PRMEMIIL E
SPEECH PREPARED FOR THE PRIME MINISTER, MR BOB HAWKE,
TO WELCOME DELEGATES TO THE " ALL TOGETHER AUSTRALIAN"
PROMOTION TEXTILE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA 25 AUGUST, CANBERRA
Friends, It was with pleasure that I accepted your
invitation to open the " All Together Australian" Promotion.
Following on the success of similar campaigns in
the past this promotion is both timely and needed. As an
example of an industry in this case the textile industrygetting
out and vigorously promoting an Australian product
it must be applauded.
This self-help promotion is a demonstration of the
spirit of enterprise which is essential to the future
success of Australian industry. Ijam glad to say that
spirit is becoming more evident throughout the country.
Across an increasingly wide spectrum of business activities,
there is growing evidence that empl1oyers and employees are
accepting and confronting ' the econgmic reality that
currently faces them. They are addressing this with a view
to taking fullest advantage of the expected recovery in
economic activity. They are developing, both in
co-operation with each other, and,. with the Government, a
range of constructive and Positive plans for the future.
Initiatives are now being" taken where in the past reactive
and defensive postures had been the norm. I welcome these
developments.
2.
Innovation and adaptability are essential
ingredients of business survival and of business success.
They will be encouraged and fostered by the Government in
such ways as are available to it.
It is crucial that Australians understand the
rapidly and dramatically changing world within which they
live. The lotus years are over. No longer can Australians
assume that full employment and increasing real wages for a
rapidly growing population are endemic to our system. If we
are to harness our resources and optomise growth, employment
and the opportunities for personal fulfillment, our
Governments have to plan for it and people have to work for
it.% This was the point of the National Economic Summit
Conference. It is most satisfying to see that the spirit of
national reconciliation which was engendered there has had a
constructive practical impact on mA~ y areas of the
Australian industrial scene.
Summit members in Iicated 6heir support for " the
introduction of an active industrial development policy".
Such a policy should lead to increqsed employment, greater
job security, and improved industrial efficiency,
competitiveness and profitability.
Achievement of these goals presumes consultation,
consensus and commitment the guiding principles motivating
the approach of the Economic Summit participants. These
three C's all characterise the " All Together Australian"
Promotion. If Australian manufacturing industry is to take
fullest advantage of the economic benefits flowing from the
expected recovery in economic activity, a further
requirement, that of consumer confidence can be added to
them. Only if this exists will consumers look for
particular products and keep returning to them.
Other campaigns have aimed at stimulating consumer
demand for high quality products made in Australia, by
Australians and for Australians.
Those campaigns were very effective indeed. A 1983
survey conducted by Morgan ResearchICentre Pty Ltd., found,
for example, that awareness of one recent campaign was as
high as 89% and acceptance levels were
This " All Together Australian" campaign is in some
ways complementary to the earlier campaigns. It should
benefit from and build upon the larger community awareness
engendered by them.
This Government is well aware of the importance to
Australia of the textile industry and of the problems
encountered in recent years. As a substantial employer of
Australian workers, particularly women and migrant workers
in non-metropolitan areas, the industry makes an especially
significant contribution to our community.
At the same time we are concerned that problems of
competitiveness associated with changing world economic
circumstances should be recognised. Such problems should be
dealt with in ways most conducive to the long-term viability
of industry and to the welfare of its workers and all
Australians. Competitiveness in this sense cannot
satisfactorily be restored by feather-bedding of inefficient
or outdated processes or by a regressive drop in working
conditions. What industry can legitimately expect, and my
Government is working to provide, is a stable and
predictable set of policies. The security of investments
made must be protected; the resprt to ad hoc measures which
so characterised policy in the past must be put aside. In
line with this my Government intends to retain the current
long-term assistance program for the Australian textile
industry. P.,
The severity of the recession has brought in its
train strong pressures for increased industry protection.
In circumstances of high unemployment such pressures are
understandable, but we do not think that any good purpose
would be served by changing established medium-term programs
to provide more protection.
For one thing, the problems faced by industries
have many causes, and greater protection from import
competition would do little to address more fundamental,
long-term problems.
The textile industry's ability to cope with
competitive pressures should be enhanced, inter alia, by the
Promotion we are launching today.
Recognition of the need to provide a framework for
strong economic recovery has underpinned the Government's
approach to the 1983 Budget. With this Budget we are
confident the Australian economy will achieve the type
of broadly based recovery which wi Y lead to the
strengthened consumer demand whichabove all else is crucial
to the economic stability of industory. We expect this
without risking the dangers of reviving the inflationary
spiral.
We can now point with some confidence to signs of
economic recovery for this country. Production and labour
market statistics are showing an improvement. Our Budget
will foster this incipient recovery and turn it into a
long-term trend, beneficial to all Australians.
In this process campaigns such as the " All Together
Australian" Promotion can and will have a valuable role.
Importantly they reflect determination to put " enterprise"
back into private enterprise.
I extend to you all my best wishes for the
Promotion's success.