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PRIME MINISTER
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY EMBARGOED AGAINST DELIVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
* GRADUATION ADDRESS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES
SYDNEY 23 APRIL 1987
Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Dean, ladies and gentlemen.
Through you, Vice-Chancellor, this distinguished institution
has done me a great honour in awarding me this Doctorate of
Laws. it is now 37 years since I received my first degree,
graduating as a Bachelor of Laws from the University of
Western Australia in 1950. I did not expect that in the
years to follow I would receive six subsequent degrees but
let me quickly add that I did not earn all of them by dint
of my own academic endeavours. For in addition to my two
degrees-from Western Australia and Bachelor of Letters
from Oxford, I have had the very great pleasure of receiving
four honorary doctorates from the University of Western
Australia, from Nanjing University in China, from the Hebrewl.
University in Jerusalem and, today, from the University of
New South Wales.
That list certainly does not downplay the significance for
me of today's ceremony. Far from it I value your degree
very highly and I am honoured and eager to take up your
invitation to address this group of graduates at the
University of New South Wales today.
In the four decades since I was an undergraduate in Perth,
the nation and world of which we are part have changed
almost beyond recognition. Yet as I speak to you today, we
are caught up in an even more pressing process of change, in
the universities, in the nation and indeed in the world as a
whole. More than ever before Australia is caught up by the dynamics
of change in the international economy. So, more than ever
before, the stimulation and excitement and intellectual
questioning which is the essential abiding quality of the
university experience must be turned to the urgent concern:
how do we master change? How best do we meet the challenge
of change; how best do we exploit its opportunities; and
how best do we bear its burdens?
Some indication of the magnitude of the change emerges from
the list of universities I just recited. Two of the
universities which have awarded me honorary degrees are
Nanjing University and the Hebrew University. In 1950, when
I graduated in Perth, Israel was a fledgling state while
China was emerging from a great revolution and was entering
a prolonged period of ostracism from much of the rest of the
world. Both the Chinese people and the Jewish people had
great hopes but also great trauma ahead of them and behind
them. No-one in 1950 could have confidently predicted that
the Australian Prime Minister in 1987 would hold honorary
degrees from universities in both these nations.
Yet the fortunes of Australia today are inextricably
enmeshed with those of China, since we are both part of the
world's most dynamic economic region, the Pacific rim. And
while Australia is certainly not a party principal to any
resolution of the problems besetting the Middle East, we see
profound moral and political imperatives in our commitment
to the security of Israel while supporting also the
principle of self-determination for the Palestinian people.
These two examples illustrate in a personal way what is true
of Australia as a whole we are inextricably bound up in
the political and economic and social issues confronting the
whole world. Unless we comprehend and master * those issues,
they may overwhelm us.
The ceremony of the conferring of degrees in which we have
participat * ed today is an old one, one replete with
traditions. But however venerable those traditions, we
would be wrong if we allowed them to eclipse the more
important contemporary element of today's ceremony.
Despite our traditional academic garb, we are, as we sit
here today, thoroughly caught up in the affairs of a modern
society and an international economy.
This audience includes gra duates in the Faculty of Applied
Science and the Board of Studies in Science and
Mathematics people who will be at the cutting edge of many
of the most crucial issues the nation will face in the next
several decades.
Australia is in many ways facing its greatest challenge
since the Second World war a challenge which presents
opportunities as well as burdens. As university graduates
you represent part of the nation's accumulation of talent
and knowledge that must be applied to mastering this
evolving environment.
You are products of our politically free, dynamic and
exciting society and the horizons you face are virtually
limitless. But you must also carry the responsibility to
help solve its problems, and bear part of the sacrifices
imposed on us by our economic circumstances.
Many of you will have heard me state the nature and
dimensions of Australia's trading problem. The collapse in
our export prices has meant a staggering drop in the
nation's income. In just two years 1985 and 1986 our
terms of trade have declined by nearly 18 per cent.
As a result, as the latest national account figures reveal,
our income has been slashed by some $ 9 billion in the
order of $ 2000 a year for every Australian family.
