L97IJ
PRIME MINISTER
FOR PRESS~$ O JNJM N1AY. ' 19.7 7
It is good to be in* Xaunceston--v-aain. The Bass electorate has
a very special place in the-heakt~ of all Liberals.
Just two years ago Bass Vot~ rs gave Australia the lead by
electing Kevin Newman in a magnificent by-election victory.
It was one of my first duties when elected Lecader of the
Parliamentary Liberal Party to lead the campaign. That Win gave
us all great heart, and rpuxred our efforts, culminating in the
election victory of December 1975, in which Libea~ als won all
five Tasimanian seatz in the House of Representatives, and which
charged us with -the task. of restoring the economy and defeating
inflation.-
Our task was clear. To gain control over Government spending
a-nd inflation. To argue for wage restraint, and to restore*
confidence and strength to the'private sector so that employment
opportunities would be created.
We said from the outset this task, would take three years. But
already w-, e are seeing the beginnings of sustained ' growth, and a
reduction in inflation. The Consumer Price Index for the March
quarter showed a rise of only 2.3% the lowest for a March quarter
in four years.
The most reliable evidence available to us indicates an inflation
rate of just over 10% for the course of 1976. Still too high,
but mark~ edly lower than the inflation rate for the precediftg two
years, flut further progress will only be made if our policies
are maintained. Vi! e have set about holding Government spending . in
the next budget, and estimates for the comning year are currently
being subjected to the most eytensive review.
In successive national wage cases, the Governienf has argued for
wage restraint. However, it is taking a long time to reduce
unemploymnent becauge of high inflation, and the fact that rapid
wage increases have priced many people out of the labour market.
The extent to which Australians accept wage restraint will largely
determ ine tlie ex~ tent to which further reductions in inflation and
unemployment can be achieved in 1977. / in spite of
Ln spite of the severe restraints which we have had to impose on
Government spendin-g, wie have taken a number of steps to alleviate
particular probleras faced by Tasmania, and to sp) ur Tasmania's
development. We have introduced a freight equalisation scheme which
enables Tasmanian business to compete more favourabl. y on interstate
markets. The estimated cost of the northbound scheme this financial
year is almost $ 16 million. In addition, as I annotunced in George Tow
last November, there will bo a southbowid scheme which will operate
retrospectively from 1. July 1976. The minister for Transport,
Mr. Mixon, will be announcing details of the southbound scheme
shortly. The Government recently gave approval to IPEC to import two aircraft
which will considerably increase capacity for the Bass Strait. air
freight service. This decision has been challenged i~ n the High
Court and we await their judgement. The Government also approved
the import of two now replacement aircraft by air express.
In Launceston, vie are proceeding with acquisition of the land for
the Australian Maeritimeo Colleg6, and the interim counci. has, beent
working actively to get this fine project. uncl~ r'way.
We have granted a substantial stum for -the Inveresk Urban Redevelopment
Scheme; an exciting initiative involving co-operation between the
Commonwealth, the state, local government, and a community group.
The Comonwealth is also spending more than $ 20 million nn the
T1aunceston General fospital.
In Hobart, the new Advisory Council for Inter-Governmental Relations
is establishing i1ts Secretariat, and the headquarters for our activity
in -the Antarctica is being relocated there. The Government has
contributed $ 36 million to restore -the Tasman Bridge anid related
works. We have also contributed to the internationally acclaimed
south west National Park.
We recog-nise that Tasmranian Industry has experienced particularlydifficult
problems in recent times, and we expect to receive within e,*
the next few weeks an interim report from Sir Beade Callaghan who we
commissioned to inquire into the pzoble-ms of Tasmanian industry.
I believe that the initiatives which we have taken after only 18
months in office, amply demonstrate the Governi-ent's very real
concern with the special problems and needs of Tasmnania.
Taking'all the me-asures I. have referrcd to, Tasmania has
benefitted by over $ 87 million in capital works and $ 17,000,000
in recurrent expenditure from the special provisions made for your
state by this Government. would
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I woul. d now like to turn to referendums which Australians will
be voting on in 1H. days time. It is important that we talk about
this because the success of the referendums will make a major
contribution to the constitutiona. development of our country.
It will establish whether as a nation we are willing to make
constitutional chanqes which will introduce major and considered
reforms to improve our constitution.
The four constitutional referendums propose fair, sensible and
just changes to reform the constitution anid I am sure that they
will be successful.
In the past, people have tended to vote no on constitutional
questions. Blut these referendums are different. They do not
seek more power for politicians. They do not seek more power
for Canberra. They do not weaken the states. These referandums
meet all the requirements Australians have set for constitutional
changes. The proposals have been carefully considered. and there has been
extensive consultation about them. There was detailed discasslor
of the principles oIUall four referendums at the Hobart Constitutional
Convention last year. The Commonwealth, al1 the states,
local government, and all the major parties, wer e represented
at the Convention. The principles of the four proposals were
adopted overwhelmingly by -the Convention.
The changes are supported on a bipartisan basis by all the major
federal parties-. Each of the four proposals, we are now supportin
was passed in the House of Representatives without a single
dissenting voice, and each was passed by an overwheLming majority
in the Senate.
Putting the four proposals forward is evidence of our concern to
make necessary constitutional reforms, and of ou. r support for
the cons titutional convention which was initiated-and this should
be emphasised by the states.
The people have to be allowed to vote on these proposaln which art
generally supported and which are sound, otherwise the
Constitutional Convention would be a meaningless exercise.
S Clearly, -the issue of constitutional reform is more important
than that.
