* SRC830 PRIME~ MINI& TER
.';:. UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL g p. m. CAU8ERI^
POLICY SPEECH 21 NOVEMBER 1977
Oar nation is on the move.
We are ready to stride into a new era of prosperity and
development. We have broken through in the fight against
inflation. Under Labor, inflation reached nineteen percent. We have
halved that. Inflation is nine percent and falling.
We have reduced taxes, revived incentive and restored fair
reward for achievement.
Under Labor taxes doubled. We have ended the big tax ripoff.
Now Mr Whitlam wants to start it again.
Business is being revitalised, profits are up, interest rates
have begun to fall and they will k; ecp on falling.. We've
been doing the job we were elected to do.
We have been able to reduce inflation, reform the tax system,
revive business and start interest rates falling because we
have brought Government spending under control; because we
have halved Labor's four and a half billion dollar deficit.
We have given Australia reliable and responsible economic
Government. We have restored integrity in Government and
all praise to ' Phillip Lynch who has upheld the highest
traditions of the Westminster system.
Our policies have given people the confidence and incentive
to invest in Australia's future. Australia is ready to go
with six thousand million dollars of development in coal,
iron ore, bauxite, alumina, petroleum and nickel, in
manufacturing industry, in construction and retai. ling.
And in the coming three years we can look to other vast
developments: the three billion dollar North-West Shelf project,
bigger than the Snowy Mountain Scheme;
the development of our vital oil and gas reserves;
and using ' our immense uranium deposits for peaceful
purposes under the world's strictest safeguards.
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-'. ttee0m:~ rieaetpeo-j jcotb s, StilnUIZhte growth,
and prospCrity. They w* iA3: hring Wealth a91( work
to ( Iii cokntry.
We all J~ rnOw what the real 11nswer to n~ n~ ycti
it's qelieratill, qrowth and development;
it's3 industry providing new j6, bs;
it's trainiAg rpeople to fill new acb~ jJhnede p themt.
1,, e ha ve saved. tens of thousands of Aus; tralian jobs because we gave
Utail iridIStYY the PXotec-' tion we proJnisecl Unlike Mrt Whitj. am
We not enoto xted thousands Oi : jobs t16htough acxoss the hoardl
tarlifi eslasing.
? eusu. of ouar p-. olicies new jobs are being created. our
trainin-and joii assistance sche,. ies are 9cetting9 the unemployed
into real jobs, prodluctive jobs, jobs that they can keep.
lie a?-c spending more than $ 100 m~ illionl on traininq and job
assistarico schoerrse which especially help young people learn
new rsilJs. 7Ktrcady woll over 120,000 people have been or
arc being helped by our schemes and we tire constantly
Imnproving them,.
Sdetermined that our children will have job ' 0zills
slills; that the education system often fails to teach.
xad r. 1 thie ' education programmeo for uonemployed yotith
gTivj; e s youncl people the chance to acq-, ire the basic
1ls1 andI MOtivation -they need to get a job.
Wew~: Lspend afurther $ 50) million over an bove o; tng
cornmtr, ents on replacing the outmodeed technical schools~ in
OIur Lrinex city axeas and country towns.
Ln thie last two yeaxs, the Commonwealth Bployment* Eexv'ice,
hasVcc 900,000 people in jobs. We are upgrading the
c f fcotiVeness of the C. lE. S. to )) elp more people finrd m~ ore
JBecauseC Of our job assistance strategy, because of the
c2Xwt-jand development our~ policies have made possible
611
and Gentlemen, above all. else, this election will
~ iethe we ill ) b) iild oni the achicvc'inents of the
X. t'; O year:;, or whether we will let Labor throw xt aill
e. le Lit j, committed to reversing the policies that have qiven
Austral1ians confiaence. Labor is the Party of extravagance,
of AI. Intion, of * high taxes, of in~ dustrial . lawle:. sne!; s.
I* t is Labor that is the Party of unemployment.
