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EMBARGO: 5.00 Pm.
PRIMEUS MINSTL
FOR MEDIA SUNDAY, 6 SEPTEMBER 1981
ELECTORATE TALK
( The weekly Prime Ministerial electorate talk is today given
by the Treasurer, Mr John Howard.)
Today I would like to . say something about the subject of
resource development. This has been very much in the news over
the past week or two and the debate we have had is very welcome:
because it enables all of us to see the issue in proper
perspective. I think the Acting Prime Minister, Doug Anthony, put his
finger very much on the point when he said that we neither have
a boom or a mirage so far as our resource development is
concerned. There can be no doubt that resource development
in Australia is proceeding at a very, very rapid rate and very
strongly. There can be no argument that our reserves of energy,
in partic-ular, are very keenly sought and any examination of
what has happened to the patterns of investment in this country
over the last few years will indicate the enormous amount of
money which has gone into resource development. In the last
financial year alone, there was a rise of no less than 21% in
real terms in the total volume of business investment in Australia
and that was the sharpest rise in this country for more than
years. Not all of that investment went into the resources
area, but a very major part of it did and that figure alone
illustrates both the willingness and the capacity of people
both here and abroad to invest in the resource future of this
country. But these developments do not mean that across the whole sectrum
of the resource industries is the development proceeding at*
the same pace and with the same degree of strength, nor do
these developrments deny the fact that even in an era of strong
resource growth there will be periods during which Particular
minerals will not be in heavy demand, and p eriods during which
individual comdpanies will exnperience slack activity and lessened
demand for particular minerals. In other words a period of
strong resource growth does not mean that every company will a: lways
produce strong results, nor that every mineral will always be in
constantly heavy demand. It is important, therefore, that we
preserve a sense of balance and ' nersnective about the nature
of resource development in this country. There can be no
doubt about its strength, but equally, there will be occasions
when uneven patterns emerge. / 2
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The question inevitably arises in such a consideration, as to
what is the proper role of the Government. I believe the
proper role of the Government is to create the right economic
climate for the sensible and responsible development of our
mineral resources. We do this by creating an anti-inflationary
climate and there can be no doubt that this Government has laboured
very hard to bring down this country's rate of inflation, to
produce a reduced domestic cost structure, and to make Australian
industry as competitive as possible abroad.. More particularly,
we have followed a foreign investment policy which has made it
attractive for foreigners to invest in this country, whilst at
the same time showing a determination to preserve for Australians
a proper share of the development of our natural resources.
. Achieving this balance has not always been easy, but there can.
be no doubt about the resolve of the Fraser Government to
continue with a foreign investment policy which maximises the
advantages of foreign investment, whilst at the same time
making absolutely certain that Austral. ians have a proper
share of the domestic action, so far as the ownership of our
resources is concerned.
The Government's policy of pricing our fuel at the world level
is another exampleof following the right policy at the right
time which has had a significant effect on the investment
climate and also upon the development of our resources. There
can be no doubt that this particular policy of the Government
has encouraged investment not only in further oil exploration in
Australia, but also in the development of alternative energy
sources. Without this policy that particular investment
would not have occurred, and is thus a prime example of
Government policy improving the investment climate and making
it more attractive from a business point of view to sensibly
exploit the natural resources that this country has.
These thoughts all add up to one thing, that it is the role of
the Government to create the right overall economic climate.
It is then the role of private enterprise and commerce in
Australia to make the necessary investment and entrepreneurial
decisions. Creating the right climate and maintaining it does
not mean that all of the rules of the game are going to remain
immutable for all time. Governments must have the right, on
occasions, and according to changed circumstances, to vary some of the
rules which affect business operations in this country.
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