f
PRIME MINISTER 112/ 94
STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING MP
I was surprised and disappointed to read remarks attributed to Mr Dick
Warburton in today's Australian Financial Review.
Mr Warburton is quoted accusing me of making vitriolic attacks on corporate
critics, and of victimising companies.
This accusation is unfortunate and untrue. It is also regrettable that the
Financial Review chose to give Mr Warburton's remarks such uncritical
prominence without seeking comment on them from my office, and without
requiring Mr Warburton to illustrate his case with any facts or concrete
examples. Indeed, given the opportunity to substantiate his case on the radio program
AM, Mr Warburton said he personally hadn't had such an attack, and that his
experience " has been very good." When asked to give examples of
companies which had been victimised, he could not name any.
I prefer to be judged by what I have done for the business community, rather
than by what one of its members might say of me. Low inflation, high growth,
record profits and a sharply reduced corporate tax rate are, I think, more
substantial and verifiable measures of the relationship between my
Government and the private sector.
CANBERRA DECEMBER, 1994
THE AUSTRALIANAuikA -A6/ AA tled:
how Keating bullies business
) ck IRC ruling
my forced to deal with unions
DAVIS
lations Commis-
) wn a controveri-
unionised comgally
forced to
agreements with
s Industry Associlecision
yesterday
i of union power,
eaL the IRC decision
small non-unionturing
firm, Asahi
will become a
ral Government's
aining legislation.
rrol Hodder yeskhi
to bargain in
ain metal industry
x cent wage claim,
mpany's employmtw
r My anger over
this is almost
uncontrollable. If
this decision
stands, then this is
one of the blackest
days in the history
of industrial
relations.)
Mr Bert Evans
The chief executive of the MTIA,
Mr Bert Evans, said that if the law
required a company to enter negotiations
with unions that did not
represent any of its employees " then
we ought to burn the act".
" My anger over this is almost
uncontrollable," Mr Evans said. " If this decision stands then this is one of
the blackest days in the history of
Australian industrial relations."
He said that Asahi, an MTIA
member, had about 60 employees,
who had been approached by the
Automotive Food Metals and Engineering
Union but had said they were
not interested in joining the union.
" Now the company is supposed to
sit down and negotiate with the union
officials on a wage rise for people
who have refused to join the union."
The Asahi case arose out of moves
by the AFMEU earlier this year to
use the new bargaining provisions
under the act as part of a strategy for
recruiting members in non-unionised
factories in the manufacturing sector.
The AFMEU served a 14.5 per
cent wage claim on about 3,000
manufacturing companies that had
Coninued pag 6
OTWU wis more wag rises-pas 6 By PAMELA WLAMS
ImaaoalConepondertnt
THE Prime Minister, Mr Keating,
has silenced influential critics in the
business community by practising
the politics of hate and victimising
those who disagree with him, according
to a prominent member of the
Business Council and chairman of
Du Pont, Mr Dick Warburton.
In an interview with The Australian
Financial Review, Mr Warburton,
who is also a member of thb
board of the Reserve Bank, says the
vitriolic attacks by the Prime Minister
on his corporate critics have
resulted In a " Cold War" since the
last Federal election that has only,
recently begun to thaw, with senior
businessmen still recoiling from serious
debate with the Government over
public policy issues.
" We have been getting in much
closer to the politics of hate," Mr
Warburton said. " In other words: ' If
you don't agree with me, I'll not only
hate you, but destroy you.'
" So one of the problems business
has Is that while an individual h
prepared to stand up and say what be
means, you have to run a business
And you can't afford to have your
business destroyed. So you have got
to be very crcmspect"
The president of the BCA, Mr lan
Salmon, said yesterday that the
organisaton had refused to buckle to
attacks from the Government: " At
the end of the day, if Paul Keating
can't have a relationship with business
which is based on reasoned
argument, then the country will be
poorer for It"
Mr Warburton said the tactics had
stifled debate because of the concerns
of corporate leaders that their own
businesses could be targeted for
retaliation by the Government.
There had been a thawing in the
" Cold War", " but it's been because
of the strength of individuals like
John Prescott and Bob Joss".
Mr Warburton's comments will
come as a shock to the Government,
because he is widely regarded as a
moderate and supportive business
leader and has been appointed to a
string of government boards and
advisory bodies. He is a director of
Cnitnued pip
OeFeahBe: I bum ess vKeafs-pg 12
OM aolsn Mcen ALPpybadlt-papgl
O Eiari: FrdM o speec-p l14
O-
I thought elections were
id I would have liked to
heard the squeals from
menplirytheWorld
I _ cil of hurches and a
Ai others in the event that
Hewson had won that
on . andi systematically
ddated and punished the
ans who had poured
ins of dollars and count-
, oursof work into Labor's
ie ACTU would probably
trun off to the United
ions complaining of
, an rihts abuses. And in
view it would have been
-led to do so.
ecouse that's the whole
At about the really iniporo
inalienable rights
doni of speech, freedom of
. mbly and the right to
1Ma justice. They are suped
to be universal and
visiblc; not subject to the
d= sa whims of a governat
that excels at dishing out
s. wand punishment but has
emariably thin skin itself.
