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PRIME MINISTER
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING, MP
ACOSS CONGRESS, CANBERRA 1 OCTOBER 1992
Thank you for the invitation to open your Annual
Congress. I very much appreciate the opportunity to
address a major meeting of representatives of the
communit ywel fare sector.
The theme of this Congress Is ' Social justice in
_ Australia_-the way forward', drid that -is ' what I want to
talk about today.
How we go forward. How we continue to raise the level of
social justice in Australia.
And I can say " continue". Our plans for the next decade,
build on the last one the one in which we transformed
social policy in Australia.
I'm talking about sOcial security, health, housing, child
care, aged care, education, training the areas critical
to Australians' quality of life and opportunities.
of course there is more to do and each year we do more.
As I have said more than once this year, the final
measure of bow successful a nation we are will always be
how well'we care for ech other.
I think we can say with some pride that we have done well
over the decade of Labor.
And I think we can say with confidence that you will see
the progress continue.
You will see more programs and better delivery, more
building blocks of improvement. You will see the social
net made more secure, and the realm of opportunity
extended. Social justice remains at the centre of our approach to
the business and task of governing.
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of course we say there is a role for Government and we
reckon it's a very strange philosophy to think that the
art of government is to find, not the means of
engagement, but the means of withdrawal from the life of
the nation.
We think that is quite perverse.
I have always believed that Labor Governments should keep
their shoulder to the door. We should always be pushing.
If you want to be the government of Australia, you have
to want to build things. And know how to build them.
The first principle, we say, is taking the people with
you. We learnt that in the eighties.
We consult with people and interest groups, such as those
represented here today. We act in partnership.
For a decade now this Government has used the principle
of consensus to achieve change, and to ease the passage
of change.
But it has been consensus with purpose and direction.
The Government hias -seen -what has had to be done and
worked with people to bring this about.
it has worked. Consensus does not slow reform it
facilitates it. It exposes the Government to wider
views, helps us see the way through. It alerts us to the
complexities inherent in all social situations.
We get better programs as a result.
The Labor Government believes that-.. social policy and
economic policy are inextricably linked. The point of
economic policy is to lift people up, not to push them
down. when this Government introduced a market ' econom~ y, when it
opened us up to the world, implemented programs of
microeconomic reform every step we took towards a more
Competitive Australia was a step towards a fairer
Australia. We have made hard economic decisions through the last
decade. No one would say that we have never put a foot
wrong but the essential changes, the ones that will
guarantee us a chance in the contemporary world, and
especially in this region have been made.
They are the same changes, of course, that in the long
run will give our young people a future, and the rest of
us security in work and in retirement.
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They are the changes which gave us the growth in national
wealth and the job growth of 1.5 million. Without those
changes a lot of the social policy we have implemented
and a lot of the programs we now contemplate would simply
not be feasible.
what we have done on the economic front, we've done for a
social purpose. For us, economic policy will always be
the servant of a greater goal greater opportunity,
greater care, greater social justice.
This is the recipe for successful countries.
The successful countries of today are the Social
democracies. Not the centrally planned economies. Not
the monetarist experiments.
The successful countries are those which recognise the
complexities of modern society and the clear, though
subtle and often difficult, role for government in
helping to make them work in the interests of the people.
The proper object is to find the right mix to Create an
efficient economy and a comprehensive social policy. The
proper starting point is the realisation that the two are
inextricably connected. Quite simply you can't have one
without the other.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The great aim for all governments now is employment and
proigowh You can't have one without hithro
those either.
We recognise our responsibilities to those who have borne
great hardship in the recession and in the process of
economic reform. It is wrong that they should bear the
burden of change alone.
Care, support and re-training for these people are
Integral parts of economic change, and the greatest
challenge to the advancement of social justice in
Australia. My first priorities as Prime Minister have been to assist
the unemployed and generate jobs and growth.
We began with Oj1e-NatUi. Tile One Nation Statement
included funding for major capital works to create jobs
and projects of permanent benefit to the nation. We
increased income support for families and expanded labour
market programs to assist the unemployed.
Following consultations with young people, community
organisations, business and unions, we extended our
efforts with theNational Employmnt and Training Plan
forYoung__' eople._
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And I would like to acknowledge now my appreciation of
the discussions we had with organisations like ACOSS, the
Brotherhood of St Laurence, the Catholic Socialwelfare
Comtmission, and the Australian Youth Policy and Action
Coalition, all of whiich contributed to the development of
thEfe Government's initiatives for young people.
Assisting the unemployed was also the cornerstone of this
year's Budget. The Budget provided an additional $ 1.2
billion over four years for training, jobs and
investment.
we introduced a new 10081 infrastructure program,
providing employment and beneficial community projects
for regions hardest hit by unemployment. We improved and
increased our labour market programs.
