F76/ 208
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FOR PP!. SS OCTOBER 3, 1976
EMARGO: 2.00 p. m. QUEENSLAND ANNUAL LIBERAL CONVENTION
I am always pleased to visit Queensland. The Government is
ncver Uncertain about Queensland's views. I am referring,
of course, to the very large number of members on the
Government side that Queensland has in the Federal Parliament.
And in the House of Representatives, with one exception, they
are all sitting on the right side of the House. The Liberal
members in Canberra are never backward in putting their views
that is very welcome.
Last year Queenslanders made their views very clear on the kind
of Australia they wanted. The decision of the people last
December was a turning point in Australian history. The
Australian people recognised on 13 December that Australia
needed a profound change of direction.
That decision of the Australian people placed an enormous
responsibLlity on the Liberal Party both Federal and State.
Australia needed a Government which believed that people
deserved incentives to achieve their best in all areas of life;
which would encourage productive private enterprise to provide
jobs; which would give genuine assistance to the disadvantaged;
which would put an end to ever-rising taxes; which would
protect individual rights.
Australia needed a Government which would reverse the drift of
power to Canberra, and which would strengthen State and local
government. We undertook to provide that kind of Government.
We undertook to give Australia a Government which respected
the right of people to build their own lives, without being
told what to do by a few people who claimed to know what was
good for everyone.
In November last year, to achieve this objective we placed before
the Australian people one of the most far-reaching and
detailed programmes ever proposed by a major party in Australia.
It was a programme designed not only to revive the faith and
confidence of people in Australia, but also to create the
conditions in which Labor would not again be able to damage
Australia as it had in the past. That programme is now
2.
being implemented. Many specific measures, including
a number of historic reforms, have already been introduced.
One area where there has been an historic change of
direction is the Federal system. The flow of power to
Canberra has at last been reversed by our Federalism policy.
The financial position of the States and local government will
be immensely strengthened under these reforms. Financial
capacity will be matched to responsibility. Participation by
Australians in state and local government will be more effective.
Effective decisions will be made closer to those affected by -them.
There has been criticism of the strength of local government
presentation on the Advisory Council for Inter-Government Relations.
Local government will have six representatives on the Council.
We have taken the view that this is essential for the effective
presentation of local government.
I want you to know that at a meeting of Federal Executive
earlier this year I made a point of sounding out the views
of the six state Liberal presidents and that they concurred
with the expansion of the Council. A letter was sent to the
Premiers at the end of August, informing the states of our view.
There was ample time for comment. Our decision was not one taken
hastily without proper consultation. The position of the states
is fully protected by the arrangements.
I hope we will not have a situation where a representative
of local government is present from a state but where one or more
state governments are unrepresented.
The Advisory Council will operate under the control of the Premiers'
Conference. Local government will raise matters for inquiry
through the state Premier at the Premiers' Conference.
The Advisory Council will be a valuable supplement to the
rest of the Federalism reforms.
In a well-functioning Federal system the states and local government
must have the flexibility to set priorities to choose how
best to meet needs in areas within their responsibility.
Labor subjected the states and local communities to increasing
dictation from Canberra in their spending. That has now been
reversed. We are increasing the flexibility of the states and
local government to meet the needs of their areas in the ways
they think is best. In a democratic country, this is as it should be.
This flexibility is particularly important at a time when there
has to be restraint in Government spending. Such restraint
is necessary to provide essential tax relief, and incentive
to business to provide jobs.
The uncontrolled growth of Government spending has been one of
the major causes of inflation,, and unemployment.
Inflation erodes confidence, slows business recovery. The f-ght
against inflation cannot be separae rmtefgtaais
unemployment. Unless inflation is brought under control there
can be no soundly based expansion of job opportunities. .3
The Budget was an essential p) art of our strategy to
restore opportunity and oconoic growth in Australia.
Sonic people have said that some reductions in Government
spending have been too severe that the constraints
on thle states have been too tight.
Let's look at sonic facts. Total net payments to the states
out of funds collected by the Commonwealth have gone
Lip 15 percent -this year. General revenue payments to
the states payments which give the states absolute
discretion have gone up 20 percent.
Both those figures are significantly greater than the increase
. in Commonwealth Government spending. We have imposed
much more stringent controls on ourselves than we have on the states.
