Subjects: Subjects: National Farmers Federation; foot and mouth disease; rural Australia; Native Title
E&OE..................
Thank you very much Ian Donges, to my parliamentary colleagues, our visitors and guests from overseas, ladies and gentlemen. I particularly want to acknowledge our friends from other parts of the world and can I say especially to our British visitors tonight how much the Australian rural community I know and the Australian people feel for the enormous travail through which British agriculture has passed as a result of foot and mouth disease. It must be very distressing for your industry, it is economically very damaging and it strikes at the heart of the viability of an industry that is a very important part of your nations way of life.
I take the opportunity on that subject to say that my Government will leave no stone unturned, will spare no expense in making absolutely certain within our capacity that foot and mouth disease is not bought to Australia. This country has been free of foot and mouth disease for 130 years and I want to say very firmly that whatever we've done in the past will be doubled or trebled if necessary in order to make certain that any possibility that we can foresee of the disease coming to Australia is stopped. Because the devastation that it would wreak to our precious rural industries would be very expensive.
Can I say how much I enjoy on a personal level being invited again to address this annual gathering. I look around the room and see many people that I've been associated with in different capacities over the years. Can I particularly acknowledge Graeme Blight who I think was the first ever, well the first Australian rather since 1946 to head the International Agriculture body. I think of a long association with the NFF and I think of the contribution that the National Farmers Federation has made to the quality of the debate about economic reform in this country over the 22 years that it's been in existence. If my recollection serves me correctly the National Farmers Federation was probably the first major industry body in this country to simultaneously argue the cause of financial sector deregulation and tariff reform. The National Farmers Federation was amongst the first bodies, if not the first industry body in this country to argue for the floating of the exchange rate. And I got the impression from an aside with Ian Donges just before I got up to speak that the people you represent Ian are not entirely unhappy with the current level of the Australian dollar. I will make no predictions about where it might go, it tends to get people my size into trouble if we do things like that.
But it has been a very long association and I want to record the respect I have for the contribution that your organisation has made to the debate about economic reform in Australia over the last 20 years. It has been quite a momentous period of reform in our country. And without the steady advocacy of bodies like the NFF in the cause not only of financial deregulation, not only of tariff reform, not only of tax reform, but very importantly may I say on an issue that's been very close to my heart and that is industrial relations reform, the strides that have been made in these areas would not have been nearly as great.
This is an occasion for plain speaking between a Prime Minister and an industry association. It's an opportunity to share our joint passion and commitment to the importance of your industry to the future of our nation. As you know I come from urban Australia, I grew up in the suburbs of Sydney, I've had no direct family connection with the land. But I've always had a special place in my heart when I think of Australia, for the bush, for rural Australia and for the importance that it represents, not only to our country economically but what it represents to our country in a social and historical sense. And I find it quite impossible to imagine the Australia that I grew up to love and the Australia we all love now without a very central part of it being a thriving and strong and growing and purposeful rural sector. And I'm therefore delighted that this conference takes place at a time of greater optimism amongst people in rural Australia. I choose those words carefully, I speak relatively, I speak comparatively, I certainly don't make any absolute declarations. But it is the case that through a combination of circumstances there has been a very welcome lift in the export side of things, in prices and some improvement in farm incomes. Now it's a long time between drinks is an old Australian saying, and it can certainly be applied to the fortunes of rural Australia. And I think I get the nod of everybody in this room in saying that you probably need about 10 more years like the last before you could think that you're even beginning to draw even. I can see one of my rural parliamentary mates clapping very furiously there.
But can I say it is welcome and it gives us a sense of hope and optimism because you have been through incredibly difficult times and you've been waylaid and torpedoed and ambushed by some very unfortunate circumstances over many long years. And it is therefore a source not only of satisfaction and hope for people in rural Australia but also for the entire nation. And the contribution that the farm sector continues to make to the export income of this country is incalculable and it is something that I and I know all other Australians very deeply appreciate.
In the time that we have been the Government we have tried to do the right thing by the rural sector. We haven't always done things that completely pleased you. I know on occasions that we have fallen short of your expectations. And in the nature of things that will always be the case. But we do have a deep identification with the things that you regard as important. When we came to office we did set about tackling some of those long standing problems that you have. Ian mentioned the annual meeting at Longreach two years ago. I remember another meeting at Longreach that I attended with Tim Fischer a year earlier and that meeting was about Native Title. And I know how difficult that issue has been for rural Australia. And I'm very pleased that we were able to make some changes. I'm sorry that because of the obstruction of the Labor Party and the Democrats in the Senate we couldn't make more changes. But we did at least produce an outcome that was vastly better than what we inherited in 1996. I think that particular debate was a very unhappy one and one that I wished our country hadn't had because it did create divisions. But I thought the Native Title Act we inherited in 1996 was grossly unfair to Australian rural people and I'm glad that we were able to make a large number of reforms.
