Well, thank you very much Councillor McDonald, Senator Mitch Fifield, Russell Broadbent, the Liberal Party candidate for the seat of McMillan, ladies and gentlemen.
What a glorious green, I don't mean that in a political sense but in another sense, beautiful morning and beautiful atmosphere and it is a great delight to be back in Warragul. I don't know that I've been here before. I haven't as Prime Minister, but I have certainly been here in other guises and disguises over the years that I've been in Federal Parliament.
And as I listen to the very generous introduction and very interesting introduction from your Mayor something really struck me when she made a reference to the unemployment level of 3.3 per cent. That is a fantastic figure and it says more than I could possibly say of what economic management and trying to do the right thing by the Australian economy is all about.
We often hear debates about surpluses and growth rates and price deflators and all these other complicated but very important economic descriptions but at the end of the day, the purpose of running the economy well and the reason why Prime Ministers and Treasurers, and I have in Peter Costello an absolutely outstanding Treasurer, the reason why you worry about the economy is that you want to get as many people as possible in work and to drive the unemployment rate down. And I'm very proud of the fact that for the first time since 1968 we now have in this country, we have an unemployment rate around the nation which is below six per cent and an inflation rate which is below three per cent. But of course here in Baw Baw it's even better - it's at 3.3 per cent, and that means that the worry so many parents have about their children getting work, the worry that people have in different small businesses about employment opportunities that they have largely been removed in areas such as this. But it can easily slip back if you start doing the wrong thing. So you will understand why I like to be forgiven for arguing that you need the right people in charge of the economy so that that 3.3 per cent remains very low and where it is for years into the future.
This gathering, of course, as so many gatherings such as this I have the privilege of addressing all around Australia, takes place in a community centre. In this case it is taking place in the precinct of a community church. A church that brings together people to express on Sundays and on other days of the week involving the church's activity the common faith of those people in the Christian religion, not in a narrow exclusive sense but in a sense of reaching out with the values of the Christian religion to the entire community. But whether it is a community church hall, whether it is an RSL hall and whether it is a YWCA hall or a hall of some other different character, one of the things that really reminds you that you are in Australia, in case you had any doubt, is the appearance and the ambience of community halls. They're all pretty much the same. I go to a lot of them. I think I've been to probably about 5,000 of them in the 30 odd years that I've been in politics and even though they have different coloured paint and sometimes the pitch of the roof is different, there is a warmth and an ambience about them that is at once reassuring and at once very Australian. And the reason for that is that they bring together people from all walks of life united by a common commitment to this country and also and frequently united by a common set of local goals that people want to achieve together. And the great strength of the Australian nation is in fact what a community hall represents because it's the meeting place, whether it's to achieve a civic objective, whether it's to complain about something that the local council's doing or the state government or the federal government, whether it's to bring together people to express their faith, whether it brings people together to enjoy their experiences and to raise funds for the local sporting club, it's all about the focus of the community.
And, as I look around this room, I have no doubt that I see people who represent not only my side of politics, but I guess a number of people who are probably a bit sceptical about me and think to themselves - I don't know about him, not sure I'll vote for him again, perhaps I won't ever vote for him. But whatever it is, what is good about this country is that we have gatherings like this where people can exchange their point of view.
And I can say a few things as to why you might give Russell Broadbent here, who's a very good bloke, your support when the election comes along. I can tell you that he knows the area very well; he's been in small business in the area, as has his family; that he's been the representative of many parts of the McMillan electorate in the past, it's one of those electorates that goes like that and it gives both sides of politics peptic ulcers for most of the time that it's sort of held no matter who by and therefore it attracts, understandably, a great deal of interest. And I can ask you to support him, not only because he'll be a hard working person on your behalf whether you vote for him or you don't vote for him, but I can ask you to support him because he belongs to a party that has given that 3.3 per cent unemployment rate; belongs to a party that has just been able, I hope with my fingers crossed, just been able to negotiate the best Free Trade Agreement that this country has ever negotiated and that is the Free Trade Agreement with the United States. And there was news this morning on the radio that the American House of Representatives by a vote of 314 to a 109 - and that is that is the biggest vote the House of Representatives has ever given to a Free Trade Agreement between the United States and any other country - now that is a terrific outcome. And the reasons why I'm supporting this Free Trade Agreement is not to bolster the American alliance - it's got nothing to do with that - it's got everything to do with the fact that it will be good for Australia because the American economy is the most powerful economy the world has ever seen. And, as the years go by, the American economy will be more important to Australia, it won't be less important. And to use the language of the young, it's a no brainer in my view for us to sign that agreement because it will bring benefits to Australia. There were some worries about the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Can I assure you there's nothing in that Free Trade Agreement that is going to make the price of drugs more expensive in this country. That Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is right dead in the centre of our social security safety net. And so far from the Free Trade Agreement affecting our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, when President Bush was in Australia last October and we discussed the Free Trade Agreement, I said to him that he ought to adopt our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme because it was so beneficial and so valuable to the people of Australia. So it's fully protected and there's also full protection for local content on television and film so that the Australian stories and the Australian accents and the Australian way of expressing things can continue to be very prominently displayed and heard on film and television around Australia and around the world.
