-CT7,
PRIME MINISTER
2 October 1996 TRANSCRIYPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER
THE HON JOHN HOWARD MP
ADDRESS THE TO THE CANNING/ SWAN
BREAKF. AST, PERTH
SE O E
Thank you very much Don, to Ricky Johnston and Senator Winston Crane and my State
colleagues, my former Federal colleagues, othcr distinguished guests, ladies and
gentlemen. It's really good to come back to the same place that you visited when we were in a
Opposition. It gives you a sense of the occasion, it gives you a sense that you've achieve
something. There was a big crowd at the breakfast here in the lead up to the election
campaign, there's an even bigger crowd here this morning and that cheers me no end
because of the many miracle results that we had on the 2nd March. The results here in
Western Australia, the fact that we were able to reduce the Labor Party to only three seats
in Western Australia, the fact that we were able finally to win the seat of Canning and I
really do want to congratulate Ricky Johnston for her persistence. PI've got a bit of a soft
spot for people who keep plugging away and I think you did that magnificently. And to
Don who ran a very skillful campaign., I mean just remember the scat of Swan became
too hot for Kim Beazley and he moved to another seat.
And T want to congratulate both of these very fine grass roots campaigners. Yes, 1
remember the afternoon of the 2nd March very well and I'm sonrry in a sense thai the
results on the east coast may have spoilt some of the fun over here but I'm sure it didn't
spoil the fun of the campaign supporters in Canning and Swan in recording such
remarkable wins and it is important to remind ourselves on an occasion like this, to
remind ourselves as to some of the reasons why we won the last election. And there are
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many reasons but one of the very important reasons we won the last election is that the
people we de~ eted got sadly out of touch wi th What the Mainstream of the Australia
community was thinking and saying and wanting. They listened too much to the elite
commentators, they listened too little to ordinary Australians. And that lesson carries a
very strong message for us. It carries a firm message that having won Government we
shouldn't assumne that we're going to hang on to it automatically. We shouldn't assume
that because we are now in Government we're somehow or other a cut above thc rest of
the community, we're niot. We're representatives of the commrunity and we are there as a
girt of the Australian people and not as some kind of divine selection process.
And also one of the interesting things as you reflect upon the political scene over the last
few months is that how little somne of our opponents seemed to have leant 1 think we
had the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Gareth Evans, yesterday talking abot taxation.
1Je thinks we're undertaxed. I'm certain the battlers in the western suburbs of Sydney in
the scat of Lindsay where there's a by-election on the 19th October are going to really
appreciate being told that they ought to pay more Iax because that is basically what
Gareth Evans is saying and I do think that any senior politician who argues that there is a
strong case as he does for higher taxation is certainly out or contact with the Australian
community. Now I have never argued that governments can deliver things out of thin air, I've never
argued that everything that an electorate asks for or wants can be delivered, it certainly
can't. But we in the Coalition Government do not believe that the path to budget
balances lie in increased levels of taxation. We believe very strongly that the path to
budget balances lies, " s far as possible, in reduced government expenditure. And we
Were able in the first Budget that the Coaltion brought dowzi in 14 years, the first
Coalition Budget since 1982, we were able to announce a program that will in year three
of our term of office return the Federal Government budget to an underlying balance.
And given the very, very substantial level of debt that wve inheited fargrartanw
had been told, that is a remarkable achievement And it has involved taking some
decisions that people don't like. R's involved importantly though taking decisions that
are seen by the community as strong but W~ r. And I would be very happy to see my
Glovernment's handling of the economy as being categorised as strong but fair. That is
what Australians want. T1hey want governiments to strongly address problemrs but they
want governments to address those problems in a fair and an understandable fashion.
