LIBERAL PARTY RALLY
B Town Hall, Sydney, NSW FEBRUARY, 1967
Speech by the Prime Minister, Mr John Gorton
Mr President, Mr Osborne, Mr Premier, all those gathered behind
me and all those in this hall
I begin to make the first speech that I have made as Prime
Minister, dealing with political affairs. The speech that I am going to make
to you is the first of many because there seem to be elections coming thick
and fast in the immediate future. Firstly we have the election to choose once
again Mr Askin as the Premier of New South Wales, then on the same day
we have an election which, I sincerely hope, will choose me as the Member
for Higgins. Early in March, there is an election in South Australia, and
soon after that one in Western Australia.
It is my hope and my belief that you here will see that on February
24, this Stat e sets an ex ample for the rest of Australia to follow by choosing
once again that man, whom I think you will agree, has led this State since
19.65 with distinction, with vitality and with success. Certainly it is an h-rtour
and a pleasure for me to stand here with him on this platform today supp'i.. ing
him at the time of his election, not only because of what he has done in tl_-' s
State, but also because of the meetings I have had with him in the last mco . th
or so, meetings where it became perfectly clear that what he ha(, done he
had done against difficulties, in that he had to take over the running of this
State at a time when one of the greatest droughts Australia has Iknown hit the
capacity of this State to look after itself as it has hit the capacity of other
Eastern States, and that in spite of that handicap, he has been able to do what
he has done. I can assure you of this, ladies and gentlemen, that he has proved
himself to me to be a most persuasive and a most dedicated advocate for the
State which he represents and has provided all the arguments concerning
drought and other disabilities which could be put on behalf of this part of
Australia. Therefore it is a happy augury and a rieasure for me to be with
him, beginning what I hope will be a continuing partnership with ourselves in
the Federal sphere and Mr Askin in the State sphere and other Liberals in
other State spheres, so that together we can, each according to our fashion,
each according to the Constitution, see that Australia is developed as a whole,
and that each part of it is run by those nearest. to the people in that part of it.
I don't mean by this, ladies and gentlemen, that in such a partnership
and it will be, I know, a close partnership there will not be from
time to time differences of opinion as to priorities, differences of opinionas
to proposals. This is inevitable in any partnership if it is to run properly, it
is inevitable in any Federal system, and particularly inevitable in a Federal
system in which one or two States have much greater development, much
greater population resources than have the other States of a nation. But while
these matters in the future can be the subject of discussion, can be the subject
of initial disagreement and then of resolution I would go on to say this that
if those discussions are family discussions, as they would be between us in
the Commonwealth and Mr Askin in New South Wales, if they are discussions I2
between governments having the samye ' general eamplexion-and the same general
approach as to the place of the individuial Jn. s ociety, then those matters will be
more susceptible of resolution, more susceptible of amicable arrangement than
could be possible were there to be a different complexion of government in this
State, or indeed in others.
I have spoken of possible differences of opinion not to emphasise
it but as a lead-in to problems which face both a Commonwealth Government and
a State Government in the years ahead, for this much is certain. Neither a
Commonwealth Government nor a State Government in the years immediately
ahead will have the resources to do all that they would like to do, or to do it as
quickly as they would like to do it, because consider what it is that people in
Aua tralia really want.
Imagine yourself on the top of some high hill, looking out over a
populated valley where the lights twinkle below you at night, and thinking each
one of those lights is a light in the home of an Australian family. What is it
they seek to build their country into; what is it they wish for them selves, and
how best can we try to achieve what they wish for themselves and what they
wish for their nation. You can imagine yourself in that position. You would
answer your question in what is perhaps a contradictory way.
You would say, I think, or I would say for yo6u: What Australians
w ant is to see that the aged needy, the ill needy, those really suffering from
unfortunate circumstances through no fault of their own, should be adequately
proAded for by the nation, but that this should be done without destroying the
incentive to save, and without destroying the incentive to self-reliance. r~ his,
in itself, requires I think, some rethinking of our policies in these matters,
and requires some significant effort from Governments and from the people
from whom Governments gain their revenue.
And they would say, we want in this nation the capacity for every
individual to be able to develop to the utmost his own inherent capacitijes
through education, whether it be conventional, or technical, or whatever it
may be. And that requires enormous resources.
