PRINIMISET 9
EMBARGCED UNTIL DELIVERY CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
LOCAL EMlPLOYMIENT INITIATIVES CONFERENCE
16 JULY 1986 CANBERRA
Disting~ uished international guests, ladies and gentlemen,
First I t me congratulate the National Advisory Groupoon
Local rployment Initiatives for organising this conference.
on behE'Af of the Government I also extend a warm welcome to
out ovorseaz visitors.
It has long been my view that effective solutions to
problelas are more likely to be achieved when there are
comnicn goals, common perceptions of the nature of problems
and a co-operative approach in addressing them.
In Government. we have pursued this consensus-style approach
to the resolution of problems, stressing the need for
co-opzo'ation and a shared sense of purpose within the
cor'-mtni ty.
The ccncept of local employment initiatives is a striking
emarnplc of this sort of co-operative approach. it is a
conccD~ c which has already been put into practice in other
OECD countries.
in Australia we have made solid progress over the past three
years in the creation of jobs through this type of approaeh.
The gains that we have made some 670,000 new jobs in all
and pulling over 2 percentage points oft the unemployment
rate are known well enough. But there is no room for
compla~ cency: the level of unemployment remains intolerably
high. Mly Government will continue to pursue steadfastly the
objective of providing job opportunities. for all Australians
who wizh to work.
Even as we acknowledge the progress we have made along this
path, it also has to be said that Australians have recently
had to come to terms with the sobering reality that we will
have to battle much harder together in the3 future if we are
to maintain and extend those achievements
World trading conditions have turned shart-ly against
Australia, requiring us to take some harsk medicine.
We can't avoid, as a nation, the adjustments which are
necessary. what ve can do, having recognised the now
realitieo, is to work constructively to achieve the best
possible outcome for Australia. Each of us will have to be
prepared to Play our part.
Wage earners will be called upon to accept lower wage rises
than otherise might have been sustainable. This reflects
not only the need to curb our inflation rate and maintain
our recently improved international competitiveness but also
the fact that the growth of Australia's national income has
been cut by 3 per cent in the past year and wages and
salaries are far and away the largest part of our national
income.
Entrepreneurs will need to adopt keen pricing policies and
to be prepared to seek out profitable lines of activity and
to take rics.
It is only in that way that we can take advantage of our
improved cormpatitiveness and take markets away from foreign
competition both in Australia and abroad and in that way
to maximise the growth of jobs and national wealth.
The coming Dudget will incorporate some very tough
decisions decisions which would not have been necessary in
other circumnstances but which are needed now to produce an
appropriate degree of expenditure restraint.
Some of these decisions will not be popular but that does
not make them any the less necessary.
The facte a,: e that Australia has been drawing too heavily on
the savings of the world to support our own living standards
for quite some time.
In the past Australia has frequently been able to avoid
taking decisive action to correct this situation because
good fortune has intervened.
But there is precious little prospect that world conditions
will turn in our favour this time.
We need to raise our own saving effort and, for a time,
accept correspondingly lower living standards. In the case
of the public sector that means expenditure restraint and a
lower Budget deficit.
over and above each of those specific contributions,
Australians need also to work harder and better so that we
can rebuild Australia's trading position in the world.
we can no longer rely just on our primary industries,
efficient and productive though the; are, to support us. If
we are to recover lost ground we mu t turn to manufacturing
and service industries to provide t e thrust for continued
economic growth and job creation in this country.
The econounic adjustment required in Australia involves a
fundamental realignment of industrial activity, a
realignment which in one vay or another will affect all
members of Au~ stralian society.
we in Government are backing this realignment process by
taking a r-ar-ber of specific initiatives to encourage new
industriec to be set up and existing industries to
restructure. And as the circumstances demand, the
Government. will need to continue to adopt positive
adjustment measures such as the initiatives we have taken
for the car, steel and heavy engineering industries, and the
support wc hxave given to private research and development
through the 150 per cent tax deduction for R D and the
Grants for Industry Research and Development Scheme.
Deregulation of the financial sector has led to a major
shaking up of the Australian financial system and its
approach to business big business, small business and
personal customers alike. in addition, the formation of
Management Investment Companies, which receive substantial
government 3upport, will help in the provision of venture
capital to new, innovative job creating activities.
But the kind of effort needed to recover from the
difficulties Australia faces cannot be imposed fron Canberra
or even from the less rarefied climes of Sydney or
Melbourne. Instead it will come from the community and
especially from the efforts of groups and individuals who
seek out opportunity and are not afraid to seize upon it.