A number of groups, including ACOSS, have supported
linking training programs with wage subsidies to improve
Job seekers' chances of finding work.
The Government has taken up this idea, f irst with the
offer of accredited training and wage subsidies for all
long term unemployed young people, and then in the Budget
with a program linking training arnd wage subsidies for
adults. TheJO8SKILLS program which has been so suc cessful was
also expanded. Overall, expenditure on labour market
programs has been increased in real terms by 86 per cent
this year compared with 1991-92.
But a government's responsibilities go well beyond
responding to urgent situations.
A lot of government is, or should be, about quietly
running things making the changes which improve the
quality of people's lives. Government is often about
good housekeeping and nurturing.
This is one of the satisfying things in governing for the
long haul you get to see government programs not just
established but developed and improved. You get to build
on the blocks you have laid.
A good example of what I'm talking about can be seen in
the development of theFamily Allowance Supplement or FAS
program. I'm convinced that FAS is one of the most successful
income support programs in the world for 3low income
families. It offers high levels of payment, additional
support for those in private rental accommodation and
subsidised health care.
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Since we have been in government, payments for low income
families have increased in real terms by 43 per cent for
families with two children under 13 years, and 87 per
cent for those with two children aged 13-15 years.
FAS is a program to be proud of.
But from January next year we will improve it even more.
Family Allowance Supplement, additional pension/ benefit
for children and family allowance will be integrated.
This low-key change will make the system simpler and
easier for families to understand. It will give about
37,000 families additional inczome. It will reduce
poverty traps. The payments will also be paid to the
main carer of the children, who is usually the mother.
These are not headline-grabbing changes. They are good
housekeeping changes which will make the lives of a great
many Australians better.
The FAS changes illustrate that often the way forward in
social justice is, as I said, by quietly building on the
successes of the past.
Sometimes,. also, the way forward comes about through
addressing problems that, ironically, have only surfaced
because of the successes of past policies.
An example of this is the Child Support Agency.
I strongly supported the establishment of the Child
Support Agency. It redressed a major wrong that the
burden of family breakdown was being overwhelmingly borne
by the custodial parent, usually the mother.
Before the Agency was set up in 1988 only 24 per cent of
custodial parents received child support. The average
level of maintenance was $ 26 per child per week.
The Child Support Agency is currently collecting 70 per
cent of the amount-on its books. And under the child
support formula, the average level per child is now $ 48 a
week. But with all this success came a problem that is,
there is an initial eight week delay in the Agency making
the first child support payments.
There are some very good reasons for the delay, including
the fairly lengthy process of determining the level of
payment and finding the non-custodial parent. But
understandably for parents dependent on the money, any
delay is very difficult.
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It is interesting that the pressure to improve the system
comes mainly from parents who would not have experienced
the old maintenance system.
For parents who suffered under the old system, the Child
Support Agency can seem like a miracle. The other day I
heard that the Child Support Agency has caught up with a
father who had not paid support for his children for
eight years. For custodial parents in cases like this,
the Agency is more successful than they could have ever
hopod. But it is no good telling parents who are now facing a
delay in receiving their first payment, that in the days
before the Child Support Agency they would have been
lucky to get the most paltry amount on an irregular
basis. They just want a system that works. And this is what we
have to keep working to deliver the best.
I'm pleased to say that in this year's Budget the
Government announced that it would change the
arrangements so that custodial parents will receive their
first child support payment two to three weeks earlier.
And we will continue to work to improve the program.
So successes can lead to new problems and new solutions
to them. This is one way the social justice agenda moves
forward.
The work we have done this year on vocational education,
which will continue over the next few years, is another
example of this point.
Education has been one of our successes as a government.
when we came to office, only 36 per cent of kids finished
school. Today, 70 per cent do. A revolution in a
decade. we helped this revolution along with AUSTtJDY and ABSTUDY
which provide financial assistance foFsen1ii-67csecon-da-ry
students in low Income families. We have increased this
assistance and 50 per cent more secondary school students
receive it now than in 1987.
Again success has lead to other problems. Having stayed
to the end of high school, these kids now want a tertiary
education. But the system is not yet fully equipped to
take them the next education step, despite the 50 per
cent increase in Commonwealth funding for higher
education places between 1983 and 1994.
We now need to tackle our vocational education and
training systems to prepare young people for a life of
skilled and interesting work, a world of work which
requires training and retraining over a working life.
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The new Australianl National Training Authority is a major
step forward in creating a genuinely national system to
deliver high quality training programs that better meet
the needs and priorities of both students and industry.
But we don't just respond to problems.
we review policy regularly. We want to be sure we are up
to date, responsive, responsible.
Since coming to office in 1983, we have done just this.
We have undertaken major reviews of aged care; social
security; retirement income; programs of support for
people with disabilities; and, more recently, health and
housing and the major review of government policies in
response to the IfoyEA-qommi ss ion. into Aborigirnal Deaths
_ in Cu4~ soy.
