P RT lei P J. 1. ITT 1Rf* 3;. 1_ T', ECXi. UI IkY : i'cj; 1, SYDNEY, 24 OC---L I97:
Mr. Chairm,-. an, L E U-i1 and Gecntlemen.
Seventeen months ago th2-people of-his Lity-and this State and this
count.-y had an bloctior i f: r Pec: rl-3. f or the, House of.
Representatives and for-tlj,-: Serial-. r. "' Ind riery large iFJor. Uy of'
the peocpl~ e of this cit%--y and this ~ a~~ and t-h-is country Said that.
they waned, once z. crain, to havec I-k~ -o~ rari. t 1he'
. of Australia. And t-hroucjhout that my o1leag-. ces arnd I,~
on behalf.-of the Labor Par-iw, a. nd th:ñ^ r! u pciople on beha-lf ofC
the Libnral Party and the Country P , rty all saidl that t'Aatlein
was to choose a Govcernmcent for thec fallowing tie years. nve
said that if we didn'lt qct a majorit~ y in thci Hoiuse of Rie. res3ent.&-tives
but were able to broak c., vcn only,. in the Senzite and use t. he enzaQ.(
* to block the Gove rnrlent xvh _ cl had a tajority in the-Houmse of
Representatives, that iqc would bloc% it, Wel were very clear wit))
the public; we didn't Nant once uaprx the -; ituatian to atisc, which
arose in April last year,, w,. here a~, after only sevCen1teen-1v10rthsr
* the Senate threatened to block tho. i] ney ' for thc, Governwnent to cr~
the affairs ofthe Nir'Lion. Everyb. oay kno-w that that had hap--tmea. C
once and during the caii-paigny nobody said thpat it would happeni again
if he didn't get a majority in the louisz of fersttvs. I
never said it and Mr Sneddcn, who wa thne lceadeir of-thc Li. beral
Party at that time, he never said it either. And for those, who
* knew of DNr Fraser, hie never said it dluring the earnpaicrn. Sco the
people were asked, only seventeen mihsago to say, who was to he
the Government of this -country for the next three years.
And the people said that they wanted another three years of a Labor
Government iii Australia. And they gave the Labor Party a crmfortable
* majority in the House of Representativs In thea hundreds of
divisions which have takeni place in the House of. Rep re sentative r
last year and this year the L~ abor Gcva-rrnent: has never been def-!* ete..
And every time we have sought a vote on. anything that we put thejro,
any time we've been challenged to hav-e a voto on something the
O * aLnidb ecroanlsv inancdin gthlye. Countzy Party put up there, we have won it fairly
Now in the Senate, the system is so complicated, we only broke even
in May last year. We got 29 out of 60 Senators. The Liberals and
the Country Party al. so got 29 out of 60 Senators and there were two
independents. Now, in this Sta-te, we'-. ve got an overwhelming majority
for the Senate, and in the whole of the coun~ try,, the Labor candidat. 1es
for the Senate got 165,000 more votcf: than wore given to the
candidates of every other Party in tic. o Senate. All of themi combined. rl
got 165,000 fewer votes than the Labor Canjdirj ~ tes. But the zsystc) eni
* is so complicated and Tasmania, one elIevoenth of N 1ew South Wales'
population, still gets at. many Senators as D~ ew South Wales. We
-only were 50-50 in the Senate. Now., i those-circumstances it waS
reasonable enough that wia should forii the Goverrient. Gover-nmento
always are formed in the House of Y1ew'-sesntatives, and not only
that, only in the House of Represciit-at3. vc-s can a Mon( e-y Bill be
initiated, only i~ n the House of Repro sentat.. vos carn a Money Bill.
be amended. The Senate can not initii at a V~ owey BiJl le & lone. Za
* Budget anC. the Senate co-Lild not a a. aino ne\ ) 3iU~ let alone a
Budget. Now in those circumrstances wnv were thec Govorrinceiit of
Australia. We had the majority in th(-House of ) 7epresentati%, es.
