FOR MEDIA 13 APRIL 1980
ADDRESS TO FEDERAL COUNCIL
In this important year, I welcome the opportunity to address
the 1980 Federal Council and, through you, all members of the
Party throughout Australia.
We meet at the beginning of a new decade, as members of a party
in government which has given to the nation an impressive legacy
of achievement. In spite of international difficulties, ours is
a future in which change will provide challenge; in which challenge
will provide opportunity; and in which the seizing of our
opportunities will secure our success. Our successes of the
recent past, give us the confidence to tackle the future
together successfully.
Wie meet at this council with an entitlement to proclaim our
achiev~ t2:-. nts; with a justification for projecting our capacity
to lead A" ustralia in the years ahead. In an election year, let
us recap~ ture the spirit which has won acceptance in the minds
of Successive generations of Australians. Let us reaffirm our
philos::._-. y in action~ c has brought continuing growth and
well-beia 4to ou, nation. Let us mobilise our commitment to
Libera7iSrL which alone can harness the creativity and capacity
of all Australians.
Thi s is not the tiotne to hesitate in our convi~ tion. We should
not slacken in our poursuit of electoral victory, this year or
in any year. Liberalism in the future, can only be as strong
as the willingness of those who, believing it, are prepared to
fight for it. Because a great future of opportunity is unfolding
before us, there can be no excuse for apathy in the face of political
danger; for simplicity when confronted by political guile; for
weak-and uncertain action in the face of attack.
With our ideals to inspire us and our commitment to drive us,
we will lead Australia to new levels of international and domestic
achievement. The spirit of the times is one of -practical Liberalism.
This involves bei. ng conservative enough to be able to identify
accurately what is best in life and therefore worth conserving. But
it also involves being practical enough to be flexible and v'ersatile
in adopting new means and new attitudes to ensure the safety of
Liberal principles. And it is these principl. es which will give us
our vision in the decade ahead. / 2
2
They will inform our attitudes, guide our policies and secure our
victory. That is our task as a party in the 80' s. In that task,
the role of every Party member, in every State, in every arm of
our organisation, will be central. This is especially true of
Federal Council. Since the inception of the Liberal Party
more than 35 years ago, Federal Council has played a role of
great importance to our continuing electoral success. At it,
the views of the membership have been refined into the Party's
platform which has enshrined our Liberal principles. These have
served us well. For more than 35 years, from this forum, our
Party has proclaimed our commitment to the individual to the
securing of his freedom; to the exercise of his initiative;
to the expression of his individuality; and tohis acceptance of
responsibility. From this forum, we have exalted the role of individual Australian
rmen and women, while our political opponents have exalted the role
of collective government. This weekend, as in this forum, we
debate and deliberate, our concern is not with abstract theory,
unrelated to the changing demands of the 80s. Ours is not a
party wedded to inflexible and unchanging dogma. Our way is to
S combine a vision of the future with existing realities so that
Liberal government continues to be practical, effective and
efficient. In 1975, we inherited problems of economic organisation and
managerent, induced by the government of the day, and beyond its
competence to solve. These problems threatened to test severely
the will and capacity of Liberal government. During the last
our years, we have ret that test with resolution. We have matched
our reslution which achievement. From the outset, we sought to
correct the imbalances in the economy. Then, as now, our first
preoccupation was the fight against inflation.
A society that does not attack the source of inflation is little
better than one which ignores breaches of the law. For inflation
robs people of their freedom and their security. In absolute
-erms, we have been successful in reducing inflation from as
much as 17% in the Labor years to the present level of
Viewed in the international context, our record is superior to
that of many other countries. In the 12 months to January 1980,
the U. S. inflation rate, as measured by consumer prices, was
13.9%, an increase of 4.5percentage points over the level of
the previous year. In the it was 18.4%, an increase in
12 months of 9 percentage points. The latest published Australian
figures show ah increase in the 12 months to December 1979 of 2
percentage points from 8% to 10%. One result of our success against
inflation has been a substantial increase in our international
competitiveness. Relative to some of our trading partners, our
costs are down and we can now compete successfully on world markets.
The Government has aided this improved position by its programme.
of investment allowances; export incentives; and research and
development grants. And published statistics tell the story.