And they would say we want defence for this country, we want
defence sufficient to make sure that we are true allies of those whom in the
ultimate our future may depend, our future existence may depend, that we can
help those countries nearest to us towards stability, that we can save In our
own country sufficient in the future to take the first shock of any attack that
might ever be made upon us in the future, until such time as the allies whom
we have supported and helped could come to our help, as I am sure they would.
And that requires enormous resources from the people.
And they would say we want development of this nation. We want
to see resources which now lie unused be utilised so that throughout the whole
of this country we will have not only employment opportunities, not only new
industries, but the new industrial muscl'es which they will bring to us, and which
in their turn will build us into a great material nation, and help, in their turn,
the development of ourselves towards the future which is possible if we reach out
to grasp it with sufficient effort. And this requires enormous resources.
And they would say, and rightly say, while we want these things,
we also wish that the burden of taxation upon individuals in this nation should
not be raised to such heights that the incentive to produce, that the incentive
to strive, that the incentive to save is removed from those individuals in the
private sector, upon whom' " in the last resource, the final growth of this nation
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must depend. wish t, 6 see not only-tkiAñ hese -national
objectives I have outlined are -t tT-VZ&. us parts of Australia those
Governments more directly in touch with the peoplo-should have resources
to carry out the responsibilities directly laid upon them by the Constitution.
I could go on, I could go on expanding this list of that which you
r equire, of that which our nation requires, but I thinkc I have said enough,
have I not to indicate that all these things cannot at once be done, that they
are to some extent contradictory, and that therefore th~ ere must be a choosing
of priorities, a decision as to which of these progranres it is that will most
advance this nation and most provide a happy existence lor the inhabitants of
it. And so if there is to be a choosing of priorities in'these fields, as there
must be, then that will be a choosing of priorities taker I hope and believe,
by a Commonwealth Government which is a Liberal/ Country Party Government,
by a State Government which is a Liberal/ Country Party Government, and
while there may be discussions as to the relative importance of particular
priorities, at least it will be a ' s I have said before, a famiiy discussion, and
one between people with the same ultimate objectives.
And these objectives, apart from those goals which I sketched,
and sketched so briefly to you this afternoon, are objectives which we feel
that we must reach within a certain framework. We do not think that we can
attain those aims I have set beforeq you by handing everything over to a
government and to officials and say: " You attain this. We will bow out as
individuals". We feel, and it is undoubtedly true, that a government must
create the climate for the achievement by individuals of which I have spoken,
that in many fields the government must take social action for the good of the
community as a whole.
~ let me expand a little on that social action because we hear a
lot, and sometimes an unthought lot, I think, about socialism and how bad
socialism is, but we have got to define what, we mean by this before we come
to any meaningful conclusion. After all, it is not so long ago since the
participation of government in any field was classified as socialism, and yet
who here would object to the Governme~ at entering into the field of providing
railways or roads or electricity. or Water supply for irrigation, or water
supply for a city, or many of t fiese other public utilities. So while
governments must enter these fields, it rhust~ always be the aim of a Liberal
Government to see that they enter only thote lields where it is necessary,
that they leave within the framework they lay down the greatest amount of
possible area for individual achievement, unhampered by bureaucratic
intervention. PAnd that having done that, having cre ated that climate, they
can then look with confidence, as I believe they cqn, to the men and women
of Australia, to make use of the opportunities provided by the Government
according to their own bent, according to their own iiate) igence, according
to their own effort, according to their own will, and that if men and women
do that, they deserve any reward they get as a result of what they have done.
This is a common approach, and this is an approach upon which, I think, will
be built a great nation.
We have got facing us at the moment grievous and hetavy burdens
in overseas affairs. You will have seen sorre thing that I have said in relation
to Viet Nam, perhaps the most grievous burden we now have to bear. You
will perhaps have noticed that I said we feel that we as a nation of 12 million,
a small nation, a nation with a population of Greater London or Greater
New York, and with enormous calls upon us in these other fields I have
mentioned, are doing all that can reasonably be requized from us. I want to
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elaborate on that. I want to make this.-clear. You will forgive me, I hope,
if at this point I read a little, so that what * I say to you will be what I have
written to say to you and to others outside this-ball.'