To resolve the trade problem we will not be able simply to
rely on the primary exports which have traditionally formed
the backbone of our income-earning capacity.
In order to increase our national income Australia has to
look to manufacturing and service industries especially
the knowledge-intensive industries in which many of you will
be involved.
The hard fact is this: if Australians are to maintain and
improve their standard of living, and to provide for those
less fortunate than themselves, Australia must markedly
increase its level of exports of manufactured goods and
services. So business men and women must become more literate in the
issues of science and technology, while at the same time
universities must become more responsive to the special
demands of industry.
Many of you will be aware of these problems from your
studies. As you enter your careers many of you will come to
understand the limitations of and, I hope, benefit from the
opportunities presented by the nation's economic
circumstances. What must be clear is that as university graduates in
science and technology-related areas, you have the
opportunity, and indeed the responsibility, to harness your
research talents in the task of building these new export
industries and of fostering Australian competitiveness and
industrial innovation.
Clearly, all levels of government have responsibilities in
the job of lifting the level of skills in the workforce.
The Federal Government meets its responsibility across a
broad-front: through education and training, through
manpower programs and adjustment assistance, and through
immigration the last of which has not only helped improve
the skills of the workforce but has also built a richer and
more diverse multicultural society.
Government however is but one actor in what must be a
national effort to improve our research effort capacities.
Australia as a whole needs to develop a culture in which
relevant qualifications are respected and in which regular
upgrading of skills is a normal part of any career.
industry has a particular responsibility to encourage this
awareness and to recognise that those working directly on
the shop floor are often well placed to suggest improvements
in the work environment.
industry must also increase its research and development
effort above what is by world standards a very low level.
The low priority accorded R and D by the private sector is
one of the most clear cut failings of Australian industry.
It suggests that there are, at least in this country, real
limits on the extent to which market forces alone should
determine economic outcomes. The public sector R and D
effort has traditionally been streets ahead of that of the
private sector.
Rectifying this imbalance is the purpose of generous tax
concessions offered by this Government: companies engaging
in R and D work can qualify for 150 per cent tax concessions
for the relevant expenditure.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We must not underestimate the size of the challenge before
US. I am aware that this university does not underestimate it.
That awareness is based not just on the quality of today's
graduates but also on your pioneering establishment of
Unisea ' rch, the first company established by an Australian
universit'y to develop, manufacture and market ideas
generated by the university's researchers.
Unisearch now has an annual turnover of about $ 7 million andis
last year expanded its operations to serve M'acquarie
University also. I wish it well in its work.
I hasten to point out that I do not believe universities
exist solely to serve industry. I do not argue that
endeavouring to meet the changing and sometimes
unpredictable needs of industry should be the sole objective
of our education system.
There is however an urgent need for universities and other
tertiary institutions to complement their pure research and
their study of the humanities with applied work; to share
their skills and insights with the rest of the community
which supports them and thereby contribute to solving the
problems of contemporary Australia.
In addition to the successful work of Unisearch, other
notable examples of increased linkages between education and
industry include the first formal meeting of representatives
of the business sector and the universities, held late last
year by the Business Council of Australia and the Australian
Vice Chancellors' Committee.
Further, an Industry Reference Group has been set up by the
Education Minister, Senator Ryan, to involve industry more
closely in education planning.
Also notable is the financial support from the business
community towards Melbourne University's Graduate School of
Management which I opened last year. The Graduate School of
Management at Macquarie University, currently under
construction, has received a similar level of direct
financial assistance from business.
And in this context too I note that the Australian Science
and Technology Council ( ASTEC), has recently produced a
major report on research in universities. This report
questioned the return which the nation receives from its
investment in higher education research.
The ASTEC report concludes that, if tertiary institutions
are to contribute more fully to national development, the
allocation of higher education research resources needs to
be more flexible, and permit greater concentration of
research in particular fields and on the most outstanding
researchers. The report recommends that greater emphasis
should be placed on the direct funding of higher education
research. The Government is now giving close attention to the ASTEC
report and while I am not yet in a position to state the
Government's views on it I can assure you that we are
considering very carefully the issues it raises.