The volume of manufactured exports last year was 28% above the level.
of the previous year. And our rural industries, even in the face
of potentially serious drought conditions, are experiencing better
returns, aided by the containment of'domestic inflation and
strengthened by the Government's success in securing better access
to overseas markets. / 3
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Indeed, the economy's performance in some areas has been somewhat
stronger than that foreshadowed when we drew up the last budget,
and this improvement in our expectations is a vindication of
Government policies. Pleasingly, our economic performance has
been reflected in an improved employment position. While
unemployment is still too high, total employment in Australia
in the year to February 1980 rose by over 155,000. These are
significant achievements.
They are the result of difficult decisions taken by government.
They have involved difficult choices for many A-ustralians. But
we are now seeing. that difficult decisions often contain the most
rewarding solutions; that difficult choices often provide the most
rewarding outcomes.
Our central strategy of containing inflation has been supported
by a necessary restraint in Commonwealth Government spending; a
reduction in our budget deficit and an end to Government-i nduced
erosion of private sector viability. By sensible management,
governme-: nts can create an environment in which economic growth
will develop and flourish. But, in the end, it is the private
sector which is the engine of growth and progress. It is only
when governments recognise this that they then seek to contain
their own spending.
In the 3 years to 1978-79, Commonwealth budget outlays showed
virtually no growth in real terms. Yet, in the 3 years to 1976,
they averaged a growth of over 10%. Is it any wonder, to
acconTcazte this growth, that taxes went up; and as the Labor
government grabbed more and more of the national wealth,
individ,. als suffered, industry was squeezed and investment dried
up. Another significant barometer of the Government's spending
restraint is its success with Commonwealth employment levels.
Prom June 1972 to June 1975, the number of Commonwealth Government
employees rose by 52,000. We have reversed this trend; we have
impoed efectve staff ceilings; and since we came to office the
number of Commonwealth employees, in areas subject to staff
ceilings, has fallen by 10,000.1
The lesson is simple. It is a lesson being learnt increasingly
around the world that government intervention in the economy,
in areas where it does not belong, is damaging to economic growth
and jeopardises national well-being. It is a lesson, the truth of
which is well proven by our Government's performance. It is telling
evidence of the extent of our performance that a new sense of
confidence, pride, direction and optimism is at work in Australia.
This optimism is soundly based, but it would be foolish to imagine
that in the so-called lucky country, the luck is self-perpetuating.
We have to do more to secure our future, than leave things to chance.
All things do not come to those who sit and wait. Certainly, we
are fortunate with our natural resource endowments. But, in the
more than fortune will be needed to find these resources;
to develop, process and market them; and to manage the enterprises
which result from their development. Yet this is a challenge which
should invigorate all Australians. For we have entered the new
decade with a formidable legacy of achievements. The-foundations
for national development are well laid. ./ 4
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But such foundations are hard to build, easy to destroy. We began
that building process when we first came to government in 1975.
Indeed, ever since the Liberal Party gained office in 1949, it
has given the highest priority to the creation of strong and viable
industries of all kinds which can compete and expand in ' international
trade. Australian wealth was created this way. our standard
of living has depended more on the success of achievements of
our industries than on anything else. But it cannot be overstated.
that for continued national development, certain pre-conditions
have to be met; a number of things have to be done.
First, and most importantly, we need a strong economy. Our success
in reaching this objective has provided the foundation from which
we can begin to seize emerging opportunities. Secondly, it is
only economic strength which gives us the capacity to attract
the necessary capital, technology, expertise and skill for the
kind of development that lies ahead.
For these commodities, we will have to compete successfully on
the international market and only a strong economy can attract
them or, indeed, afford them. Thirdly, a nation can only attract
investment when it offers a stable political environment in which
consistency and continuity in the objectives of goverment policymaking
enable businesses and large corporations to plan for the
long term. Fourthly, for balanced development -in the future,
* we will need an increasingly efficient ' and competitive capital
market. A market which encourages the mobilising of equity and
fixed interest ca-pite-1; which helps Australians to become partners
and participants as investors in our development projects.
A great programme of national development lies in front of us.
Australia * Will be ca-2. ta. hungry in the 1980' s.-Funds will be
needed-: r O. M overseams, but we will also need to mobilis~ e Australian
savings for long. term investment purposes. And here lie new
opport-, nitiesfor Australians. I can think of no more effective
use for the investment of our present savings than in the
development of o-r national energy resources; in the support
of outward-looking and aggressive manuf acturing industries
and in the provision of modern finance and servicing industries.
The future is indeed promising for those with ideas and a
willingness to implement them; for those with initiative; for
those willing to accept challenges and seek the rewards fo~ r
investment that will accrue from them..