The Australian people will accept the necd for change and reform. The Australian
people will accept that there are some burdens to be undertaken and some things they
want to be foregone provided the reason for those changes is explained and provided
those changcs ame implemented Thirly. The main example of this, in Adelaide a couple of
days ago, 1. called in there on the way across to Perth and I met one of Adelaide's wvell
known busincssmnen and he said to me, look theme are a couple of things in that budget
that I didn't like., you did this and you did that and I didn't like that. But he said, I have
written you a letter congratulating you because what you've clone, he said is that you've
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spread the pain around fairly. And he said, I'll buy that, 1 will accept that. H-e said, that's
we've been wanting for a long time.
B~ ut the other really good thing about the budget is that, and it's representative of what we
have done over the last six or seven months and that is that we have delivered on all of
the core commitments that we made in the election campaign. And don't let any
commentator, don't let any of our political opponents divert you from the -reality that all
of the commitments that were uppermost in people's minds when they voted on the2nd
March, the things they really took account of in a positive sense in voting for us those
commitments have been delivered. Rcmember our commitment about the flamnly tax
package? Every last dollar of that has been delivered. Our commnitment about private
health insurance ta&. rebates, every last dollar had been delivered. Our commitmnent to
give capital gans tax rollover relief to small business, every last dollar delivered. We've
already passed the law to reduce the provisional tax burden on small business by
inillion this financial year. We've implemented our commitment to reduce red-tape on
small business. And I will have a report in six weeks time from the chairman of our
Small tBusiness Deregulation Taskforce explaining how it is that we can reduce the
burden of red-tape on small business by 50 per cent within our first three years of
government. And very importantly for the smiall business commnunity and for Australia generally, we
have delivered on our commitment to change the industrial relations system of this
country towards one based on agreem~ ents at the enterprise level between employers and
employees. You remember what T had to say during the campaign about the unfair
dismissal laws. And that was a rule that was brought in by Laurie Brereton and the
former ILabor Government without warning, without a mandate, without any moral
authority axall. And that particular law in my view did more to intimidate men and
women in small business around Australia from taking on more stalT than just about
anything over the last two or three years. And I lost count of the number of people I met
around Australia, al I over Australia who are in small business and they said it may be all
right for BHfP or CRA or a very large company, if they have an unfair dismissal suit thcy
can accommodate, it they can settle it. B~ ut if I have an unfauir dismissal arguemnent with
one of my three employees and they threaten to take me to court I can't affiord to pay the
$ 20,000 or $ 30,000 to keep the thing out of court. What J won't do, I won't employ them
in the first place so as not to run the risk.
And that is the story that I've found all around Australia. Anid that particular law
delivered covertly without warning, I mnean it is a very, very odd circumbtance isn't it.
Before the 1993 election the Labor Party said nothing about the industrial relations
reforms it ultimately was to make and ytct those industrial relations reformns sailed
through the Senate. We on the other hand laid all of our plans out and we're still in the
process of negotiating them through the upper chamber. But I'm hopeful that those
negotiations have progresd well and we are serious about negotiating with the minor
parties in order to get those reforms and those changes through the Senate because that
industrial -relations law is absolutely fundamental to Austvalia's economic future. It's a
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law that's based on five essential principles. The first of them is that we want to get rid
of Labor's job-destroying unfair dissal law. The second principle is that we're
absolutely committed to voluntary unionism. to a free choice, that men and women in thc
work force should be entitled to join or nor to join a union and not to be persecuted for
the choice that they make to join or not to join.
The third priniciple is that people should have a complete freedom of choice bctwecni
remaining under an industrial award or going into a workplace agreement, negotiated
directly between the employer and the employee with people representing thc employee
if that is the wish of the employee, subject to sonme guaranteed irtinimurn conditions. The
fourth provision is that we should allow the emergence of workplace unions if that is
what people want. People should not only have the right to join a union or not to join a
union, they should also have the right to join whatever type of union they choose. And
finally. we are committed to restoring the secondary boycott prohibitions introduecd by
the Fraser Government in the Trade Practiccs Act in the late 1 970s that have proved so
very effective to curb predatory union conduct, particularly against small businesses.