Now the proposition that is being pat to you now by the Liberals I. s,
the p eople who ve liost out in of ' s e nalive. F. t'ihe
people t~ hat got 165,000 fci' VC~'. n the : 7 1t c-s1h ovTd Stil.) o.
able to ' use th e Sc ate to 1) cck 11c es o Y cntaeii: Liv nru!
the principlie for hich woare fiq~ Linrg is th,: h oueo
Represent~ atives shall continue to It. ie Feclrn. ll House where Covernments
are made and nmd. IIurasecondl time, do vhat I1
in April last year,, that is* at th: 2 miere threat of the refusal, of
the money for the Government to cFa,-: zy on, t h i ask f or a. double
dissolut-ion -and . C coul. d at thi,, rloient i f I do that,.: I
abandon the princieile that the. Pou -c oJ_' Repr eF; ntati-vea is wherre
Governments are nalae or unmade. An(_ i thlat Wil. not onl-y, that will
not only interrupt Governiment. in Ai7 , tralia, frustzate G vrnmcn
in Australia on this occasion: it will interrupt and : ifrustratn
Government-in Autralia whenever th, 2 Serna te chs. oses -to reject or
* delay a Money Bill. even a Budget. And we can't have 1.. hat happen
asecond time. It s not just the fortunes of the prezm Govcrnrjnt
the -Labor Government, my Government, it's not that; it, is the
fortunes of every s~ ubsequont Covexi-:! r. nt in Pastralia whchth
people choose by giving a majority its Party in the House of
Representatives. I am impressed here as I was in Mlelbournp last Monday and, as my
colleagues were last weekend in every other capital in Australia
by the immense ntunher, the thousandr.-of people who ' ye attencled these
protest rallies, who, were, born in oth; r countries. Because people
from other countries know how,. fragile democracy -is: how much, how
often, how ruthlessly the corneraLv recinr1 ore1ilkl
democracy when they th-ink they can cuet away with it. And one of the
things that enthused and elated and up].. fted thia migqrants in Austrai
was that in December 1972 they saw that in Australia after the hard
fought campaign, at a secret-ballot, it was possible to change thi_
Government. And they expfected that Government to have at least
3 years, not just from December ' 72 to April they expected it
to have 3 years. And when they made! their great, their immense
contribution to reelecting that Government in May last year, they
expected it to have 3 years and not just seventeen months. And we
-don't want the system in Australia that has bedevilled and weakened
democracy in so many countries f rom which migrants-have come, whcre
Governments change too f requently, where no government has the.
opportunity to carry-out its program. In Australia we elect
Governments, it's always been thought, for three years an t h
end of three years there is a ballot, a secret ballot-, a-free
W campaign and you can then decide whcet*;-her you want to have the
Government for another three years or whether you want another Party
to be the Government also for three years.
And what is at stake now is not whether you will have House of
Represent ative s elections every one and a hal~ f years, which is what
the Liberals are now saying, but whether you. could have House of
* Representatives elections every six rmonths. Bec-use twics every
year the House of Repre sent at ive s paFsses Buqttide Bills, Supply
Bills. Every year in October the House of Representatives passes
Bills which will carry out the whole of the -financial arrangerilents
of Australia from July to June!, the whole twelve months. And thenin
April every year the House of Rep -PsentatZ'ves passes other ' Bill.: s
as to how much money yuwlhae how you w'ill spen t3he iiin. n! y
from July to Noveraber followuing; twi. ce a year, in Oct-ol) Ar and in
April the House of Representatives initiates Money Bills, the Budc. t
3.
andSu~ pl an ter~~' ey oto the Sr. rt te. PAiW or th: 75 year-,
that woe'Ive.. had-a * N~. onal P ciit~' iI in. iistc-:. a. thie S, E. t
always par-sed tho . e " Aills, it ha~ s Y) rir O] vo5those( 13511s, or
. rustrate.~ -hose Rills. Au -trrcliar, Jrr three quarters of
acentury has operatcd. on thvz baisis tiiia twieca uenya h.
Representatives brings up, th. s colleoAic'n. of ~ ci-i~ zand. tho
Senate pal-se them.
But the Liberals are now saying th~ o. oevy eofhz cain,
every October, every Apriltt'h y can. rc~ Jezt theo M. cney 13i. 11 zsand tlie..