State Government spending in the recent budgets still rose
substantially. Expenditure from the consolidated revenue fund
by the Queensland Government rose 18.4 percent in this
week's budget. Tasmanian Government spending was up 21.1 percent;
Victorian Government spending was up 16.4 percent;
New South Wales Government spending was up 14.5 percent;
South Australian Government spending was up 13.2 percent.
These figures still mean that state governments are contemplating
real increases in expenditure and some of these increases are
very Substantial.
The Federalism proposals mean that without increasing taxes
the states have been able to meet and more than meet
their vital spending commitments.
The Federalism proposals mean that the states have greater
flexibility in, choosing their priorities.
Queensland, for example, has chosen to forego $ 30 million in revenue
by concession in the area of succession and gift duties;
$ 12.5 million when concession on payroll tax are fully applied;
and $ 2.1 million when reductions in road transport fees
are fully applied. Queensland has chosen to spend an extra
$, 67.6 million on education this year, and an extra
$ 45.7 million on hospital operations and maintenance.
These are Quieensland's priorities determined by the Queensland
Government in the light of Queensland's needs.
It is one of the advantages of our approach that thie states have
greater control over the areas they will choose to fund.
They have exercised this. Wle do not quarrel with it.
But there is a corollary. They can not properly come to us
and complain about lack of mioney for areas they have deliberately
chosen not to fund. The states will have even greater flexibility
when the Federalism policy is fully implemented. They will have
even greater capacity to make their own decision, and greater
responsibility. It is always possible to say and say correctly that more
money is needed in particular areas. When we are twice as -rich
a country as we are now, it will still be possible
to say that more monecy needs to be spent by governments on certain
worthwhile objectives. 4
The trouble with these kinds of statements is that they avoid
all the difficult issues. The unpleasant fact is ' that at
any time choices have to be made. Perhaps the single most
important reason for the economic crisis we are now facing is
that the Labor government did not have the courage to make choices.
It just went on spending and spending, pushing taxes higher
and higher, increasing costs and prices and destroying Jobs.
As Liberals we realise that it is not only Government spending
that is important. We believe that people must retain sufficient
of their own earnings to give them a real independence in
meeting their needs according to their own values.
We believe that businesses, large and small, must be allowed to retain
sufficient of their earnings to build new plant and equipment
expand production and create jobs. It is always easy
to find worthwhile areas where governments can spend more.
As Liberals we recognise that increases in government spending
have to be balanced against the personal independence of
Australians and against a profitable and efficient private sector.
The Liberal Party rightly demands of politicians that they have
the courage to make these choices.
One of the most important measures made possible by rYestraint
on government spending has been the introduction of full personal
income tax indexation. Personal income tax indexation is
not just another tax measure. It is a reform to our tax
system of historic importance. It means broadly that if your
income increases only enough to keep pace with inflation,
your average tax rate will stay the same. If your income
doesn't rise at all so-that with inflation you are actually
falling behind your average tax rate will fall.
Under conditions of inflation, our reform means that there will
bin effect, automatic tax relief every year.
This year, tax payers are receiving $ 1 billion in relief under
the scheme. Next year the benefits of tax indexation will become
obvious again on July 1 you will receive further automatic
tax relief indexation is a reform with continuing impact
each year while inflation lasts.
This is not only an essential step in the fight against inflation.
It is a truly Liberal reform which will have a permanent impact
in protecting people's earnings. By this reform we are forcing
Governments to be honest.. There will be no more unlegislated
income tax increases. If governments want to increase taxes
they will have to argue for it in future and pass legislation.
In addition to this major reform, we will also be looking in the
medium and longer term to lighten the burden of personal income
taxation to increase the control people will have over their
own earnings. We believe that people ought to have the maximum
freedom to meet their own needs according to their own values,
and not as a few people in Canberra decide.
We have been very concerned at the way Labor' s inFlation has
hit the weaker scctions of the community those on low incomes.
We committed ourselves to helping these people and we have
done so. Our family allowance scheme, designed particularly
to help low income familles has been recognised as one of the
most important reforms to the Australian social welfare system
since Federation. It ended a system which discriminated
against the children of the poor.