I have great confidence that Australia will solve its
economic weaknesses that the economy will manage to
restructure and will emerge on a more competitive basis.
That confidence is based in no small measure upon you, the
university graduates, who will become the innovators and
intellectual entrepreneurs of the future.
These then, however briefly sketched, are some of the
opportunities that are presented to you as university
graduates by the dynamic process of change we are
experiencing. But I said at the outset that change brings
with it not just challenge and opportunities but burdens
too. So let me address today one of those specific burdens which
has recently, preoccupied some of your colleagues in the
student body, namely, the tertiary education administration
charge.
An unavoidable part of my Government's strategy for
restoring economic growth and prosperity has been our
acceptance of the need for an unparalleled exercise of
restraint in Government spending.
When we came to office in 1983, a deficit of some $ 9.6
billion was in prospect that is, the Government deficit
was set to hit about 5 per cent of GDP. Under my
Government, we have taken the hard decisions necessary to
cut that deficit back to about 1.5 per cent.
As you all know, we are still engaged in this task in the
preparation of the M'ay Economic Statement.
We have n * ot embarked on this course out of any masochistic
sense of pleasure at imposing sacrifice and hardship on the
community. On the contrary, a reduction in government
spending is an integral part in the long-term effort to
improve living standards for all Australians.
And it is a valuable exercise at any time for Governments,
indeed for all institutions, to review their activities to
discover if better ways exist of achieving their goals..
Over its four years in office this Government has not, I
think,. gained a reputation for an easy, complacent,
acceptance of hand-me-down solutions to the problems we have
encountered.
As part of this process we decided last year that we should
impose a modest administrative charge on students enrolling
in tertiary institutions.
We did it with the certainty that upon graduation most
tertiary students will join the ranks of the better-off
members * of ' our society.
As such, most tertiary students are well able to share the
sacrifice which has been necessary across the board to
maintain our national economic position.
Workers have accepted the need for that restraint in
accepting real wage cuts. Pensioners have accepted it in
accepting a delay in the indexation of their pensions. The
response of both these groups to the national economic
pressures has been magnificent.
In none of the many discussions I have had around the nation
with those protesting against this tertiary administration
charge in none of them has any credible argument been
put to me as t-o Fwhy tertiary students too should not accept
any part of the burden of restraint.
We took the precaution of ensuring the charge would be
waived or reimbursed for students who are relatively
disadvantaged, such as those receiving Austudy benefits.
I also observe that the proceeds of the charge have been
directed in part towards the creation of new places in
tertiary institutions so that more Australians may receive
the benefits of a tertiary education.
In the final analysis, the charge is only $ 250 a sum which
could be earned over a couple of weekends work. It is in no
way comparable to the $ 8,500 a year which it costs, on
average, to put a student through a university course.
Those who claim, therefore, that the administrative charge
has in some way destroyed the principle of free tertiary
education overlook that the education is free only to the
recipients. It is far from free for the taxpayers who are
paying for it.
So the Government remains committed to retaining this charge
and we have decided to maintain it in real terms for the
1988 academic year.
Ladies and gentlemen,
While earlier generations of graduates may have enjoyed a
luxury which is denied us today the " ivory-tower" luxury
of a relative isolation from the society which nurtured them
I am pleased by the efforts made here and at other
Australian campuses to ensure the continuing relevance of
your work and to avoid the temptations of isolationism.
My message to you today has largely been directed to our
shared responsibilities. I make no apology for that
though I do want to add my very sincere congratulations to
all of you who are culminating years of endeavour with this
graduation ceremony today.
As you -leave university to enter your new careers, I take
this opportunity to underline the urgency of the task which
faces Australia nothing less than the restructuring of the
national economy. J
It is to you, and to your peers and all your successors on
campuses around Australia, that this nation looks,
particularly, for understanding, commitment and involvement
in fulfilling that supreme task.