PRIME MINISTER'S PRESS CONFERENCE
BRISBANE,. FRIDAY. 23. MAY, 1975....
Mr. Wvhitlam: I thought I would begin by announcing a decision
we made in Canberra this morning. It was on the Royal Commissions
into the protection of the Great Barrier Reef. You remember
the Australian and Queensland Governments appointed joint Royal
Commissions in May 1970 and the report camne to hand six months
ago. Cabinet considered the report this morning. We decided
that there should be no drilling in the area of the Reef

PRIME MINISTER'S PRESS CONFERENCE
CANBERRA, 20 MAY, 1975
Prime Minister: Perhaps I should express my great satisfaction at
the progress that the Family Law Bill has made yesterday and today.
The central parts of the Bill have received the approval of both
the Senate last year and now the House of Representatives.
Australia, in consequence, will have the most advanced, most
enlightened matrimonial and family law in the world. The
medieval concepts of guilt and fault will be removed from divorce

. QUEENSLAND BROADCAST.. NOI... 9 ( qy'
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT INSURANCE CORPORATION
LATELY ON RADIO AND TV AND IN THE NEWSPAPERS
THERE S BEEN A HIGHLY EXTRAVAGANT AND TOTALLY MISLEADING
CAMPAIGN BY THE INSURANCE COMPANIES AGAINST OUR PROPOSAL
FOR AN AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT INSURANCE CORPORATION, THE
AIR HAS BEEN THICK WITH CRIES OF NATIONALISATION,
SOCIALISM AND GENERAL DISASTER. LAST TIME WE HAD A
CAMPA. IGN OF THIS KIND, YOU LL REMEMBER, IT WAS THE DOCTORS
CRUSADING AGAINST MEDIBANK BUT AS SOON AS PEOPLE

NOTES FOR THE PRIME MINISTER,
ON THE OPENING OF LACHLAN VINTAGE VILLAGE,
FORBES, N. SXW 17 MAY 1975
1. SOMEONE HAS GOT THE IDEA THAT I'M INTERESTED IN
HISTORIC SITES AND OLD RUINS, THESE ARE THE BEST
SIMULATED RUINS I'VE SEEN IN AUSTRALIA, AFTER MY
LAST VISIT To EUROPE, I OPENED OLD SYDNEY TOWN AT
GoSFORD; AFTER MY. VISIT TO. JAMAICA I'M OPENING
LACHLAN VINTAGE VILLAGE.
2. I'M SORRY THERE AREN'T MORE STATE GOVERNMENT MINISTERS
AT THIS OPENING CEREMONY; AT LEAST ONE STATE MINISTER
DECIDED TO BOYCOTT THE OCCASION. ISUPPOSE THE

NOTES FOR THE PRIME MINISTER,
FOR A CIVIC RECEPTION IN
FORBES, NISW. 17 J'AY 1975
1, I AM DELIGHTED TO BE MAKING MY FIRST OFFICIAL VISIT
To FORBES, THIS CITY, BORN IN THE GOLDRUSH DAYS OF
THE 1860' s, IS NO W THE CENTRE OF A THRIVING
AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL INDUSTRY, LIKE SO MANY
TOWNS OF THE PERIOD IT RETAINS MANY OF THE BUILDINGS
AND MUCH OF THE CHARACTER OF ITS EARLY YEARS,
TOGETHER WITH THE SIGNS OF MODERN COMMERCIAL
DEVELOPMENT$ a
2, FOR TOO LONG PEOPLE IN COUNTRY TOWNS HAVE BEEN PUTTING

FRPRESS STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER,
THE HON. E. G. WHITLAM, M. P.,
ON HIS VISIT TO PARKES, N. S. W.,
17 MAY 1975
Parkes is typical of the country towns and
cities benefiting from the policies of the Australian
Government. For toro long people in country tow n s
have been putting up with services and amenities inferior
to those in the capital cities. The Labor Government is
determined that townspeople in the country will enjoy a
standard of living equal to the best in Australia.
Our opponents seem to think that a

SPEBCY TH PA, TI IO TEHEN[ 1I( MjSilTOR / RT 5FCEE GC. LiHSETCLENTI0 CH. P
AT GR EE N HI LLSNN, I S IN!
Oil MAY 16, 1975
I AM~ Df ELIGHTI'. D TO BE HERE W'ITH YOU TODA. tY TO
CELEBIRATE THE OP" ENING OF THIS IM-PREssivE E. C, CLOSE CENTRE,
ALDERP~ i,'\ UNICOMB IS A U'NIQUIELY SUCCESSFUL ADVOCATE OF
INVITATIONS TO V'ISIT THE M~ AITLAND REGION. IHE INSISTED
THAT I COIME WERE FOR THE HEART Olt -rHE HUNT'ER FrESTFIVAL
LAST OCTOBER, AND HERE I AM BACK AGAIN JUST SIX M"' ONTH9S
L ATE. I' ONLY SORRY I DIDN'T MAKE IT FOR THE VINTAGEI

Jj,. AUSTKALl( A,. PRESS STATEMENT
16 May 1975
AUSTRALIAN ASSISTANCE PLAN
The Prime Minister and member for Werriwa, Mr Whitlam
announced today that the Liverpool Area Steering
Committee for the Australian Assistance Plan had been
given a special grant of $ 2,000.
Mr Whitlam said that the grant would help
local organisations involved in community activities
to set up a regional council for social development
in the Liverpool region.
The object of the Australian Assistance plan is
to encourage people to get involved in making

1W EMBARGO 7.30 P
NATIONAL BROADCAST A
BY THE PRIME MINISTER
THE HON. E. G. WHITLAM, M. P.,
13 MAY 1975
I would like to report to you on the valuable and wide-ranging
discussions I have been having overseas during the Parliamentary
recess. With the Special Minister of State and senior officials
of the Australian Government, I have been attending the Meeting
of Commnonwealth Heads of Government in Kingston, Jamaica. On
the way to Jamaica we visited Peru the first visit by an
Australian Prime Minister to a South American country. And on

/ 3
AUSTRALIA'S MILITARY COMMITMENT TO VIETNAM
This Paper, which the Government has had
prepared on the Australian involvement in
Vietnam, is tabled in accordance with the
Prime Minister's statement in the House of
Representatives on Tuesday, 13 May, 1905.