4C. J,, AUSTHAL IA
PRIME MINISTER Press Statement No. 586
October 1975
THE BUDGET
The present constitutional crisis must be resolved, and it must
* be resolved quickly by the men who brought it about. There can
no longer be any doubt that the opposition's policy on blocking
the Budget has been rejected by an overriding majority of the
Australian people and, increasingly, by Opposition Senators
themselves.
Many of you will. have seen the results of the latest public polls.
To put it simply, they are quite devastating. It is not my usual
practice to comment on these polls, but it's interesting to
remember that Mr Fraser has always placed great store by them.
He justified the rejection of the Budget by claiming massive
public support for his chosen course. That course has proved
disastrous; it has failed; the latest polls have shown it. They
reveal that 70 percent of the Australian people believe the Budget
should be passed. Well over half the Australian people believe
the Government should be allowed to govern.
This week we saw the final collapse of the long drawn-out and
farcical Khemlani business the so-called loans scandal. The
Opposition itself has admitted that nothing in Mr Khemlani's
documents those eight mysterious suitcases could justify
the unprecedented course they have taken. We know now that
Mr Fraser is relying on a handful of Opposition Senators who have
publicly expressed their reservations very grave reservations
about the rejection of the national Budget. Senator Igessell,
a Liberal, has said firmly that he would never vote against the
Budget, and he added and I quote his words " A good many
others would feel the same way as I do." That is, a number of
Opposition Senators, who have gone along with the deferral of the
Budget, are now saying they would never reject it. That's the
sort of backing Mr Fraser has for his present policy doubts and
fears among his own Senators, and overwhelming rejection by the
Australian people. * 99/ 2
I have to say frankly that the opposition's present tactics are
perilous in the exctreme. It is not my intention, it is not my
desire, to provoke needless fear or alarm. But we must be quite
clear about the consequences of what is happening. The
continual refusal to pass the Budget to give the elected
Government the means to govern and maintain the essential
services of the nation -is already damaging the business
community,-threatening the normal life of the nation, and
endangering the whole delicate process of economic recovery.
These are critical weeks and months in the nation's life. The
decisions we take now and above all the orderly working of
our Budget strategy may well determine our economic future,
our prosperity and strength, for years to come. Every day that
passes, every day the Budget is delayed, makes our task more
hazardous and difficult. I have said before there can be no
surrender on this issue; the fundamental principle ofdemocracy
is too important for me, or for any future Prime
Minister. On that I am absolutely determined. I ask my fellow-
Australians to stand with me in defence of this principle, and
whatever trials may come, to maintain as best they can the
normal business of * the nation. The Budget must pass. The
Government must be allowed to govern. The economy and the
nation must go forward.