EMBARGO: 7.30 P. M.
ii MI 7,
A. B. C. BROADCAST BY THE PRIME MINISTER, MR. E. G. WHITLAM, QC, MP,
TOBEBROADCASTONTUESDAY,_ 30_ APRIL_ 1974_____
Last night, for the second time in 17 months, I put to you,
the Australian people, the program of the Australian Labor Party.
For the second time I delivered my policy speech in the civic
centre of a suburb which symbolises so many of the problems
which my party and my Government have been determined to solve.
Australia regrettably abounds in areas like it, areas where the
residents have had to suffer inadequate transport, overcrowded
hospitals and inferior and uncoordinated community services.
In 1972 the Australian people looked to us as the only political
party in Australia which had considered and devised comprehensive
programs to deal with those shortcomings.
That was 17 months ago. Since then we have taken giant steps
towards dealing with the problems of our nation. For the first
time in a generation Australia has had a Government dedicated to
equal opportunity for all its citizens. For the first time
Australia has had a Government determined to promote Australian
ownership and control of Australian industries and resources.
For the first time Australia has had a Government determined to
reduce inequalities between regions.
Nowhere has this new and vital presence been more keenly
felt than in our schools and other educational institutions.
In our first Budget, we nearly doubled the amount of money for
Government and non-Government schools tHiroiqhout Australia.
We have abolished fees for tertiary~ education. We have approved
a massive injection of finance for technical education. We have
been the first national Government to provide significant funds
for the care and education of pre-school children.
We have not yet been given a fair chance to implement all
of the program I put to you for the 1972 elections. A number of
those programs \; ill grind to a halt and be abandoned if we are not
given that chance. That is what the election on 18 May is all
about: whether the programs, the new hope of 1972 should be
fulfilled; whether the vigour and enthusiasm for change and
improvement, released through your decision in 1972, should be
replaced by the old lethagy.
There is a striking similarity of background, not just of
content, between the speech I delivered last night and that which
I gave in 1972. Neither speech contained piecemeal or unconsidered
policies. All of our policies have been researched, not just by
politicians but by independent experts. All have been given the
widest possible dissemination. That process has taken time, in
some cases as much as 7 years. But it has twice enabled me to
stand before you as the leader of the only party with a coherent
and consistent plan for our development.
-2-
What a contrast with our opponents. They forced a premature
election and then discovered they had to make up some policies
on which to fight it. Bit by bit, you have had to watch their
ideas and whims dribble out of hastily convened and divided meetings
held behind closed doors. Even then you have had to listen to
their spokesmen tell you that they have not been able to cost these
so-called policies.
The same men who cannot put a price on their hasty and
unconsidered plans expect you to believe them when they say
they will cut taxes. It is all too similar to 1969 when they
promised to cut your income tax but did not tell you that they
proposed increased duties on petrol, cigarettes and wine, higher
postal charges, and increased sales taxes.
This is the choice you face on 18 May. It is a clear choice
between our careful planning and thei. r patchwork of last-minute
promises and gimmicks. It is a choice between the continuation
of your new aspirations for Australia or a return to the stale
ideas of yesterday.