L ut I want to assure you because mcof. i. of yo11 ( OdOnl woeekly or
fortnightly incomes paid by/ employers-many ol: yo~ ur ei yers are
Government or Government Department: 3 risv etlto I a: sure
you that we have the money passed t April t: o pay every salar,',
every wage bill, not only this week Lnr ~ i Cor-Liight'Is time and.
in four weeks time. The monoy is thc:: e to stec te, evrhodywh
depends on. the Australian Governient for his inecorne, for her incoinc,
will receive that on the dot unti~ l the enid 01: Novcmber.* And we
are confident that if by the end of N'ovcmber lbc Senatc'] Es s till.
refused to debate the Budget:, or has ril ref-Lru:: d to pails the
Budgetrother arrariqements can be made to enable(-people to stick at
their jobs, to do their duty, to ser-vef the pc'oupJ. e of Austra] ia;
other arrangements will be mcade. We f-; hall not let the mecn and Vioimea
of Australia who depend on the Australian Goveritent for payment for
their services or ' thoir supplies, we :, hall not. zJlow theiri to be l'etdown.
But mEantime we are determined th,-* t the Australian Governmenrt
wil-govern for the three years for which you elected us. We will.
I'd ask you to note -that the Senalte has not rejected the Budget,
it's only deferred-t it's delayed it, stalled it. Dccause even
the most cussed and unprincipled and greedy * Liberals realise t-hat
this would be a step that * has never beecn taken in A7 str. to eea
Federal Budget. It's never been done and they hesitate to do it.
In the House of Representatives, it's, true, they ' ye twice vote(' aqainrr. t
all the Budget Bills, they did so a imntli agoo theny did so this weekj..
But when the Bills go to the Senate thecy hesitate; they don't vote
against them, they Just move an arnendv,., cnt_ to de1fe--r them. Now I would
-point out that they would rnot be able to carry these amenrdrients to
defer the Budget had not a* Labor Senat11or, SenetI-or Milliner from
Queensland, di~ d f our moriths ago. Anil M BjeJ) kc--Petersen appoirited
a non-Labor Senator to take the place of~ Labor' s Senator Milliner.
WNow if the Labor Senattor Milliner waz: still alii. ve he would be voting
in the Senate with his Labor-colleagjuc~ s as he had done in every day
of his life. And this amendment to d c'ay the Budget would not have.
been passed. The Senate would have bcen evenily oivided. And in
the Senate, if there's as many peoplc voting aqainst a proposition
as for a proposition if the numb,-r: are eqi-al, then the proposition
is lost. And that's the basis of Sen;: te demtocracy. That is, thse
House of Representatives should have 1iJ0ujoity the Sc. nate c,-In
evenly divided but. yet the Senate pre-vail because you need
a majority of votes to get somethint'-ibhrough the. Senate. Now if
Senator Milliner were still alive he N,. ou3 d bc vot ing against the
amtendment which the Liberals have mnv( d to ftfer the Budcfet; to Oelay
the budget; to stall the budget; thlmro would be as nan-y pCeo:,-. le
voting against the amndcid motion Fa: fo~ r it , c it wou'id be lost.
4i.
And in tliose c trcurfr'stance s IChc fTb era~ wotiA_(. h-ave ir. 1KC rm V).
mind s whe ther to vcote f or i-i ozr not-. tow i-tghtj : 9ri hl. h
S ome dissaltisfaction with the fluCgheL_. somec ' 1 cmer even:
the Budg3ts failcd. I don't -c Io thy . m ' Ytht ;-nte
haven't passed it. So, of Thi r~ urec: erf htoc
Budget is passed people w ill b( n~ r to hciinEit fro-m itc, o s
when this Budget is passed, 3Tiiillio,, taxpayr-n3 in Au! 7tral. ia wiil. l -e
paying taxes at. a lowe-. r ratc. Anc) when tb 3 udcet. E. p~ as e d,
half a million people who've been) p'y tnq tax wily. no luc~ n-gr
have to pay income rtax. An( C ug~ ~ r~ s~ a1 Fhnti hs
. rorts , those concessions fr',* i -which thea wea* 1; ilr used to be-nefi.: wiill
be replaced by reba'.-e which are of eqjual valu e to everybody. AInd
the Liberals are torrified of the p~ opular r& pnewhich the preople
-will show this 1judget when it p.'. SSeO.
