EMBAlCO:
K PRIME MINISTER
FOR MEDIA SUNDAY, 6 FEBRUARY 1983
ELECTORATE TALK
T have explained over the last week why the election is
' important and why it is being held at this time. In the last
day or two we will have all-read reports in the paper that the
Labor Party would fight this election on a progarn of reconciliation.
There are one or two questions I would like to ask about that. If
the LAbor Party wants reconciliation, why is the Labor Party
itself so divisive, why does it threaten the consensus we have
had for a long while on defence and education and above all., on
the wage pause?
The Federal Government successfully negotiated the wage pause
with all State Governments, Liberal, Labor and National Party.
it is rare for such a consensus to be reached. But the pause has
not only been supported by every Government, it is respected
and supported by the majority of Australians. Everyone knows
that the $ 300 million the Conunonwealth alone will save in
wages will provide jobs and the pause will help to make our
industries competitive and profitable.
A week or so ago even Mr Hayden recognised economic reality
and gave grudging support to the pause. Then the unions, or
possibly Mr Hawke, cracked the whip and Mr Hayden returnecd to
full opposition to the wage pause. By opposing the pause the
Federal Labor Party and the trade unions the two cannot be
separated are the odd ones out. Federal Labor voted against
it in Parliament in both Houses and since then Labor's Deputy
Leader has incited people to take industrial action against the
pause. When asked whether Labor would support industrial
action, the Deputy Leader said on 27 January " yes, you have
got to do that"..
Mr Hawke's statement last Friday that the wage pause would
continuie until a national economic summit is called, is
meaningless. The pause would only continue for a week or so,
because the summit would be his first act.
it would seem clear from everything Labor has said that it
in fact supports the 8% claim by the oil workers. The Deputy
Leader of the opposition made that clear when he said the unions
were entitled to take industrial action, yet the key people in
the dispute the electricians on strike are earning up to
$ 30,000 a year. If these demands were met it would start a ne~ w
major wage round, undermininq the whole basis of the wage pause. / 2
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Now, in these circumstances the Federal Labor Party cannot turn
around an. d say everyone else is being confrontationist and it
is the Only Party capble of reconciliation, because the
reverse is the truth. It. is the Federal Labor Party which i,
confronting all eight Governments. It is the Federal Labor
Party which is being destructive. It is the Federal Labor
Party which is breaking the unity, the cor: nensus of Australia.
The ANZUS Treaty has been regarded as an integral part of
Australia's defence for decades and it has been supported
by all major pcrties. But the Victorian Government has made it
perfectly plain it does not welcome visits to Victorian ports
by American nuclear ships. As I have often explained, that
means keeping all American ships out of Victorian ports because
by saying whether their ships are nuclear armed or not, the
United States would be giving vital defence secrets to the
Soviet Union and they obviously cannot do that. The Victorian
Government's attitude has been reinforced by the Deputy
Leader of the Federal Opposition who has said that " we cannot
allow Australia's defence forces to become inter-linked with
those of the United States".
The Commonwealth Government had to press the Victorian Government
very firmly and insist that the visits would continue to take
place, but the Federal Labor made no effort to stop the Victorian
Goverment and if Labor took that view in Government it would
make it impossible for the Americans to fulfill their obligations
under ANZUS. The American alliance is a long-standing policy
which is acceptable to nearly all Austalians. Why then does
Labor challenge some essential elements of it? What sort of
ally are we if we say to the United States, we want your help
but your ships cannot visit our ports?
If Labor believes in reconciliation, why does it threaten
to take away the inalienable right of every child to some
Government support for his or her education, a right that had
come to be accepted by all political parties? Labor is thus
creating insecurity and uncertainty and is denying a choice
in education to thousands of families who are not as well-off
as some others.
These are three issues on which the Labor Party is seeking
to breach what, without them, would be a full national consensus.
One of the reasons why the Labor Party is divisive is that they
are a party of factions, and one of the strongest of those
factions is the Socialist Left, totally opposed to almost
everything that Australia stands for. If the Labor Party wants
reconciliation, why do they have in the platform a commitment to
turning Australia into a republic? Why do they want to tear
up our flag and get a new one? That is a further commitment in
their platform. Why do they raise these issues if they want
reconciliation? I don't suppose they will want to talk about them
during this campaign, but as platform items, all Labor members of
the Labor Party would be committed to put them into effect.
k77' TW 157 F WF. W" W", 911, 1 , r. 7 7
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Agaiiist the backgiound of their recent actions and committed
policies, their slogan about bringing Australia together is
total humbug. Labor's internal divisions make it very difficult
for them to reach decisions or, policies. For example, they
oppose the wage pause even though they have absolutely no
economic policy of their own. I asked a large number of people
last week i f they could name one single policy of the Labor
Party which is relevant to the current economic circumstances
of Australia. One or two said " oh, they would call a conference",
but a conference isn't a policy. We consult with people all
the time, the unions, management, the State Governments. Tt is
a continuing process, but it is not a policy.
Thev fa ct that nobody could think of a single Labor policy
which is relevant to the Australian economy in 1983, and that
Labor offers no more than a threat to the national consensus
says something very fundamental about this Labor Party. It
shows that not only is the Labor Party thoroughly divided,
divisive and confrontationist in its approach, but also
that a Labor Government would lead to enormous insecurity
for Australian families.
If anybody wanted to risk the future and elect a Labor Government,
it would be the greatest gamble in the history of their own
lives.