FOR PRESS 29 SEPTEMBER 1976
ADDRESS AT THE OPENING OF THE B. H. P. PLANT GEELONG
I am very pleased to be here today to open B. H. P's new
Geelong rod rolling mill.
B. H. P. is of course-oneof the major contributors to
industrial development in Australia, and the new mill will
be an important addition to industry in Geelong.
When the mill is fully operational it will provide jobs
for over 100 people and most of these will be recruited locally.
The jobs and income generated by the operation of the mill
will help, in turn, to maintain and create jobs in other
industries in Geelong.
As leader of' a Government which believes in the enormous
contribution private enterprise can make to Australian
prosperity, I am naturally delighted to see the confidence
with which B. H. P. is planning for the future.
There can be no sustained recovery without a strong and healthy
private sector. Since the election last year, the Government
has introduced a large number of measures to help private
enterprise get back on its feet.
The bloated public sector is being trimmed down. Government
spending has now been brought under control. The size of
the Federal Public Service has been, and is now being further,
reduced. By June next year there will be 26,000 fewer
Federal Government employees than under Labor's guidelines
for 1975-76.
A major objective, of course, of this restraint on Government
is to make way for expansion in the productive private sector.
Many firms have now accepted the challenge. B. H. P. is setting
a valuable example.
In the steel industry alone, B. H. P. has some $ 366 million of
projects approved and at various stages of development.
At Port Kembla, Newcastle, Whyalla and in coal mining, these
projects alone, I understand, will provide some sixteen hundred
jobs over the next four yeaLrs. 2
B. H. P. is also involved in other major projects which
could involve very large capital investments.
Among these is the North West Shelf oil and gas venture,
which will be the biggest development ever undertaken in
Australia, and which could involve the investment
of over $ 2,000 million. purchase
of an interest in the Shelf has lifted Australian ownership
to nearly fifty percent. And the recently announced partnership
with Shell has brought into the project an international
comapny with great technical and financial capabilities.
Unless business picks up the challenge, unless private
enterprise shows that it can do the job, Australia will not
realise the great potential that we all know is there.
The Government's job is to create the conditionsin which
enterprise and initiative can expect decent rewards,
in which it is possible to plan for the future and not see those
plans disrupted by ill-considered Government action.
This year we have introduced a number of important tax reforms
as well as specific incentives for business designed to
create those conditions.
Among the principal measures introduced by the Government
since coming to office are a 40% tax allowance for investment
in plan: and equipment, that is available for investment
expenditure by all sectors of the economy; exemption of
new oil discoveries from the levy on crude oil; phasing
out over a perlod'. of three years of the levy on coal exports;
a greatly reduced write-off period for mining development
expenditure that will assist with cash flows of new projects,
as well as deductions for expenditure on developing port
facilities; a new system of trading stock valuation adjustment
that applies at a rate of at least S0% to 1976-77 business
incomes. This-will give companies a very substantial tax
off-set in future years.
W1! e have thus set the framework for the private sector to increase
investment, raise production and to take up the unused
resources in the economy. There are increasing signs now
that Australian enterprise is beginning to expand again after
the damage suffered in the last few years.
A substantial number of new projects have been put on the
drawing boards this year those that have been publicised
and drawn to our. attention will involve estimated. expenditure
of very _ sllostantial sums. These are primarily mining ventures
but also involve investment in building and construction, motor
vehicle plants, oil refineries and miscellaneous other industries. 3
Some of these have already been announced as firm
programmes and expenditure is already under way.
Many of them will involve the injection of overseas funds.
Another company which has made an investment decision of
particular significance to Geelong is Ford Australia Limited.
Ford responsded to the Governme * nt's policy of encouraging the
private sector and to the Government's motor vehicle
plan by deciding to invest $ 72 million to build a new range
of Australian cars. This would not have occurred had it
not been for the modifications made to the motor vehicle policy.
This investment will mean continuing employment in the company's
Geelong operations. We look to every business to invest
in its future and the future of Australia and hence to make
a positive contribution to economic recovery. There is
an important contribution to be made to recovery by everyone
who works in industry employees and management.
We all recognise that good industrial relations are going
to be a major factor in reviving the economy. Management
can make one of its most important contributions to recovery
by taking company employees into its confidence by encouraging
recognition of the common interests everyone has in a profitable
and successful enterprise.
B. H. P.' s new rod rolling mill is a welcome development particularly
for Geelong. It embodies the latest technology, and it will
produce a higher quality, closer tolerance product than other
Australian mills.
AustraliLap. wire industries, its neighbour and principal
customer, will benefi~ t particularly from its operations.
I congratulate all those who have played a part in its
planning and development. It gives me great pleasure to declare
the mill open. 000000000