M~ ~ L1 F76/ 74 74.
FOR PRESS A; RIL 23, 1976
PR AUSS CCUIZF2 PYQD 21ST -A21Re-J 9-7-16
Ct I -a u . a-2& XIy Ute fears of Uio-& -Wio believe
dPalai-: I anti. lhere ~ tIs d" ubt abnout this. t-Ar. Rhititam
was oe heze a wiea ago ama -trying to stax-t ~ ox about~
this particu). ar-3uwject--Re. knows that it it; mischievous
and he knows that it does the econamy ) iax. Tihat' s pzobably
why be Clid it.
11: Fraser, rePoxts have it that the new federalism~ scheme
will mean double i ncom~ e taxation, for all. the Siates
from July neaxt yeax. Is this right?
JijEWiN ; 5Jhere -will bc-, aritax forzTu, on(-assessmfent, One coletir
Trhat 0, oesrP't mean~ cdovble tax-ation..
Blut the tax couldI vary from State to stzate-.
M IST!?: Taxes. very between States nows and vcy-sta-, t-ially. There ' s
W nothing new in that.
The income tax could vary?
the United States?
M'E MItNISTER: More like in C: anaeia.
Is the federalism scheme going to cozft -Ehe t4axpayer more..* y
ME M1N1$ TBR: No,-I trieve At will cost him less beca-Use he lwi-l be RACiG
to see WhO is sPendi-ng his money and that % Ail, mean. that.. ps ple
will be accovntable for what they dio. State Preixers wh
sop port that proposal truly want to be responsible for their
own affairs, as the Premier of tbi! 3 1tate does. N1ow State
Premiers or Leaders of the-Opposition. who say t. iay do, 11t lik!, e
these proposals want. to be able to hide 1b-ehind the aqe oldcry
Canberra hasn' t given me enough mtoney and th eyefore
can't do t
You3 wouldn't have any control over the ov'erall. leve" L of intoxne
tax that was being levied. That wouil( be tip to the Premiers~,
how much they added on to the tax lev-td by the Connsonwe3ti.
ST1I) N:
STION:
ST~ IC'N~
ST ION:
ST I( JN
S T. IN:
' STJ ON
03 MIN I& STBR: MAI79inally
NR 1sar o part Ott r-v nu~~-ta ac-tte
Poliies ' aor n r allrl 1with the q~ nral and overall
econcfiic poiicies that are Ze., azdlu as beiin eS:_ arY for
the-gcO~ d eco-noritic nD~ f Ar stralia. 17' D th' 1at ' iS-Dot
a olues tio-n of vontrol but it ansq ui ion ol consultation.
r& lpi CCDF.-ato--rher. in he pa,: ist Pre oier-; Cofexenric
have just: been baruains, eaich com out with the motthat
can possible be-Clot, in ft-ure-uuncir tha Tiew fegeaia
pr ) osa* i there woui he arn rvonetiwic e; ex
an~ 1 1th-e Prime utoa. lXdr rb e a-Ile to sit dec~ on tocrether
ann d ea.. Uy dis~ uss wbat would be 2-5-st in the ovexall1 intexestu.
of all 4utralliis-it lzwOuld b2 a. Completely different
ciiate id that is wihy I believe IM spite of czotradictions
to thle contranry, wie have beenabl get tbrouqh41. t-wo
Prelnier~ i' ConfereTzea, the last one ' LT zecord txin., wi-th. the
wit. 1 a great deal of goodwill . and believe a great deal of
undrstandingby all parties to thotie Iyarticular Conferenices
and that ncluas. twia Premniers who flontt lhapPEM to~ share , y
-2TR) 1N:, What about the next P11remiers' Confertnce? Are-yo* 4 qoing0
to be as genrerous next tirre?
iIS~ h; L cvnlt think it's a question of qeynerosity thank it': s
a qjuestion' of recoqriisina Somethina that is snsible and a
son,-; ible system. I thJLk that is whtat h as attracted people
to therie particular pro'posals-There w. ere deprediictions
in face of tefirst Conference, there Ifere VwOrse pxedictiops
in face of the seuvnd Conference emd nobody know what to say
whan the Confexence was aver with all mat-ters agreed on this
particular su. bject before twelv'e o'clock.
i-STSON: Can you tell us how far tax. indexation will go in the next
badget.
IMF? MINITR: Not tody, no. 1 would. like to be able to, Wle are daerried
to go as far as we poss ible cin witli index~ ation asid we axe
f ~ 1. y. 1 ana comnpleze~ y rzvnn ittud. to izhat.
, STION: The A. N. Ban% 2ays that economic recovery won't spx-ing from
new investment. Izt says that . it will. fkapend f-n cor~
spending. Do you agree with this assess~ nent?
IME M~ jNISVT~ L: n thi; Oz wiy hbAld or-abaoiute statemept tends to ovarstate
a particiilax po-, ition. Reoovery depends on a nu-nmher of
f ac Lor S.
flST~ ON: no you reu. tly expect the Anstraiiin worer to accept
less wag7as?
-3-
;-N5 STR-Nc im '_ Fñ t& 7. Ttr -ticF ' r ofI r-ai ic~ s
than IPdersr.
