EMBARGOED: 7.30 P. M.
NATIONAL BROADCAST BY THE PRIME MINISTER, MR E. G. WHITLAM, QC, MP,
WEDNESDAY 29 MAY 1974
Eleven days ago, we all voted to elect a new House of
Representatives and an entirely new Senate. Any doubt or delay
in the outcome stemmed not from any indecision on the part of
the electors, but from the complexity of our electoral laws.
The thrust and and clear meaning of your decision is beyond doubt.
You have returned the Government which you elected less than
18 months ago. You have returned us with a comfortable majority.
You have strongly re-affirmed our program of 1972 to expand
the opportunities for all Australians, and make those opportunities
more equal for all Australians.
In the House of Representatives, the House which decides
who shall govern, which alone has the right and power to decide
who shall govern, you have given us a solid working majority of
at least five, maybe 7.
Further, you have strengthened our position in the Senate.
You will recall that the Governor-General granted a dissolution
of both Houses on the grounds that the old Senate had twice
rejected six bills. These were bills to provide for more equal
electorates, two senators from each of the two territories,
universal health insurance and the petroleum and minerals authority.
These bills can now be passed and they will be.
Finally although this does not . directly determine the
results of Australian elections the percentage of Australians
Voting for the Australian Labor Party, the percentage of Australians
wanting th ' e return of this Government was decisively in our favour.
Some 200,000 more men and women voted for ALP candidates than for
the candidates of the Liberal and Country Parties, the D. L. P.
and their offshoots.
There should be no uncertainty in any quarter about our
ability and determination to carry out our program and to provide
strong, effective government, for the full term for which you have
once again elected us.
Let me emphasise two points. First, when parties in Australia
go to the people, they present, or have a duty to present, programs
designed for three years, the normal life of a Parliament. That's
what we did in 1972, and again last month. Governments should
be judged on their success or failure in that period. That was
the true meaning behind our successful appeal to you for a fair go.
You upheld that appeal.
Secondly, the nation's business, particularly its economic
affairs, may sometimes call for unpopular decisions. if a
Government, unbeaten and unbeatable in the People's House, can be
forced to an election by an irresponsible chance combination in
the Senate any time the national interest demands tough decisions,
then there is an end to firm, responsible Government. It would be
the beginning of the end of strong parliamentary democracy in
Australia. EMBARGOED: 7.30 P. M.
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It is insupportable to suggest that the same upheaval we
have just been through, the same falsification of democracy, to
use Sir Robert Menzies' indelible phrase should ever again be
attempted. It would not just be a question of holding an elected
government to ransom; it would be a matter of holding our whole
Parliamentary system to ransom.
I note a commnent made repeatedly made that the elections
polarised the Australian people that is to say, the poor vote
of thn minor parties and your clear choice between the major
part4-ies represented a sharp dividing of the people. This is SO
much nonsense. What you have done and I congratulate you upon
it is to restore the two-party system to a healthier state
than it has been for twenty years. It is only a sound two-party
system which has made democracy work effectively in the Englishspeaking
world.
So in two ways by rejecting the attempts of Senators to
destroy a duly elected Government, and by restoring strength to
the two-party system you have voted for strong parliamentary
democracy. So this is not just our victory, victory for the team you
elected in 1972 and confirmed in office eleven days ago. Not
just victory for the programn we have tried to implement according
to our pledges. It is your victory, the victory of an intelligent,
aware and, I believe, a basically idealistic people. The support,
the continued confidence of such a people is something profoundly
worth having, and I value it beyond words.
I recall that in the policy speech I said that we Australians
all faced together one of the great historic challenges of our timeto
make democracy work, to make the parliamentary system work and
make it work better. You have responded splendidly to that*
challenge. I said too that we shared with most nations of the world
another challenge the problem of fighting inflation while
fulfilling the wishes, hopes and needs of the nation, and protecting
the weaker sections of the community. This is the continuing task
not easy, not simple, but certainly not insuperable. it requires
co-operation, it requires courage. I am confident we have those
qualities in abundance in this nation.
Exactly one month ago, I asked you to let us get with
the job. We are back at work after the interruption. The Parliamen~ t
will meet as soon as possible after the completion of counting
for the Senate.
The legislative program for the twenty-ninth Parliament will
include the uncompleted business of the last Parliament outlined
by the Queen when she opened the last session threp months ago.
Its work will include the completion of our 1972 program and the
cxpansion of that program as I foreshadowed in the policy speech
one month ago national compensation, national superannuation,
modernisation of Australia's soc'tal welfare system, labour retraining,
help for home owners, national involvement in remodelling our cities
and centres and rebuilding our-education system, the provision of
care and education for pre-school children, the protection of
Australia's resources and the promotion of Australian'ownership. / 3
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Fellow-Australians:
The times ahead will not always be easy, but they can
be exciting and purposeful. We face the future as a strong,
prosperous, confident, united, respected nation. Together in the
months and years ahead, we shall all go ahead together.