FOR MEDIA SUNDAY, 25 JANUARY, 1981
AUSTRALIA DAY MESSAGE
This Australia Day, I am going to talk about some of the
changes which will be taking place in Australia within the
nexct few years. Changes we have worked to bring about
changes that we can greet with optimism and that will benefit
all the Australian people.
At a time when many countries are facing a difficult futu re,
we can look forward with a sense of expectation and enthusiasm
to the prospects ahead of us.
Great changes are at work in Australia which will affect every
corner of our national life. New technology is already
transforming our lives. The Australian satellite will shortly
bring to outback Australia the kind of communications that
we now take for granted in the capital cities. Such changes
in communications will bring us closer together as a people.
We must look closely at our education system to make sure that
it does its utmost to prepare young people to work with, to
feel at home with, and to benefit from the great innovations
that are taking place6 Already there is widespread concern
that education must do more for young people than is currently
the case. The recent Schools' Commission Report put the problem
bluntly when it said: "... many students experience a curriculum
unsuited to their needs or interests and from which they gain
little of a positive nature..."' Such critici, sm represents a
challenge to all Governments and schools to gete on with doing
a better job.
There will be other changes also. There will be changes in
the role of Government and a growing acceptance that individuals
are the best judges of how they should order their own-lives.
One of the most valued ideals in Australia throughout our
history, has been that each individual matters. In the years
ahead we must stand for -that ideal as never before.
Some of the most important changes will come from the
development of our great energy and natural resources. In th~ e
nineteenth century, the gjold rush made possible the first
great period of prosperity and growth in Australia. It was an
age in which Australia became recognised as a land of great
opportunities for everybody. / 2
7: 00 pm
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Today we are not in the midst of a gold rush but rather
an energy and resources rush. Mighty energyr and resource
projects are underway. There's the North West Shelf
project to tap natural gas in Western Australia; the
Rundle shale oil project in Queensland; Roxby Downs in
South Australia; and electricity programmes in Queensland,
New South Wales and Victoria which could well exceed the
scope of the Snowy Mountains Scheme.
These developments are taking place in a way which will benefit
not just a few but all Australian families. Towns are being
built; jobs are being created. They will produce increased
wealth which will enable better real wages and salaries; and
improved help to those in need.
I express tonight the firmest possible determination to
see that the prosperity flowing from these great ventures
will lift the living standard of every Australian family,
not just of those immediately involved.
Beyond Australia, what we do with our resources will alsQ
affect the lives of countless people in other countries.*
Autai' energy can be a powerful force for good lifting
the hopes and expectations, improving the lives of people in
other parts of the world who are anxious, even frightened
about the future. Australian energy will be one of the
important forces for helping mankind to a better and more
humane world.
We have been called the lucky country; and we are lucky
that these opportunities are before us, But we have never
as a people relied just on good luck. Australia has grown
as a nation because we have been prepared to work together,
to build a land of which we can be proud not just for our
own sake but for the sake of our children. We will not'buili the
Australia we want on confrontation and division. We will not
build it iftthe selfishness and greed of a few become the
model for many,
A great and significant prospect is in sight because the policies
of freedom that are part of our national heritage encourage
the enterprise and initciative of our people; ' and because
Australians now have the confidence to plan for themselves,
their families for Australia.
Much is within our grasp but we cannot take our future success
for granted. We mu st be prepared to work for our country and
community as well as ourselves. We must recognise that there
are problems, in some areas very substantial ones. For example,
the level of industrial disputes must worry many good trade
unionists as it does other Australians. In areas like this, we
must increasingly resolve to do better, to work together rather
than in opposition. For if we think about it, our interests,
as Australians are not competitive but complementary.
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Australia is today like a young person on the threshold
of adulthood, whose limbs are filling out full of hope
and expectation for the future, full of promise and
optimism. I am confident that this promise will. be realised and that
in this new age, the lives of all Australians and of all
Australian families will be improved. It is my determination
to see that this happens. 000---or