Now you sometimes hear, ' Well what about a ( o( ublce dissointiorn?
may well be that in due cours'e there .% ill a double 6jssoliutin.
But not yet. And I'll tell you why you can' have a dovile di: s '. utio
on the Budget. For one thing, if yoi) Nwere to hve a do-obl. e dsotion,
this is what has to happen. The Sei) te has eJeoc t i. illadte
3 months later the Bill has to be passed acg-. in by the P. Ouse of:
Representatives, pas; sed a second tieby the House of Represent6. t: ves
and rejected a second time by the Senate. So if we were to haveLv an
election, a double dissolution, on the Budgctryou Couledi't haCve. f. t:
for at least 4 months arid th1 Senate would have t eette] hqt
' not just * delay it, reject it; thenz 3 months later we'd have to de:. batza
it again. The whole of that process would talKe abouL 4 nonthsq. thl-at
is, if the Senators next Tuesday, were to rejnct the Budcjet, We couldn't
introduce it again in the House of Representati~ ves for another 3
months and then in about a fortnight we-might b able to have the
vote in the Senate on the second occasion. An6i if it were rejcctod
a second tine you could have a double dissolution on the Budg~ et You
couldn't have it for 5 or 6 weeks a'fter it was rejected and then
the last double disFolution, the one that was hce0d last May, it took
over two months to count; for 3 montho AustraliLa was without a
Parliament, the Parliamn wa isfeo h 0 April last y( ar
and it couldn't me et until the 9 July last year.' For 3 Months less
one day, Australia was without a ParJliainent and the whole of the
Goveznment and Public Servants were tied up for 3 moribhs.-Now
ifyou want a double dissolution, on the Budcet you roul@ n It.. yu
want the Budget now. A double disselution couldIn't be held on the
Budget? the Parliament couldnr't meet-to vote on the Budget. another
time for 5 or 6 months fromn now. You can't wait that long; you
shouldA~ be fobbed off from the benefits of Bil1l Hayden's fltudgot
for another 6 months. You want to get: the bcnef its in amonth~ s time
as you are entitled to have them.
Now there may be a double dissolution before-P by about the end of
next year, if the Senate keeps on the obstructionr it has uptil now.
Because in the 3 years that we've been in Govcr; ment thce Senate has
rejected more bills that it passed in the previous 72 ye2ars.
From 1901 till 1972, the whole of those 72 years, the Senate has not
rejected as many bills as it has already rejected in 1973-4-5. Now
if we hadn't had the double dissolution last Ilay,, it's tyue we
wouldn't have got througlr the Medibank B3ill. You wouldi' t have had.
Medibank and you wouldn't have been ablc to got through the -; Ai. 11s
which provide that everybody' s vote in Aiist-rajia will Le of equal
value. But while the B ills have gon-e tlthrough the SeriateC., on A. occusions
has rejected the proposals ' which will carry out that elinctoral
distribution. Because what is at the heart of the objeciion by tbre
Liberal., a. ndj thc Co--.-ixtry Par~ ty to my'G~ erf~ t is thn.-. rRy
Gove rmt : Is dL: indt( -, cc that.. Aiwsta . ian-: wherev'er they
live, wh-: tever tha' l -o'.., cver ol~ t thi . rrr ih: xv~
rtheir ] neanzi they wil I. & 1 . bave in equal. And. : in this
State of New Sou-th W~ ales treare eleot-orTLesr so:-ae Federal,
electorates who.-n there are fewrer th--n 50,000 pe): oplte with a vote
and there-are other electorate-. s in Soifth W, 1res whoj-there
are-nearly 90,000 peonle. i-. h a vote, The a-to bc!. iWeer J: c
than 50,000 andc al.. iiiost 90,000; it Ic. very urmev(-n) and we wir nt to ea
thtin ! hustralia.,. TV-in tho United -atsor e-inmot hronc ar
countries, at loc-~ t. the el. rte hav the sne num1 of p eo,.
in themn. They are dead scared -that : Uf we have a half S: neate election,
which we -will before the end of next Junetwc'li, be able to. get a
fair electoral system through the Senate at last.