On this problem, one which is the heaviest facing Australia,
our own policy is clear. We believe that the late President Kennedy sent
United States troops to South Viet Nam to help the Government of that country
to resist armed attacks upon it and that those attacks were instigated, controlled,
supplied and maintained by the North Vietnamese Government which supplied
regular troops to assist and command the insurgents.
Since that time more and more North Vietnamese regular army
troops have been deployed in the South and the fighting has assumed the
character of an invasion of South Viet Nam by the Government of North Viet
Nam. We believe the United States, under President Kennedy, was right
to take, and is right to persist in its resistance to this aggression not
because it is communist aggression but because it is aggression, and such
aggression, whatever the reason for it anywhere in the world, is a threat to
the ultimate peace of the world. If it is successful, it is likely to be repeated
again and again until, as we have seen in our own lifetime, it eventually must
be stopped at a cost of pain and blood' and treasure infinitely greater than if
it were stopped at the beginning.
Because of that belief, and because of our adherence to and
reliance on the United States alliance, we are pla~ ng our full part in assisting
the military resistance to that aggression not only by providing ground
troops, tanks, aircraft and naval vessels, but by bearing the full cost of
arming, maintaining, munitioning, supplying and provisioning all those forces
which we send to assist the alliance.
We shall continue to do this for as long as is necessary to attain
our objective of preventing aggression's success. At the same time, we have
always realised that the military effort in Viet Nam is, although absolutely
necessary, only one of the components required to win this kind of war.
The other component is the raising of standards of everyday living
in the areas where military forces provide a shield for the civilian population.
And so, from the beginning, one of the tasks of our Army has been to provide
civil aid in the area in which they serve to provide not only money -and
materials but man power to assist in the villages in providing grass roots
assistance medical aservices of a medic kind, schoolrooms, wells, small
bridges and culverts, and matters of that nature.
To sum up, our objective is to prevent, or to make increasingly
difficult and costly, the operation of enemy troops whether regular or guerrila
and steadily to improve the living conditions of the villagers and townspeople
in the area. Whether this is successful or not will depend on the will of those
engaged. But it can be successful, and our will to play our part towards this
objective is firm,. continuing and will not be changed. But wit h such a mighty
choice befcre our country, with that being what your Government seeks to do,
I believe the time has come when an alternative policy ought to be advanced, if
it is going to be advanced, by an Opposition.
What the Opposition' s alternative policy is I do not know, and I
doubt if anybody knows. The governing body of the Labor Party has laid down
a policy which requires specifically
That all bombing of supply routes from the North. should immediately
and unconditionally be stopped.
That allied troops in Viet Nam should remain in their present
positions and cease fighting except to repel attacks upon
themselves and this was described as a holding operation; and
That if the United States or the South Vietnamese will not agree
to these conditions, then we must immediately abandon the United
States alliance and withdraw Australian troops from Viet Nam.
That is the official policy of the Opposition, and one I believe they are bound
at present to carry out. But it is one which the Leader of the Opposition has
sought to blur, and to conceal from Australians so that we hear vague talk
and unspecific suggestions from the Leader which appear to slither away from
the policy by which he is constrained.
Ladies and gentlemen, don't you think the time has come when
Australians have the right to know exactly what the Opposition policy on Viet
Nam is, and the Opposition have a clear duty to explain specifically what it
is, that there should be no more attempts to deny or conceal or misrepresent
it, nor further examples of different spokesmen advancing different policies.
We have a right to know what the alternative choice is, and we have a right to
know now, and I ask that we should be told now on this matter of such great
importance. Lord knows, ladies and gentlemen, the one thing that I find grievous
is that we should, at this point of time, according to our own judgment of what
is right, be rcquired to expend so much upon an insuranc~ e policy, upon defence,
when there is so much required to be done for our own people and in our own
country. Don't think because I have spent some time on this matter that I
regard it as of more importance than our own growth and our own development,
and the care of our own citizens. I do it because it is a matter which strikes
to the root of Australia's survival, and we ' Ought to know what alternate parties
think. Having thought that, then we hope that having achieved peace there, we
can turn to an examination of these other matters I have raised with you, and
that having made this exami,~ ation, not we, the Federal Government, not Mr
Askin the State Government, but our Governments with you. We, in that sense,
can attack and overcome our internal problems, and together build that nation
which I know it is in our capacity to build and which I know it is in our destiny
to achieve.