Before this Government was elected, Australia was drifting far below its full potential. Our economy had stopped generating enough jobs, businesses were struggling, interest rates were too high and our place in the world was slipping.
Steadily, year by year - with clear goals, hard work and a sense of purpose - this country has been turned around.
Living standards are now higher than ever. Unemployment and inflation are at levels not seen in decades. Government debt is down and interest rates are low.
Australian families are receiving extra help with the costs of raising children. We can afford to invest more in health, education, aged care and the environment.
We've left behind a period of navel-gazing about our national identity. Australia has lifted its head up again.
This Government has kept Australia strong through an Asian economic downturn, security crises on our doorstep, an international recession and a global war on terror.
Not everything is perfect. Not everyone supports all we have done.
But I have tried as prime minister to do the right thing by Australia. And I believe that Australia is now getting the big things right.
Today I want to talk about our goals and responsibilities in a fourth term if the Australian people were to entrust the Coalition with office once more.
The Australian people will shortly face a choice about who is best equipped to deliver a secure nation, a strong and prosperous economy, a fair and decent society, a sustainable continent, and an enterprise culture.
National security and the defence of Australia is the first responsibility of government. The shadow cast by the new security threats of the twenty-first century will not lift any time soon. Australia must be prepared to use all means in our power to pursue our interests and defend our values against these threats.
Maintaining a strong, dynamic and growing economy is the other overriding responsibility of government. Without economic strength we cannot hope to reach our other goals. Disciplined financial management and a long-term approach to Australia's future economic challenges will continue to guide the Coalition in a fourth term.
Beyond these two responsibilities, today I want to reaffirm our faith in Australia as a fair and decent society - a society where all Australians have the opportunity to improve their lives. We also commit ourselves to preserving Australia as a sustainable continent - a continent where our prosperity and development does not come at the expense of our environment. And finally, Australia will only reach its full potential with an enterprise culture - a culture that encourages and rewards hard work, ambition and calculated risk-taking.
If we get these big things right, Australians can look forward to a new era of opportunity and achievement.
AN ENTERPRISE CULTURE
I want to begin very deliberately with the goal of Australia as an enterprise culture.
The creative spirit of the individual is at the core of our political philosophy. And having a go is central to the Australian way of life.
An enterprise culture is what the Liberal Party is all about - a party at its best when it's giving people greater incentive to work hard and improve themselves. At its best when it is batting for those enterprising Australians running our 1.2 million small businesses. Businesses that employ around 3.3 million Australians and that create more than their fair share of new jobs.
In many ways, this focus sets us apart from our political opponents. Whereas many in the Labor Party see legislation or government programmes as synonymous with progress, for a Liberal nothing better symbolises Australia's economic and social health than the opening of a small business.
That's why we put such store in a strong, flexible, dynamic economy. That's why we've cut business tax and capital gains tax. And why we see it as important that hard-working Australians prepared to have a go in business are not stifled by excessive interference from government.
Earlier this week, I announced measures that will further reduce the paperwork burden on small business, extend information services and enhance the effectiveness of the Trade Practices Act.
Building an enterprise culture in Australia is also about ensuring we can turn good Australian ideas into great products. That's why we are investing $8.2 billion in the future of Australian science and innovation through Backing Australia's Ability. And why we have earmarked $1 billion to assist about 1,700 small and medium-sized firms on research and development projects with high commercial potential.
I believe we can do more to create an enterprise culture in Australia by leveraging off information technology, changing work patterns, and the shift towards smaller, decentralised business models.
More and more Australians are looking to work from home with the extra scope this gives them to care for their families. Increasingly, women and mature-age Australians are at the cutting edge of this 'do it yourself' enterprise culture.
These are people with drive and a good idea, who are keen to take a risk, and who want to be their own boss. It might be a young woman wanting to use her accounting skills to do tax returns while looking after her children, or a couple wanting to set up a cleaning business from home.
It also meshes with the 'seachange' phenomenon - as many Australians move to rural and coastal communities and look for new work options away from some of the stresses and strains of our big cities.
The Liberal Party - the party of enterprise and of individual choice - has a responsibility to respond to these trends with initiatives to assist Australians wanting to work from home.
Some 80 business incubators across Australia are already helping small business to become established and profitable and more than 1,500 home-based business operators recently attended seminars across Australia hosted by the Minister for Small Business and Tourism.
We will be taking additional steps to significantly reduce the impediments to the creation of home-based businesses in a fourth term.
This is about finding positive ways to help Australians take greater control of their lives, and to put them in a stronger position to support themselves and their families.
