EMBARGO: 1.30 PM
FOR MEDIA . SATURDAY, 5 JUNE 1982
CONVENTrION OF THE TASMANIAN YOUNG LIBERAL MOVEMENT
I am delighted to be with you in Tasmania today not
only as this occasion marks the Young Liberal Movement's
first quarter century, but also because this is the
first time I have come to Tasmania since your
magnificent election victory three weeks ago. That
victory, under Robin Gray's leadership, represents a
turning point in Tasmanian politics and in the
development of this State. It is the first time a
Liberal Government has been elected in its own right in
Tasmania. Policies designed to restore confidence and growth to
the Tasmanian economy can now be implemented. Efficient
procedures for public administration can now come into
operation. This State will undoubtedly benefit from
having a Liberal Government, pursuing liberal
objectives, and acting in the interests of all
Tasmanians. The Young Li'b eral Movement has a role to play in
this, and the standing enjoyed by the Young Liberal
Movement wit~ hin the Liberal Party recognises the
important contribution which young people have to make
to the affairs of this nation. The constructive
achievements of Liberalism grow out of a vision of what
Australia can be. It is only through Liberal policies
that this vision can be realised. And the greatest
contribution of Liberalism to the building of modern
Australia hais been its ability to define and keep to a
role for government which permits the Australian people
to express :' 6anc tion their values and their abilities.
The Liberal Party has clearly defined ideals which have
their effective expression in the policies we pursue and
I want to outline the substance of these ideals, and the
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direction in which they are leading Australia. The
first ideal is a belief in Australia, in Australians and
in what the Australian people can achieve when
Government permits them to strive after the things they
value, rat~ her than trying to impose some political
ideology onto them.
It is impossible to think of a field in which
Australians have not recorded outstanding
achievement but there is one field where achievement
underpins opportunities in most others the field of
economic life. In the last three years Australia has
swum againist the tide of the world recession our economy
has grown, real incomes have grown. This has taken
place at a time when a tighter rein has been kept on
Government spending in Australia than in probably any
other industrial country.
It is of the greatest importance for Australia that the
gains we have made should be maintained and strengthened
that we should redouble our determination to live within
our means as a nation and reject the Labor fantasy that
letting spending run out once more will stimulate the
economy. Let there be no question about itI the whole
thrust of the policies we have put in place have been
directed towards putting more real dollars in people's
pockets and through the growth that has been achieved.
We have already been successful in that.
There may always be a need for adjustments to the
details of policy as circumstances vary and the
Government takes account of that. As our housing package
and other initiatives plainly illustrate for that
package, which balances sound economic management with
broader social objectives, provides help where help is
most needed in support of the great Australian goal of
home ownership.
I Our overall policy approach has given the Australian
economy great underlying strength a massive renovation
has been achieved since we came to power in 1975 and the
cracks in the foundations repaired. Sound Government
has made it possible by unleashing the abilities and
enterprise of the Australian people themselves. A
second ideal which motivates Liberals is a belief in
excellence. We believe it is in the interests of
everyone if individuals are encouraged to achieve to
their utmost according to their abilities. And we have
given high priority to excellence in a number of areas.
We have transferred resources to areas where excellence
can be encouraged in the revival of Australian films, in
establishing the Institute of Sport, in nearly doubling
NHMRC medical research grants in the last two years and
in recent. grants for centres of excellence in Australian / 3
universities. In addition, we have encouraged people to
develop a wide range of abilities to a high level,
emphasising the expansion of opportunities for young
Australians to acquire the technical and other skills
they need to take full advantage of the resurgence of
enterprise and development our policies have
encouraged. Since 1975, Commonwealth spending on
Technical And Further Education and on training schemes
has increased by 83.2% in real terms.
