AGAINST DBIVERY
FRIME'MINISTER
FOR MEDIAFRIDAY, 7 AUGUST, 1981
ADMM1ES TOFTRE INUGURA LFMT1NGCF THE
POLICY ASSEMBLY OF THE VICTORIAN DI1VISION
OF THE LIBER& L PARTY
I felstrongly the responsibtity yca-have put upon-me by-*-
0 inviting me to this Inaugural Meeting of the Policy Assembly. K
I believe that this Assembly can make a valuable contribution
to the Liberal Party as a sour-ce of paricy ideas andproposals
and as a significant Liberal voice On topical issues. v
Our Party has always been determined te-rovide effa-e_" ve
opportunities f or its mnembers. to express their views on
policy arna to have those views heard. The resolutions of this
Assembly will be regarded with greatattention--by the
Parliamentary Parties at both Federal and State levels,
Prom my own point of view the closest-consultation with t he_
organisation and the detailed and candid communIcation which
is a product of that closeness are absolutely invaluable.
With a State election on the horizon, it is u 1eJflmPortaft than
ever that there be close consultation between the State and
Federal Parliamentary Parties and. the Party orgamiisation...
The recently established tripartite meetings involving theF
organisation, Lindsay Thompson and myself, together with othe~ r
_, J~ jistrs. areextremely valuable, and provide a practical -basin.
for on-going consultation. I am very happy to say that these
N~ U~ meetings arose-out of i-nitiatives. taken . by some members of te
formrer State Executive.___
I believe that a willingness to consult, both formally arid..
informally, is a great.-strength of the Libexal. Party -for provided 3
* Tt the consultative process is linked with adequate
decision-making procedures, wide consultation must improve the
guality of policy. IWhat
I would like to discuss with you tonight is the formation
ofI pleiec asn smweh a ky plic-isues or ustali
_-7w the eighties and beyond.
We must never forget that the future of Australia lies very much
-1 tehands of the Liberal Party. -We are the only party with
anational outlook, representing all sections of the Australian
community, all regions, all States; and I am sure I speak for all
Liberal Parliamentarians when I re-emophasise something that I
first said on being elected to Parliament in 1955, namely that
while I am elected by Liberal voters, I always have and always
will-seek to,-re(% pre sent every mCember Of the community.
4 -2-
In addition, ours is the only Party withY a realistTLrand plraztical
philosophy, whose basic values and principles are those of most
Australians. The responsibility falls on us as a Party to determine the
objectives we will pursue and the actions by which they can be
~~ ai3eved. On the wisdom of those decisions-will deei dnot .61ey
t~ elivin -standards and opportunities of mill~ ions of Australians,
not Merely the capacity of Australia to play a humanitarian and
constructive role in the wider world, but t-he futur-e-the-
Australian way of life, including our own security and that of
orchildren. It is in this perspective that the real work of
this Policy Assembly must be viewed.
TeLiberal Party owes much of its success to its belief that the
single ' most important objective of policy is to ruppn= ELthe._ wo th,
the dignity and the freedom of individual people. our belief that
* 4people should have the freedom to make their own decisions and live
~ their own lives, and our belief that Goverrnment haa~ aLactiY.! exole
to play in protecting people's freedom and enlarging their
-opportunities, are both based on our recognition that the individual
person must be our px'itary concern. After all, the life of a nation
4-is nothing apart from the lives of its people for it is the way
ñ-that Australians live their lives which makes Australia the nation
that it is.
Our concern for people is expressed -very obviously in our support
for individual rights through the Ombudsman, the Administrative
7Appeals Tribunal, the Industrial Relations tureau, and the
Human Rights Conmission lpegislation; it is expressed in our support
for Aboriginal policies based on the principle of self-management
rather than State paternalism; it is expressed in the support -e
give to culture and the arts, as well as in educational systems
designed to meet the needs and aspirations of all, Australians;
is expressed in our income security programm-es, which provi~ le
bai euity to all Australians who need assistance, while
Ooverwhelmingly leaving to beneficiaries themselves the ch * oice of
how the benefits are to be spent; it is expressed in our rejecti n
f -laisseZ f aire attitudes, and in the large body of legislation,
both State and Federal, designed to protect people against powerful
Jlnstitutena-and-organisations; and it is expressed in our conoern
for the protection of the environment, which arises Very nuuh from
-the recognition that a polluted and degraded laL d diminishes the
-lives-of us all.