Labor today are still pedaling the same policies which in
one ,' ear increaseo unemplolment. by 157%. / 3
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That's 192,000 moxe Australians out of y4ork. Why eloesn't
Mr Whitlam tell us how many Grand Final crowds that would
make. When~ they were in Government, they stopped grovith and
development. The only things that went ahead were ilifintioll,
and uncrmploymcnt. Mr whitlannow wants to do it all over
again.
There has rarely beeni an election giving the Australian
people a clearer choice.
The choice is between this Government, which has restored
sanifty to Government spending, given fthe Australian people
the greatest tax reforms in our history, and the Labor Opposition,
which would unleash Government spending and imm-ediately impose
higher taxes.
. Labor has itself admitted that it would increase spending
by ani extra $ 800 million, anid this is only a sytall part
of their plans.
just six of theik other promises would cost mnore than $ 3,000
million per year-. And on top of all this they
would spend a further $ 1,700 million to abolish payroll tax.
To pay for tU!%.-Lbor %, ould pass a law taking six dollars
a weekc out of the average wage earner's pocket.
At one blow, Labor woald increase Australian's personal tax
burden by $ 1700 million dollars.
Labor wouild end the reward for initiative and achbievement
which is the basis for economic recovery; the basis for
creating new jobs.
I have no doubt at all that the working men and women of
A% 3stralia will reject this recipe for disaster,
Mr'Wran has said he wanted tax cuts.
Mr Dunstan has said he wanted tax cuts.
Mr Hawke has said he wanted t~ x cuts.
These nf--n must now deplore Fir whitlarn's policy of taking mtoney
away fromn Austxalia's workers and putting it in the pockets
of large companies.
We w. ould. all pay * higher taxes for* Labor's extravagance and we
would pay in highier interest rates, higher inflation, higher
unemployment*. Labor'. s policies would stop investment in Australia and stop
growth. They would deny Australians the right to work. They
would dishonour contracts.
1 9 7 5 ) mr WI, i t i r-J onjfeA d'x; rt* his
p~ ys lie mvver sicjneei ariythinyj-now thr-j" Say UranMI\' In Shou11'
T JXca bo~ c Party i~ tryiII9 to Obst-xutt AUStr a 1 i Z.' s dv e.-o pmc -n t
Thy rcs partne-; cs in c'bstjuction id~ h ext~ mmist tinion 1c.-. 1ers.
e: trcm3t Led unionfs are all affi1iated wi-th the Lnb-tro
12! 3r I-Y; they all paty mrincy to thc L~ abor Party; the-1-l he~
Z*!; hoCide off icial Lnbor Policy.
1t. i1i1s-11s policy that b~ d: lyr iiiJ 1~
explore, and develop.
That's why it is Labor's Official~ policy to put unions above
the law. That's why Labor endlorsed the Victorian power strike.
T~ hey7 endorsod a strike which laid off 450,000 p eople for weeks.
They endorsed a strie which tbrew 36,000 people completely out
of a job.
We have shown that the public can bec protectcd; that a fair
and resolute stand can work.. It worked in the -air controllers Strikil
in the postal workers dispute; it wor); ed against the ACTUIS xuraniun;
moratorium tbey baclked dowvm. And in the Victorian rpower clisplitc,
it was our move to derogister the unions involved -that 2ed to the
strikers returning to work.
we have been the first government to pass laws protecting individual
unlionists and give responsible rank arnd file unlionists the chance
to make their voices heard.
Sec; ret postal ballots for union elections are now compulsory. 14e
have set uip the Xndustrial Relations Bureau to protect the public
interest und also to act as an inelustrial'onibusdman: Unions are now
required to tell. their MeMbers how union Clues are spent. We are
protecting individuals against being forced to join unions against
their will.
Responsible unionizts have welcomed these laws. Only the cxltremist
and the L~ abor Party have follght against thein. These laws will not
change things overnight. ) 3% t ovar time they will have a major
impact. At last, responsible unionists have a chance.
Labor woold tako it from them; Labor would back 6own on all these
laws.