The four changes are thiese. First, that elections for the Senate
and House of Representatives should be held simultaneously. It
is simply common sense thiat elections always be held at the same
time, and that the only time you have to vote in a federal electic
is when you have to choose Australia's Government. This proposal
will maintain and strengthen the Senate. It also means we will
not have to vote in as many federal elections. Otherwise we
could have as many as four elections in the next four years.
If this proposal is not passed, the future of the Senate could
ultimately be put in jeopardy. It is sometimes said that
simultaneous elections can be achieved by bringinq the House
of Representatives election forward to coincide with that of
the Senate. Unfortunately, that is just not practical. At the
last election, the two Houses were elected at thie same time
because there was a double dissolution. Despite this, they are
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now out of phase once again. This is because under the constitution
Senators terms are back-dated to the previous July 1. The term for
the House of Representative!!( on the other'lhand only begins when
Members are sworn in, usually some weeks after the election. This
means that unless the constitution is changed, the only way to bring
the elections together would be': repeatdy to cut short the term of
the House of Representatives. . The., three year term is however
already relatively short. One -of -th Shortast Parliamentary terms
. in the democratic world, Fur~.'~ 94 n itwul amgrgo
Government. Far from weakening the Senate ~ as some have alleged, the simultaneous
elections proposals will strengthen the Senate and its capacity to
protect the states. It was an'acc ident that in 1975 -there were bills
enabli-ng the Governor General ,' to dJLp' 69hve both HIouses and make them
both face the people. Had the -Senate not been able to face the people
themselves, so that their act-ions might be judged, -a number of
would not have agreed to block supply. This attitude was
soundly based because auiy House of Parliament that sends another Ho
to the polls, while not itself being judged by the people, will not
survive. A number of Senators at the time knew this, and as grave
as the errors of the forrmer Government were, these Senators were only
prepared to use the Senate's major power because the Senate would
itself face the people of Autralia and be judged. I myself would 0
never have sought the blocking of supply from a Senate that would not
itself have also faced the people of Australia. If the Senate was
not in the position to go to the people, there would have been no
double dissolution; there would have been no election.
The Senate's powers are great, and anyone who wants them to remain a
living reality will campaign for this proposal and vote for it.
For unless the present situation is changed, I can foresee two
alternative consequences. The Senate might refuse to check a bad
-Government unless there happened to exist the circumstances whi ch,
would per-mit a double dissolution. Alternatively, if Senators wereW
to make the House of Representatives go to an election without facing
the people-themselves, then there would be a public outcry against the
Senate which could lead to the Senate's powers being restricted,
or abolished. Either of these alternatives would be bad for
* democratic government:, bad for the states, bad for Australia. 0
That is why it is important that this referendum be passed. it
will preserve the protect the Senate's powers and hence protect
the states.
The second referendum proposal is that, whenever a Senator dies or
resign-s, he will be replaced, for the remainder of his term of office,
by a member of the same party. This will guarantee that your choice
of parties for the Senate cannot be altered by accident or design.
* Proportional representation for the Senate is intended to make the
Senate represent all sectors of the electorate in precisely the
correct proportions. Yet under the constitution now, a Senate
vacancy can complete) ly change the party balance. It is fundamental
to our democracy -that only the people should determine the balance of
-the parties in the Senate. Once this proposal is accepted, the
peoples choice will be preserved tuntil they have an opportunity to
make another choice at the next election. / The third
Eli -0-0-
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The third referendum proposal is that voters in the A. C. T. and
Northern Territory should have a vote in all future referendums.
This is a fundamental right all other Australians have. I know
of no rational or reasonable argument for denying Territorial.
voters this basic right. -Territorial voters have the same
obligations as other Australians. Ths% pay taxes, they are
obliged to observe the laws of the Commonwealth. They vote for
Members of Parliament. The outco 6ofreferendums affect them
as much as they do other Austra ans. 7 Our democracy is the
weaker until the voters of tle Tei-N tories have the basic right
to vote in referendums resto ed to them'.
The fourth and final referendum proposal is to set a retiring age for
federal justices. High Court\ zjustices would retire at 70, and the
retirement age for other Federal'C qr judges would be determined
by Parliament. The proposaLAdqe-sno t affect the terms of judges
already appointed to the 6ench.-There is thus no question of
acting in breach of the existing judges terms of appointment.
This proposal is only reasonable. Most jobs have retirement ages
and for good reason. Judges are as affected by old age as the
rest of us. It is only fair that after the age of 70 responsibility
should be handed over to younger people. This is even more
important now that the new system of Federal Family Courts have
been set up.
AlL four referendum proposals are fair, just and reasonable. They
meet all the requirements for success. They have been extensively
considered. They have the support of all major federal parties.
They do not involve more power for Canberra. They will make the
Constitution work better. The polls show that all. referendums have
significant support in all states. But one of the things which has
surprised me is that there is not a great deal of passion about thereferendums.
It has become apparent that one of the reasons for
this is that the arguments in favour of the referendums are so
simple, straightforward and reasonable, that most people cannot
see how contrar-arguments can be put. This view is well founded,
but in it lies a danger. A danger of complacency.
The referendums are important, to the future of Australia, to the
P future of our political system. Those people who think the
referendum propositions should be passed over cannot afford to be
complacent. Although the rightness of the referendum proposals is
not in question, except on the most specious grounds, the referendums
will not pass themselves. All people who care about constitutional
and political reform in this country have a responsibility to work
for the referendums. If we all do this, then the referendums will
be passed, and we will have a better constitution one which will
serve Australia's needs more effectively now and in the future.
The people of Tasmania have a critical part to play in the process
of making the Australian constitution a better document, in the
task of improving the Australi. an political system.
In May 1975 you took the lead. I believe you will do so again
on 21 May 1977.