Again, in foreign affairs, it is the Liberal Party which is providing
* leadership in demonstrating that our concern for theñ nMividualcannot
stop at Australia'z shores. Let there be no mistake the
reputation we establish for Australia, with the-developing countries
in Particul~ ar, will have a significant impact indeed on the kind of
future that we secure for our childrten. ./ 3 71 11.
4) -r
-r
k I. V[
1.-i!. 1
4.
IL i I. I*
I.
I
We l ive i n a world in which about 100 aspiring new countries,
many of them desperately poor, and with hardly any resources of
their own* have come into existence in just a few decades. We live
in a world in which the incomes of more than 800 million people
are less? 1~ ii $ 200Fjer year. Most of these people have little hope
of improving their own position or of achieving basic health and
living conditions which we take for granted.
I believe there is a growing recognition that in terms of our
own values there iB an unanswerable moral and humanitarian case
-as weft a~ a-aas-e based on-mErighte~ red self interest for doing
more to help the poorest people of the world. Our recognition of
the inherent worth of every person is also the basis of Australia's
opposition to the-vile -andd repugnant-practice-of apartheid, a
policy' based on the assumption that someone who is black. is worth
*. less thaii someone who is white.
What policy could violate Liberal principles more fundamentally?
As Sir Robert Mienzies said in the 1950' s, it is a policy doomed to
f ai lure but -our own feeling&-vibout thea-brutality-o4f-his . policy
and the history of white and black people in Africa, surely commit
us to doing everything in our power to bring this policy to an end.
In formulating policy, one thing which we in the Liberal Party recognise
very clearly,. and it distinguishes us decisively from Labor, is the
vitality of freedom in advancing peopla s dignity aQnd Beli'f-r ' espect.
, Freedonm is in fact a practical necessity if we are to achiv a stable
-'. and progressive society.. Freedom permits change, and thus prevents
the build-up of the kinds of frustrations and tensions " w'hich are now
manif est in Poland, and which are never f ar f rom. the surf ace in
Socialist countries.
When we think of f reedom, we of ten tend to think fl7.-st of p_ olitical.
freedom as if it could exist almost in isolation. But without the
freedom to spend one's own income and choose what to buy, without
hefreedom to make a living or set up a busi: Kis', politic-aFl
freedom can become illusory.
K substantive measure of freedom of choice in education is equally
essential to an adaptive and responsible educational system, and
the same is true In health, in transport, in communications.
ha--Tt-is why-the positive-role fu~ Government which we champion is
one which leads to expansion of opportunities and choices, not one
which cements monopolies, whether public or private.
While freedom provides a basis for positive policies, it also imposes
a healthy discipline on Governments. Our commiitmtent to freedom
neans that Governments must think, twice before undertaking new_~
programmes which can only be paid for through higher taxes -unless
costs can be cut in other areas. 1 ii H R I H
ft 4-' I.
L r L ILB-
4
Liberal Governmnents must often face up to difficult questions
of priorities._ Labor Governments canA.. ate~ pt-to evade issues of
priorities, because they do not recognise the-costs of ever -bigger
Government, costs which are paid for not only in money; but in a
loss of freedom, a loss of flexibility, and a loss of the
adaptiveness which freedom brings. F
One of the very great achievements of the last six years has been
the way in which the Feader-al Cab~ ihet has faced questions of
priorities again and again and has sustained its Policy Of
expenditure restraint, making possible the broadly based economic 4
resurgence now taking pl-ace.-I -doubt if any Go7vernm6rieft in the world
has kept up such restraint over such a long period, pulling back
Government expenditure as a proportion of G. D. P. while maintaining I
the kind of defence and s~ ti I security co= nzniEfts in many cases
indexed -which the Government believes it should support.
'~ It might ' seem easier to fory t themneed to ma) I'~ oicesamd' live
with the comfortable illusions of former years that Government can
' an option in which more pol-i-tical--apport is wa* tjng to-be bought 4
with a new spending programmne. But the inevitable costs of living
by these illusions are higher unemployment, reduced'economic growth,
higher taxes and inflation-.----A Government which-fUSed to0 do wha t
must be done to avoid these costs which refused to face up to
the need to decide where its real priorities lie would inevitably
betray its trust,--
Without question, inflation remains our namber one enemy because it
:.. destroys jobs and f ami ly we IlIbei ng -in the one brxx-th. Zfi-inf lationH
got out of hand, we would find it almost impossible to maintain
our projected growth rates or sulstain improvements in einploynmnt,
and the difficulties of continnuingto... r ein back Covur ufenlt~
* expenditure would be vastly compounded. The gains we have made
have been won hard, and as a party we will forget: the lessons of
the seventies at our peril.___
Oe t me mention industrial relations as another ma3or area where
Wour commitment to the individual and freedom provides both a
peWrspective and a discipline on policy. we must never forge~ t that
Industrial relations are relations between people, so their
S-quality depends fundamentally on people's dealings with each other,
~ nrelations7-1ps be: ween people in the workplace -especially the
relations betwoen employers and employees.