We also identified workplace relations reform, industrial relations reform, as being one of the key areas of change. And I know over the years when I was in Opposition how much I appreciated the support and the counsel and the advice of the National Farmers Federation in relation to the changes we sought to make in that area. And I'm intensely proud of the fact that we have changed the face of industrial relations in this country over the last five years. And no area of course was more important than the changes we made in relation to the waterfront. I came to NFF meeting after NFF meeting in Opposition and was quite rightly told that one of the things a Government of this country would one day summon the courage to do, and that is to tackle the power of the unions on the waterfront of Australia. Now we did that in 1998 and it was very difficult indeed. And as the pressure piled on people peeled away. But one group that didn't peel away were the farmers. And I want to record my gratitude and I know that Peter Reith would thank me for recording his gratitude for the tenacity of the support that we received from the rural community. And you didn't do it out of bloody mindedness, you did it because your lifelines had been threatened over the years by the sort of thuggery on the waterfront that our reforms were directed to removing. And at long last we have seen a much needed lift in waterfront productivity. We have seen the crane rates go to unimaginable levels of over 25 an hour. They were talked about, thought about, dreamt about a few years ago but now they have been a reality and I am therefore delighted to say to this gathering that industrial relations reform does represent one of the big areas of change that has occurred under this Government and it will of course represent one of the areas of total reversal of reforms if there is a change of Government at the end of this year.
It is an occasion to speak plainly at a gathering like this. And one of the things that will change if there is a Labor Government in Australia is industrial relations. Make no bones about, I make no bones about it and make no mistake about it. If we have a Federal Labor Government and five out of six state Labor Governments the landscape will be ripe with a dramatic resurgence of union power in this country and a reversal of most of the fundamental reform that my Government has carried out over the last five years.
Ian you mentioned in your remarks taxation reform. And that has been a major goal and a major achievement of the Government over the last five years. And I want to record the appreciation of the Government for the advice and help that we received from the National Farmers Federation along the journey towards taxation reform. You will recall the undertaking I gave to the annual meeting of the National Farmers Federation at Longreach two years ago. I said that none of the changes that would be visited upon the package as a result of the negotiations I was about to enter with the Australian Democrats would result in removal of any of the benefits in the package for rural Australia. And I'm very happy to report that not only was that promise honoured but indeed in the final wash up the benefits for rural Australia were in fact increased. The reductions in excise on diesel and the other changes in relation to fuel taxes are of important long term benefit and gain for farmers throughout Australia. Now I know that fuel prices in Australia are painfully high and I know that that is a very big cost burden for farmers. You are aware of the cut in excise, you are aware of the abolition of six-monthly indexation of fuel excise which over a period of years will deliver a very valuable discipline on whatever Government is in power in this country.
Taxation reform will deliver and has already begun to deliver major long-term benefits to the Australian economy. It has made our exports even more competitive. It has rid us of a very outdated, uneven, unfair indirect taxation system through the wholesale sales tax. It has delivered $12 billion of personal income tax cuts. And let me illustrate a point that I made the other night to a meeting of the Institute of Company Directors, that we've had a lot of talk recently about income tax cuts in the United States. Those tax cuts of President Bush's are worth about 1.3% of United States Gross Domestic Product. By comparison the net value of the personal income tax cuts contained in our taxation reform represent a higher figure of about 1.7% of Australia's Gross Domestic Product. And importantly we should remind ourselves that on the first of July this year company tax will fall from 34 cents to 30 cents in the dollar, and it was 36 cents when we came to Government. Financial Institutions Duty will be totally abolished. As will stamp duty on share transactions. And together that represents a further cut in aggregate taxation of something in the order of $4 billion.
Can I take the opportunity of reaffirming the commitment of the Coalition to in no way in any changes it makes in taxation interfere with the legitimate use of family trusts as a means of running a rural or farm business. The legislation that was put out for comment and exposure was certainly commented upon by the farm sector, often candidly, frequently and variously. And as a result of those comments we decided to shred that legislation. We are looking at a way of making sure that any abuses of trusts are tackled but I want to make it very plain that we're not going to revisit in any way the approach that was mooted before. It's unworkable and it would have interfered with legitimate usage of trusts. And I'm not playing with words in saying that we have absolutely no intention of doing that. I don't regard the normal use of a family or trading trust by Australian farmers as tax avoidance and we don't intend to act in any way in the future as if it were.
It is important also for me to simply record the fact that as I've gone around rural Australia, I have endeavoured to respond to the particular concerns that people have raised in many areas. I am aware that there is a shortage of doctors in rural Australia. I'm aware of the concerns people in the farm sector have about communications. I'm aware of the feeling that we mustn't have in this country those who are part of the information technology revolution and those who are left out of it. And I would hope that the announcement made by Richard Alston earlier today will further reinforce in your minds, the absolute determination of this Government to make certain that there is a complete equality of treatment between people living in rural Australia and people living in the rest of the country, so far as the availability of information technology is concerned.
Our policy commitments in relation to the sale of Telstra are fully conditional on meeting problems and dealing with the concerns of people in rural Australia regarding the availability of communications. And until that has been properly done to your satisfaction we do not intend to proceed further. But I do take the opportunity of pointing out that the announcements made by Richard Alston today were made possible through the proceeds of the earlier sales of shares in Telstra. We believe that the investment of the proceeds of those sales in the expansion of the communications facilities throughout rural Australia have been a proper and well targeted use of those resources.
