NE1: W YEUARI IMEAE
Sta temcnt by the Acting Pr ime Mi n ister
the Rt lion. J. D. Anthony, Mi. P1.
Trhc fact that 1983 will he a difficult year should not caIuse
us to throw in the towel but make us ask ourselves what we can do
to minimise our problems and make the most of our oJpportUni ties.
We would be foolish to try to hide the difficulties
Australia and its people face in the coming year.
Yet despite the problems the outlook beyond the immediate
future is anything but gloomy. We have an abundance of natural
resources and great productive capacity. We also have the human
resources necessary to enable us to take advantage of world
economic recovery when it occurs.
Our current economic problems are partly the result of the
world-wide recession as a result of which unemployment is at very
serious levels in virtually all developed countries. In
Australia, our own situation was worsened by excessive wage
increases which occurred when production was not rising. These
increases added to costs and inflation, they undermined our
competitiveness, and contributed in a major way to the rise n
unemployment But there are some things we can do to help ourselves. As
events in New South Wales in the last few days have shown, if we
are prepared to attack a serious problem when practical means are
available to do so, excellent results can be achieved.
Random breath-testing, despite the concern some people have
about it, does appear to have achieved a most important and
worthwhile reduction in the road toll over the Christmas period.
This demonstrates that if the community is prepared to
accept a radical approach and the disciplines and limitations
such approaches demand, very worthwhile results can be achieved.
The wages pause which the Commonwealth is seeking to have
put in place is, for Australia a radical approach to our economic
problems, and in particular the problems-of unemployment.
It is an approach which involves discipline and even a
degree of sacri fice on the part of those who have jobs, in the
interests of helping those who want jobs, or are anxious about
losing jobs.
If we are all prepared to make the-wage pause work, it can
he of real value. If some of-us are not prepared to give it a
fair go, and seek to undermine it, there is no chance of its
working, and achieving the results it is capable of achieving.
Last week's decision by the Conciliation and Arbitration
Commission to implement a 6-month pause in federal award rates is
a welcome reflection of the consensus which is developing in our
community. Some State tribunals have made similar decisions.
Unfortunately, some union leaders have attacked the
tribunals' decisions and have announced their intention to ignore
or circumvent them. Such an approach would be selfish and
misguided. I do not believe thinking Australians will support
this sort of approach.
To circumvent the Commission's decision, to ignore a measure
which all governments have agreed is necessary, by campaigning
for over-award wage rises, by threatening industrial action, will
not help our economy to recover and will not create jobs.
I ask all wage and salary-carners to give the wage pause a
chance to work. We all owe that to our fellow Australians who
are suffering real hardship.
For many Australians, the New Year, unless good rain falls
soon, will see a continuation of an already desperate situation.
The drought that is ravaging a large part of Australia is
affecting not only many thousands of individual farmers and their
families, but also the communities of which they are part, and
the nation as a whole.
The scope of the disaster is perhaps not yet fully grasped,
nor is the extent of the economic consequences of the drought
fully apparent. It is certainly adding to the severity of the
recession and adversely affecting the whole economy.
The Commonwealth, and the various State Governments, are
doing a great deal to try to help people get through the drought,
and this is costing the taxpayer a lot of money.
There may be a need to do more. The Government will respond
to such needs as they become evident.
Wheat growers need finance to plant their next crop and,
when the drought ends and we all hope that will be very soon
farmers will need help in financing re-stocking. I am confident
the banks and other financial institutions will be as
understanding as they can be of farmers' needs, and indeed of the
needs of every section of the community affected by the
drought. The Government will be giving close attention to these
requi rements. As we enter 1983, the challenge is to remember that our
future lies largely in our own hands.
3.
We can put the blame on everyone else, or on things we
cannot control or we can look for things we can do to help put
Australia back on a strong economic footing.
We often speak of the need for all Australians to pull
together in times of difficulty. The wage pause even though it
is but one element of our efforts gives us an opportunity to do
just that: for everyone who receives a wage or salary, or who
receives a professional income, to join together in an exercise
in restraint. Here is something we can do. Let's do it, and let us all
put our efforts into making Australia in 1983 a more productive
efficient and rewarding place for its people.
Canberra 31 December 1982