My political opponent also says he wants to be positive, but he has a rather different view of what this means for government, for business and for traditional notions of personal responsibility.
We must never forget that greater regulation of our society invariably comes at a cost, and not just a cost to business. A ban here; a government directive there. While each piece of social engineering may in isolation seem inconsequential, before long an intrusive state has taken away precious freedoms - freedoms we have a hard time getting back.
Australian society is not something to be constantly moulded and prodded by hyperactive politicians. A nanny state never creates an enterprise culture.
Labor's re-regulation agenda - an agenda increasingly focused on areas of personal responsibility - is not simply anti-business. It strikes at the heart of what it means to be a free and dynamic society.
It has taken years of economic reform to renew Australia's economic competitiveness. Our adaptability to change has been a great strength in recent years - the thing that stood us in such good stead through the Asian financial crisis. We have not reduced the reach of government in the economy only to see it spread ever deeper into other parts of our daily lives.
A FAIR AND DECENT SOCIETY
My goal of a fair and decent society is a place where all Australians have the opportunity to improve their lives. A society where our children get a good education, where Australians know that when they get sick or old they can get care, and if they fall on hard times they can get help.
I've always believed that good economics is never an end in itself. What matters is our sense of personal well-being which, in turn, is bound up with the well-being of those around us - our families, our communities, our fellow countrymen. Our economic prosperity will be shallow and brittle without a fair society in which the avenues of opportunity are open to all.
A fair and decent society is one that recognises the special role and responsibilities of families with children. That's why we have delivered the largest ever package of support for Australians juggling work and family life, and we've done it without sending the budget into the red.
With this package, total assistance to families will have increased by over $6 billion a year since 1996. The base rate of family assistance has increased from less than $600 per child in January 1996 to almost $1,700 per child in July 2004, a real increase of over 100 per cent.
Australians rightfully see high-quality health and education as synonymous with a fair and decent society. This Government has delivered the single largest improvement to Medicare since its inception - including a Medicare safety net that cushions Australians against crippling out-of-hospital medical bills.
While our health system is not perfect, I often say that you are better off falling sick in Brisbane, rather than in Birmingham or the Bronx. We have struck a sensible balance - one that avoids the excessive government control of a system like that in the UK or one that lets too many people fall through the cracks like that in the US.
Rising health care costs will continue to pose a challenge for governments around the world due to ageing populations, new and expensive technologies and rising public expectations.
We need to shift our thinking in areas of preventative health with better screening and more regular check-ups. We also need to intervene early to tackle problems such as obesity and substance abuse. Finding solutions to, or ameliorating the impact of, diseases such as dementia, diabetes and various types of cancer present major health research challenges for the future.
To sustain and improve our health system, Australia has no option but to mobilise both public and private sector resources in the next decade. That's why policies like the private health insurance rebate are so important.
I believe a fair and decent society is one that offers people choice in areas like health and education, not one-size-fits-all government programmes. Like most Australians, I believe in equality of opportunity - not equal outcomes.
Just as patients have a right to choose between different health care providers, parents have a right to choose the type of education that best suits the needs of their children.
I am proud of the fact that more than 300 new, independent schools have opened in Australia since we came to office, the bulk of which are low fee schools. On average, every time a parent chooses to send their child to an independent school, they save Australian taxpayers at least $3000 per year per child.
The notion that favouring choice is about favouring private over government schools is wrong. Government schools educate 68 per cent of all students in Australia and receive 76 per cent of total schools funding. Remember also that 44 cents out of every dollar of State government revenue comes from the Commonwealth in direct grants or from the GST.
Over the next four years, my Government will increase funding for schools by more than $8 billion to $32 billion in total - with record funding for both government and non-government schools. But we also know that more money alone does not automatically mean better education.
That's why in coming years we will continue to drive improvements in standards through our flagship literacy and numeracy programmes and set new benchmarks for information technology skills. We are setting basic requirements for national consistency in things like school starting ages.
And this year's budget provides specific funding for values, civics and citizenship education initiatives in our schools. We will never build a nation of achievers if our children are denied a solid grounding in our democratic achievements as a nation.
Labor talks a lot about health and education. But, as always, you should ignore the rhetoric and look at the detail (or lack of detail) in their policies.
On health, Labor has yet to release its health policy and yet to guarantee that it will leave the private health insurance rebate untouched. Labor says it will abolish the Medicare safety net which is currently benefiting some 415,000 Australians. On education, Labor has failed to reveal its proposed formula for school funding and it won't tell Australian parents which schools it will target for cuts.
