E&OE...................................................................................................
Thank you very much Tony, and to the Mayor, Gerry Peacocke, ladies and
gentlemen.
As Tony said I am on a week long visit to rural and regional areas of
Australia although I have to confess that I took a few hours off last
night to fly back to Melbourne to participate in the inaugural Allan Border
Medal Dinner but I am sure I will absolve myself from any sort of (inaudible)
in conduct in relation to that by telling this audience that the recipient
of the honour, of course, is a Narromine boy, Glenn McGrath. So that,
sort of, completely excuses any culpable behaviour or any suggestion that
I was resting on my oars or taking it easy.
But it is a valuable way of spending, if I can put it in this fashion,
prime ministerial time. There is no substitute for coming out to the bush,
to regional areas of Australia and actually talking face-to-face to understand
both the challenges and the opportunities to be reminded of the difficulty
that low commodity prices imposes on wool growers. To be reminded of how
important basic government services, be they Commonwealth or State, are
to rural communities. I have made some remarks about government services
and I want to make the point to you today that we are not only concerned
to ensure that there is no further reduction in Commonwealth Government
services affecting the country areas of Australia yet we are also anxious
where possible to rebuild the service levels and create some new service
levels.
For example, one of the beneficial offshoots of the new employment network
system criticised by some but, in fact, delivering 50 per cent better
outcomes than the old Commonwealth employment service. One of the beneficiaries
of that new system is, in fact, the regional area of Australia because
the latest tender round produced 50 per cent more providers in regional
Australia and indeed provided the 300 call centres throughout regional
Australia provided where they didn't exist before.
So we are not only in the business of trying to maintain existing service
levels but we recognise that we have an obligation to try and rebuild
some others. Now, I don't pretend for a moment that we can control
commodity prices, I don't pretend for a moment that we can control
the vagaries of world trade as they affect people but we can have an influence
on the overall economic climate. And I believe that over the last three
or four years we can legitimately claim to have got the national economy
performing better than it was.
That doesn't mean it's perfect, it doesn't mean that the
benefit of that national economic strength is being evenly shared around
the country. And one of our obligations is to try and ensure that once
again as far as reasonable those benefits are fairly shared around Australia.
But we have been successful in getting the economy going better, we have
been willing to embrace change and reform that we think will be beneficial.
And, of course, that leads me inevitably and properly to the issue of
taxation reform. Taxation reform, the new tax system starts on the 1st
of July. It is an aggregate and fundamental change for the better to our
taxation system. It will provide, can I say perhaps first and foremost
to a rural audience, it will provide significantly cheaper fuel than applies
under the present dispensation. It will provide effectively lower export
costs and it will provide lower business operating costs all around. It
will provide a $12 billion personal tax cut, it will include adjustments
for pensions and benefits and other additional compensation for self-funded
retirees. The business tax part will provide a reduction by approximately
one half in the level of capital gains tax and will contain also reductions
in business tax.
Now, of course, the focus is on the GST, that is inevitable and easy
for those who seek to destroy tax reform but it is only part of a whole.
And we'll be regaled with stories between now and the 30th
of June and beyond on the GST on this or that item. Now, of course, if
you want to be negative you can run that sort of campaign and we'll
reply, we'll respond, we'll deal with people's queries,
we'll acknowledge that our original idea was not to have any exemptions
effectively but the only way we could get it through the Parliament was
to accept the changes that were sought by the Australian Democrats. We
had no alternative. That was not our original idea. But it was better
to get 85 to 90 per cent of the reforms than to let the whole thing go.
And that was the pragmatic, sensible judgement that we made.
But I predict now there'll be plenty of talk about individual items
and there'll be an attempt particularity in the tabloid newspapers
to run a scare story a day. But in the end what we are about is trying
to produce a tax system that is beneficial to the whole country. And there's
really not much point in being in Government, there's not much point
being Prime Minister unless you are willing to do things that you believe
are good for the whole country.
And having a better tax system will not only over time, but I believe
over a relatively short period of time begin to produce a real improvement
to the dividend. And that's why we ran to the last election with
it. There was a lot of pain involved in that. It was difficult and we
are going to be subject to easy criticisms from the Labor Party and from
others but we are going to continue to persevere because we think it is
in the long-term interest of Australia. And I know that there are many
people around Australia who share our commitment to the cause of taxation
reform. But I am certainly absolutely convinced that it is going to be
of enormous benefit to rural Australia.
And we recognise there are transitional challenges and we want to work
with people, provide information and facilitate the resolution of any
of the questions and problems that arise as a result of that.
There are many other things that I could talk about but I think one of
the values at a gathering like this and I want to have the opportunity
after this gathering of going for a bit of a streetwalk and saying hello
in an impromptu fashion to some of the shopkeepers and others. And then
I have got an interview with Statewide and then Gerry's got
one or two things he wants to say to me in his normal retiring unassuming
style and give me a few ideas and then I'm off to the Tweed to continue
the journey.
The last thing I want to say is that I have found it very encouraging
in the past few days that every community I have visited that I have been
able to meet a cross-section of people. I said at a local news conference
today when I was asked why I hadn't met a particular group or a particular
person I said I haven't sought to meet individual groups, what I
have sought to do is to meet a cross-section of the community and not
just get a particular point of view. And I am very pleased to have been
able to meet aboriginal leaders, leaders of the farm communities, leaders
of the business community as well as the elected representatives. And
it's very important that we see our challenges particularly in regional
Australia as being community challenges and not a question of sort of
bargaining a slice of the action between this or that different interest
group. Because in the end we solve problems as a nation by working together
and in the end we solve problems of the community by working together.
And I've certainly seen in Bourke which has had its share of difficulties
over the last decade or so I saw a spirit of communitarianism and a spirit
of cooperation amongst communities which was extremely encouraging.
Finally, can I say I always enjoy getting out of Canberra and Sydney
and going around the regions. This is not the first time I have undertaken
a prolonged visit to regional Australia, it certainly won't be the
last time.
I know that there are difficulties. I understand the reason why people
want a fair share. I know that people have been hurt through no fault
of their own and I feel very deeply for people who through from generation
to generation have produced the export wealth of this nation that have
now found it very, very difficult.
I can't promise that we can solve all of their difficulties, I can
promise that in so far as the Government's behaviour makes things
worse we won't make things worse and where we can make them better
we'll endeavour to do so. I thank you for your courtesy of having
me here. It's great to be back in Dubbo. I commend your new federal
member, Tony Lawler, to you, he's been very energetic and very effective
on your behalf and I am very pleased to be his guest here today and I'd
be very happy to respond to any of your questions. Thank you.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
QUESTION:
[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
I've just had a very lively discussion, not a deep discussion, but
a very lively discussion about that. The principle is that it applies
to livestock but not something for human consumption. Now, the proposition
was put to me about, you know, the price is determined at the time of
the dead weight but I was making the point that the contract is formed
when the stock is sold. And when the stock is sold it's not dead
weight.
QUESTION:
[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
On the basis of that the saleyard should not be concerned but I have
arranged for the Chairman of our Tax Advisory Board, Chris Jordan, to
be in touch with the NSW stock and station agents this afternoon I hope
or tomorrow morning and if, you know, I'll be chased out of town
if I am wrong.
QUESTION:
[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
No, but that's a form of income is it? The income is not subject
to the GST.
QUESTION:
[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
But if you are paying somebody, if it's some type of...
QUESTION:
[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, that kind of, if the community information centre is a not for
profit organisation that wouldn't be subject, no.
[ends]