A third belief which underlies the policies of modern
Liberalism is the belief that the cultural and ethnic
diversity of Australia can be a source of great strength
and creativity. The ideal of the multicultural society
recognises diversity as one of the main supports of the
Liberal belief in freedom, and it has been expressed in
many ways in our policies through the Galbally programs,
which were implemented following our acceptance of the
Galbally report in 1978 and which are currently being
reviewed to ensure their continuing effectiveness and
relevance; through the Institute of Multicultural
Affairs, which is helping people understand the value of
cultural and ethnic diversity in Australian life; through
multicultural television and through immigration from a
wider range of countries, including Asian countries..
I believe the scope of our policies in this area is
without parallel in the world and Australia is
undoubtedly deriving great strength from the rich
cultural resources now to be found among the Australian
people. A fourth ideal which has motivated this Government is a
strong and safe Australia. Strength and safety are to a
significant extent, of course, functions of defence and
foreign policy. Our commitment to the Western Alliance,
and to the modernisation and build-up of our independent
military forces is well known. We are now in the middle
of a defence re-equipment program costing more than
billion and we now have, in the words of the recently
retired Chief of the Defence Force Staff, the best
equipped and best-trained force we have ever had in
peacetime. Our commitment to a safe and secure Australia is linked
to a fifth. ideal which has motivated the policies of
this Government the ideal of an Australia which can do
something positive to help in relieving the terrible
conditions. of poverty, disease and oppression which
exist for hundreds of millions of the world's people.
In recent years Australia has been a leader among
industrialised countries in getting a fairer deal for
developing~ countries in world markets. We'have been a
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4.
leading source of initiatives through the Commonwealth,
and our proposals for consideration in the context of
the Versailles Summit can be seen as a significant step
towards breaking the current global negotiations impasse
because of their benefits to developing nations.
In addition to these initiatives, our constant attempts
to strengthen human rights and to combat racism has had
a great effect in improving and enhancing the view which
other nations take of Australia as a concerned and
outward-lcoking nation. Our capacity to help people in
other countries as well as at home is very much related
to our economic strength. The solution to poverty is
not higher taxes and bigger bureaucracy, it is economic
growth and. a proper concentration of help on those in
need.
This brincs me to a sixth ideal reflected in the
priorities; of modern liberalism the ideal of an
Australia where economic strength enables ever improving
provision for the disadvantaged and those in need. We
are committed to a strong and effective system of social
security. It should never be forgotten that Liberalism
establishEd the system of federal old age and invalid
pensions and in fact social security and welfare
spending is the largest single item in our budget,
amounting to over $ 11 billion.
Despite economic conditions and despite the great
increase in social security and welfare spending in the
early seventies, we have actually increased the total
real leve. of spending in this area while concentrating
assistance more on those in need. Our health scheme
provides for free health care for some three million
Australians, while giving incentives for those on higher
incomes to insure themselves and effective social
security and welfare arrangements will always remain one
of the top priorities of modern liberalism.
Liberal programs have expressed another ideal which is
now added to the list : the ideal of an Australia which
is governed in the interests of all, in the public
interest, and not on behalf of special interests. The
pressure on Government by special interests for
privileges is unceasing. Most interests argue, and
believe, -that they are acting in the public interest but
the truth is that they are often acting in their own.
Resisting such pressures, which has been closely linked
with our success in holding spending in check, has been
one of the real achievements of this government and it
has also helped to spread a greater sense of realism in
the commun~ ity about what is possible and desirable.
Labor is of course particularly vulnerable here, not
only becaase demands for more money and restrictive
regulation~ are music to its ears but because it is
actually the political agent for s~ fll' of the most
extreme trade unioni interests in the country,
a relationship highlighted here in Tasmania in
the last twelve months.
This brings me to another of the ideals we have sought
to realise. in Government the ideal of a society in
which there is a balance in the power of the large
private institutions of business and trade unions in
which neither is strong enough to dominate, and in which
both are checked by the power of Government, the rights
and freedo'ms of individuals, and their own good sense
and co-operative attitudes. Under Labor, government
becomes a partisan on behalf of extremists in the trade union
movement, supporting massive wage increases and the
obstruction of business profits, and granting new legal
privileges, to the union movement.