Now if we can implement thosc five major reforms to Australia's industrial relations
system, it will over a period of timne yield enormous productivity and competition
dividends and it's very, very important that thza reform be implemented and it remains a
core element, ladies and gentlemen, of Au~ stralia's economic future and a core element of
the reformn plans of the Coalition Governmecnt.
Only a couple of weeks ago I was able to undertake my first substantive visit overseas as
Prime Minister of Australia and quite deliberately and not surprisingly, T chose to visit
Indonesia and Japan during that visit, and that visit revealed to nie a number of
iundamentals about Australia's associations with the rest of the world. They revealed,
that visit revealed to me that Australiai is a highly regarded, respected country in the
Asian Pacific region. It revealed to me something thatI already knew and f am sure most
Australians knew, and that is that this country's democratic traditions are understood and
respected in our region. and the proposition, the insulting proposition that in some way
the leaders of those countries would only dcal With one political complexion in the
leadership of Australia was of course an insult not only to their intelligence but also an
insult to the democratic processes of this country.
It is quite plain to mie that the government-, of Indonesia and the governmlent of Japan,
indeed the Governments of all of those nations would not only deal with this Government
in Australia but will deal with it enthusiastically and in a very friendly fashion. And the
l inks that exist between Australia and the Asia Pacific region are links that have been
built over the years by both sides of politics. It's sometimes forgotten that the man who
laid the founidation stone of Australia's economic association with the Asia Pacific region
was John MeF~ wen who was Deputy Prime Minister in the Mcnzics Government in the
1 950s and ho was the driving force, the author, the inspiration behind the Japan-Australia
Trade Agreement of 1957 and negotiating a trade agreement with Japan in 1957 was a far
more challenging political undertaking than negotiating trade agreements these days. and
he faced opposition, Including at the time From the Labor Party yet he laid that important
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foundation, and Australia and J apan have forged a remnarkcable economic partership in
this part of the world, a partnership that works very much to the bcnefit and to the credit
of Australia. Japan is our bcst customer. We are one of the few nations in the world
with an extremely healty trade balance with that country arnd it's a relationship that's
very important to Au-. tralia's economic future and itos a relationship that owes a lot to the
far sightedness and the political leadership of a Coalition figure.
B~ ut that is not to deny that over thc years, Labor Party leaders haven't also mnade a
contribution to that process. It is very important and it's going to be a feature of mny
Government that where there are areas of agreement betweeni the Government and the
Opposition, let us not waste time manutacturing false division and false argumecnt. On
the other haad, where there are areas of fundamental disagreement, such as for example
our attitude towards levels of taxation, let us by all means in those areas have very
vigorous argument and very vigorous debate, anid so far as the foreign relations of this
country are concerned, J want to say to you again that our commitment to the economic
and political linkage between Australia and the Asia Pacific region are as strong, that
commitment is as Wtong under the Coalition Government as it ha: s over been in thc past.
and we have moved early in our term of office, including in particular my meeting with
( he ? rmc Ministcr of Malaysia, we moved early in our term or office to reinforce the
importance of those links. But we do that without in any way downplaying or
denigrating or walking away from the associations that we have with other parts of the
world. have said frequently that Australia's foreign policy does not involve a choice between
our history anid our geography. We don't need to shun out European American
associations in order to strengthen our Asia Pacific associations. We can have the lot and
there is no rmaon at all, given the bistory, the culturc, the democratic traditions. the
values and the attitudes of Australia, there is no reason in the world why we can't. In our
early nonths in office wve upgraded the quality of the defence association with the United
and I am happy to say that President Cito wiIb iiigAsrlai
November before going on to the APEC meeting that I will also attend in Manila. Both
of those developments are a reminder of the importance of that association and of course
Lhe asociations that Australia has wi th the nations of E urope ame all around us, and the
preSenice in this very room Of so many people who were boni in the United Kingdom or
other parts of Europe, as well as people from, other parts of the world, from Asia, fromn
the Middle East, is a reminder of the great diversity and the great heritage of this country
in that diversity.
