OPENING OF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES AND
PRODUCTION BUILDINGS OF MERCK SHARP&
DOHME ( AUSTRALIA) PTY. LTD. AT SOUTH
GRANVILLE, N. S ON 26/ 10/ 1962.
Speech by the Prime Minister, the Rt, Hon. RG. Menzies
Sir Mr. Deputy Mayor, Mr. Uren, Mr. Connor and Ladies and
Genhemen I think I ought to begin by coming clean with
you about something. We've a lot of problems on our plate
at this moment at Canberra and having, to put it in the
vulgar fashion, managed to get rid of Parliament last
night I was horrified to find that I had either talked
mysell into coming here or been talked into it. So I
flew down this morning and I am due back home at six
o'clock, I don't remember how it came about because, you
know, this business of politicians, particularly reactionary
conservative politi1cians like me ( Laughter) opening
works is a very dubious one. I frequently, when I am
opening somL. factory somewhere it may not entirely apply
here today but I frequently find my opponent, the sitting
Member, standing by, and the more enthusiastically I commend
this wonderful piece of development, the more enthusiastically
he counts the additional votes he will get at the next
election. ( Laughter) Still, you can't have it both ways.
I am very gzLateful to the Deputy Mayor for
having so pleasantly welcomed me here this afternoon. All
I can say is that I used to have a very high regard for
Parramatta I still have momentarily because Parramatta
has long since had the admirable habit of electing to the
Federal Parliament a supporter of mine, but now the busybodies
have got to work and there has been a redistribution.
It isn't through yet, and I understand there are yet problems
to overcome but I am told by the wise men t hat as a result
of the redistributilon, Parramatta will become a hostile camp.
I leave it to you, Mr. Deputy Mayor, to see that that doesn't
happen. ( Laughter) I would just like to say this about the Company
and about the new development here: when I looked through
the record, I thought that here we had a most astonishing
sto~' y of growth in ten years0 I repeat, of course, ten years,
because that proves conclusively that the success of this
Company and its amazing growth has occurred in spite of the
fact that I have been Prime Minister over the same period.
( Laughter) But it is a remarkable story of growth and it
demonstrates two things, both of which perhaps we need to
understand in Australia even better than we have.
The first is that the great ingredient in growth,
to which must be added skill and all sorts of other things,
is confidence in the country in which you are establishing
yourself. This is a pretty strange, confused world hgettin
stranger and more confused almost every minute, and here n
are not all that many countries in the world in whom some
long-established enterprice can feel confidence so that i. t
may invest its money and its talent and its experience in
that country. It has really been a very great assurancd to
all Australians, a very great source of pride to all Australians
that in this period since the war, Australia has attracted the
confident investment and skill of so many people on the other
side of the world. Peopjle lose confidence, of courses very
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easily or some people do, I am happy to say that this
Company is a splendid example of a body which has at no stage
lost confidence but has gone right forward. Now that to me
is a splendid thing confidence in Australia,, But it also
exhibits, of course, confidence in the future0 It takes the
long view. I remember a few years ago delivering one
night what people were pleased to call a Zittle Budget, in
wtich we clamped down on the motor car industry this is
about five years ago through some adided taxation. When
I arrived in my office the next morning, having made this
powerful but, of course I don't need to tell you, most
unpopular speech thatis no novelty for me my staff said
to me, " You know we don't know whether you ought to be given
the Victoria Cross or sent to a hospital for the insane," and
I said, " Why, whatts wrong?" They said, " Do you know that
youtre lunching today, you're giving a luncheon party to
the representatives of one of the greatest motor ear organizations
in the world?" So I screwed my courage to the sticking
point and went down and acted the host and tried to make up
by amiability for the terrible things that I had. done the
night before. But the head man from overseas smiled at me
and said, " You know, I heard you last night," I said " Yesq
well, I'll take it, What is it?" He said, " I entirely agreed
with you. I don't see what else you could have done. Of
course, it will cost my organization something, but you don't
want to get it into your head that we've become a big organization
by just looking forward a year at a time; we look forward
twentyfive years at a time. This won~ t be the only knock we'll
have a little knock In the course of twentyfive years but
our planning is based on the fact that we will develop and
grow steadily in the long run over that period of time."
That's elementary enough9 but it isn't everybody who thinks
like that. I am perfectly certain that those who are
responsible for this Company do think like that0 What they
have done already in the last ten years is conclusive evidence
of their long-range thinking,
The other thing that I wanted to say to you
is that I gathered, I hope rightly, thatamong the plans of
this Company are plans to produce at least one commodity for
which tiley design to have a substantial export sale. Now
that when it comes off, will be a very good thing. I
cons~ antly find myself saying to manufacturers of all kinds
that we must get further and farther away from the idea that
the only things we can export are the products of the soil.
They will be the main things that we export for a long long,
time. They are of tremendous importance. But we must more
and more translate the undoubted skill of the Australian, his
undoubted capacity to do his workjust as well as anybody
else in the world, into getting for our manufactured commodities
increasing markets, particularly in the rising, newer countriespolitically
newer countries of the East and North from us.
It is nothing much to the point for anyboay to say, tOh, well,
you know that's difficult0Of course it's difficult, My
experience has been that almost everything is difficult, but
that if you try bard enough, it may ultimately become easy,
We must have, more and more from Australia
export markets which arise frjom what I will call broadlyth
manufacturing processes, And for a very good reason, or
two good reasons. / 3
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One is that we have, periodically, problems in
our balance of' payments. The price of wool slumps and then
our overseas reserves begin to rtun down. If the price of'
wheat slumps or we have a drought or something of that kind,
down goes our export income. Our import bill doesn't move
around in this fashion. It's pretty steady and has a
disposition to grow, but our export income can fluctuate
with seasons and world prices to an almost alarming extent,
Therefore, whatever Government is in office in Australia will
find itself occasionally maybe every few years forced to
take some particular measures to protect our overseas funds
and assure our international solvency. I want to get away
from that. I don't like these Emergency measures, And the
way to get away from it is to put our exports on an increasingly
stable basis and the exports of manufactures from Australia
will contribute to that more than perhaps anything else could.
So, Sir, wh-an I heard that you had your eye on the
export fteld, I thought, " This is a splendid thing". Now I
have given you the general reason for it. I will conclude
by saying that we now have, of course, a particular reason
for wanting to increase our exports, because we are confronted
almost imminently by the problem of the Common Market.. and
however the negotiations work out, it will be certainly true
that we will have to put increasing pressure on a drive for
new markets not just new markets for old th-ings but new
markets for new things and that is whty the variety of things
to be exported, extend-ing into the chemical field, extending
into a hundred and one different varieties of ac-tivity, will
be of such tremendcus importance to us,
Vie are not just to content ourselves by saying
" Well, there are certain traditional exports, and they will do."
We must develop untraditional exports,) naw things, produce
new things in Australia, not be afraid to produce them; because
if the gentlemen who have spoken to you this afternoon feel
confidence in this country, what should you and I born in'this
land, feel about our own country? T have an unlimited
confidence irn it and I hope that people will not allow their
proper confidence to be withered too promptly by an occasional
cold windt Sir, I have the greatest pleasure in declaring
the offices and plant open.