Trhis leads to a furt'her element-for our future development
-the provision of adequate facilities which can accommodate the
investme~ nt programme which lies ahead. This is the challenge
we faced on coming to government. We knew that special
measures would have to be taken. Because investment in Australia
had ground to a halt, much had to be done to get it going a-gain.
And the government wished to see that Australia's resource potential
was realised without undue delay.
In 1976, 1 had discussions with Sir Charles Court about the need
for infrastructure investment investment in ports, pipelines
and power generation plants which would be necessary if projects
were to proceed. At an historic Loan Council meeting in November
19793 the Commonwealth and States agreed to State borrowings
totalling almost $ 1800 million for facilities designed to accelerate
national development. 1
Much of this was for the deveiopmr~ nt of our coal reserves and the
provision of electricity generation based on coal. Within a year,
the Iranian crisis of 1979 starkly focused the attention of the
community once again on the world oil situation and in particular, on
future energy costs and supplies. This underlined the wisdom of our
decisions in November 1978. The price of OPEC oil rose by over 100%
in 1979. Inevitably, the world oil situation was finely balanced as
industrialised countries confronted a real energy challenge. But this
challenge has provided opportunities for Australia opportunities we
are prepared for and which we can successfully meet.
world energy consumers are looking to politically stable countries
with economic policies which secure reliable and cheaper supplies
cof energy. This creates for us, in Australia, a wider opportunity.
Because of international energy shortages; because of the existence
here of competitive alternatives to petroleum products, the decade
ahead will see national development gain a new momentum.
R1ecognising this, at the Loan Council meeting in December 1979,
we built on the initiatives taken in 1978. The Commonwealth
approved a further borrowing programme of eight hundred million
dollars. This meant that at two Loan Council meetings within 14
months, the Commnonwealth had granted approval for the borrowing
of over $ 2,500 million for Australian development projects.
All but $ 100 million of this was for energy-related projects.
$ 160 million was for coal loaders in Queensland and New South Wales
and over $ 400 milli4cn for the Dampier-Perth gas pipeline.
But th&. bulk of the programme, a massive $ 1,300 million was for project
t~ o incr-c-se oil sub,; zliution and3 our electricity generating capacity. The
EavailadZility of adea'uate supplies of electricity will be an essential
compor-eant in AustraliLa's development in the years ahead. Large
resrvoef eas>-Tned coal in eastern Australia are able to
provid: E electric zower at very competitive rates.
The product ion costs of this electricity are considerably lower
than power prices in other developed countries; much less than
those in Japan; and also cheaper than power-. costs from new
generating plants in the United States. Recognising this,
the Commonwealth further proposed at the December 1979 meeting
with State Premiers, that in co-op~ eration with the Victorian
and New South Wales' governments, investigation and planning
should begin for the electrification of the Melbourne-Sydney
rail link.
It was also agreed that a joint study with all the States and
the Northern Territory be undertaken on the practicability
of electrifying significant parts of the government railways
systems in Australia.
Both studies are on schedule and results are expected to be * with
governments by the middle of next month for consideration at the
June Premiers' conference.' The availability of cheap electricity
will be a vital-factor in future industrial development. if
inadequate policies and the absence of proper government initiatives
were to result in limiting electricity supplies, industrial
development in Australia and the processing of our raw materials
would be jeopardised. New South Wales has already had to turn
away a proposal for the construction of an aluminium smelter
because existing power resources were fully extended. / 6
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On the basis of the experience in some Australian States, a
power station can take 8 years to come on line, double the time
for the construction of an aluminium smelter. Hence, while
State governments have an overall responsibility for the provision
of electricity, land, harbours, and other elements of infrastructure,
the Commonwealth, through these new borrowing programmes, has taken
unprecedented steps to facilitate the development of industry and
resource processing in Australia.
Already, in the bauxite, alumina and aluminium industries requiring
massive inputs of electricity, $ 4.5 billion of projects are either
under construction or are about to go. All of these are expected
to be completed by the mid 80' s. As well as this, a further
$ 6 billion worth of projects in the aluminium industry are seeking
an investment home in Australia. Such initiatives represent the
encouraging prospect, in an energy scarce world, of the increased
use of electricity as an alternative to expensive petroleum
products. But in addition to electricity generating projects, the Commonwealth
recently announzed an inquiry into electricity generation and the
sharing of power resources in south eastern Australia.. This
important matter was first raised by the Commonwealth at the
Premiers' Conf'erence in 1977. It is a concrete example of the
Government' s concern to ensure that Australia's domestic economy
and future cormmerical opportunity should not be limited through
any-lack of electriCity Supply facilities; or by inadequate
co-operation between the States.