Such reviews can lead to fundamental changes to programs.
For example: the shift to support for elderly people to stay at
home through the introduction of the Home and
Community Care Program
the transformation of the unemployment benefit
system into an active program of assistance
and the creation of a new community housing program.
These reviews also provide an excellent vehicle to
consult with groups such as yourselves.
The recent National Health 5trategy is a good example of
this process. The Government Introduced Medicare in 1984
in response to the previous Government's policies which
left nearly 2 million people without health insurance.
_, mpedicarqeprovides a universal, equitable and efficient
system of health care for all Australians.
it is difficult to understand why the Opposition would
want to replace such a system with a policy which would
force people to take out private insurance such as in the
United States.
The Opposition policy would greatly increase the cost of
health care. it would hand over responsibility for
setting health costs to the AMA: to quote their own words
" Basically, our policy requires doctors to set their
own fees".
The Opposition's health policies would increase the total
cost of health care in Australia by over $ 2 billion a
year. The overall impact on household health bills would
be an increase of 23 per cent or $ 1000 a year for a
family with two children.
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The Government's approach through the National Health
Strategy is to build on the strengths of Medicare and
ensure it is in good shape to take us into the next
century. Medicare will become more than just a health
financing system; it will become a comprehensive health
care system.
The Government has an agenda of reform to cover
Australia's health needs, including improved access to
public hospitals; better integration of the health and
aged care networks; and implementation of aNational
Mental Health-Policy.-
I have talked today about different ways of taking the
social justice agenda further.
We respond to the urgent problems like unemployment. But
we don't just wait for emergencies to act, we also look
for opportunities to make our programs stronger and
better.
And we don't rest on our laurels; we respond to the
challenges that our successes can give rise to.
Finally, we do not shun open and constructive fundamental
review of our programs, to ensure they are right to meet
the changing demographic, social and economic landscape
of Australia.
We have taken the view that social justice is at the core
of governing, and we have governed for the long haul.
The rewards come steadily and it is to those who most
need and deserve them that they flow.
It is not an approach predicated on the belief that there
is no role for government except to clear the way for the
market. It is not a residuallst approach which believes
social justice is about giving cold charity to the poor.
Dr Hewson's approach is dramatically different.
Dr Hewson does not talk about building on the strengths
of the Family Allowance Supplement. He talks about using
the social security system to compensate people for the
introduction of a highly regressive goods and services
tax. Dr Hewson does not talk about tackling the challenges of
the success of the Child Support Agency. He talks about.
privatising it, removing the one thing that ensures the
very success of the agency: its location in the Tax
Office.
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Dr Hewsofl does not talk about advancing the social
justice agenda. He talks about getting out of the
business of governing for social change, selling off
public housing, tearing down the public health system.
Reducing. Limiting. Privatisinig. Wrecking.
The Hewson model of government is to get out of the
business of government. In his own words, it is about
less government.
Integral to this approach is the division of society into
the ' deserving' and the ' undeserving'; into those who can
legitimately claim government assistance and those who
will be shunned.
Two Nations instead of our one Nation.
Dr Hewson says he is all about giving Australians choice,
all about the government getting out of the way and
leaving people to it.
But can we call choice, abolishing unemployment benefit
for people after nine months and throwing them to the
wolves? Can we call choice, forcing sole parents into the
workforce when their youngest child reaches 12?
Can we call choice, giving young people a voucher for
training and telling them to get their own training
course? Can we call choice, selling off public housing and
leaving the elderly, Aboriginals and people with
disabilities to find their own way in the private rental
market? Dr Hewson doesn't understand about choice.
Real choice is not about stripping back support and
abandoning people to their own devices. Choice is about
people being able to take advantage of opportunities. At
times this will mean assisting people to the starting
line; at times it will be about running the race
alongside, helping out; and at times it will mean
intervening when the race is being run unfairly.
This is what governing for social justice is about it
is about being in partnership with people throughout
their lives and providing the support necessary to enable
them to make the choices and take advantage of the
opportunities. With this approach to government, we are committed to a
comprehensive social security system and to maintaining
the level of payments through indexation.
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we are committed to expanding the provision of quality,
affordable Child care for parents at home and in the
workforce. We are committed to a fair and equitable health system
and to tackling the problem of waiting lists in public
hospitals. we are committed to continuing to expand opportunities
for women, in education, in employment, in every area of
our national life.
we are committed to better housing options for people,
and to moving to more effective assistance for people in
private rental.
We are committed to giving older people opportunities for
an independent and dignified life.
We are committed to building a truly national vocational
education and training system.
We are committed to advancing social justice for
Australians. I think we should be very proud of our achievements. But
we know the process of reform is never over.
We go forward by adding one achievement to the next. We
do not dwell on the past, but strive to understand and
influence the future.