We won't back dlown on any of our responsibilities.
-Let' s look at some of -the reforms we have brought In since coming
to office, and how we wi'll be building on these reforms in the
years ahead.
WIe will be . Zurther developing our existing programmes which are
working well and in some cases initiating new prograntmes,
The total cost of these new programmes is an additional. $ 20 million
this financial year -no more: and $ 250 million in 1978/ 79.
This Govern-ment has brought in the lares rId fairest reforms ever
made to Australia's tax: system. T'ax indexation snves every
Astralian taxpayer more money each year.
From February 1st, further tax~ cuts will come in for every Austral.'
wiage anel salary ear-ner. This year alone, the person on average
ear-ningjs will be saving $ 6 a week from these two xeforms. From
V'ebruary 1st, more than 225,000 low income earners will cease to
pay any tax at all. And becauase we have rcluced the marginal rate
of tax: its now worthi wor1ing overtime again.
1% 1e ) aIovi decl business with essential tax incentives to inve st,
irpar: t from-1 our tax: c~ r ~ m to J~~~ t\ I4nc ' C12 OOr
pc~ n1tax YCAOYnB savc\'" $ i 30 J~ I3 on
Th e AI : tr ! A! i1' I. I -eop I e 11 n ot ncc Ip z3 .1te o : o ha01
ed uty has cakiseel( i. t'L alle ) hPriM to t~ oolliarnI!:
1. i Jh o, all cieceaseei estzites and gifts rxwssi nq botw. eenr ) Ixsali
rt-i6 kiidf, ptarent and ch-ilc, wi&: Li bo exempt xrorn
nxu t ft dluty from this; clay.
Over the 1i4fe of* the next Parl-liarnent estate and q~ ift dluty will11
both be . entirely nboi. hed.
.~ eout: dew'n c-UC5inl yvcuXl rates by giving loccal oenet
Ssharcc al l prsonzil incor ax : cecr-4te. . Thni y-ar it
a Over the nevt three-ycars, we will inc-cfease
thW. c-" share to~ 2%.
e e ~ e -c ci Ee i ithe c mii rf , o f mo s-t r.) 1 A1 s br a~ E
frate to assistbtsirtess so tht, r b
cc. n Y. e created.
T. UZ-w hav a b een d i f1ic~ it f or Aus tr a 1 a Is tbo-or nd SL 1, -rr1l
is:. Ii-je ss le n. We have hel~ ped emall bukiiiness with our tka; cocncessiojim
x~ igStocko with the investMe~ lt allOWRIxcc ; nd 011r pc-8r) inal
t ckL arnr3 we Tm-i:, Le more iinance Livaila'blc to : nmnal. l c
t~: h U IA -C 011, MOrnnw e i t I IDa v e Iop: Ye n t 3 a n hi6e A I. 0. C
' u-. 4~ eLrbox-, thjs G; over nrent has 1-o-ught Atistra i-nn !-1aereAMC possibU
w. 11. L coi-tinue to buy Yvustralian.
. t We wil ,, ct to~ inr-e the proc 35J. L19~ A r, J\ ii-. ~ r~ iz x u
c : t 1 miental-i~ ox~ c to Au tral-A that our x-ural corrarnuni
Vc~ have endted Labor's savage bias Cuais Orhrñ c-ara3.
cc~~. nty. Otr miany prcogran1ales are helping thie TuraL Commurnity
~; v~ hthe present difficult period. wie will oo Mcoxt.
TA~ uhct raianRural Bank will open, in 1978.
Pet-! c'l-P prices in country are-as will be rccduceil to within in ccont
Wc L. tC the )) oxfjr; ( city rc-t., ail price i. t) hout ~ r y 11) cxe0,1 rL
ct ri ce s a S a x esu 1t.
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Ove-r the nc-; t three, years, we will reduce the price vwargin to
1C1than half a ceQnt pc-r litro.