Over 300,000 families and 800,000 children who were debarred wholly
or partly fromn benefiting from the rebate syste, are now being
assisted by the-family allowance. It is of particular help to
Aborigines. The family allowance scheme does not add to bureaucratic
overheads, and it places money in the hands of people.
It is a scheme which both assists the disadvantaged and increases
their independence.
Wle committed ourselves to further help in the housing area.
Wle have acted by initiating a housing voucher allowance experiment.
This experiment, if successful, will provide a new mechanism
to make welfare housing sensitive to the needs of the users
rather than those of the planners. It recognises the principle
supported by the poverty inquiry that aitaC: eshudb
lin'ked to the person, not the house.
We committed ourselves to protect the real value of pensions.
Wle are introducing legislation to protect pensions by adjusting
then, automatically in accordance with the Consumer Price Index.
Wle have also introduced a three year $ 225 million programme
to provide homes for the aged.
Beyond the welfare area, we said in the last election that home
ownership should be a national objective, and we committed ourselves
to introducing a new home savings grant scheme.
Wle have introduced a home savings grant scheme with more generous
provisions than the ones we foreshadowed in the election.
We committed ourselves to retaining Medibank and making it
more efficient. We have not only retained Medibank but extended
its operation. There is an element of complexity in the scheme
because this is the only way in which choice can be introduced
into the scheme. But there is a perfectly simple way for
families to cover themselves and get high quality health care
this is by paying the levy which has a ceiling on it.
Trhis requires no action.
The Labor approach did not permit choice the Labor Party
and the opponents of our Medibank reforms want to impose uniformity
on the Australian people to eliminate choice and impose
their views on the people of Australia.
Another of the significant actions we have taken this year has been
to cut back on the size of the Federal Public Service. Under
guidelines now established the P'ublic Service by June next year will
be 26,000 less than the levels projected under the Labor
guidelines for 1975-76.
We aye also introducing a number of measures to protect
individual rights against the bureaucracy. These include
a federal ombudsman and an Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
The L. aw Reform Commission has been asked to examine and report
on unwarranted invasions of privacy in matters under the control
of the Commonwealth Parliament.
As a Liberal Party, respect for the rights of people to live
t'heir lives within the law according to their own values is
fundamental to our approach. As a Federal Government we will
consistently act to support the rights and freedoms of all
Australians, whoever they may be.
This apnlies without qualification to the Torres Strait Islanders.
We share with the Queensland Government a strong commitment
to supporting the concern of the Islanders that they should
be able to continue their way of life with an assurance of
maximum stability for the future. Agreed principles
in the negotiations with Papua New Guinea are that
there will be no transfer of sovereignty over any inhabited
islands and that all citizens will remain Australians.
The way of life of the Torres Strait Islanders and their
traditional patterns of life and activity will be protected.
When the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Mr Somare, was in
Australia in April, we agreed that an equitable and permanent
settlement of alloutstanding issues relating to Torres Strait
should be achieved as soon as possible.
One mat-ter that clearly had to be settled was the matter of
maritime * boundaries. Every independent country has to
know ti'e limits of its maritime jurisdiction, just as much as
ift needs to know the limits of its land jurisdiction.
So Papua New Guinea and Australia agreed that one objective
was to draw between Australia and Papua New Guinea whatever
maritime boundaries were necessary. We agreed that it was necessary
to draw a line determining the seabed ( the Continental Shelf)
between the two countries.
We also agreed that settlement should include the establishment
in the Torres Strait of a zone designed to protect the environment'
and to preserve the traditional way of life and livelihood of local
iiha! bitants that is the Australian Torres Strait Islanders.
The protective zone is a fundamental requirement. My Government
believes that the first priority of all is to ensure that the
Australian Islanders of the Torres Strait shall be able to live
and sustain themselves in the Torres Strait as they have always done.
This is an absolute requirement. / 7
I believe Papua New Guinea is willing to agree to a just
and reasonable settlement which will not only meet their own
requirements as an independent country, but also our
Australian interests.
Negotiations have been proceeding since May and I am
encouraged by the degree of progress mnade.
There is no reasonable alternative to negotiation. It is much
better to negotiate an agreement with a friendly country than
to act in a high-handed way or to argue out differences
in the International Court of Just~ ice.
