ati"')!1, T/J''2! c~~n hp. confident of our security. Ne· have S€'C n. nev'] course forA'ls-t!."a~ia - atrJay from interventionism, ~m,yards true :i.nternation~~lism. This is the most genuinely interna tiona]. governrtlent Australia has ever had. He have placed our relationships "lith the United States and the United !<ingdcm on the be..sis of mature partnership. ~e have renegotiated the agreement for United States Nav2..1 Communication Statio?1 at North The agreement signed by our oI1ponents vas a denial Australia's rights. rl'he new' ag~eement asserts and them.
the '(r.Test Cape. of establishes
~'Je h~ve ,·lidened Olli~ horizons, sought and achieved growing co-oper.~tion with the countries of the Commonwealth and \'li th the nations rouncJ t:he In0..ian ancl South Pacific Oceans.
38.
He have brought co-operation and friendship with Japan, our greatest trading pa.l~路 tner I to a ne~\; level. Follm.,ing an agreement in principle bett/leen Prime .~'iinister 'l'anaka and myself c:.t the I 1lnis-terTal 6mm1ittee r1ceting in Tokyo last October, we wili-en~'in~o a treaty of friendship the Treaty of Nara_- this yea~. tqe have sought to break dm..' I1 ideological constraints which had for so long oDstructec1. meaningful relationships \<!i th countries such as China( P-a:::t Gerr.mny and i'ToI:th Viet Nam. We have sought to remove any taint of rac1sm from our national an6 international 90licies. Me have co-operated closely with the Government and House of l~ssembly of Papua :Hew Guinea as our neighbour moves towards indepennence by December this year. Ne have forged ne"! and intimate links \-lith the countries of A.S,B.l\..N. - Indonesia, the Philippine~, r~alaysia, Thailand and Singapore. ~~ have accepted their invitation to co-operate \'lith l-\.S.E.~-.i\I. on develo0r1ent nrojects. with the agreement of all its secured the remodelling of S.F..A.T.O.
me~bers,
we have
~e have ~aken firm measures for disarmament and against the development and proliferation of nuclear weapons. We have ratified the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and the Sea-Bed Arms Control Treaty. T1e have protested against Chinese tests. ~'Te have used every available legal and political channel to persnade France to desist from its atmospheric pollution in our hemisphere.
\1e have actively supported the o~jectives of the zone of peace and neutrality in Scuth ~ast Asia and the Indian Ocean zone of peace. ~e have made powerful representations in ~ashington anc !~scow to persuade them to exercise restraint an(\ not to mal-:e 路the Indian Ocean yet another scene for great power rivalry. t'Je tave introdu.ced bu'c not yet passed legislation to eatahlish--an-J\:ilstralian D8velopl",ent .Assistance .~\gency in order to improve -the c;ual i ty of: our airl -program, ano. to move tm"Jard the international "target, v!hich ,.,18 have accepted, of provining 0.7% of our gross natlonc:.l product in official aid 路 ~j na~1ons. t-0 .d eve 1 op1ng
39.