? Sul IKeating's hero,
oum Jefferson, thought all
3ws acW evident. Given the
Of commentators and
tess about the HIA experi-
.4e, vpy few people in
saimpublic life seem to
Theme is much I admire
31st Keating. He has passion
: i sion. But his major
italian is an apparent
~ 19 outgrow the plastic
that evMs-
Hbstperiod of
' du~ waitshim f he can
~ hi tolerance that he
Votamms* voyone will be
e ofAmtNh e Australian
* is -raid Domingo
Neeck, Kziftig reflected on
* W Astue ot true leadership.
-11c same that he invoked was
. iat of Abraham Lincoln.
Wellk the American Civil
lar was a wee bit nastier than
le Federal election of 1993.
et in his second inaugural
-ddres Abraham Lincoln
2agflafimously pledged to
bind up the nation's wounds"
and to govern -with malice
3ward none".
After a war in which nearly
IDO million people perised.
hat took a bgman. Paul
Cetigh ighL We still
' a" Nt Produced a leader that
113. Revealed: how Keating
bullies business world
Frm pae
the Reserve Bank of Australia,
dialnnan of Wool International,
chabrmn of the National
Occupational Health and Safety
commission, chairman of
Ausindastry, and chairman of
the Australian Best Practice
Dem~ aton Proram
Mir Salmon said the DCA
intended to continue Its role of
pushing for reform. " Our task
is nchngig -which Is to
bring to the attention of
Government changes we
believe are needed for good
government and the longterm
successi of Australia. And
that Includes being critical of
its CEO, who in this case is
Paul Keating."
The origins of the " cold war"
lie in the immnediate aftermath
of the lSt Federal election,
when the Prime Minister, Mr
Keating, and the Treasurer, Mr
Dawkins, made it known there
would be ' paybrack" for organis
atlon they believed had
bakdthe LbeAs in the
elcton campaign.
According to Mr Warburton,
the SCA and other industry
lobby groups were pet
shattered after the election by
the politics of hate, when Keating and Dawins came out
and said, ' Well, that's the end
of those organlsations'."
The Business Council
found the going particularly
tough during the election
campaign caught between
its non-party political objectives
and the political use
made by thf then Opposition
leader, Mr John liewson, of
the organisation's long-term
support for a* bnmdl based
consumption tax.
There were also pointed
attempts to tough up then BCA
president and CRA chiefeec
utie, Mr John Ralp^ after he
agreed to serve on two Coalition
committees If the Coalition
won government.
" Mh BCA, going Ito the
election, as a totality, would
more openly have supported the
Liberals," Mr Warburton said
" But this was because of the
overriding issue of tax reform.
Not the GST, but broad tax
reform. Many individuals
were saying, like me, that we
still support a tax reform
package as we did In 1955.
" On dhe other handl, John
Hewson got very cross
because the ICA was not
standing up overtly supportlag the GST. iwson's rections
Ia the end started to
alilenate the very people he
was needing support from.
" And then It was after the
election that Keating slammed
UL He just lumped everybody
in and had a go. After the
election, there was a mixture
of response in the BCA. It was
fets ufair that because you
da. red to critiise, you were
attacked Kest* i ends up
Stiflng debate because most
peopl dislike being persona&
By attacked, and they also
detco~ gee t augh up in the
counter attack.
" If -you can't get up and
have a debate without being
pilloried vindictively, then
you just can't have debate. It
stops people coming forward
to enter the debate."
The Federal Government's
negative response to the
BCA's recent " scorecard"
criticising the pace of reform
in Australia had also bitten
within the business community,
Mr, Warburton said.
,~ pagain, thi n
meat doesn't mind the ticks,
but. boy, they sure get upset
about the crosses."
imited access angers Harris
IHE NSW Auditor-General,
Wi Harris. has renewed his
mflac on restrictions on his
woCS to Cabinet documents.
laying that his office was
' veerluyr aild" by* p rovidow
o the Public Finance
kad Audit Act.
mr Harris has warned that
al a& di opinions in the NS5W
public sector may have to be
uaiedbecause of restriotloaan
015s to lega does-By La ROOM
The " unfettered ability" of
the NSW Auditor-General
was curtailed by the proviions,
he said.
The restriction " means that
Tnca hid hitrs
ssetdillegaliaw
thy donot wish
disclosed to the Government
ot to Padlamews by refusin
I& H'ara said.
Tfl IN% esar. he wMS atarited reaffirm its * right to know", he
said " the lega right to access
documents relevant to audit is
so basic to the audit task that
lack of access represents a real
impediment to my acquitting
the responsibilities that
Parliament expecisj."
The third volume of his
ret for 1994 notes major
qualificaion n the ~ t
of omzwm. g 8 etar
agencies, c
M The exclusion by te160= e do not " adequately represent"
the authority's interest in the
Sydney Harbour Tunnel, on
the basis that the RTA carries
-the risks and benefits and is
therefore an asset of the
authority. OUncertainty in the Sydney
W' 9er Doard's accounting trammet
for ; sa consruced by
-dt seto etis'Which
ould' bae ft. e 1 of
fiacn arrngns
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