We will' in consultatiorn with the industries corncernedl act to
imnprove beef and wool mark-etinc. arrangements,
. Phere are other rneaslares zlupportingi rural indistry sct out in the
supplementary statements izsued tonight and the Deputy Prime M~ inistl
will elaborate on these tomorrow evening.
Social Secuxity' and* V-ealt~ h
Our soc~ ial ref orms, have helped families and ifldLviluals and
widened freedoin of choice.
Our Family Allowance is tho most important innovation in vielfare
for decades.
The Nedibank refotrms give Australians choice in health insiuxance.
The old harsh means test haS been replaced by a simple income
test. We have tak~ en politics out of pension increases by linking t-hem
auitomati cally-with-the* Consumer Price Index.
We have brought in a pension for all sole parents another
major reform.
N~ ow, so that mare homes and centres for the aged and handicapped
can be bxiilt, we will extend the present threa ye-ax funding progjzau
for a further year. . We will provide larger grants to hoines for
the age4d in remote areas, and subsidise the added costs people in
remote areas must pay to obtain specialist medical treatment.
We will encoarage families to care for their sick and, aged by
increasing and expanding the domiciliary nursing care benefit.
We have given the handicapped a new deal and we will maintain our
expanded child care programme.
Boducation The Gov'ermient has given education high priority.
We have established the new Tertiary Fducation Commission and
appointed the Williams Comnittee of Inquiry into P-ducation and
Train in(.
Government schools in all States have substantially exceeded
school's comission targets.
We are conscious of the disadvantage of ifany non-government schoolsI
and our policies which place due emphasis on needs, are desig9ned
to provide egiiality of apportbnity for all Australians.
A c'rA ni t. i ati'c e 1. L rLW er' t C) c rn a c*
J i-too . oivj icj'& c Uho ' 3neiC ~ ovr~ b . t
to ree~ a~ c or-n())-ral chiWCD, but. r71,1 y~ ru
of iU,,~ jcnppcC1 chi. 1dre-n pay hiond-eds of their
J1 f' ( M'luc; ticn and -III-s ia ' ust3 cC Ww3i. l cez~.. e. C( Ie r
t'iisGc. w\' rnrvi-t they wdll. no lo qr-hmic G-oc(-3c,) i
-toe thesce chiXC~ rer n c~ jul chanc-,.
Ouc 1hC) flh sav-I Ig S c r P. t f3 c h e h as h e1)( I I hIc; p n5 t. n s
o: o ui ; a n ds o 1 p e 0p c t o buyv teir f ir t ho m
I, I c 0 0 F, te.? 1-U tt e~ a Cl ir n . r ia n c m, s n
p an i n s ur an c I cm e poIteo, 0t i s~ zv i q% c: p o . e~ vs~
bnwi 10C. ing Soo i eties.
19. t7 8/ 73 \ c,?. ill oxpand eis-tinq-progra,. c. es to y': covi( 3c a 4--ttal r'f
; rullyf teh l:. U ex t Y'eac rs to Arprco\ e 11: ban
We wil also vuiCaeitakc a~ five year prograrune to iipyrade cri'tica1
i~ e~ ti 0o1 the national. railway network.
rna~ e StartI-pi-% nin Drisb& ne tba irntennatioa ip
en(-m vealk : a tat is. o
I. 1 cc
~ itoutan icreseinbasic'ratat fo te ast 1two. years.' Now
Ve wil 1 move to cut off-peak telephona charges to about
of the normal rate.
Enrg cy
Under our comprehensive national energy policy we will step
up research and developyaentof new energy resources, especially
coal and solar energy.
Aborigines
We are acting to and the offensive paternalism of past policie,%
towards~ Aborigines. ' We wdll. continue to encouxage self -management
of Aboriginal programmes anid make them masters of their own
affairs. In addition to the many prograrunes we now have, wo wgill start
new prograrmncs designed to improve facilities anid services
for young Aborigines; provide training and management an~ d
other sk; ills; and let Aborigines participate more fully in
preventive health care projects.
