PRIME MINISTER
FOR MEDIA 6 April 1983
Since the National Economic Summit was first proposed,
one of its central features has been its role as an
information-sharing occasion.
In line with my commitment to provide a range of information,
three documents with which the Government has been involved
in the preparation of have been sent to participants.
The three are:
S a Department of Finance report on the forward
estimates for the next three financial years;
S an Information Paper on the economy; and
an addendum to this paper which includes six
information papers commissioned by the Technical
Committee to the National Economic Summit.
The forward estimates have been released for the first
time by any Federal Government.
The Information Paper covers developments in the domestic
and international economies from 1971-2 to the present day.
This paper was compiled by a sub-committee of the
Technical Committee which comprised representatives of
the ACTU, CAI and officers of the Australian Bureau of
Statistics and the Department of Employment and Industrial
Relations and the Treasury.
Each organisation represented on the committee has agreed
that the facts contained in the paper provide an
indication of the state of the economy up to the present
time. The addendum to the information paper provides factual
information on certain existinq Government policies and
In addition, a second addendum of background papers will
be sent later to participants.
The purpose of releasing all of these papers is to provide
participants in the Summit with a common information base.
A Steering Committee for the Summit has been established
to assist in the conduct of the conference.
Its members are myself, the NSW Premier, Mr Wran, the
Queensland Premier, Mr Bjelke-Petersen, three representatives
of the ACTU, and Mr Hughes, President of CAI, Mr Bridgland,
President of AIDA, and Mr John Utz ( Wormald International
Ltd). I have already released the draft Agenda for the Summit.
The flow of the Agenda will, over the course of the
Summit, be determined by the participants.
However, it is expected that under the first item
" Basic Directions and Objectives" opening statements will
be made by myself, Premier Wran, Mr Dolan, Mr Hughes,
Mr Gibbons ( Council of Small Business) and Mr Mackenzie
( ACOSS)
Major expositions on the economy will be provided by the
Treasurer, Mr Keating, an ACTU representative, and Sir
Roderick Carnegie ( CRA)