So we arc very much a nation which sees itself as a vibrant, divers part of an
increasingly globalised political entity, an increasingly globalised economy, and it's very
important therefore that we have a government that understands those balances and
understands those linkages, that docs not become obsessed with one or other emphasis in
the area of foreign and international economic relations but sees the opportunities for
trade advantage when they occur and we initend, so far as the conduct of our trade policy
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is concerned, to adopt an attitude that is driven ultimately by Australia's national interest
and by absolutely nothing else.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is an enorous privilege Lo be the Primec Minister of Australia.
It's an enormous privilege to be part of the first Coalition G3overnment in this country for
13 years. As Liberal Party supporters, you waited a long time. You must have wondered
if it was ever going to come. 16 years between election wins was a pretty extraordinary
period of time and Don mentioned the afternoon of the second of March. I think I've
said to some other Liberal Party audiences around Australia, I was in a high state of
nervous excitement myself on the Second of March as you might imagine, and P've never
quite forgotten, that poor official of the Australian Electoral Commission. We were at the
Intercontinental hotel in Sydney where we had our headquarters and the Electoral
Commission had sent a couple of gwenen along " With their computers and they were all
orn line to get the results as they came in and at a quarter past six I said to him, Have
you got anything?" and he said " No".
TIwenty past six 1 said " Have you got anything?", he said At twenty one past six, I
said " H~ ave you got anythingS?" and he said and at twenty nine past six he said,
"' ve got -something" and he sai'd, " There's been a 15% swing to the Liberal Purny in a
polling booth in Portland", I said, " Gee, 15%" and I said, " How many on the roll", and
hc said So T said to Grahame. Morris who was beside m~ e, I said " We've won,
we've won"~.
HeI said " No cairn down, calm down". As it sort of turned out, it wao~' t bad. I mean. it
wasn't quite as good as that everywhere. Portland is a little town near Lithgow in New
South Wales. But it was a great day, it was a great night and it was a great reward for all
of those supporters of the Party around Australia like yourselves who have worked
tirelessly, who'd kept the faith, who supported us when you probably thought we weren't
worth supporting. You must have wondered on occasions if we could ever get it right
YOU must have, you stop nodding your head, and you must have thought to yourself, gee,
they've run out of feet to shoot which basically is very understandable. But finally it all
came together and it did demonstrate that if you stick at things, if you listen to people.
But you also stick to certain Aundamental attitudes and if you go back over the years you
can find a consistency between what we took to the last election and what a number of
people, including myself have advocated in areas such as family policy.; industrial
relations reform and small business. And if there are three things that I've tried to make
a mark on as* rar as policy is concerned iD thc political debate in this country o-vcr the
years it has been in those three areas. And I wouldi ' ike at the end of miy three years in
Government, first three years I hope, never take it for granted. One term at a time, that's
my motto, and you work on it. And I would like at the end of that term, for people to
have a look at what we have achieved in those areas of doing something to strenghe
small businesses. The aggregate impact of our policies regarding the family and also of
course what we have done in industrial relations reform. if we can gat those things right
then we have a real prospect of seeing somec improvement in the omployinont area.
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They're of course not the only issues that the Government but they are three things that
arc very important to the type of Party we arc, the Liberal Party and they're very
important to the kind of society we are and they're very important values to me and to
other leader of thc government and of the Coalition.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you again for the tremendous help that you gave to both
Don and to Ricky in the campaign. Thank you for giving us two energetic, grass roots
members who will fight fotbr their electorates, who will understand and support the need
for certain decisions that have a short tnrm difficulty but a long term benefit and a long
term gain. It is a great experience to be in Government. It's an enormous privilege.
We've waited a long timc. We've worked very hard to get it and we don't intend to let
you down. Thank you.
ends
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