Australia should have world-class health and education systems. As a share of GDP, this Government is spending more than ever on health, aged care and education. But to further improve services we need two things: a world-class economy and a balanced mix of private and public sector financing and delivery.
A fair and decent society also demands a modern welfare system with a strong safety net and a spirit of 'mutual obligation'. Australians doing it tough should feel they can rely on community support, but equally the community can expect that this support helps to build greater individual self-reliance. This view - once considered heresy by some commentators - has now become mainstream in our social policy debate.
Moving more Australians from welfare to work will continue to be a challenge for government in coming years. Not simply because of the contribution this can make to our economy, but more importantly because of what it will mean to the well-being of the individuals concerned.
We need to move even further away from old, bureaucratic approaches to employment services and towards more intensive support for job seekers - the path we have taken with the Job Network.
Australia's capacity for compassion can never be measured by the size of government. The Government has made a special point of leveraging additional expertise and compassion through partnerships with our great, community sector welfare organisations. Our unique Social Coalition approach recognises that nobody better understands the travails of disadvantaged Australians than organisations like St. Vincent de Paul and the Salvation Army.
Our $1.2 billion Tough on Drugs strategy - combining health measures, education and law enforcement - has led to record drug seizures and a big drop in the heroin flow onto our streets. The success of this strategy can be seen in the latest figures which show a drop of almost 70 per cent in the rate of deaths due to heroin overdose in Australia since 1999.
In my view, mutual obligation also requires that Australians who have done well in our society give something back. I have spoken in the past of my goal of Australia as a nation of 'caring achievers'. I believe we can do more to rekindle a sense of social obligation in our country.
We need to carry the fight to scourges such as family breakdown, crime, drug abuse and social isolation by rebuilding a sense of local community. I also think many relatively affluent Australians in our capital cities need a better appreciation of the special challenges faced by their fellow citizens in rural and remote locations.
Perhaps all of us have something to learn from that generation of Australians that came through the Great Depression and World War II and who still found time to be a great generation of 'joiners' in local clubs and voluntary associations.
Many are rising to the challenge today. Just over one-third of working age Australians do some form of voluntary work in any given year. We need to give greater recognition to our volunteers and work to expand the volunteer circle in coming years.
A fair and decent society also relies on some common values that bind us together - respect for social rules, a degree of tolerance and openness towards differing beliefs, recognition of personal responsibility.
Australians tend to be suspicious of politicians who preach too much.
Governments cannot legislate to enforce manners and morals; they cannot legislate mutual respect; they cannot legislate for long-term commitments over short-term gratification.
But neither should political leaders shy away from identifying what they see as the good and the bad in social trends. I admit to being rather ambivalent about some of the changes we see in contemporary society. The voyeurism that has become such a part of our media. Trends towards a less restrained, less civil approach to personal dealings.
We have made great strides in terms of tolerance in some areas. But our society also needs to remain vigilant against a culture of aggression - particularly among males.
Earlier this year, we all mourned the tragic death of David Hookes. We can avoid sensitive legal questions and still express our dismay at how seemingly minor altercations are allowed to escalate into tragic endings. We see this also in episodes of road rage in our cities. Recently too, Australians have witnessed the spectacle of some of our great sporting clubs forced to confront serious allegations of sexual misconduct.
To the extent such behaviour is symptomatic of a larger problem - a coarsening of the culture - we all should reflect on what this means for Australian society.
The point is not to suggest governments should come up with a laundry list of programmes to fix all manner of social ills. Bigger government and bureaucratic hyperactivity are not the answer.
Our enduring challenge in a fair and decent society is to reconcile a desire for personal freedom with the need for social belonging and order. As in so many areas, we need to find a common-sense balance - a balance between individual self-interest and social responsibility; a balance between personal self-expression and personal self-restraint.
A SUSTAINABLE CONTINENT
I believe that each generation of Australians is obliged to leave our country in better shape than they found it. To build our nation, but also to make Australia a truly sustainable continent - where future generations have increased opportunities and do not have to worry about the things we now take for granted.
The term 'sustainability' has become something of a clich‚, but the critical point is that we need to integrate our thinking about the economy and the environment. Just as our material prosperity is bound up with the state of our natural world, without economic growth we will never have the means to protect and restore our unique environment.
The Government has demonstrated its commitment to careful, sustainable development in the national interest. Auslink - a comprehensive plan to meet our long-term land transport needs - funds the road, rail and freight connection projects that will underpin Australia's future growth. The environmental return from redressing years of neglect of our rail network is a critical element of this package.