Now, you've got the remrd of the Sonate in cgeneiral, ino: e bills
defeated in 3 years than in -the provwious 72. Itht the r. resent
issue is the Budget. -And' what's the alternativc? The onrl'Y*
alternative that Mr Fraser has put 13:-to tho JBu( g( et i1s toa bring
in doubl1e taxation. So that there \ Li II be ia Stzl: te systo'n of incoine
taxation on top 9f the Federal system. We abandoned. tht back Jn
1942; w. e don't want that unncqua1 sys. temt bac! k in AustraJ. i: a. And
every othnr. feature, what he said about the lluelloet, what he said in
his own speech on the Budget is now'-O e says;' inoperativc!' It's a
great wqord which camie f rom President Nixon," " Ino-ecrative.
That not only have. they now abandoncd, as of Wedniesday
* week thle Budget proposal~ s they put up, but they i-ow say t~ hat if 7 c
have an electionfor the House of Representatives now, that is if
I accept their biackmrai-l-as I did in April last year, what would
they do? They ' d pass the Budget.
Now you see the whole design*. they don't have any objection to the
Budget; their own alternative Budget is now inoperative.' it's been
exposed; it's been abandoned and they say if we have an caection of
the House of Represcntati-ves -as if that's any buiesof the
blasted Senate then they'll1 pass the Budget through the Senate.
Or alternatively, if there's a double dissolution, we c,-n wait for
5 or 6 months to pass thE, Budget. The other thing is to have ai-j
Welection for hal~ f the Senate only. Now that-wouldn't be a bad ide!,;-
it's the usual time of the year to hzive them., I know that Sir
Robert Menzies said. I What a monsterous idea, what a monsterous
idea to have an election for the Senate in November or Decermber'.
* Now when Sir Robert Menzies was Prine MiniStEr he bad 6 cle( otions
for the Senate one of themt was in April, for the ScnatorF; ' to take
office in July and the other 4 were in December or November previously.
That is, 7 or 8 months ahlead of when the Senators were to tzake off ie.
And -the sixth one was in September, 9 nonths before they were to take
office. And now he says what an impertinence. it would ba to have a
half Senate election now, lie forgets what he did; he always had them
about thiz-tim-e of the year. But thejc-e is a catchb, because
*. Mr Bjelke-Peterson-and pardon me for meritioni. ng, it agai. 7n he said
that if the Goverior--e neral, in a usual waywrites to allt the State
Governors and says, ' T.; Jell I suggest arid requeist that you. j iss; ue the
writs to the Senators for your State en such and such a dae tiion
the Governor of Queensland, Sir Colin flannah you'd never heard ofhim
before he spoke out of tuirn a fortnight og-he will. lie advisr: d
by Mr Bj :) 7!. ke-Peter_, cni--and ha might e-vesi doitj J. V w i hout ar-advi . cc e' 1
say to the Governor-Cceneral, ' I ' ll ta'Ke no notice of you-,. sug-gestion,
I'll have it on a date which suits mne'. ' So that means that we,
can'It get a Labor replacemnent for Senator Milliner, the ec-: A
La~~ Soninr in Qture( nsl cnd, r vCeat-.1cio or 1th-
Serl LOrs i~ n lueelsland. Fi-vc o! thmwC) ui. tahe off ice on tl-t
fir,, 1., of JrulJ% 7 ne xt but the-: succec,-r, the habor sucC%-_' s: rr to
Sent cor Mill. naar, would. L1-ake o) Ui ca in~ rc.-, i the day the pol. was
declare--d and. tbc-i won'lt have, they'll put~ off as longc as thoy
can qc -ting LEvhor replaccement 2-or:' a dccasfe. d Labor man. The-y
want to be able to pass motions to defer the Budget. They wi: U only
be able to p! ss thos.* e motions, as Senator Ste _ 1e Pall said, ' ove., r
a deSdc ormsen'.' T ha i-the way the ! J. berajls and the Country
Party operate. They take advantage of deceas'ed Senators and thcy
* want to bury daimiocracy in the process-. Because this : Ls what' tha
conse-rvatives, the reactionary iorces, in this countrv are precpe--! re~
* to do. For t-he first tii in 75 years they're prepared, it may bc,
to reject the Budget. They're certainly prepared to defer and
delay a Budget. It's never happened in 75 years: In the hnndrcrd an~ d
f if ty ' times that there has been a .1udget or Supply put up from. t--he
Huos fX~ preenat* Lves to the Senate. There could havo befenr 339
Bills rejected, Money Bills rejecte,, d, by the Senate on the OcCOE:-jofl3
when there was not a majority of Government support in the Snie
But it has never-happened before. For the first timc in the 25 veroYs
since we had proport-ional voting for the Senate, for the first tiim,
here in New South Wales, now, in Queensland, you have anti-Labor. Stat', e
Governments appointing a non-Labor successor to a Labor Senator,.
