EMBARGO: 7.30 20 DECEMBER 1973
NATIONAL BROADCAST BY THE PRIME MINISTER
DECEMBER, 1973
Good Evening. The other day I spoke in the national Parliament about
the results and achievements of the Government which you, the
Australian people, elected to office just over A ye'ar ago.:
Tonight I want to report to you briefly on some of the things we
have done, some of the things we have attempted to do, and some
of the things we want to achieve in the year ahead.
It has been a year of great and growing prosperity for
Australia. You will remember that 1972, the year before Labor
came to power, was a year of unemployment, under-use of capacity and
poor economic growth. In 12 months we have restored full employment
and boosted our growth rate from 2 per cent to 6 per cent.
Our overseas reserves are strong. Gross domestic product, consumer
spending, retail sales and capital expenditure hay e all moved ahead.
There has never been a time when prospects for our rural industries
were as bright as they are now.
I don't want you to think for a minute that we are
indifferent to the inflationary pressures on the economy some
of these we inherited, some are imported from-other countries
suffering from this worldwide inflationary problem. We have taken
a whole series of bold and overdue measures against inflation,
including two revaluations and a big cut in tariffs. If we had left
things the way they were, inflation would be much higher than it
is now. Our Prices Justification Tribunal is working and working
well. I think you will be encouraged, as I was, by the evidence of
the latest consumer price index, which shows that the increases in
food prices in the past two months have been the lowest of the year.
The fight against inflation will go on. I simply ask you to remember
that inflation is partly the result of a booming economy an
economy that in many ways is the envy of the world.
Let me mention some of the achievements of the past year
in which my colleagues and I take immense pride. One of them is
education. I think we can claim to have given a new deal to the'
children of Australia. We have nearly doubled the funds for
education. We have appointed an independent and expnrt Schools
Commission to ensure that those funds are spent where they are
most needed. Our opponents well, some of our opponents
recognised the great importance of our proposals, and our
legislation was passed as Parliament was about to rise. I am glad
to say that government and non-government schools alike can now
plan confidently ahead on the basis of the greatly increased funds
authorised by the Parliament.
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We have taken action in other fields of education as
well. From tne beginning of next year all fees at universities
will be abolished. One of our targets in the year ahead will be
to set in train for pre-school edacation what we have already don;
for primary, secondary and tertiary education. we want a pre-school
education for every Australian child.
You will see that the great theme common to all our reforms
as it is in education is the promotion of equal opportunity.
That has been Che theme behind the enormous strides we have made
in social security, in our support for equal pay, in all we have
done for the Aboriginal people, for migrants, and in our plans for
a national superannuation scheme fur ail Australians. This year
we took the first big step in abolishing the means test. We lifted
pensions and introduced new benefits for greait numbers of people
in need. We have tried, as best we can, to pass our legislation
for a health insurance scheme that will cover everyone in the
community. Remember, there are something like one million
Australians who are not protected by the present scheme, for whom
illness is a real and ever-present threat. I believea nation
as rich as ours, a people as fair-minded as ours, can afford to
correct this injustice.
Next year we shall be pressing ahead with our plan to
establish efficient community health centres thrcughout Australia,
and set up a schemei~ to provide compensation and rehabilitation for
those who are sick or injured. We shall continue our efforts,
already Wvell advanced, to improve our cities and upgrade the
standards of urban transport. We shall embark on our plan for
up-to-date child-care centres for every mother who needs them,
or wants them. We shall make sure that building societies, hire
purchase companie3 and other financial institutions not just banksof
fer fair and reasonable interest rates to home buyers and
consumers. Much of the machinery for these reforms the expert
inquiries, the statutory commissions have been established.
Soon, I believe, every Australian will begin to feel the lasting
benefit of what we have done this year.
I am proud of a Government that in the space of a year
has abolished conscription, done away with the death penalty in the
territories and the services, revitalised Government support for the
arts, given votes to 18-year old citizens and moved vigorously t~ o
protect the environment. We have ended oar tragic involvement
in Vietnam. We have remove~ d the hateful stamip of acism from
Australia's reputation abroad. We have established a more mature
and independent relati~ onship with our friends in Britain and the
United States. We have formed a new aind fruitful understanding
with China instead oZ pretending that China does not exist.
We are about to negotiate a firm and lasting treaty of friendship
with Japan.
There is one other great theme in all we have done.
That is: to preserve Australian ownership of our important
industries, to safeguard Australian control of our precious
resources. All of us have seen or read of the consequences,
in other western countries, of the current energy shortage.
All of us know of the great economic uncertainties facing many
developed nations throughout the world. In this climate of
uncertainty Australia has much to be thankful for. My Government
in its plans for the Australian Industry Development Corporation,
for the Petroleum and Minerals Authority which we aim to establish
next year has moved swiftly to safeguard our known resources
and to search for new resources which will remain under Australian
control. This is the Government's great task for the years ahead.
It is a task to which our whole philosophy is directed and attuned.
In the development of our country, in the preservation of its great
and increasing prosperity, we shall place the interests of
Australia and Australians above all else. We believe Australians
should own our country's resources.
The past year has been a busy year, a hectic. year. We
have done much, because there was much that we had to do. We have
had our successes, our setbacks, our difficulties, and naturally
enough our mistakes. But there can be no doubt about the great
scope of our achievement or the importance of our plans for a
greater Australia. It is in that spirit of confidence that I wish
you all a happy Christmas, and trust that 1974 will bring peace and
growing good fortune to all of us, and to all our families.