PRIME MINISTER
. EMBARGOED UNTIL 5.30 PM i
PRIME MINISTER'S ADDRESS TO THE NATION 18 AUGUST 1985
Tonight I want to speak to you about the Australia we live
in today.
And the kind of Australia I believe we should be living in,
in the future.
There's not a country on the face of this eatth that doesn't
have problems of one kind or another.
in Australia we have fewer than most, but problems
nevertheless.
We still have unemployment.
It is improving. As you will have seen in the figures
released last week unemployment has fallen to its lowest
level in three years. Our employment programmes are workiing.
It's very gratifying to me as I'm sure it is to you.
But there is still a great deal for all of us to do.
I guess it's a cliche, but the world we live in is one
of rapid change.
And the problems that this change presents are not something
that can be fixed overnight.
Not today, not tomorrow.
But they will be fixed.
And I'd like to address myself tonight to the people who are
going to play a major role in coming to grips with the
challenges of change.
The young people of our country. Young Australia.
It's this generation of young Australians that's now coming
into the workforce their brains, their energy, their
enthusiasm that will lift this country to the front line
of the world's industrial powers. We must settle for nothing
less.
We can nurture the talent, the energy, the vigor, the
creativity of young Australia..
2.
or we can let it wither on the vine.
I don't believe there is one among us who would contemplate
the latter.
We must nurture, not squander, the talents of young Australians.
What a tragic waste it would be if they became the second
class inhabitants of a second rate nation.
We must all ask ourselves What we can do. My Government has
spent a lot of time and a lot of effort addressing that
question what can we do as a Federal Government.
We have spoken to youth groups to young people throughout
the country.
I have been touched by the genuine will of young Australians
to give it a go to do their very best.
All they want is a chance.
1 understand their sense of frustration their anger when
they're not given that chance.
Tonight I will briefly outline my Government's resolution to I
help provide those opportunities.
I would like to speak about the Government's role in a w'ide
ranging programme designed to assist and develop young Australia.
The core of this programme is education and training. Preparation
for employment.
Your first job, if it is a worthwhile job, means independence, I
self respect, dignity, self confidence.
To get it requires training. The development of skills that
are of value to the employer and to the community.
To help you acquire these skills, my Government will establish
a system of traineeships.
They mean you can undertake training while you get on-the-job
experience. It's like an apprenticeship, except that it will apply to a
wider range of jobs and industries.
In both private enterprise, and in the public sector.
As well as some positions that we'll be making available in
various Government bodies and departments, we have identified
a number of areas in private enterprise where traineeship
schemes can be introduced immediately.
In the coming year, 10,000 traineeships will be made available.
That means 10,000 more young Australians will start their
working life knowing they have a chance to get the qualificationsI
for a rewarding future.
If we all co-operate, our aim of 75,000 young people in
traineeships will be achieved in the bicentennial year, 1988.
You can imagine the impact that this will have both on the
lives of the young people themselves and on the quality of
our society as a whole.
I believe that whatever our occupation, as Australians
we all need to be proud of the things that we do and tne
things that we make.
I want us to be able to hold our head up in the company of
the world and point to the best quality goods at the best
price and know they have a label that reads " Made in Australia".
We're not going to achieve this by taking the backward step
of cutting youth wages.
Training, education, the development of skills, is the way for
us to go.
And the way for us to grow, as a nation and as individuals.
A commitment to education is a further aspect of my
Government's commitment to Australia.
it will come as no surprise to learn that the worst area
of youth unemployment is among those vc~ ung people who drop
out early.
Not only do we have to make education more interesting, more
relevant so that these young people will want to stay at
school longer.
But we have to provide the economic means for them to do so.
To this end,* we have developed a system of youth allowances
that are designed to help you remain at school if you wish2
to resist the economic need to find a job or, indeed, toj
. seek unemployment benefits;
V o enable you to obtain better qualifications and find, in
L-the future, a decent job.
~ As well, the number of positions that will be available at
1, universities and TAFE colleges will be increased.
The details of these and the other aspects of the Government's
youth programme will be released in Tuesday's Budget.
This is not just another Government support scheme.
There are already a number of such schemes for young people.
What I am announcing tonight is a total approach to the
problems faced by young Australians.
It is a means of bringing all of the Government's resources
all of them every facet of Government activity to bear on
our single most important priority.
But it is only a start. Right now we're looking at what else
we can do, as a Government.
And I'd like to ask the young people of Australia to give
that question some serious thought.
Because at the end of this year we'll review where we stand.
And I'll be inviting all young Australians to participate in
that review.
You can tell us where we got it right and where we got
it wrong.
In the meantime, let's all make a start.
The Government can't do it alone.
So tonight, I make an appeal to all Australians.
To our business people when you're setting your plans
for the future make it your first priority to find jobs,
and to create training opportunities for young Australians.
The Government will back you in ways that are both specific
and concrete.
Tuesday's Budget will provide you with the details.
To the trade unions make it your priority to find
opportunities for young people, to give encouragement, and
support, to the various training schemes.
And to all Australians take pride in young Australia. It
is our future.
The welfare and the encouragement of young Australians is
our first priority as a Government.
It is my first priority as Prime Minister.
And it is our collective priority as a nation.
Thank you.