T 3 PRES S .77
Xñ ATYOBB/-ZOLT RALbLY
Yokir choice in this election is clear cut. Do you wawlt our
Policies of: development and Coniidence, our polici~ a of suc~ zests?
Or do you wtant Labor's policies of futility asid fear, thair
policies of failuxe?
our policies are succeeding they are ready to take A~ ustralia
into a new period of prosperity and achievement, ~ r doing
the job ' e were elected to do.
We pzomdsed to reduce inflationi We've broken its back-
Inflation is 5% and falling. WNe promised to exW Labor's
e2utravagance-. Labor's deficit3 have been halved. nz~~"
to get Australia on the nove: $ 6,000 million oi new inv-sit
projects are underway or Teady to go.
interest rates are ccoing down. In the next 1~ 2 nzimths thay couldi
be reduced by as much as This Will save ther*--averaqe young
couple buying a new hoae $ 10 a wekek -$ 520 a year.
We promised to end L~ abor's taN ripoff. Everyonie's taxes havebec-
n cut by ta~ x d. rdexation. They will be cut again in ? ebruxary.
These tax cuts are fair, People on average earnings of $ 10,000
a year will pay a marginal rate of tax of only 32 centa in thle
dollar. Under the HaIyden scailes. it wa.' s 45 cntg. From-February I
it will be 32 cents riqhtt up to $ 16,000. TAhese ta-x scale s m. ake
it worth work-ing overtimne again.
These tax cuts are Eubstantial. over 90% of taxpayers will-pay
less than one quarter of their incomes in tax. Tsetax cuts
axe a isignificant social reform,. A quarter of a imillion lo~ w
inconm earners, tenjs of thousands of periionera, widows and
students,. with taxable incomes uinder $ 3,730 per year, wl no
longar pay axiy 40tax at all. Labor forgot abouat these groups entirely,
WNe'va got t-he real answer t n~ o~ n. > etntx
jobs. Getting interest r.' t~ z down, that rmam Jobs. Ratstratinizg
Govexrurent exvpenditur., that j-rtan3 jo); si. Cutting ta~ tea, that.
i-rcans jobs.
Th ' rtof February tax cuts ju. 3t two Minths3 away -ilU ir... C6aase
peoplz' s income and inject $ 26.7 ntllion a tweek into te -acon0-_ W,.
PBecaxuse we have reduced inflation the tax~ cuts will c:: ceato tanre
jobs. BeCause people, can s~ pemd nore OUT fiictozies will h-a%', f
-to p2TokducC morc_.
2.
9There will L-e demand for Moye employees and we are Spending
riir1 on on j ob :, ssistance and r-ITa -ing Schemes which wIl
Cesrnec izlly help yovric people learn new sA* ills. These schemes
are hli9the unempployed into : real jobs jobLs that they
cankee~. These. schenes-baye helped over 120~ 000 peopl; ar~~
and they are constantly beilng J.-mprove3 and extended. -ma-jor
the Governmnent has before it show that xunder our plce
job oppor-D. tUni-ties Will ead. From February, unemnploym~ ent
i-i1 fall and Reep, f al Iir. What does Labor pro-mise?
L~ abor proiniaes the moon. What are La-borls Promises w.-ortha nothing.
In his 1972' policy speech, Pir. V-hitlam prorniseda nd I qoolte his
exact words: " Labor* lrs first priority wAll be to restore genuir.
full ezloyment without hedginq, without qvalification."
in his 1974 policy speech m4r. vwhitiam said: ' IN-promised to reatore
cull tlovrent we have restored it inAtal aoi,~ oy
and inflation do not march side by side."
Wilat a bar-e faced effrontery. Thi3 from a government that increaemed
unemployment by almost 200,000 in One Year alOne, that pushed
infLlation up to 19% in the second half of 1974. The Aostralian
people won'!, ever he fooled again by A4r. Whitlaza. With his policy
Speech lying in ruins, undermined by his cmi, menageria of econcmic
spoesienand panicked by the w-eekend oplnioi polls, 14r. VhItlatm
is q0Ing ! Or bro0ke.
iHis political tactics have alwaysa been crash through or cra-sh. U
iJf vou are anywhere in the vicinity next-Satxxdzy, Stand b~ i. TherS
wilbe bita of his Ta-bor Party flying all Over the pl~~ ce. 1Wr. ~ i
doesn't give Australians any credit at all for judge-mt or.
cr-; onsense. H~ e doesn't thinX they can See throughi the = st transp& ra
deceptions. Yesterday, Mr. 14hitlam claimed that Labor would redoee . ue~ loyront
by at least'-100,000 people. But only a few days ' earlier Ar. Hiayden
h-acd cl.--imed that Labor would reduce unemployiztnt by onel half of one
rp r cent, that is 30t000 ' people.
rir, Wihit 1am has mnagically created 70,000 jobs, with juxst a stroke
ofh is pee-hwriter' 5 pen. Yesterday K~ r. Whitlam aaid Labor t-ou. i1d
Tecuce inflation by 5% in the next twelve nionths. But in his policy
rpeech he claimd Labor woiuld reduce it by Hlis speech writers had
been at it again.