ladustriat-relations -can-be affe-oted by the framework established
by institutions and laws but are not uliaeydeemndb
Goverrnen-a or Government actions. If industrial relations are in
fact determned fiyst and foreffo 7_ t7by th-e-quality of relations
between people then the fundamental responsibility for achievingL
good industrial relations mnust rest with employers and employees
themselves, acting of course within the le.-a! framnework. Here, as
in other spheres of life, the other side of freedom is the recognition
that responsibility lies squarely on the shoulders of those
who are free.
A At the level of relationships betweejVGuverrffmnt and both u
leadership and emrployer organisations, a major emnphasis must
be on consultation and co-operati. ve relationships. So much
be achieved, and so much more easily-,-when there is a conyr
understanding of problems and agreement to act based on that
understanding. The consultation between the Govermanent and
trade union movement that has been devieroping-4in recent me
a good example. Regular meetings between ministers and the
are now taking place and it was as a result of extensive
consultation during the recent Transpe-rtor& r-dispute tb.~ ionagain
can the hiis-
A. C. T. 1
Lthe.
Arising out of that dispute the Government and. the trade union
movem~ ent have agreed to consult immuediately a major dispute looks
like getting out of hand. I make these points to emphasise that
it is possible as well as desirable to establish relationl. ps
of consultation and co-operation with reasonable people who are
I.* oncerned with the Imrpact of their actions on other members of
ociety. Obni usly,-however, the Government must govern, or it
~~ j~ iUbetray its trust, Equally obviously,, the trade union movemnent
is diverse, and some union officials are more concerned with their
own power than with conatation or co-operation.
It is all too obvious tha~ t in some circumstances there is no easy
or pleasant option and that son etimies the reasonable option
will not be acceptable to the disputants, in suo KircMTsnCes,
the responsibil. ity of Government to protect society means that
stronq action, including the use of legal weapons, may be necessar'
What alterii t7ive did Lindsay Thompson have a ouple of weeks ago
in Victoria, what alternatiye did the Cort,' onwealth have at that
time, but to invoke strong powers? Anything less would have been
inef fectiveU. 3. f.
The Government's overriding responsibility to look after the
interests of the cornumnity as a whole means. not-only that no-eirrtgle
group should get its way on everything,. but' also that militant
jgroups may need to be restrained. Thus it is plain that aL
balanced approach to industrial relations is part of the Liberal
* commitment to the individual and freedom.
What is true-4er inattatrial relatjeft is -true for other fields
of-policy, as well. in wagei~-fixing for example, we obviously seeX
Proceddres and institutions for which there is basic agreement,
and which will produce basically acceptable xesultat~ o the
community as awhole. Prior to the events of the past few weeks,
the Commonwealth had. in fact moved to establish a major zinqidry
inntoow age fixing in Australia.
Our commitment to freedom and the value of the individual implies
the rxe-erl for__ a system whichxi-equires all parties to take account
of common interests and seek a co-operative approach; to accept
their obligations to the comm unity through restraints on the one
hand, and the satisfactory production of9opds and services on
the other; and to recognise that a growing . economy ifs Tfie
overriding interest of ua all, and especially of future generations. i
ii 1
1ij* K.
Al I? V
17 i~. 1; V I S. f 1-
-F i F
NIJ
-6-
The. ommon interests of employers and employees must be emphasisedso
that nobody can forget that if wages are driven up beyond the
capacity of companies to pay, or if companies cannot sell their
goods, then fewer jobs must be the inevitable consequence.
: 0 We are obviously going to be looking for a system in which industrial
militancy does not pay, a system in which the benefits
from national production are fairly shared, so that wage earners,
investors and the needy all benefit, both financially and
with new opportunities, from economic growth. These are principles
w hich should be incorporated in a wage-fixing system.
. i Let me refer to one other field of policy, that of tariffs and
-pro tetion. A concern for the individual and for freedom
obviously gives rise to a number of issues about protection, and
i-one of these issues relates to the fairness of our dealings with
developing countries, Australia's position in this connection
needs to be viewed in perspective. For while we have substantial
Slevels of protection in some areas a fact that we do not conceal,
as some other countries do access to Australian markets,
, s pially the access of developing countries, is both relatively
high and increasing. In fact, Australia's overall imports from
the ASEAN countries grew at an annual average rate of 38% between
72-73 and 1979-80.