This is the rore important with increasing overseas interest
being in ener-,!-intensive industries in Australia. Parallel
to this d~. velop-ment :) is that related to the second aspect of our
abundan coal rese. rvas their export potential. The International
Energy -Lgency est-4-. atd that Australia's annual coal exports will
rise fron _ 38 to 20-. million tonnes by the year 2000.
As part of this, th1-ey estimate an increase in steaming coal exports
from 6 million tonnes a year to potentially over 100 million tonnes
by the year 2000. That is why, at the Loan Council meeting in 1978,
in anticipation of the magnitude of this increase in demand, the
Commonwealth approved $ 160 million for the construction of coal
loaders in Queensland and New South Wales. A year later, we
sought the co-operation of these two * States in a study to determine
the requirements that will facilitate the expansion of exports in
steaming coal.
This co-operation has been forthcoming and discussions have
already taken place with coal industry officials in Japan,
South Korea and Thailand. The study will identify the necessary
transport and port facilities required so that increased export
demands can be met as they arise.
Co-operation of this kind at government level and between
government and business is essential if national development
is to be harmonious, continuous and productive. The existence
today of this co-operation is in stark contrast to the Labor years,
when business was bullied, enterprise was stifled; and development
stopped. One example of this is the massive North-West Shelf
discoveries, made in the early seventies. / 7
.7 -7-
While companies were keen then to proceed with development they
were prevented from doing so by government policies. When we came
to power, we co-operated with the companies concerned, and the
Western Australian government, to encourage the successful
development of this vast resource, and to provide the climate
for it to go ahead. Upon completion, it will be a huge project.
As well as supplying Western Australia with a much needed
alternative to oil use, it will provide great economic benefits
to Australia as a whole. All this is part of the catalogue of
development either under way or about to take place in Australia.
Yet this is only part of the story. In my election speech in
1977, I announced to the Australian people:
" Australia is ready to go with $ 6,000 million of development."
In the two financial years which followed that statement, actual
investment was even higher than I predicted, at $ 6,400 million.
I indicated then, that:
" In the coming 3 years, we can look to other vast developments."
This has now., been, proven..
Most recent figures indicate that almost $ 17 billion worth of
mining and manufracturing projects are about to go ahead in Australia,
or are 4in the final stages of preparation. $ 12 billion of these
relate either to investment for energy projects which will provide
alternatives to oil use; or investment in industries in which
non-oil energy input is a large proportion of total cost.
And even these Zftcures, if anything, understate-the likely
explo--ation and develonment exoenditure in Bass Strait and the
North-7W-est Shielf and do not include the giant Rundle Shale. oil
project in Queensland. This project could involve a total cost
of many billions of dollars and has the potential to reduce greatly
Australia's deoendence on scarce and costly supplies of imported
crude oil. I
So that when we say, " Australia ison the go", iti sno t as logan,
but a statement of action. It indicates the readiness with which
the private sector will respond to an appropriate economic
environment. Now, the demand for Australian products overseas,
and the increasing interest being shown in Australian investment,
indicate a new respect for, and confidence in our economy.
This confidence stems from our capacity as a government to secure
economic growth, and Liberal Party policies are unashamedly
directed to this end. But this is not the sole objective of our
policy initiatives.
Rather, it is a means by which other goals are more easily--achieved.
For the end result of all that we do is the well being of individual
Australians. Our policies are designed to enable all Australians
to save, be independent, to manage their own affairs, to make
decisions about their families; and to secure their own futures
through the rewards of their own endeavours. In this sense, Liberal
policies are policies of opportunity. / 8
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* But they are also policies of concern for those who are-disadvantaged
and in need of more particular help. In meeting needs, one of the
more pressing challenges of the 80' s will be to strike a balance
between providing adequate welfare services and meeting the desire
of the taxpayer to retain as much as possible of his own resources
to support the living standards of himsel. f and his family.
In the last four years, while practising government restraintour
welfare commitment has not been compromised. On the taxation front,.
we have, a number of times, increased the income at which tax
first becomes payable by individuals or families.* In this way,
approximately 500,000 Australians have been exempted from paying
tax on their income. As a direct result of the Treasurer's
announcement on March 6, a further 50,000 Australians will be relieved
from paying tax. But since we came into office, th'e Governmenthas also cut maringal
tax rates with the result that 90% of Australian taxpayers are now
paying tax at the lowest marginal rate. By this simplification,
a majority of taxpayers are able to increase their earnings
through overtime or part-time work without moving rapidly into
a higher tax bracket.
