BROADCAST: 3HA, 3XY April 4
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delivery AUSTRALIA,
PRIME MINISTER
FOR PRESS 4 April 1976
TORAL TALK
This week in Federal. Parliament, the Government announced
three major initiatives that will benefit both Australian
icdustry and hundreds of thousands of families and individuals.
In separate statements the Government unveiled its long term
blueprint for the motor vehicle industry; it set out
clear and sensible guidelines for foreign investment
in Australia and presented new initiatives for the home buyer.
The motor vehicle industry and foreign investment moves
will play a real role in greatly enhancing stability and
security in Australian industry while the home savings
plan will offer new hope for those who wish to own their
own home.
I wait to briefly comment on each of the three initiatives.
It is worth noting that our plans for the motor vehicle
industry have already received the support of the industry,
the trade union movement, consumers and State Governments.
Broadly, the GovernmenL has decided that its long term objective
for the passenger motor vehicle industry can best be achieved
by an 85 percent local content plan, supported by appropriate
tariff arrangements. / 2
In examinin~ g the industry, the Government pinpointed
areas of special concern.
We looked at the importance of the industry as an employer
of labour and capi-tal. Many Australian cities and towns
rely on the mctor vehicle industry as the main source of
employment. We specifically looked at the importance of.. the
industry to South Australia and I am pleased that the South
Australian Premiez strongly supports our moves.
OZE course, another major concern was that-consumers had access
to reasonably priced cars. One of our objectives is to avoid
fracmentation cf production, and encouraging economies of scale
and thus help keep production costs down.
The Government also took into account the growing demand
for smaller four-cylinder cars and the importance of
Japanese firms in the overall Australian market, because
of the consumer acceptance of their products.
The last point i want to make on the motor vehicle industry
is that the Government is anxious that the necessary changes
in the industr~ r are effected in a way that can be sustained
by the economy. Accordingly, our policies have been deliberately
tailored to make sure this change occurs in a controlled and
manageable manner.
our foreign investment policy reflects our determination to put
Australia back on its feet again.
We wish to encourage overseas funds and skills because
of the contribution they can make to the national growth
and to standards of living in Austialia. At the same time
we wanted to offer Australians the greatest possible
opportunity to play an effective role in the ownership and control
of our own natural resources and industries.
In our con-siderations on foreign investment we recognised that
our partnership with foreign capital must be of mutual
advantage.
We are far past the stage of welcoming all foreign capital
with open arms with no questions asked. Today, Australia
can afford to , taxe a more discerning & ttitude towards
-the inflow of overseas funds.
Accordingly, the Government will examine each proposal
by overseas companies on individuals merits. Apart from
levels of local equity we will make sure that the economic
benefits, employment opportunities and the likely effect
on our social and economic policies are closely checked in
each case.
in key areas oil and gas production, uranium mining,
agricultural and pastoral projects, forestry and fishing
projects we will apply specific rules on the level of
Aqstralian equity and control.
The Government also expects the Australian Industry Development
Corporation to work closely with the newly set up Foreign
Investment Review Board. The Corporation plays an important
role in helping to generate funds for Australian companies.
The home cwnership question was also spotlighted in the Parliament.
ThE. Home Savings Grant Scheme is the most progressive and far
reaching programme ever offered by a Federal Government to
people wanting to own their own h-me.
We are determined to give Australians a real chance to own
their own homes. This philosophy of home ownership has been
one of the great platforms of Liberal Governments.
In fact, the Liberal Country Party government introduced
the present Home Savings Grant Scheme in 1964 to help yonng
couples buy their first home.
Our new grants scheme goes even further than my election
pledge to increase the grant for first home buyers from
$ 730 to $ 2,000.
The grant--s work on a slidiag scale. Home buyers next year
will get $ 667 if they have saved $ 2,000 this year.
The grant will1 increase to for savings of $ 4,000
in any two year period after the start of this year.
The maximum grant of $ 2,000 will be payable on savings
orf $ 6,000 over three years.
: ome buyers will now receive the first payouts early
ne; xt year, two years earlier than promised.
The Scheme will be extended to cover all first home buyers
regardless of age or marital status.
A-special feature of the scheme is that it allows
people on farms to get grants even though they do notown
the land on which they are building. This feature will
apply to all homes or rural properties bought or contracted
to be built after last Wednesday.
Finally, I believe that our decisions in these three areas
alone will convince Australians of our desire to make
this nation a land of opportunity and one where we can all
plan ahead with confidence and optimism.