And, those individual efforts will be most productive in an
environment in which innovation and initiative are not only
supported b-ut also actively encouraged by the community as a
whole. It is for this reason that I am particularly pleased to be
able to address you at this conference tonight.
When Ralph Willis first approached me early last year with a
proposal to establish a National Advisory Group on Local
Employment Initiatives I had no hesitation in endorsing his
proposal as a means of exploring this avenue of job
creation. Z know that the Advisory Group has been working hard to
assess overseas experience with local employment initiatives
and to glean what lessons can be learned for Australia.
This Conference will provide an important input into the
Group's report to be presented to the Minister and the
Government later this year.
The various parties that would contribute to the development
of local employment initiatives in Australia already have
shown a preparedness to invol -e themselves in this sort of
activity.
Australiwan trade unions have demonstrated a commnitment to
exploro nad become Involved in local economic development.
They are epresented on the wide variety of intermediary
organiivations providing come level of assistance to local
employmenz development around Australia.
For example, the South Coast Employment Development Project
in NSW to which BHP has lent its support was originally
developed by the metal manufacturing group of unions which
is affilia-ted with the South Coast Labour Council.
Similarly the Trades Hall Council in Newcastle was an
important partner in the process of establishing the new
Hunter 1Rcgion Enterprise Agency.
All of tzhe State Governments in Australia are involved to
some degree in the development of local employment
activit-' eG. The range of activities is wide, and often
exploratory in nature. Many of the programs centre on
generating entrepreneurial skills through the establishment
of new cmuall businesses.
Local Govornment, by its very nature, potentially has a
vital role in fostering local economic development. Local
Governments have significant planning and financial
resources which can extend and complement State and
Commonwealth policy initiatives. They have already played
an importzn~ t part in the implementation of our Community
Employment Program and have shown a willingness to
contribute to the creation of jobs in their localities.
Local communities in rural areas have been hit hard by the
slump in wuorld agricultural prices. Accordingly, rural
assistance measures are high on my Government's agenda, and
an important item on that agenda is the development of
locally : Daced employment. it is possible that a strategy
for employm~ ent based on local level planning and
implementation may provide welcome relief for the rural
areas of Australia.
One directly relevant Commonwealth initiative was presented
in the Economic and Rural Policy Statement of 15 April.
This is th-e Country Centres Project, which is a pilot scheme
for 1986-87 investigating the development potential of
selected country centres and their surroundi-ng regions. The
project aims to identify realistic growth opportunities on a
regional basis and to set the foundations for
region-specific strategies for adjustment to change.
The outcome of these studies will provide input into a
report to be made to the Commonwealth Government in early
1987. We will be examining very carefully the opportunities
that local employment initiatives offer for people in rural
communi ties.
It has, of course, beei in the area of youth unemployment
where the need for coriective action by our community has
been felt with particular intensity.
When Labor came to office more than 350,000 young people
were unempl. oyed and unemployment among the 15-24 year age
group had hit a staggering 20 per cent. The youth of
Australia was being denied the opportunity to do productive
work, and this had created for large numbers of young people
a loss of self-esteem and a sense of futility and
hopelessness about the future.
In a little over three years we have reduced youth
unemployment by one-fifth; and we have cut the unemployment
rate among 15 to 24 year olds to less than 15 per cent.
Through Priority One my Government has embarked upon a
long-term strategy for improving the opportunities for the
young to participate more fully and more productively in our
society. And within Priority One, the Government has
developed opportunities for young people to undertake
voluntary wcrk doubling the number of participants placed
in Voluntecr Youth Projects and establishing the Group
Community Volunteers Scheme.
In my Addross to the Nation I announced that the Government
will be developing in co-operation with the States, local
governments, community organisations and trade unions a
scheme providing community work for the unemployed. The
scheme will be a voluntary one. it is a further initiative
in the Goverrnment's drive to increase the availability of
jobs for our nation's young.
The proposals for community work for the unemployed are
testimony to Government's com~ mitment to explore
alternative awproaches to increasing job opportunities.
And this is where your conference can play such an important
part in widening the horizons of opportunity and offering
fresh approaches. The Government looks forward. to receiving
the work of the National Advisory Group on Local Employment
Initiatives later this year, when the Group will also have
had the benefit of a number of commissioned studies.
I commend you for the imagination and enthusiasm you are
displaying in participating in this Conference and I wish
you well in your deliberations.