If Australia and Papua New Guinea left it to the International
Court of Justice to settle the affairs of the Torres Strait
the atmosphere would be very different.
It would be an atmospher of confrontation. The result would
be quite unpredictable and the chances of getting a
protected zone to take care of the traditional way of life and
livelihood of the Islanders would be quite small.
What the Australian Islanders need most is a firm and stable
agreement which they can rely on and which is just and equitable
to both sides. And thi~ s is what the Australian Government, and
I believe, the Papua New Guinea Government also wants.
This is what we are working for, and this is, I believe,
what we have a good prospect of attaining within the next few months.
Our concern in this matter, as in others, is that the rights
of all Australians should be protected.
As a Liberal Government we see it as a basic obligation to help
establish conditions of life in which all Australians can
pursue their objectives in life in conditions of maximum
freedom and with self-respect.
The recovery of the economy is vital to this,-and recovery is now
under . way. One of the important factors in strengthening the recovery
will be the revival of the mining industry. Under the Labor
Party's authoritarian Minister f or Minerals and Energy billions
of dollars of investment were deferred or permanently lost.
Since the electi-on last Decemaber under the new foreign
investment guidelines there has been a dramatic change.
The renewed i. nierest ini the development of our natural resources
has brought massive new investment developments onto the drawing
boards. These will involve substantial amounts of overseas capital
under the new foreign investment guidelines.
Projects being planned include development of the North West
Shelf costing over $ 2,000 million and coal projects in
Queensland amounting to about $ 1.5 billion stimulated by the
Government's decision to reduce the coal levy.
Projects such as these should play a large role in getting the
economy moving forward and reducing unemployment. ./ 8
To ease the problem of unemployment in the short term we
ha; e iL-. roduced a number of measures. Of last year's
230,01.:") school leavers, by the end of August 12,700 had not
found jobs. To help these young people we have introduced
a scheme to subsidise employers provide work and training.
We have also announced changes to the National Employment
and Training Scheme Scheme increasing certain
allowances. To assist people who cannot find suitable work where
they live, and wish to move to where work is av: ailable, we h; ave
announced a major scheme of relocation assistan: e.
We are also looking at terms of reference for a far reaching
inquiry into the Commonwealth Employment Service.
There is one way in which everyone can help to get unemployment
down by restraint in wage and salary demands. Australians
want to work together to get Australia moving.
Trade union members, and the many responsible trade union leaders,
are fed up with political and unnecessary strikes strikes
called by men who don't care about the damage they are doing
to other Australians; who don't care about the jobs they are
destroying and the unemployment they are causing.
I do not believe that responsible trade unionists are going
to allow these men to wreck recovery. We promised to give
members control over their unions. That is why we have
legislated to require secret postal ballots in union elections.
Secret postal ballots are now law. They can be a powerful
weapon in the hands of union members a powerful protection
from undue pressure by a few extremists.
In our term of office, we have undertaken an active programme
to expand opportunities and protect the disadvantaged.
Our Government is a government of social reform. We are
increasing funds for education, we have restored
triennial planning. We are reforming the federal system and
giving the states greater financial independence. We are
strengthening the capacities of local councils. We are
retaining and improving Medibank. We are securing homes for the
aged. We will be protecting the real value of pensions by
automatic adjustments. We have argued in the Arbitration Commission
to protect those on lowest incomes. We have greatly increased
assistance to handicapped persons. We have introduced the historic
family allowance scheme. We are exploring a housing voucher allowance
scheme. We have established a major new home savings grant scheme.
We are setting a new course for Australia. We recog: nise that
needed reforms do not have to mean massive new programmes of
government spending we believe they should be reforms which
protect and expand people's capacity to control their own lives
without domination by others. We believe our philosophy of freedom
and concern is in harmony with the real needs of Australia and will
produce a better life for all Australians. We believe the vast
majority of people want to w ork together to make Australi, a the great
country it be. What we have done so far is a beginning.
Every effort i.: eds to be made to get a broad public appteciation of
the Government's policies. Now it is up to the Liberal Party and to
every branch and e: very ,:. cmber of the Party everywhere in Australia
to show the vitality of Australian democracy and make Australia
an example to the world. 000oo00000