These reforms are consistent with the Government's aim of lowering
taxes. They also complement the Government's concern for the family.
We have introduced family allowances designed to help low income
families. By July 1, the spouse rebate will have increased from
$ 400 S% 0 during our term of office. The sole parent rebate has
risen f~ rom $ 200 $ 560 since we came to office, and in this period
we have extended the supporting parent' s benefit to include
suppor'_ n fathers. This is very substantial assistance to single
income families. Further, we have concentrated assistance on
the needs of handica; Dped children. We increased the handicapped
child's allowance by Z; 0% soon after we came to office.
At tha-tI'Me, i t was only paid to the severely handicapped.
In 197-7 we widened the eligibility for the allowance to include
substantially hanrdicapp~ ed children whose family income is low.
And in 1973 we recognised the special needs of handicapped students
when we extended the allowance to cover students over 16 and under
who are in receipt of an invalid pension. Care for our
aged is an important concern of the whole community as it is
governments. Governments, like the community at large, must ensure
that there is dignity in old age.
In significant moves designed to achieve this, the Government has
replaced the complex means test for aged pensions with an easily
understandable income~ test. To ii~ rove levels of accommodation for the
aged and the disabled the Government has spent or allocated some
$ 210 million in the last four years. So far this has meant the
building of over 500 new self contained hostel and nursing home
projects. The Government has already approved a further $ 225 million
over the next three years for these projects.
in all industrialised economies today, unemployment is a vexing issue.
We have attempted to face this problem in a practical and productive
As a result of Government policies,-the improved economic
health of the nation has resulted in 155,000 more jobs in the 12
months to February this year. The Commonwealth has devised a range
of schemes to assist the unemployed according to their different
circumstances; in particular their different abilities, state of
Education, training and work expericonce. By the end of the financial year,
about half a million Australians, many of them Young Australians, will have been
assisted in this way.../ 9
Amongst these schemes is the provision of $ 150 million over f ive years for
spe cial programmes designed to enhance the skills, employment prospects
and the interests of young people as they move from school to work.
Many young people find it difficult to get stable employment because
they lack the required experience or qualifications. The Government's
Special Youth Employment Training Programme provides incentive to
employers to take on young unemployed people and bring them to a
point at which they can adequately compete for jobs..
Recently, the Government has
strengthened its training programmes for the unemployed by increasing
the! incentives to employers to take on apprentices. This gives the
young unemployed the opportunity to acquire the necessary skills,
to actively participate in the programme of national development
that lies ahead.
If the Government's initiatives for the unemployed are supported
by teachers, parents and the community at large then their prospects
of even greater success will be significantly enhance--d. I believe
the Government has demonstrated, in this sensitive area of unemployment.
commendable purpose. We have had the courage to stay with policies
which we know will work, and which in the long-term will create
the economic climate in which increased permanent employment is
S possible. We have not succumbed to the easy temptation to pursue
policies which might appear to assist the problem, but which will
achieve nothing.
Which brings me to the Labor Party' s ' make work' schemes. We have
estimated that they would cost the taxpayer about $ 1,000 million
on the cr-etext that_ they could provide a quick fix to what is
a derna-d: ng interna-tonal problem. To suggest this is to talk
economic and employment nonsense. Worse, it seeks to exploit the
emotionsz and asc2ira--ions of young people as instruments of political
succesS. Where su-cn sc . nemes have existed, they have resulted in an
explosi:'. in costs and an increase in unemploment. For exyample,
in thn unemnlc~ ment support schemes rose from 24 million pounds
in 1975-76 to 410 : 7i'llion pounds in 1978-79. In that time, the
unemployment rate in: reased from 3.9% to 5.7%.
Now the Labor Partyi seeks to foist on the Australian community
S$ 1,000 million o-f this kind of proven failure. The great
W deception is the assertion that these policies would benefit the
unemployed. But such a rampage in expenditure would accelerate
inflation, destroy the profitability of industry and reduce overall
prospects of employment. And if anyone had $ 1,000 million to spend,
would they let it be spent on resurrected, re-named RED schemes.