The Govern~ ment believes that the excessive power of left-wing
unions relative to other interest groups in Australia
was one of' the deep-seated sources of cost push
inflation in Australia during the 1970' s. It is, of
course, entirely predictable that Labor as a special
interest party has undertaken to repeal much of our
industrial legislation, and remove the checks and
balances we are building into the system in the public
interest. In the Liberal view it is only under conditions of
balance that we will see conflict more often replaced
with a spirit of compromise and conciliation. Such a
willingness to compromise and co-operate is necessary
if, for example, there are to be realistic prospects of
extending collective bargaining in Australia.
Strengthening the rights of individuals against large
organisations whether business, union or Government
has long been a Liberal ideal and one which has
received the enthusiastic endorsement of Young Liberals.
We have taken a number of historic steps to protect
individual rights, including most recently the Human
Rights Comrmission and our Freedom of Information
legislation. Our belief in ensuring that rights and
freedom are protected, and power is decentralised, has
particular bearing on our ideals in relation to the
structure of Government itself. Our ideal is Government
which is strong, efficient, economical and effective,
but not centralised in Canberra; not bureaucratic or
domineering. I mention two of the major ways in which we have given
practical expression to this ideal for Government in the
last six years.
One is by returning to the States significant
independent powers in financial matters, and in the
control of offshore lands. Between 1975-76 and 1981-82
the proportion of untied Commonwealth payments to the
States has risen from 51% to over 65% and the proportion
of total Commonwealth Budget outlays accounted for by
untied payments to the States has also risen. The
financial interests of all States, including Tasmania,
have been protected through these policies.
The other has been through the most extensive
ministerial review of the functions of the Commonwealth
Government in the history of Australia the Review of
Commonwealth Functions.
The historic commitment of Liberalism to moderate and
evolutionary reform has been an essential element in our
record of constructive achievement. Liberals build on
the achievement of the past, while striving towards
ideals yet unrealised. Our approach to constitutional
reform is evidence of this and people should not forget
that while 7 of the 17 constitutional amendments put
before the people by Liberal Governments since
Federation have been successful, only one of the 19
amendments put forward by Labor has been accepted by the
people. There is a reason for this contrast. Successful
constitutional reform requires that the proposed
amendments express or are not obnoxious to, the values
of the Australian people. The Australian people value
the regime of decentralised Federal Government in our
constitution and have rejected again and again
Labor's proposals to concentrate more power in Canberra.
The present Government has introduced more successful
constitutional amendments than any other Government in
Australia and we have recently suggested to the States a
further session of the Constitutional Convention for it
is proper that our Constitution should continue to
evolve through mechanisms such as this.
This brings me to the last of ideals we have sought to
put into practice in the last six years the ideal of
an Australia which has the foresight to conserve its
heritage and to hand on what is of value to future
generations. Our record in conserving Australia's
magnificent natural heritage takes second place to no
Australian Government, Federal or State at any time.
Fraser Island, Kakadu National Park, the Great Barrier
Reef Marine Park, Anti-Whaling legislation and many
other initiatives all stand as symbols of a practical
ideal realised and we remain committed to that
objective. / 7
But there is more to our historic heritage than our
natural environment, or historic artifacts and
buildings. Our most valuable inheritance from the past,
and the most valuable bequest we can make to the future
is the heritage of humane values and ideals. Those
values are our real treasure.
We who practise our politics in the Liberal tradition
believe that it is Liberalism whose ideals and
understandings can best realise those values. We must
never lose sight of these ideals, and in pursuing them
we have a duty to be responsive to changing
circumstances and seize the opportunities to create a
more secure and prosperous society.
As Young Liberals, you have an active and important role
to play in the process of policy formation in our Party
and a vital role in carrying the Liberal message to the
whole community. I am confident that the enthusiasm
and dedication of Tasmania's Young Liberals over the
last twenty-five years will continue to serve the
Liberal Party and the ideals of Liberalism in the
interests of all Tasmanians and all Australians.
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