2 asat -, uarxIjY Waq -c: A sz -4-o *:> ar_-vienc
. oby~ a faz -tile-n e~ Ef thos its~ vec
~~ Th 11rG-t. If o th I f 13 2 i -nC a-2. 7h eY
imi2, the " rati c 2~ vexy ixl
tbi~~ t--ñ trojnfpCa ~ zir -' rases os~
du h'in -or avclle alc-' anI' Omc* iI Iu. tbjI'TkR 2i' c: o6 a1Eo
und -rstand that ñ~~ eis Tjot : 11y3 ~ In, qetig ighr wagez
if his neiq'hbour thexreby l'bes'is ) or,.
STION: PCC1: rding to the latest Trading 13ank ppiore& s le are savJ.,-j
at a very high level. that maet with yolar approval or
woi-ld you pr-Lfer that they wuEt ojutL_ and spent.
14E tNS~ Teear-indicatinon-s that. . Over th~ e pa5t tvo
or three years people havie become. concerned albout the fut-uxe
of their jo'bs. Thley have also become COPCex-nexl ' ecauase 01E
coyit-. tantly raisang prices. Tahs uelpeopt to save
! nore than thbey wouxld. nor-mally save. Saving in Itself is
good and sensible but if -failiies are saving i , ioxe than theyinight
regard as noxinal or xeason bIl~ e bLecause of particular
c ir cu-ms tan-c s o f i Ila U41. o3 or f e ar of ui . Qixnt ths can n
f act add to some of the dif ficulties that we:_ axe ha-virno
at the present time. L~ et i. nc take just ona sa! Tmple if yo Inave
got families all around Australia Baying that t-hey ax e
not going to buy a motor car this year Lcatse* of their conCmcrnj
for the future, obviougly -that has a SIgi -f'. car't impact; fx t-a
fI utuayre toem ppelcoypmlee nits anddo wpxhoatd uycotui orn. o ormf atlhlye dmoo. tor iii'nyeohaust xyh'a. d planneawdh z
to buy a new re-rigerar-or then buy it, if youo bad planned to
-buy a new automobile, then buy' it, and don't pos tpone these
purchases.
3STION: There is nothing that you Would thinyk of doi-ng to enOuage
people to go out and buy a new refrigerator or car?
4.1
( FME lJIN. SiTER: I have said over tbe past month or so, puople should spend
as they normally would because if you get families all ar-c-nd
the country postponing their nornmal epcnituires, obviously4
tha~ t h~ as a cuumulative effect on productia'ori cind Aobs in P. large I
ncber of~ ldustriess andl we don't , iant thZ-at to : c~
3, ON Ax o eeigi mind that pxices axe going up all the ' time
and that it is safer to buy now thanc-to Wait Until the erO
of the. year when it would cost wiore?
[ ME MTNT$ TR: That is a factor that people could very sensib. 1 take irto
account in deciding to buy maybe a little earlie~ r thavi they
o, , h w i se wol.. 3ut : 1 would alec h 1-that result o
the Arbitration Commission. proceed inqt Over the nex~ t few days
that we are going to get%-a syatem of.' wage fixation withini
indexation qruideliries thbat will enable ug to break the back
of inflation and that will do an enormous amount for co~ nfidence
-4-
throcGae. hout t-he hustraIi an CO) TO~ M~ i Tty,
* STIONI: That co. es before price xc: trictions?
MP) E 14-~ ISTER1: There if, already price restriction. UPThere is a Prices
, luhstficatinnf Trribunal.. No cornpanx has brokj) en quideli'nes
laid down by that Tribanal. ITicre have bezen quite a nmh~ er
-lt~ ce v--ions that I-ave sotighl to 7,-thiher wage incxcases
tha th e cq39ielinc-s would have periltted aiiid so. the two bocii-es
cdcn't operate-in the ., aary . The Arbit~ cation Cvwrkissioru
tereis to set riin1fla not maim ap th. e; Prices iu-stific-ation
Tilb~ onal the way it :_-perates va~ ry 3ejtiysets aimn
I 4nmit E; There has been a great shift Fvway fromn prsfitg to
Wallies Over the ThsLtt-o Or thxce x'ea~ cz. That is why a nmIe
olf LfiXjii5 FM1VOAL1-t0hhV iVofey for inveS" CTient. Ta t JL S
whv a nujr~ er of firmns h~ ave contsacted Lind why t-here axe
job"-S aviailabile n) ow thban most of us wouLi Iide to see. !, he oftb
point I wou-ilk to make An this area~ Act * s assume the
' overnmert does ?. IX thu tMn~ is thbat are rigqh-t in terms'.
oa zxensibLe econoimic strategy for rcecovery and cj row. tjh, anod
1 beieve -the start wie have -made in this dir-ction Lee
right, ar, 0 that the poiswe 31ave 1rrtrcdcixd are right but.
thco t-est strategy tJebt ocsir e aqly destxoyece
in the wanes area, ar,( I 1 bCj4-jev the Australi'an comm-junity' is
com~ ing to ,; nd:;-rstarjd. t-hat.
' A ON We have s; ome local reaction -to -jhe cc,.-ing) rce-sus.. Some people
say that the n ed qiestionnaire r'oloses some Tpossible
_ irlrinrgc_ -ent o0 avacy. D~ o you ha-ve'a ' Cear; tion to tUhis?
:. mTe MJvtsteL-: I say~ this reor; in U& e newspapers today and . T have as') edl
qjuestions ab) out it. I ),_ now thcer: e is always con-stant
from those who collect the statisetics -to for more questi-o
atndl cet mora Ii~ Txhnitko~.~ e ie tihat csvn
ai~ asked that auqfht nt o be b: ut* have a; 3ked for a report
in this particnular ingtance.