These schemes were abandoned by Labor in the 70' s. Recycled again,
under a new name, they would fail again. But their very existence
is part of the attempt by Labor to project an image of reasonableness
and responsibility. We have seen it all before.
In three areas alone, unemployment, housing and health,
tno y have committed themselves to expenditure in the order of riot
less than $ 1500 million on the most conservative estimates.
When we get through the whole list of Labor promises, what would
the bill be then? It would accelerate far beyond the national
capacity to pay. The Labor Party commitment to a national tradingcorporation;
an Australian manpower office; a national fuel and
energy commission; an Australian hydro-carbon corporation; and a
national investment fund.. All of these and many other examples
of: costly intervention would create big government deficits and
high inflation, the problems we have struggled for four years to
___ successfully -surmount.
1.0
And this expansion is threated in areas where governments should
not be squandering taxpayer's funds. What is just as bad, is that
the very existence of these government authorities would tend to
drive out private enterprise; damage investment and development
as they did before; and unwind the process of national progess
that has been set in place so painstakingly over the. past four
years. Such threats to our economic prosperity as are posed by our
political opponents should not be lightly dismissed. They were
endorsed by resolution at the A. L. P. conference in Adelaide last
year. They are binding on all members of the party. They have
been multiplied in their potential impact by the lurch to the
left in recent months of the A. L. P. Indeed, the Leader of the
Oppositionis the left's most eminent and willing prisoner.
The wages policy he endorsed in Adelaide was described by
the President of the A. C. T. U. as a " gutless sell out to the left".
There was no anti-inflation policy. Mr Hayden's commitment to
untrammelled power for the unions; his silence in the face of
unacceptable militancy by union leadership; his intervention
in the Queensland branch to give power to the Socialist left;
his dumping of Dr Klugman after Mr Hayden had criticised him
for being too concerned about Communism; his support by the
Socialist left of the Victorian Labor Party; his own commitment
to bigger and more centralised government all this completes
the destruction of any image of moderation and responsibility
that may have still resided with the Labor Party.
In fact, VMr Hayden is unrepentant about the extent of the Labor
threat. In March 1979, he argued that " there was nothing revolutionary
or even particularly radical about the Whitlam programmes".
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald ironically called
' Insict into the 2C's', which became an insight into the real
Labor Party, Mr Hayden said:
" I would have thought that the things I have outlined in
ter ms of revenue are somewhat more radical than had been
outlined up to 1972. Unequivocatingly, I have committed
my organisation to a capital gains tax, a resource rental
tax, a levy on domestic oil producers, a number of initiatives
in the tax area, and other measures of that nature...." ( 31 December 1979)
This is doctrinaire Socialism gone mad Mr Hayden summed his
own position up more adequately than anyone else could when he
said last year:
" The challenge to traditional, democratic Socialism...
is the rapid spread of philosophies based on lower
taxes and smaller government." Chamberlain Lecture,
2 March 1979)
sustained.
Such a challenge must be For it is a challenge to the
whole basis of our phil' h: t> t A
Aust:-l1ans have in their future. It a chale., nye which calls
,' rom us all an obligation to defend our convictions and proclaim
our beliefs. / ii
L1h
The success of our achievements must be matched by a successful
defence of the principles and the policies that made them possible.
We cannot allow our national progress in the 80' s to be jeopardised
and our successes of the recent past to be squandered. We have
entered this decade in a more privileged position than that in
many other countries.
Tha; ough co-operation and dedication, no success is-beyond us.
Mr President, you and your Executiv members of the various
State organisations; the Federal Director and his staff; and
of course, rank and file members of the Party, many not here
today; all embody-this spirit.
Together, we have the-obligation in the decade ahead to demonstrate
that we know where our efforts should be directed. It is only
the Liberal Party w-hich has the strength, the discipline, the
resolution and the policies to advance Australia.
It is only the Liberal Party that has the vision and the ideals
which are in step with the nation's needs. It is only* the
Liberal Party which will provide the strength and the discipline
to give practical and effective expression to these ideals.
That is the'Liberal task for the 80' s. Let us go forth and
be confident and enthusiastic about our purpose and our obligation
to Australia. Let us transmit this confidence and this enthusiasm
to this nation. Let us do this by making Liberalism the driving
force within all Australians in this decade.
Let us determine to serve the nation with commitment, with humility,
but wit-an utter determination about our purpose and our
objectives. With that sense of unity and conviction, no task is
beyond us. WhI-en other---s stand in our place let them be able to
say that they were well served by this generation of Liberals.