You know that speech writer wrote a biography of M4r. ' Whitlam called
Certain Grandeur*. I think that mA Certain Deluosion of Grandeur
io% 21d hav-e been a more iapproptdate title.
vir. 1Whitlam wants a inassive increase in personal irca. o4a tax, a retu-rn
to the old inigh marainal tax ratea. A ' rash"' s-. ending progra--e
woul~ d run at a rate of $ 1600 million a yearover -tw-tbirds Of ouX
present deficit. We all know what larige deflit-,-do. 1-1e al! -ol-nd
oot under Labor. They increase inflation; they inceaso-itezist
ya s; they inCrea unemployment. But on top of he an
infii~ yoiEPrOm5s, 1 rt-L b i Iion:-, olar tha t beha. O .1
se-as no an-Ci-infat..~ on strategy his big spendirta, high tax, high
-, aD a _ Pproach would increase interest rotes again. Labor Is
i~' Lraaqance Ioud blow the emtbars of inflatio-t into the b gge3
ccornomic bushf ire Australia has ever seen. H~ is economic bu~ hfi-3
cudconsune the jobs and the savings of 7iustralia. It t~ ould
erntire1\' burn out the foundations oi growth and prospe. rIty we have
h,-ail1t. Given another chance, Mr-vi~ hitlarn would -make the years
192-95 oo i~ apcnc.~ r. Vhitlam would actually. incr ise
taxes, Labor would recall Parliament to repeal our February taA,
ctt reforms. To pay for the abolition of payroll tax, Labour wouild
have to increase personal ta. es by $ 850 million this year $ 1) 00
million next. Labor's payroll tax scheme would not create employment.
Iwith-in days of Mr. Whitlam's policy speecti, a survey of major
en-i-ployers fournd that not one company forecast any Ancrease-in staff
nmibers if payroll tax were lifted. Yet Labor should not be
surprised. . The Premier of South Australia, U4r. Dunstan, made it
clear in Seeptem-ber that he had tried a payroll remission sceme,
and that it had failed. Only the present members of the Labor ParTty
would seriously put forward a plan to rip huge sums in taxes from
ordinary Australians and use them to pay big companies. I ask the
working men and women of Australia do you want -to give $ 6 a week I
to your company because that's where it would go annoob
be created. hecmaishave said so.
! jet's look at what some of the big companies would get:
UTAH 2 M4ILLION
CRA $ 10 MILLION
B) P$ 33 miLLION
film S 4.5 MILLION
CSR 8 KILLION
i3ANK OF NSW $ 11 MILLION'
FORD$ 7 MILLION
ACI $ 11 MILLION
DUNLOP $ 11 $ 13 141LL 101
GE14rIPAL PMO1TORS $ 10 MILLION
La~ bor's policies are a sore-fire recipe for economic disaster, more
unemploynent, higher inflation, higher wages with lower investmentF
and business confidence. Whitlan hasn't changemd, the Labor
Party hasn't changed. No wonder a survey of 244 Victorian -mnufacturex
last P~ riday showed that manufacturers overwhelmingly felt the return
or a Labor administration would have adverse effecta on their
busin~ ess. Small firms, with less than 100 cemrployes had the least
conf idence . in a Labox coveirLent. Comparcd with a si-Millar stu. rvev
6uvinq the 1975 election.. -there is iEvpn less confidence in La.-, or now
thnthere wa5 then. Labor's confusion arid socialist ideology weould
be disastr-ous for business con-fidence, disastrous for getting 4os
W1 V,
-4i-
Viitr am always talks about increasing emiploymn ent. " Jiis poliCies
ah% L 3 way s irccreas; ed tunem~ ployment. His policies on i t'plovment_ are
woxass, L~ o c~ lyrdcdtenmber of peo-ple in 1975 who
liad 4obs. have reversed that trcnd.. ' Uder otis h
_) rnb PCo p Ci ob a nrased by 180,000 nra
Liberal '-oer. mnEnt;, A ustralia will grow and develop at a rate which
enule th-e niur1. iber o-f jobs kee~ ps Ancrasintj. We have reduced inilatiJol
a. Y~ e are~ giving Australian indus' 0try the protection it needs to ensur,
existing -Jobs a naintained. We will not he a party to ex-portin~ g
b~ straian jb 1.1-r. whitiarn is obsessed with reducing p-rotection
for 70itraliain Jobs. Ilie is the unvemployment expert.. His noLorious
across t-he bar. d tariff slash wirved out tens of tho-usands oi
jo-bs. Mr. Whitlan went ahead with that aisaatrous deciaion daspite
the iaCt & 6. h1at hea was officially warnei by aZ Tariff Board report tha~ t
slich a lahwould harm industry anid create raore % uxepXoyment.
