CHECK AGAINSr DELIVERY EMBARGOED UNTIL DELITVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
JOINT NATIONAL OFFICIALS CONFERENCE OF THE
NATIONAL UNION OF WORKERS AND THE
TRANSPORT WORKERS UNION
PENRITH 5 JULY 1991
Greg Sword
Ivan Hodgson
Friends, This is an important conference, marking as it does a
landmark event in the development of the Australian national
economy. It is of course a milestone in the history of the National
Union of Workers and the Transport Workers Union a
tremendous achievement by two major unions to rationalise
their structures in order to improve the level of services
they provide to their members.
More than that, this conference, and this union
amalgamation, provide proof further proof of the
positive and constructive way the trade union movement as a
whole is involved in the central task facing this nation in
the 1990s: rebuilding the national economy.
And as such you are advancing the interests not only of your
own members ibut of the broader Australian community.
My friends,
As you know, the Australian Labor Party this year celebrates
its centenary.
In 1891, one hundred years ago, the trade union movement
founded the Australian Labor Party in order to secure
through the ballot box the enduring improvements in living
standards that industrial action alone could not secure.
In 1991, one hundred years later, the trade union movement
is still working to improve the welfare of the ordinary
working man and woman and has done so, for the past eight
years, in the closest partnership with the Federal Labor
Government.
As one who has led, first the industrial and now the
parliamentary wings of the labour movement, I take enormous
pride in the sustained and effective nature of that
partnership. It is a partnership best expressed in the Accord between the
trade union movement and the Labor Party.
Since 1983, the Accord has provided the framework for an
effective wages policy based on the twin agreements first,
by the trade union movement, not to exercise its power to
maximise nominal wage increases and second, by the
Government, to deliver reciprocal improvements in the social
wage. For more than eight years, both sides of the Accord have
honoured their commitment.
And we do so still.
Despite the temporary difficulties following the recent
National Wage decision, the trade unions remain totally
committed to that central principle of the Accord the
setting and meeting of targets for the national aggregate
wages outcome and, through that principle the task of
transforming Australia into an internationally effective
economy. That is a fact of crucial significance at this time.
Because Australia now is beginning to emerge from the pain
and hardship of the recession:
in the past 18 months we have brought down
interest rates by seven and a half percentage
points: housing finance approvals and building approvals
are recovering;
the Westpac/ Melbourne Institute Survey shows
consumer confidence is at a two year high and
inflation expectations at a record low;
the June quarter CAI-Westpac survey shows
manufacturers' expectations for the next six
months improving significantly; and
the OECD are forecasting a recovery in the world
economy beginning in the current half year. And
the OECD have endorsed our assessment that the
Australian economy will also begin to recover in
the current half year.
So the first signs of renewed activity and confidence are
starting to emerge.
And the important point is this.
This is not a mere cyclical recovery.
Because of the Accord, this is a recovery that unambiguously
repays pain. with gain.
Emerging from this recession in 1991, Australia has low
inflation in its grasp. The inflation level is at 4.9 per
cent now below the OECD average, and with further falls in
prospect. And the balance of payments has improved substantially.
Figures released this morning show that in May the current
account deficit was just $ 857 million the lowest figure in
three years. And the deficit so far this financial year is
per cent lower than a year earlier.
This improvement is largely due to a massive turnaround in
the trade balance or put simply, exports minus imports
from a deficit of $ 3.6 billion to a surplus of $ 1.7 billion.
Imports are; down by 3.7% associated with the downturn but,
more importantly, exports have continued to grow very
strongly despite the world recession and the collapse in
rural commodity prices. Exports are 8% higher than a year
earlier and, importantly, manufacturing exports have been
the star performer up 24% over a year ago.
This is compelling evidence of the fundamental
transformation of the Australian economy which is taking
place right now The economy is diversifying. The
manufacturing sector is adding to our traditional strengths
in mining and agriculture.
Only under Labor can Australia make this a permanent gain.
Because it is only under Labor that an effective low
inflation wages policy can be pursued.
That is why we can speak with confidence of the period
ahead, the period of economic recovery. Thanks to the
Accord, it will be
a. recovery which will see the resumption of secure
employment growth;
a. recovery in which the competitiveness of
Australia's manufacturing industry will continue
to increase
a recovery in which we will see further
improvements in productivity, through effective
micro-economic reform
a recovery in which Australian workers will
continue to gain access to improved
superannuation; and
a recovery in which award restructuring and union
amalgamation will continue to create better jobs,
better training and better remuneration.
My friends,
That is the broad context which I want you to understand
the framework in which your conference this weekend assumes
its full significance.
The Accord, for all its tremendous significance for the
achievements of the past eight years, will remain a vital
instrument of reform for the future.
Award restructuring and union amalgamation are particularly
important elements of that future reform process.
Together, they are essential to breaking down the
inefficiencies we have inherited from the rigid structures
of our craft based union past structures that cannot serve
us well in a modern economy, because they limit our capacity
for building competitive industries, for securing long term
benefits in workers' pay and conditions, and for ensuring
lasting improvements in living standards.
Through award restructuring, outdated systems are being
transformed into modern structures that reflect the skills
of workers and, through training, that enhance those skills
and make them more relevant to a technologically advanced
and competitive economy.
Through union amalgamation, we are building unions that are
more responsive to changing needs, better equipped for
consultation and negotiation, and less susceptible to the
debilitating disease of demarcation disputes.
Through the cooperation and commitment shown by the unions
represented here today the NUW, the TWU, the Federated
Millers' and Manufacturing Grocers' Employees Association
and the Federated Cold Storage and Meat Preserving Employees
Union you will assist the food processing industry and the
transport industry improve their efficiency and productivity
again, for the benef it of the economy as a whole.
So you are genuinely engaged in a reform task of fundamental
importance both to your members and to the broader
community. I want you to know that you have the unqualified support of
the Federal Government in your amalgamation.
Through legislative changes and through financial support to
the trade union movement, we are actively promoting union
amalgamation as an integral part of our overall task of
economic reform.
In all this, we remained convinced that the only effective
path of economic competitiveness lies through winning the
informed cooperation of the trade union movement not, as
our political opponents would, through regressing to the
days of senseless confrontation and ceaseless union-bashing.
Our agenda depends on securing the support of the union
movement, through the processes of consultation and
cooperation embodied in the Accord.
Throughout the life of this Government the trade union
movement has delivered that support consistently and
farsightedly. In opening this Conference, I express my gratitude to you
for that contribution, and I express the confident hope that
through the amalgamation of your unions your efforts will
grow in effectiveness, to the benefit of Australia's working
men and women.