PRIME MINISTER ? 51/ 2O
Sunday November 23, 1975
Thursday November 27, 1975
ELECTORAL TALK BY THE PRIME MINISTER AND MEMBER FOR WAINNON
MR MALCOLM FRASER -4f
Three events of major significance occurred this week. One of
them promises great benefits to the neglected Northern Territory
and the second will give people of the A. C. T. more say in their
own affairs. The third event marked a shocking deterioration
in the level of political debate in Australia.
This week the Liberal and National Country Parties set 1980
as the goal for achieving statehood for the Northern Territory.
The Territory made steady progress for almost a quarter of a
century under a Liberal National Country Party Government.
It prospered and Dariwin grew from a city of 8,000 to a city
of 48,000.
But for three years now, under Labor, there has been economic
stagnation, bureaucratic neglect and muddled planning.
Cyclone Tracy gave the Whitlam Government the chance it was
looking for to experiment with long range town planning.
As a result, the city remains unbuilt while bureaucrats
squabble over the best way to make a start.
PRIME MINISTER 2.
The Whitlam Administration stopped the people of Darwin from
getting on with the job themselves and yet was unable itself
to achieve results.
The Coalition Parties have undertaken to start putting into
effect the recommendations made by a Committee of the
Parliament on transfer of powers to the Territory' s own
elected Legislative Assembly.
This report has lain neglected by the Whitlam Administration,
gathering dust for a year. 0
That means that the people of the Territory will start running
their own Museums, Art Galleries, Housing Commission, Tourist
Board and Public Service.
It means they will begin to collect their own taxes and. take'
over such local and regional functions as agriculture, transport,
electricity and sewerage services, liquor licensing and gaming
laws. However, we propose to take these recommendations much further
and to give the people of the Territory the opportunity to work
for statehood within five years.
Following many representations and the report of the Joint
Parliament Committee of the A. C. T. it is clearly now appropriate
for the people of the A. C. T. to gain through the Legislative
Assembly more responsibility for their own financial management
and: decision making. 1
PRIME MINISTER 3.
After December 13 we will set up a full time Task Force to
examine the ways and means of giving some executive authority
to the A. C. T. Legislative Assembly.
There will be a devolution of powers and responsibilities to
the residents of the A. C. T. which is in accord with the
principles embodied in our Federalism Policy.
Canberra in the A. C. T. is the seat of Government for the nation
and the. Federal Parliament must always have an interest in many
S aspects of its affairs.
The other major development this week was the deplorable collapse
of political debate in this country to violence.
Protest and demonstration, jostling and egg throwing has been
a characteristic of political life in Australia for some years.
0 But now letters have been received in my Department as Prime
Minister, in the Department of the Premier of Queensland,
Mr Bjelke-Petersen which contained bombs while a third bomb
has been intercepted in mail addressed to the Governor-General,
Sir John Kerr.
In my Department the bomb was detected and defused.
In Brisbane the device exploded on a desk, wounding two people,
one of them so seriously as to endanger his sight.
PRIME MINISTERø 4.
The type of violence by which 50 or 100 people set out to
disrupt a meeting is regrettable but that this approach should
degenerate into violence and anger is shocking to all Australians.
There is an obligation on political leaders to avoid language
which inflames passions.
When political leaders talk of extremism, they will create an
extremist response. There is an obligation in the circumstances
of today to keep the campaign in moderate and reasonable terms. 0
The Liberal and National Country Parties have sought to avoid
inflammatory rhetoric and we will continue to avoid doing so.
I am sure the overwhelming majority of Australians support me
in deploring this shocking development.
This week too, the Liberal and National Country Parties pledged
themselves to adopt and implement two reports on the beef
industry by the Industries Assistance Commission.
The first of these reports provides for emergency aid to this
hard hit industry.
The I. A. C. recommends that the export levy on beef of 1.6 cents
per pound be suspended and that special funds be provided for
producers worst affected by the fall in meat prices.
PRIME MINISTER
Their second recommendation is that producers should be
compensated when their cattle show positive reactions to
tuberculosis and brucellosis eradication tests.
Farmers everywhere: have suffered because of the uncertainty
which Labor has created during the past three years.
The Whitlam Administration's hard line resources policy has
encouraged our trading. partners to be just as tough with us.
The successfully cultivated Japanese market for meat has been
disrupted and last week the U. S. authorities closed their
market to further imports from Australia for the rest of this
quota year.
There is much to be done after December 13 to repair the
damage which has been wreakedin the past three years.
One step we will take immediately is to initiate Government
to Government discussion to resolve past misunderstanding.