DEFENCE ~e have encouraged and sup~orted the detente between the gre3. t ?O\-,eJ:s ~'Je have taJ~cn &Qvantage of the more hopefu.J. ou:::oa};: in 0U:L l.'egic.'l ~:o reo:C']2.n5.se ,~'.ustl."alia! s defence f'Jrces. To give a '::angiblG and prac·tica.i basis to our defence relati0ns with other countries we have embarked on an e;{r-c~'1Ged progI:<1J.l of €zcrcises ':"rit1:1 oor neighbcu.:'s an0 traditional c:::'I::'es" In .June t ·the largest peace-time exercise ever held in Aust!.'"alia \':111 ;J2 hel::1 in nUE:'enslano. involving ave:!:' 8 r OOO sel:vicemen £rmil Aust-.r:aJ.iEt, l!e\',f ~eal.'li10, the united States Rnd Great Britain. 0
The Deputy P:d.me ninisteT i my closeRt colleague down -::Ile year~: ;t't" Lance Barnard, has p::=cved the Most constructive a.nd effective ministerj.al r:ea6 cf the defence forces in A.ustral~-2.t s history. H::; has ar~~lgdmated the Defence Depa.rtmr:mt ai'~d the ~ Service Departments as recoI!'J.nenc.ed in the repOl:t of t.~1e rr1.C::::Th2ad (>;m;!!i·::te~ "!hich our pJ:edece~sors suppres~ea :f01:" J.5 :roars. He ha.s undert.:aken to establish the ccmbinec1 hl1straJ.ia.n Defence ?orces l\cadel.1Y. The services are being equ5_pped to pJa:r a greater role in ~:;ase of e!'.lergencies and natnral d).sasi.:e:....s 0
He hac prEsenter'!. to the P3rliament a ne'}! charter for the CitLzen l'!ili-:::ary Fo::'ce.s, a ne\1' disciplinary code for the force:::; a ne~'i p:coCuZ'<:!'1er:_t prr:-C]:;::-anl for tan~"'s I reconnaissance aircraft and :}eDt=oye:c~c:o (O'..lr present. tanks \,J(~re ordereo.:by the las·t I,anor G:r'ilC~:-m;lellt. a quartel: ':)f a century ago.)
IIe ;1a s ar·pointec, D. ;\Ii~.i -:'ary omhudsman. He has instituted t.he ::-029 uls..r :::-evic~'l of sel'V ice pay an·i allm'r~nces ::'.110 a cC!r.p:cehensj.~. ·. e 2.p.d comprehensible Defence Forces RetlTelil.en(: «n.(~ Death Benei-:i:ts scl12me. HE; he.s co-ordinated the p~ss2ge of 17 measu~es dea~i~g with rapatriatio~: taxation, educa-tion and. accc:<h:lO{::c:-i:icn benefH:s ?-Ol~ serviceme1. and the drafting of 9 mo!'? such l~Easu!.'es" In short:, vie have n;oved :3b·;adily an& £i:cmly tov.lards our aim tCia i : Australia sha:i.l have the def~!1ce forces she needs - finely equi?pec1, hj.ghly p::c:::essional, high mobile and highly respcc~ed.
40. CONCLUSI01'l
Here then is a reco:;-d o-t: achievement, of purpose, yet it is a re(:o::-d of a goverm:J.cnt ".vh.ich haa been in office a mere 17 months. It is a record of u goverr~ent which came into office after 23 unhroken years of power held by our opponents, 7.3 years of ~ecay and neglect. It is a record of a government ,...hich had had to overcome unparallelled obstruction in a Senate in which it VIas in a minority. 'rhis ,,,,o.s our legacy :.n 1972 - 23 yea:::-s of om:.' opponents' mistakes and a hostile Senate. ~~!e have lived l,tlith the past and liTe have overcome the past, t~e recor~ shows it. Now our opponents propose a retcrn to t~e past, the attitudes and policies of.tha past which you so firmly rejected only 17 months ago. Let there be no mistake ahout the true nature of these at~itudes and policies. In the past 17 months o~r opponents h~ve shown no repentance, they have done no re-thinking. On every major issue now as Rlways, they come oo~m on the side of privilege. The whole thrust of their policies remains the retention of privilege and extension of privilege. 'l'his has been the thread running through. their pattern of obstruction and opposition. They ::::-esistec::l to the eleventh hour our proposnls to give most money to the ~ost needy schools. They have obstructed at every turn our plan to give health cover to the million unproteC"te<..~. Australians. On every occasion they have sprung to the defence of \'Jeal thy interests Nho fe.ar that our efforts to retain the greater share of Australian control over our rp.sources !nay inconvenience them. They have opposed our every effort to have greater equality in parliamentary representation in Australia. The last elec~ion was essentially about the promotion of oppo~tunit.le::::, of more opportunities and more equal opportunities for. all A.us路traliElls. In the past 17 months that effort has been car~ied on with zest, Qetermin~tion and suc~ess. Imperf.ect Sl~cceS3 of course -- the timp. has been so short, the backlog 0:: 7.3 'l'3ars so (j路rcai..