And then of course on the other side, it does provide enormous and growing opportunities for all of our industries. There is improved access for the dairy industry; there is improved access for the beef industry; there is no improved access for the sugar industry. And I was disappointed about that, and that's one of the reasons why we provided support for the sugar industry and announced that support in Bundaberg in Queensland a couple of months ago. But there's a great opening up of our manufacturing export opportunities. I opened the new headquarters for Toyota in Melbourne, the city of Melbourne, a couple of nights ago and as a result of this Free Trade Agreement we can look forward to in fact exporting more cars to the Untied States. I mean, that would have been undreamt of a few years ago, but our motor vehicle industry is flourishing. And it's one of the products of the strong economy we've had at the present time.
But another reason why I might gently and respectfully urge you to support Russell is that we've made a number of changes in relation to the Medicare system over the last few years. Medicare is something that everybody strongly supports and we very strongly support it and our critics eight and a half years ago when we were elected said we were going to destroy it. Well eight and a half years later, Medicare has not been destroyed, in fact it's stronger than ever. And one of the things we introduced at the beginning of this year was the Medicare safety net and that Medicare safety net, and each day goes by more and more people become entitled to use it, that Medicare safety net means that if you have any out of hospital, out of pocket expenses and you're on... you're a concession card holder or you're a family getting family tax benefit A, then once those expenses go over $300 a year you get back 80 per cent of the excess. And if you're anybody else in the community, once it goes over $700 a year for you, you get back 80 per cent of the excess. And what that means is that people are given a peace of mind if they suddenly have an unexpected illness which involves a lot of extra expense, not just a GP consultation but also going to see a specialist, going to get a blood test, going to see a radiologist, all of those sorts of things that we are familiar with, both in relation to ourselves and in relation to our families.
And another reason why I make the gentle request on behalf of Russell, and I see quite a number of students here representing the different schools of the electorate, is that my Government is a very strong supporter of parental choice when it comes to education. I'm very proud of the fact that I was educated in the state government education system in New South Wales. I went to a selective government high school as did my wife and I received a very good education there and I think the public education system in this country is a terrific system. But I also believe that people have a right if they want to go outside the public education system, whether to send their child to a catholic school or to another independent school, they have a right to some government support for that decision. Because it's been calculated that every time a parent decides to send his or her child to an independent school, that decision on average saves the taxpayer about $3,000 a child per year. Now it's as simple as that. Every time, everyone of you parents in this room who've made a decision to send a child to an independent school on average you're relieving the taxpayer of $3,000 per child per year because even the most heavily supported independent schools are not supported to the extent that equals the cost of educating a child at a government school. And, indeed, it's only the small number of schools that receive modest amounts of government support, but the great bulk of schools receive, who charge low fees, they receive increased amounts of government support, but even the most heavily supported, even the poorest of Catholic parish schools in Australia, which would receive about a 70 per cent total government subsidy, there's still a gap, which means that the ordinary taxpayer is relieved of that responsibility.
So this idea that in some way it's unfair to subsidise choice, that idea is quite wrong. And I believe very passionately in choice and I'm very proud of the fact there's been a growth of independent schools in this country and most of them have been low fee schools, they haven't been schools charging $12,000, $15,000 and $18,000 a year, they've been schools that have been charging $3,000, $4,000 a year to give people choice.
So ladies and gentlemen, that's another reason why you ought to vote for this fine friend of mine, Russell Broadbent. He is a person who believes in choice and education.
And another and a final reason for this little presentation why I'd invite you to support him is that he's a great believer in small business. Now, small business in the heart and soul of the Australian economy. Small business has created more than 60 per cent of all the jobs that have been generated since we came to office and we could generate a lot more jobs in small business if we could get rid of these rather restrictive unfair dismissal laws, which make it hard for small business to let staff who aren't helping them go. And if you think it's going to be expensive letting a poorly performing staff member go, well you don't employ him in the first place and that means those people are denied employment opportunities. And it's been conservatively estimated that something like another 50,000 or 60,000 jobs a year could be created in this country if we had freer unfair dismissal laws.
So I put all of those things together and I ask you to consider the credentials of this fine candidate, who does understand the area, does have a very strong personal and family commitment to it.
And finally, and speaking to all of you as my fellow Australians, I ask the very simple question - isn't it the case that this nation is stronger and prouder and more respected around the world than what it was eight or ten years ago?
We all have our personal goals and desires and we all have our personal reactions to policies that affect us. Sometimes governments do things that are irritating. Sometimes they fall short of our expectations. But we also think of these things as Australians together and the question I ask most confidently, and I'm not the first leader to have posed that question - it was famously posed by Ronald Reagan when he sort re-election in 1984. But having paid proper tribute to the source of it and therefore not been accused of plagiarism - I would never want that acquisition to be made about me, particularly involving American Presidents, I would never want that suggestion to be made - can I simply say very confidently with due respects to the author of that famous question, that isn't Australia a stronger and prouder and more successful country than it was? I think the answer to that is yes and that's my final and, I suppose, most fundamental reason of all of asking you to support Russell. It's going to be a tough fight for him. I'm a political realist, but with your help and his energy we'll get him over the line.
Thank you very much.
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