TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON PJ. KEATING, MP
LAUNCH OF THE EVALUATION OF ACCESS AND EQUITY' REPORT
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA, 10 NOVEMBER 1992
E OE PROOF COPY
Thank you Neil ( Edwards), Gerry ( Hand), Robert ( Tickncr), other distinguished
guests, ladies and gcntlemen. I am delighted to launch this excellent evaluation of
the Commonwealth's Access and Equity Strategy and the new access and equity
regime. A week or so ago I spoke of extending the -multicxultural agenda to take advantage
of Australia's huge national economic asset rcpresented by our linguistic and
cultural diversity, our so-callcd productive diversity. It is true that while for many
years we have been very proud of ourselves about the way in which we have
created something new in Australia, something dirferent to other countries in the
world, we have settled quite divcrse communities into oiic nation. There is as well
as the great social achievement of that, a very clearly emerging and strong
economic bcrnefit, and that is the capacity to do things around the world by virtue
of the fact that we have a very strong multicultural community in this country. Our
skills, our linguistic skills and our cultural diversity, mean that whencer Australia,
which is now an open trading economy, seeks to approach particular markets or
sections of particular markets there are people in this country familiar with those
markets, those places, those customs, those morays, those languages. We can take
advantage of our productive diversity and build again further on our multicultural
achievement. As far as the Government is concerned, I said a week or so ago that wc are
continuing to build on the firm foundation of multicultural policies based on
assuring accss and equity to programs regardless of ethnic origin. Of course all of
us who are interested in this room know that without fair access to programs we
can't expect all Australians to be able to contribute their best.
The new regime I'm launching today shows our determination to strengthen access
and equity. I must say that whilc we may be talking in these ternms access and
equity I am delighted to see that just a wcck ago we had the American President
elect speaking in their national debate in these terms about access and cquity so
that the people of that country can share in its wealth, have access to what the
United States offers and have equity in terms of the approaches people can take to
it and expect from it.
We have been developing these themes over all of the 1980s, and what I can say
for this Government is in the early part of the 1980s we were standing against the
wind in terms of the prevailing northern hemisphere ideological breeze; that was,
all that mattered was private initiative and private reward. But now where the
breeze has changed and the wind has warmed up, one finds that Australia's view
about such things as fairness and equity in society and programs oftgovernment
which govern for cverybody and seek to help everybody equitably arc becoming
the voguc world wide. So all the more reason and all the more appropriate that we
should be evaluating what we are doing oursclvcs and strengthening our
determination to do things equitably and to demonstrate full access.
The new regime will demonstratc our firm belief that the programs must be fully
available to all Australians regardless of language, race, culture and religion. The
evaluation shows that there has been real progress, but a lot more can be done.
This Government has endorsed the evaluation's recommendations and expects that
all Government agencies will implement them with vigour. The new regime will
be practical and participatory, it will address the real barriers and make sure that
Commonwealth agencies do reach out to all Australians.
These are not just programs in name, but they are programs in reality that actually
do what we say they will do. The agencies of the C-ommonwealth, many of you
here today who administer them, are fervently taking the view that they will reach
to where they are designed to reach and that they'll meet their program objectives.
It gives me very great pleasure to launch both the evaluation and the new regime
and now my colleagues Gerry Hand and Robert Ticker will address you about the
details. Thank you.