-.. 'rhe question nO':11 is "1hether that ',TorJ~ shall go on. 'J?he question is '\.Alhether the great opport.unities this nation offers shall be more and more equally shared, or ~_",hethe:L pJ:'ivilege shall be deeper and deeper entrenched. This is ":hat you have -to clecide. When they maJre their j '.1cJ.gement I look to the basic intelligence an(l idealism of the Aus'::ralian people. I rely on it, ar..d I rely upon it ,~Jith confidence. In all Ir,y efforts to reform and revitalise Austra.lj_a, L1 all my efforts to L'eform and revitalise the Australian Labor PartYt I have relied upon that intelligence and tha-t idealL,m:l. lmc1 yOll have never let me dO"l!m. I look to the l-:ten of hustrZolia Hho believe in a fair go - not just a fair go for an .21ecte(1 government, hut a fair go for all those of their fel.loy.7 ci ti.zens to \Thom our policies have brought a ne\" hope, a ncr'!" c:hcmce for a decent life. I look to the women of Australia.; \'lho 'r1 ell know t'lh~t our program
41.
has already meant for the fut:..n."e trlelfare of our children, of our aged, our siclr., our har;rUcapped. I 1001--; to th0. idealism of that vast. new constituency of ~en and 楼omen over the age of 18 now voting for the first tine. It is above all their future at stake. Por t:1e out.:::ome of this election must go far to determine the sort of Australia t.hey will be living in for the rest of their lives. Here is the record. ~~ere is the promise of the fulf ilment of the programs He ;1ave beg'un \tTl th such vigor und determina路tion - ""1 th dedica路l:ion. The quest:ion is "'hether the action of our opf'onents last month 'das only a t.emporary interruption to t~ose programs or their destruction. It is nonsense to believe that our opponents would accept and apply our programs and policies which they resisted and derided for 23 years. Fellow-Australians~
and I put these ques't:ions to you.
it is a time for decision,
Are you for a fair go, not just a fair go for an elected Government, but a fair go for our program to work?
Are you for giving us a chance to ma.ke them work? Are you for Australians having a fair opportunity to have a fair share in the control and ownership of their mm resources?
Are you in favcur of giving every Australian child, whatever his parents I means or cre(~d, a fai.r start, an equal sta.rt in life? Are you for the new deal we have given to our children, to the dependent, the disadvantagec. in our community?
Are you for the more decent, the More humane, the more tolerant., the more compassionate society "le have been trying to build in the last 17 months? ~xe ~h9 Australian people to be alloltred to reap the full harvest of our programs?
I don't believe the Australian people are going to turn back. I donIt believe they're going to turn their backs on the promise of t.he futi.l:t'e. I don't believe the:/'re going to thro'" allay the new opportunities, the new hopes, the new national spirit ar-d national self-respe~t.
42. I don't he;Lie\7e they \·rill :'.ave a bar of the tactics, the blatant opportunism of our opponents. I don' t belj_ev~~ for a moment they a.re about to do "That they have refused to do in all our hi.story - replace a strong, united government, a government will a clear program, a proven record; a great recor~, and hand this country over to a discredited, disunited, discarded coalition of frustration and futility, without policies, without unit,y, \·.:rithout leadership.
And that j_s the real choice on the 18 r1ay. Therefore
I
look
confidence to a great vote ~.' yes to our referendum proposals ~ yes to ,the return of our government yes to the future, a bright" confident, proud, secure futur:-e for Australia. .
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~ith
of affirmation on tile 18 ::.lay - a mighty vote of yes
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