Ian was kind enough in his remarks to mention the importance of the road funding announcement we made before Christmas. And many of you will be aware that much needed money is now flowing to local councils throughout Australia to tackle the appallingly inadequate state of so many of our local roads. That commitment was a much needed commitment and the need was very great and I know that it has been very warmly received throughout rural Australia.
There are just one or two things I want to say about the future. I want to recommit my Government to the maintenance of sound general economic policies. I want to say that the budget to be brought down by the Treasurer next Tuesday night will be a budget that keeps Australia in the black. We have fought long and hard to reduce the high Government debt that we found ourselves confronted with in March of 1996. We have repaid $50 billion of a $96 billion Government debt. And Australia now has a Government debt to GDP ratio of 6.4%, which is the lowest I think in the industrialised world and it compares with an OECD average of about 45% and a figure of some 35 to 40% in the United States. Low interest rates, low inflation, sound fiscal policy, all of those things are fundamental to the prosperity and the wealth of the farm sector. None of you wish to return to the 21, 22 and 23% bill rates that many farmers had to pay in this country in the late 1980's and the early 1990's. And we have no intention of presiding over policies that in any way rob the Australian community of the very low interest rate environment in which we now operate.
I want to recommit my Government to the cause of more open trade around the world. A cause which has at the forefront a healthy regard for the Australian national interest. This country needs a more open world trading environment. And no sector of the Australian community will benefit more from open trade than the farm sector. We are too small a nation to imagine any other outcome. It remains the cruelest and most grievous of international trading injustices that a nation of Australia's size with such an efficient farm sector should still be so heavily penalised by a world trading system that does not pay proper regard to the cause of agriculture and still continues to operate under rules that even amongst agriculture producing nations heavily discriminates against efficient producers such as Australia. We will continue to push the cause of more open, more liberal world trade in the various international fora in which we operate. We continue to advocate a new world trade round. We were intensely disappointed with the failure, and it was a failure, of the meeting at Seattle a couple of years ago. And we hope the upcoming meeting in Qatar produces a more positive outcome. I welcome the statements that have been made by the new Bush Administration regarding the importance of more open trade. I also, in the American context, welcome most warmly the decision of the World Trade Organisation in relation to lamb exports. The measures imposed by the Clinton Administration were always indefensible and it is a source of great satisfaction to the Australian Government and I know to Australian farmers that our case was upheld in the councils of the World Trade Organisation.
As you know the United States Government and representatives of the Australian Government have had what can only be called at this stage exploratory discussions regarding the feasibility and desirability of some kind of free trade arrangement between Australia and the United States. That will be pursued by me and it will be pursued generally by the Government. As with all of these things it is something that we would seek to achieve and negotiate if there is a benefit for Australia and there can only be a benefit for Australia if there is movement on agriculture. Without movement on agriculture there is no real benefit for our country. I know the hard heads amongst you will appreciate in matters of trade you never lose an opportunity to get a benefit. Whether it's multilateral of bilateral you grab the opportunity that might be available.
I guess the only other thing that I would say about the future is that now as in the past and I know in the future there will never be any shortage of populist solutions to complicated and difficult problems, and that is the case in rural Australia, it is the case in urban Australia. There is no comfort and there is no deliverance for Australia economically from those who argue that in some mystical way we can stop imports from coming into this country yet continue to increase our exports. Trade is a mutual thing. If you impose unreasonable constraints on imports coming into this country you pay a price internationally. And that is all the more so with a country of Australia's size. Expanding international trade is the economic way of the future for Australia. There is no hope, there is no resort, there is no succour to be found in some kind of insular retreat to a protectionist defiance which doesn't make proper allowance for the kind of world in which we live. That doesn't mean that this country agrees to any deal in the name of more open trade. I have no naive belief in notions of level playing fields. I'm a believer in more open trade, I'm a believer in freer trade, I don't have some kind of purest commitment to free trade no matter what the cost or what the price may be. I do not believe that I lead a Government that automatically says yes to every single proposition for additional foreign investment in this country. But I do lead a Government that knows that the current wealth and strength of our nation has derived from many things including the benefits of foreign investment. And that the future wealth and prosperity of Australia will depend very heavily on our capacity to expand international trade and to boost our export income.
Ladies and Gentlemen, can I say both as Prime Minister and as an Australian just how delighted I am that in a number of areas of rural Australia things are looking a little better. I know it has been a long hard battle and I know the wretched vagaries of the elements. It can turn that sense of hope and optimism around very quickly. But your fellow Australians appreciate the central part you play in our sense of what it is to be an Australian, how important the rural sector is to the wealth of this country. I say to you on behalf of the Government, we have your interests at heart. We will defend the long term interests of Australian farmers, not only domestically but around the world and we will do our level best to deliver policies that preserve and nurture rural Australia and lay the basis of strong and growing returns on your investments. Thank you.
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