Our energy White Paper offers a strategy that retains Australia's competitive advantage in energy but also takes action to address greenhouse emissions. I look forward to Adelaide playing a part in initiatives like our $75 million Solar Cities trials - an opportunity to develop a smarter energy scenario for the future.
In this and other areas, the key to making Australia a sustainable continent is smart development and the utilisation of cleaner technologies.
The National Water Initiative agreement secured two weeks ago has shown that with good will and political commitment our slow-moving democracy can tackle issues of national importance. Our plan to restore the Murray-Darling river system is especially good news for the people of South Australia.
The next challenge is a frontal assault on Australia's urban water problems. Once again, cooperation between governments will be necessary.
Major investments will be required to improve the availability and reliability of urban water supply for domestic and industrial use. Desalination, recycling of treated effluents and better urban design are just some of the challenges that will require large resources and genuine commitment across our Federation.
With the growth revenue from the GST, the States now have a capacity they long hankered for to plan for such long-term infrastructure demands. The Commonwealth will play its part.
A SECURE NATION
Australia today faces a very difficult and turbulent security environment. Our responsibility to defend Australia demands that we shape this environment in a way that enhances our security and supports our values. It is a job that demands large resources, decisive leadership and great endurance.
The world changed on 11 September 2001. And on 12 October 2002, the terrorists murdered innocent Australians close to home. We have had to adjust our thinking to deal with terrorism and the new threats of the twenty-first century. We've also had to take the fight to international criminals who traffic in drugs and people and who threaten our borders.
The terrorist threat for a country like ours is real. With our friends and allies, Australia must meet this threat with focus and fortitude.
I have always believed that Australia should have a first class defence force and that our forces deserve the best training, equipment and conditions we can give them. When we came to office, I made sure that defence spending was quarantined, even as we acted to rein in spending and reduce Labor's debt.
Not because I knew challenges like East Timor or the war on terror were around the corner. Nor do I know precisely what security threats we will face in the next ten years. But I do know that we have an obligation to be prepared.
No government has planned more or committed more resources for the defence of Australia. Our Defence Capability Plan earmarks $50 billion over the next decade so the Australian Defence Force is better prepared and equipped to face the security challenges of the twenty-first century.
In the wake of September 11, we have put in place a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy based on better laws, stronger terrorism-fighting agencies and enhanced international cooperation.
The war on terror will be a long war. I do not know where or when it will end. I cannot guarantee Australia will never be attacked. But I do know that we are on the right side - the side of peace, freedom, and tolerance. And I know we must prevail.
Our history, our interests and our values demand that we join with friends and allies at this critical time. In an uncertain world, Australia's alliance with the United States is a crucial asset no leader should put at risk.
I believe in the US alliance because it is in our national interest and delivers enormous benefits to Australia. It gives us vital intelligence and a military edge in the war on terror.
Of course, this alliance is a two-way street. The US should not be expected to act alone. And Australia cannot cherry-pick the alliance for its own narrow purposes. Australia's future security demands that we maintain our most important international relationship in good condition.
A STRONG AND PROSPEROUS ECONOMY
None of the things I have spoken about today - a secure nation, a fair and decent society, a sustainable continent, an enterprise culture - is possible without a strong and prosperous economy. Economic strength is the necessary prerequisite for getting all the other big things right in Australia.
I've always believed that good economic management is about giving ordinary Australians the freedom and opportunity to live their lives as they wish. It's about giving Australians peace of mind and confidence to plan for the future.
More than 1.3 million new jobs have been created since this Government came to office. Around 40 per cent of these jobs have been generated in this term of government alone. That's 523,000 new jobs since November 2001.
Real wages have risen by 14 per cent since March 1996, compared with a miserable 2.6 per cent increase over the entire 13 years when Labor was last in power.
There are 20 per cent more small businesses in Australia compared with when we came to office. Living standards have risen by over 20 per cent and household wealth is up by about two-thirds.
Labor wants you to believe this is not genuine prosperity - not prosperity with a purpose. Tell that to the hard working Australians now in jobs. Or to the families who can now pay off their mortgages and plan for their children's future.
We do not need lectures on economic management from the same crowd that gave Australia record interest rates, double-digit unemployment and 'the recession we had to have'.
In 2004, Australia is better placed than ever to capture the economic opportunities of the twenty-first century. But future prosperity is far from guaranteed. We need to work hard to sustain and extend this era of economic growth and opportunity.