W When we put Labor's Attorney-Gerieral Murphy on the High Court to
pair off with the Liberal Attorney--cenera). B( rwick, they appoint an
anti-Labor Senator. That is, when Senator Milliner died they
appointed an anti-Labor successor. . For the first time in 20 years
U State Governments each State, both sides of politics have done
the wrong thing; the conservatives have done the wrong thinq. A-nd
now they are threatening that when I advise the Governor-Genieral to
* suggest a Senate election date for the State Governors, some oE tLhem
say they'll advise the Governors to disregard what the Governor-
General says. And this comes from people who are now asking the
Governor-General t~ o get them off the hook, to cover up for their
mistakes. There is nothing, ladies and reten thtIh
* conservative forces in this country are not prepared to do to get hold
of the people's money again: to reject or delay the Budget; to
Sreplace deceased Labor Senators with anti-Liabor Senators; to tell
UState Governors to disregard the re'quest of the Governor-General,
for the first time in the 25 years that Governor-* Generals have made
those requests.
. adies and Gentlemen, you can't trust the conservative forces in
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is immnensely encouraging for my collcaoiies
and-mD on the platform to see you come out here to the heart of
Sydney on a wet day in tens of thousands, millions of yoii here, to
* support demtocracy in this country. You've turned out in your lunch
time on a wet day in your millions, not just to support a Labor
* Government, t4-he present elected Governiment. You have come here
to support democracy itself. And from now on every political. Party
will realise that when thcre is an election for the House of
Representatives there will be an oelection for a Government to
govern for 3 years. And never again will the Senate, whoever bas a
majority or, which is enough, half the membors of the Sonatebb&.
able to fru!-strate the House of Repzesentat-ives where GovernmeTints
are made and unzmade.
Never alt. n, by tb: ciftening to cut-. o-t~ he Covy nme'nt igh b
Spend the-Laxes a they co:, 1az in, nav( cr agiain~, w. 1 the S nr. atE-b o
able to tircaten. thc~ t agavinsL the. cected Govcx~ iinent.*. 3.-ter thi
the Senat mTone'l. power ill1 be dcI.. r-( oyed. Niut. demo( er. cy will
be presccvcd. And the I~ our; e oif epresei-itative-s will. ' Las: t for its
full 3 years. Anid t~ he righ'LS of the ! Joiis(-of Rr--. prcse-t-at: ves
the pecpl I s Ilouse, to detenmtne hov. Jti@ peOplEts money. wL1b
spent on their behaflf will he vindicc. Cc a* rid c-nshrined
in the practice of this count.
Ladies and Gent lerrten,. seveft e an month!-ago you dcterninrA in t hb3
City, this State, this country, that you would have anothcr 3 years
of Labor Government..
The Government which you elected has a comlfortpJhle ' majority in tbe
House of Representat ives the. People. 7 House, thc IP ous whore
Governiments are made or un-made. Ladies and Gcntlemen, when a t th e
end of 1976, there ' s a doubl. dissolutior. to clear out all. the
obstructiorL of the Senate, the piled up Bill. which thicy'v
rejected twice, or in 1977 in thie nor-ma~ l tirie for a Hou!-e of
flprecntives election, wheri then you are againn e'-lect. Ixng the
* Government of" Autralia, I am confident that on our recordF our
Principles, you will once again have a Labor Government of"
Australia.: