E&OE................................................................................................................................
Thank you very much to Rob Borbidge, the Premier
of Queensland, to Joan Sheldon, the Deputy Premier and Treasurer,
to John Moore, my federal Ministerial colleague, other Ministers,
the Leader of the Opposition in Queensland, members of the Brisbane
City Council, ladies and gentlemen.
As you are aware, one of the objectives that my
Government has had over the last couple of years is to make certain
that the foundations of the Australian economy are strong, to make
certain that we are seen throughout the world as being a strong,
reliable country economically in which inflation is low and in which
the business investment climate is extremely attractive.
Now that has, of necessity, involved us taking
over that two year period a number of decision which have sought
to reduce our public spending and to get our budget deficit which
we found to be $10.5 billion back into surplus. We have done a very
good job along that path and I hope that in the next federal budget
it will be possible for our Treasurer to announce a budget surplus
with will represent a major turnaround in such a short period of
time.
But that hasn't been an end in itself. When
you embark upon a programme of getting the books in order of fiscal
consolidation as the boffins call it, or simply reducing the deficit
as we call it, when you embark upon that sort of programme, it's
not just end in itself. You also get a benefit from it. It is something
that I call a social bonus. You get something out of sensible economic
decision making, you give yourself the capacity further down the
track to do things in a directed, intelligent, measured way that
you want to do for the long-term benefit of the country.
And one of the social bonuses to come out of our
expenditure restraint and other decisions that we took, was the
capacity we had to announce in the last federal budget the establishment
of a Federation Fund of $1 billion. And that was designed principally
to fund the development of major infrastructure projects all around
Australia, to mark the federation of Australia, the Centenary of
Federation in the year 2001, to generate jobs in the construction
phase of those projects, and to leave the future generations a lasting,
practical memorial of one hundred years of the federation of the
six Australian colonies into the nation of Australia in 1901. And
as a result of that Fund being created, as part of the social bonus,
what we have already announced is a commitment of funds to the Darwin
to Alice Springs railway, a commitment to the National Gallery of
Victoria, a commitment to building that major infrastructure project
at Jervoise Bay in Western Australia which will support the oil
and gas export industries of Western Australia which are so important,
not only to our country, but also to the state of Western Australia.
And I am pleased to announce today that we will
be committing out of that Federation Fund a sum of $65 million towards
the Light Rail Project which was announced by the Premier of Queensland
in November of last year. I share all of the enthusiasm of both
the Premier and the Treasurer for the Briztram project. I share
all of his belief that it will be a visionary transport project
that will tap the heritage values of Brisbane. Just three quarter
of an hour ago, I had the opportunity of talking to a number of
the diplomatic visitors we have at our Liberal Party convention
here in Brisbane, and I was talking about the different cities of
Australia, and I made the observation that I have now been in politics
since 1974 and in that almost 24 years that I have been in politics,
of all of the great cities of Australia, none has been more dramatically
transformed in that 24 year period than the city of Brisbane.
I can still recognise the other cities, and I recognise
some of the old values of Brisbane as well. It still retains some
great deposits of its earlier years, but it really has been transformed
into a modern, attractive, dynamic diverse city. And it needs, part
of that transformation, it needs infrastructure, it needs long term
planning, it needs an adequate transport network and this project
will help to give it that. And that is why it is a project that
admirably fits the bill so far as Federation funding is concerned.
It is precisely this sort of project that the Federation funding
was designed to augment. And it will create the jobs, it will provide
the linkages between communities. And in every respect it does fit
the bill.
And can I say to you, Mr Premier, and to you, Joan,
as the Treasurer of the state of Queensland, that I have an enormous
respect for the commitment you have for the development, not only
of Brisbane, but also to the development of the state of Queensland.
You are both great Queenslanders and you are also very loyal partners
with myself and our other heads of government in the future long
term development of our country.
But you do understand the particular needs of Brisbane,
and the particular needs of Queensland. You are fathers for the
mining industry of this state, you have stood up for the interests
of Queensland in promoting the need for a sensible outcome to the
difficult problem of Native Title. You know the value to Queensland
of the jobs and investment that will be involved in settling the
difficulties involved in that legislation. You also understand the
importance of small business in the life of Queensland and you also
understand that in the 1990s government, in the 1990s the kind of
society we want could only ever be created through a shared endeavour
which involves a partnership between the government, the community
and the individual. The Government can't do everything on its
own. But it's got to help and it's got to provide leadership
and it's got to provide facilitation and this project really
does epitomise that and epitomise it very well.
So I congratulate you, Mr Premier and Deputy Premier
and I congratulate the Government of Queensland on this visionary
project. I'm delighted to associate my Government with it in
a practical way. And that, of course, won't be the end of federation
funding support for the State of Queensland.
This project was number one on the priority list
given to me by the Premier of Queensland. There are other projects
and of that more will be said at an appropriate time. But we are
working very closely with the Government of Queensland. We share
a vision about the future of this State and, of course, as part
of that, a vision about the future of the entire country.
But can I just diverge from the project and just
say one other thing. And I think it is important that I say it as
the very proud patron of the great St George Rugby League Club.
Can I say how delighted I am that the, at times vigorous and spirited
but I think at all times rather tragic tribal war that racked the
great game of rugby league, now appears to have come to an end.
The armistice will be consummated at Lang Park tonight and appropriately
enough between Manly and the Brisbane Broncos. And given my loyalties
and given the fact that I am a leader for all of the Australian
people, I shall not choose, I shall not gain to express a preference
for the outcome. But the real winner of that clash tonight will
be the followers and lovers of rugby league and the many Australians,
whether here in Queensland or in Sydney or elsewhere, were devastated
by the tribal war that went on for a number of years. I think it
is a wonderful thing and it's been settled in, I hope, a lasting
fashion. I wish the game well and I hope it is well supported.
But, ladies and gentlemen, again, my congratulations
to the Premier of Queensland, to his Government for their vision
and their foresight and their commitment to the development of Brisbane
and the development of the State of Queensland. And I'm delighted
to lend my Government's support to the tune of $65 million
out of the Federation Fund. We look forward to further cooperative
endeavour in the months ahead. Thank you.
[Ends]