The last decade has seen Australia boost its productivity relative to the world's best for the first time in forty years. But there is still a gap between Australia and the world's most productive economies. Our goal should be to close this gap further in the next ten years.
Further productivity improvements will demand continued reforms that free up economic activity, enhance labour market flexibility, strengthen competition, boost innovation and deepen our engagement with the international economy.
If we can sustain our overall growth rates of the last decade, we will be a $1 trillion economy in around seven years time. If we slip back to the lower growth of the two decades before that, it will take Australia more than ten years to become a $1 trillion economy.
By 2015, the difference in national income would be about $135 billion a year in today's dollars. That's a difference of an extra $12 billion a year for health and more than $8 billion for education on current spending patterns. This is an example of the real difference good economic management can make to Australia's future.
The Government's free trade agreement with the United States will help to improve our productivity. So will our tax cuts that ensure 80 per cent of Australian taxpayers pay no more than 30 cents in the dollar on the extra income they earn.
Australia is currently the sixth lowest taxing country in the OECD. And under this Government, our debt is very low by world standards. If Australia is to be a $1 trillion economy in seven years time, we must hang on to this advantage.
The Government has highlighted the challenge to sustain our prosperity as our society ages. This is very much a long-term challenge, but one which we cannot allow to sneak up on us.
Two important facts need to be kept in mind. First, Australia will have an increasing share of our population aged over 55 in the future. And second, our labour force participation by mature-age workers is quite low by world standards.
Many Australians do not want retirement to change their lives completely. They find that the personal well-being and social networks offered by the world of work are not easily replaced in retirement. By choosing to do some paid work they are helping themselves and helping their country. We should reward this sentiment and help mature-age workers to stay in touch with the labour market.
The skills and experience offered by mature-age Australians represent a considerable business asset. They are less likely to be absent from work and they act as a steadying influence on younger workers.
This year's budget included initiatives to lift the capacity of people to undertake work, to improve work incentives, and to support the creation of more flexible work options. We are targeting those industries where there are employment growth opportunities for mature-age workers. And we will be announcing further practical steps to expand these opportunities in the near future.
Another challenge we face in the years ahead is in part a symptom of our success. I'm talking here about the problem of skills shortages.
As our economy has grown, many firms and households have struggled at times to find the skilled workers and tradespeople they need to run their businesses and support their every day needs. We need to fix these problems for the sake of Australia's future prosperity.
This Government has reinvigorated vocational education and training in Australia, an area that was badly neglected by Labor. This financial year we will spend more than $725 million on New Apprenticeships, continuing to drive skills and employment for young and mature-age Australians alike.
Our National Skills Shortages Strategy is the next phase of this vital work. In partnership with industry and local communities we are determined to address current and future skills needs and to assist the 70 per cent of students who do not go directly from school to university.
This is especially important in rural and regional Australia where addressing skills shortages can make a big difference to sustaining vibrant communities.
We need to do more to challenge the notion that traditional trades and areas of skilled employment - everything from plumbing to carpentry to hairdressing - are somehow inferior career choices compared to going to university. Young Australians need to know that career paths in trades are no less worthy. To sustain our prosperity and ensure it is widely shared, we need to give all our young people the opportunities they deserve.
I believe very strongly that utilising all the talents that exist in Australia is the key to our future economic and social well-being.
CONCLUSION
Australia has lifted its head up again. And we're heading in the right direction. But in our understated way, we tend to downplay our achievements.
Though a young country, we are one of the world's oldest, continuous democracies. Our economy is more competitive than ever and our voice is respected around the world. We are a cohesive society without the divisions found in many countries.
Soon our democracy comes to a fork in the road and a new point of decision - one as important as any we have faced in decades.
The Australian people face a choice about who is best equipped to get the big things right - to deliver a strong and prosperous economy, a secure nation, a sustainable continent, a fair and decent society, and an enterprise culture.
A choice between a government with clear goals and detailed policies and an opposition that promises to spend more, tax less, have a bigger surplus and create an intergenerational fund, but won't tell us how that magic pudding will be cooked.
A choice between experienced and decisive leadership in the national interest and a brand of 'new politics' where things like advertising bans mask a failure to outline basic policies on tax, health and education.
A choice between a party that rewards ambition and enterprise and that treats the Australian people like grown ups, and a party that sees a society that can't be trusted to make the right decisions.
I am confident that, with the common-sense and practical wisdom they have always shown, the Australian people will choose the path that will maximise the opportunities of today, tomorrow and the next ten years.
[ends]