In textiles and clothing, imports meet 30% of Australia's
requirements, and of those imports 70% come from developing
countries, especially the ASEAN nations. By comparison, these
imports have only a 10% share of the market in North America and
a 10-15%' share in Europe, with developing countries providing
about two-thirds of those imports in both cases. In fact, even
allowing for differences in population, on the latest figures
available to me Australia's per capita imports of textiles and
-clothing from developing countries were almost 20% greater than those
of the 30% greater than Europe's, and over 100% greater
than Japan's.
For motor vehicles, about 25% of our market is met by imports
despite our level of protection compared with imports of
S of the market in the and 8% in Europe and both of those
-nark-ts are seeking or have obtained voluntary export restraints
by Japan.
he Ichallenge for Liberals is to devise a balanced policy which
' i recognises the importance of reducing protection as an expression
of our fundamental concern for the individual and for freedom, and
which also recognises that dramatic and unanticipated reductions
in protection would inflict a level of damage on individuals and
i. firms which would be inconsistent with the ideals of Liberalism
tself. The Government has already taken decisions for a number
~ o f i ndutries which achieve such a balance. Some twenty categories
of manufactured products washing machines and refrigerators,
books, iron and steel products, and ships to name a few are having
heir -tariff or bounty rates reduced over a period of years as a result
S. of decisions taken by the Government. / 7
1
I -7
In the . area~ of . textiles, clothing and footw1-ear, we have announced
a steven year programmue in which all market growth plus 1% of
domestic production each year will be opened up to import
The Govern~ ment will be acting to eliminate protection to
Australian industry through preference in Gover-nment purchasing,
except in respect of certain defence-strategic industries, and
we will shortly be announcing the terms of a reference to the
general reductions in protection*
Our decisions in relation to protection and Government purchasing
must obviously be viewed partly in the context of our overall
economic strategy, of our~ ai concer~ buifltoo
encouraging Australians to do the things that Australiant do best.
We may.. not have gone as far or as fast as some would have wanted.
But a gradual approach is obviously required-4fer it--takes time to--
~. sort outithe problems that exist in these area-s, ti-me to work
Wthrough to effective resolutions, time to achieve the kind of
bal-ance that we seek.
Liberal Government would want to contemplate decisions, which,
_. Without any-tizne for-adjestment, would have a significant impact
on major sources of employment opportunities in major cities and
country towns: for exam'ple, Warrnanbool1, iendigo and Wollongong
in the-c~-e of _ textile, clotb4ig and--footwear; or Geelong,
Ballarat, and Albury-Wodonga in the. case of rotor vehicles,
which is the next I. A. C. report for us to consider. Nor would we
want to contemplateadecisions which would have a -similar kind of
impact on the value of capital investments made by firms and their
shareholders under existing policy : arrangements.
There are obviously substantial problems in tffiswhole areai,
problems which the Government recognises are particularly
-s-ignificant in Victoria, but we must obviously proceed in a practical
and balanced way, taking account of the interests as well as the
.** legitimate expectations of everyone involved.
in all areas of rnolicv fornmion. the Liberal approach is obviously-------'-
to seek agreement as far as agreement i. s possible, to find the
-course of action that benefits everybody and harm-s nobody wherever
tfat is pos-sb-T. BiiE we must recognise that policy issues exist
on which the search for agreement is illusory, on which the demands
of different groups or individuals cannot be reconciled.
7 ~ Ten overnm-e-FfEf haifeto make decisions, and cannot avoid them.
f any Government always seeks the soft path, then its people will
suffer. There is no-way to av61d the fact that more money to SOM& e
m~ ieans less for others, that a law to protect some may restrict
others, that tariffs or quotas benefit some business, but increase
the costs of uthers.-~ Governments must accept realities, must face
the fact that tough decisions sometimes have to be made and
followed through. ' I
f F Lii
v-
-ii I 1.
t-. S.
5,. V
1. .1
Ir 1" H
The paramount point in policy decisions mus
sound pkinuiples and balance should be app
well-being of people in our community-. is in
r-know th-at this Policy Assembly will be seA
significant contribution to policy debate,
that in your deliberations you will have th
to face-up-to the-real issues;-to work-your
to do so in ways which will strengthen the
give increasing reality to the way of life
all Australians. 000---
0-t always be " at;
lied so that the
creased and advanced.
eking to make a
and I am confident
e courage and vision
way through them, and
Liberal Party and thus
which we seek for . I