nm-dee une~ mploymert a deliberate anid calculated act o E his
(;' erj~ hnt > nolicy". Now he wanlts to do ita~ airi. 1A. r. hla
ardSenator Wreidt say Labor is conmitted to an in= i-diate r,-
structu*-ing qf industry. We all know what that means they want to
rtructure tens oF thousands of Australians on to the dole.
Axirztralia enjoyed 20 yeas of full ewployment under auccessive
Liberal Goverrnmeit3. in just three years, the Whitlam Goven~ nt
Iii-ade unemploymnent a major problein, with their ext-ravagance, their
hi. gh wages policy, aynd their indiscriminate tariff cuta.
t~ hey re ca lling for the disantling of protection. They refusei
iD. uarit blank to bacA the support we . have given to the alzivaral, tL
LId -footwear industries Which arp major employers throughou. t utl
They refused because they said they were a free trade party.
Th7. e consequences of thia callous betrayal of working Australians areD
k-,"; fense. As the Executive Director of the Australian Cone-eration
oi Apparel. Manufacturers said: " No Andustry could be Ceyftain Of
SUX-VIVal 44f a bLbor Party came into power.*
-with a Liberal Government, each industry and the inen and wom~ en
ei-, ployed in each industry can rest assured they ' will receive the
protection they ne-ed. We have increased protection for industries
with a total employment of -over a quarter of a imillion Australians.
Our long-term policy i3 to concentrate our efforts or, tilt things
we; 3me good at doing. But to talk about restruc1tUr~ n9 Austrian
in dustry now when unemployment ia high and the economy A3 not : u". ing
lfutl capa; i ty asa rrant nonsense. It is aeademic heory which
nvolves bighly practical unemployment. That's what Mr. W* iitlam
wants to do for the unemployed.
our policies have the support of many Labor men. M4r. Dh~ stan . backs
our stand on pxotection. In Singapore last-mionth he said, " it's a
prFectly' proper thing for us to say... we can't allow our ipoet
t be lessened by inarort, -which wtill niinply throw people into
Ti-L w~ eek Rr. H-awke said he wanted Labor to pro-rise to maint. ain aiwplov:-
i th, footwear, clothing and apparel industrie., but he uas overrulaed
Ov Whitlam. 1-13. ffay-den and Rir. Young. AbOut half the f, ctor~ ms
in these indkistxien are concentrated in Vict'Loria, both in ! ndustx-ial
and country centres. Ahout 80% of ~ u ' e3 ar -2 n
L-ar r ;) cQ , rats DT\ lic-toC77th _ 3ov ~ t
Labor refuses to give any firm assurances to these industries
industries employing 120,000 people. So much for Labor'~ s professed
concern f or unemployment. Which other industries~ has Labor m~ arkied
for the guillotine? Is it the wood, wood products and furniture
industries, with employment of 73,000? Paper andA paper products
and printing, employing 97,000? Basic chemicals and related
products, 56,000? Appliances and electrical equipment, 81,000?
industrial machinery and scientific eqiiipommtp 80,000?
The only job fir. WThitlam is anxious to protect is him own as Leader.
It's no worider M4r. Hawke is going around the pubs saying Mir. Wbitlaa's
stature has diminished. Mr.. Hawke says the Labor Party used to be
Cough Whitlam. but it isn't any longer. No doubt he had in mind
Mr. Whitlam's single most powerful election prosise to resign within
two years. 14r. IWhitlan has PrOalsed it. Mir. Hlayden has promised it.
Ir. Hawke has promised it. It's about the only proaeiae they curently
agree on. But people should be6 beware. This promaise is likely to
be as reliable as all his other promises. Labor ) hasn't changed
its still. the p-arty of confusion, contradiction an~ d conflict.
After weeks of hopeless confusion on tax indexation, payroll. tax.,
uraniumi and wages pol. icy, Labor's half dozen economiic spokesmen had
a .90-minute five-way telephone hook-up. r Whitlam was left
out of this happy hook-up. -He has gota major hang-up over that.