Bthnic Affairs
Australia is a multi-cultural society.* The Government is concend
for ou-r 13thnic comminities. in the next three years weshl
concentrate on overcoming the larig; uatle ba. ricrs in our society.
Our measures will include:
ecic ftEhg ih to migrants and in co-oneration
with the States expand thce teaching of ethnic languages
and culture in our schoolu
-the provision of Ethnic liaison officers in Government
Departmnrts
more interprc~ tcers, translators-and migrant welfare
officers
-more migrant resource centres.
Ir'or the first time the age service pension will be paid to non-.
British former members of the allied forces.
We -have put Ethnuic broadcasting on a permanent basis, nnd we
will establish Zthnia television.
iniiul i~ t
We have protected individual rights and reformed outdated laws.
The Ombudsman, and Administrative Appeals Tribunal protect
basic civil liberties.
we WAIll establish a Human Rights Commission to extend that
protection further and we will bring in freedom of informration
laws.
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' Ihpac -frminent. Worenls P~ yto adtvi r; thc
( c) Vi&-n'irien', t On Womns A f fai r.
We have pyovided increased firlanical a Eistance and tax: incentivCeS
to the sirts, reform~ ed the Australia Council, & nd now we will
help our filr, industry by allow. ing film procflucticn costs to
be wr-itten off over two years iflstea~ l o~ f twenty five.
IelAe vigilantly protected the erivironnment. We are establishingj
I , uladul the world ' s lar( Iest national park., and ani independent,
OCngtuirI t o cXar: lillIC the most c-' fective why! 3 coflsc-rvisg and
projtoctingC. till r~ pCciecr 01 jqhal.-,. We are helpigte~ irc i~ i
fund to set up a bxanch in Australia.
Security and Foe( n11lc
P.',, tralia' a security and forcign policy is always a hi. gh
priority for a.. Libera). Nationial Country Party Gove~ rnm~ ent.
Thc Roval Commission on Security aned Intelli(. ence cc'Tcludc~ d
thit We iace serious threats of espionage and subvewsion,
Va7 re strongthening all areas 01J the Clefencc forces. Pox
orNaple, t-his progatmne includes the construction 0ñ fourten
fa; 7-t vatrol boats built. by a great North Quenslarie shipbhuilder
iat Cairnsi, the const1-riiction ait Newcastl. c of a car:( o Lhip -or the
dufonocc forces~ and the oirderini a thi. re quided Tr~ sol frigate.-
We hanve rostcccd close relations with our frionds and alliesI
an6 extc), ende the vital Pine Gap agreemeo. t with the tlnite( I
Sta-' Ces, for a forther ten years,
W'e have imprcovcd oiar relations with nll ou) r n~ et neiq~ hbouirs.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the new initiatives I have outlineed
tO))-Vht and further policies which are set out in the
suJplementary -, tatemenils are, tt creative, xespoiisiIle and
baqinced rproiraine.
S ince coming to of fice, we have f acecl the diñ l 1 u t choices.
Th~ touqgh dc~ sions have been iziae.
W: V been ooiing the Job % qe wc-Incechted to do.
Th the great issue befw~ e every one of us ii, whethxer we will
1) u it'Ci on these hard won foundations, whether we will grasp
Oh'lciportunity to make Australia the great coiuntry we all
can be:
an) Astralia where people have the freedom to achieve
-to biuild the kind of life they want wh) ere there
arc rowards for initiative and incentives for
entetpri" e;
-an hust aliaI which is stronc! and secore, whi~ ch cares
for those in need, whe're all people can live and viork
together in self-respect.
rr iC-lr
ihere are still problems to bc fnced, there is still
work to be done.,
T3ut Aistralia is ready to iake the breakthrough into n
period of real prosperity.
A vote for the Liberal Party is a vote fox an exciting ar:'
rewarding future for Australia.
With your suppot this Goverzment is determined to buil~ d n
what we have already achievP to make Australia a sc-cieiy
wich can set a standard for the world.