At the end of thils ' 90-minute marathon Mr. Hawke annoujneed " absolute
consensus" had been reached and promptly gave three conflicting
versions on wages policy in the space of a one pa~ e stat~ ment. if
that's Labor'Is idea of concensus, imagine what a disagreement would
be like.
N ? r* Whitlamls complaining about pe ople who ring him up on talk-back
shows. He says that people who ring him up are all Liberal supporters
I think he is right there are millions of Liberals all over Australia
and the number is growing each day. Poor Mr Whitlam. He cannot talk
to his colleagues, he won't talk to the press, and tie complains when h
talks to the people. oon there will be no one left in the whole of
Australia for Kr Whitlam to talk to.
As for poor Mr Burford, he would lQve it if people stopped talking to
him. When a journalist recently' asked him in Cairns what Labor's
policy was on '' tax indexation, he said he couldn't say because he had
only read the " Cairns Post'. ' But he-added he would be having a press
conference a few days later, and he said he would make sure he had
read some of the major city papers before then. But having read . the
papers, he wisely-cancelled his press conference.
What has become crystal clear over the last fortnight is that Labor
does not understand'the economiy, has no coherent, agreed economic
policies and, above all, has no effective Btrategy to reduce unemploymei
Trhey are still the party of disunity, disagreement anid discord. In
short, their policies would only serve to increase unemployment.
one of the greatest causes of unemployment is unjustified industrial,
diLsputes. ' in the Victorian power disrhute 450,000 people were laid off
for weeks. 36,000 permnanently lost their jobs.
one of our major achievements is that we have established the framework
f or commonsense, justice and order in industrial relations. Labor for
once are quite agreed on what they would do in this area repeal all
our reforms protecting individual unionists and the general public;
and place unions above the law.
-6-
Labor would repeal secret postal ballots for the election of union
officials. Labor would repeal our laws which let unionists know
how their union's funds are being spent. Labor would exempt unions
from the provisions of the Trade Practices Act. Labor would repeal
all penalties for strikes against Arbitration Commission decisions.
Labor would repeal our laws dealing with demarcation disputes. ; ow
could anyone object to laws as obviously fair and essential as these?
Tih e reason is not. hard. to find. The left-wing unions are all affiliat
with the Labor Party. They all pay money to the Labor Party. And
they have a large voice in determining official ALP policy. Mr Whitlam
is unable to resist them. That's why: he has completely abdicated
responsibility for the damage which their disruption can cause.
Unlike the Labor Party, we have taken the view that no one can be
above the law, that individual unionists have a right to be heard,
and to be protected from intimidation; that it is the responsibility
of the Government to protect the interests of the whole community.
Our firm and responsible policy has the support of responsible unionists
In my policy speech a fortnight ago I outlined a comprehensive
programme which realistically tacked the problems we face, and which
included creative and dynamic policies to meet Australia's needs..'
Our new initiatives were carefully costed. They are a responsible and
workable strategy for restoring Australia to prosperity. Our clear,
consistent economic policy has been shown to work. By getting inflati.
down, the deficit-dOwn-, interest rates down, taxation down, we are
giving the economy the stimulus it needs to grow. By getting investmet
up, growth and development up, production and productivity up,. we are
creating more jobs for more people not temporary, artificial jobs
which peter out when some government-subsidy runs out, but real jobs,
permanent jobs, jobs that Australians can keep.
0oo0oo ø 4d
ADDITION TO PAGE 3
AND IT'S NOT 9UST TlAT 14R WBITLA'S PAYROLL TAX
PROPOSAL DOES NO ONE ANY GOOD.
IT'S NOT JUST THAT iT WOULD TAKi0 BILLIONS OF X3OLLARS
OUT 0] THE HIWDS OF TBlE VORIHNG IEN AN) WOMEN~ OF AUS TRALIA,
A" rU'r IT iNTO TIHE HANDS OF LARGE AND PROPITABLE COMPANIES.
IT WOULD NOT PROVIDF ANT STIKLULUS TO THE ECONOMY.
IT WOULD) DANAGE SiALL BUSINESSES THAT ARE ALREADY
EMT PRON PAYROLL TAX. THEY WOULD BE AT A DISADVANTAGE
COMPARED WITH THE BIG COMPANIES. AND TBEY VOULD RAVE
TO BEAR T11B ADDITIONAL BLTRDE14 OF LABORS POLICY O FUL
WAGE INDEXATION.
LABOR'SI-I4LY DID NOT THINK THIS SCHT14IE TBROUGH.
THEiR MASSIVE E PWI3NDIT1JRE PROGRANI4XS WOULDJ RAISt
U~ kJ1iWLOYMFNT CONSTIDERABLY*
~ Rrr-