41 ) AUS RLIA
PRIME MINISTER
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
TENTH ANNIVERSARY DINNER
MAY 1986
I AM DELIGHTED, AT LAST, TO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO ADD,
IN PERSON, MY TRIBUTE TO NEVILLE WRAN, HIS GOVERNMENT AND
THE NEW SOUTH WALES BRANCH OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AS
WE CELEBRATE THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GOVERNMENT'S
ELECTION ON 1 MAY 1976.
I SAY ' AT LAST', BECAUSE I WAS UNABLE TO BE PRESENT ON THE
EARLIER OCCASIONS AT WHICH SO MANY, NOT ONLY FRIENDS AND
SUPPORTERS OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BUT CITIZENS FROM
ALL SECTIONS OF THE COMMUNITY, JOINED IN THE CELEBRATION OF
A TRULY HISTORIC EVENT AND REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENT.
AND WHILE I CERTAINLY REGRET THAT OTHER OFFICIAL COMMITMENTS
PREVENTED ME FROM BEING PRESENT ON THOSE GREAT OCCASIONS,
THERE IS HOWEVER, AN ADDED SIGNIFICANCE TO THIS PARTICULAR
OCCASION TONIGHT.
FIRSTLY, IT BECOMES EVEN MORE APPROPRIATE FOR ME TO SPEAK IN
TERMS OF THE NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PAST TEN YEARS IN
NEW SOUTH WALES ITS IMPORTANCE FOR THE LABOR PARTY
THROUGHOUT AUSTRALIA AND ITS IMPORTANCE TO THE WHOLE OF
AUSTRALIA AND FOR ALL THE PEOPLE OF AUSTRALIA.
AND ABOVE ALL, ONE MONTH INTO THE SECOND DECADE OF THE WRAN
LABOR GOVERNMENT, WE CAN LOOK AHEAD AND IN CELEBRATING THE
LAST TEN YEARS, THINK AHEAD FOR THE NEXT TEN YEARS.
AND I SAY WITHOUT HESITATION THAT IT IS PRECISELY BECAUSE OF
THE EXPERIENCE AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PAST TEN YEARS, HERE
IN NEW SOUTH WALES, AND FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS OF A GREAT
NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP, THAT WE CAN LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT
TEN YEARS WITH CONFIDENCE CONFIDENCE THAT WHAT WE HAVE
BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE TOGETHER IN THOSE YEARS HAS LAID STRONG
AND ENDURING FOUNDATIONS FOR WHAT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE,
TOGETHER, FOR THE PEOPLE OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND FOR THE
PEOPLE OF AUSTRALIA IN THE YEARS AHEAD.
TO MEASURE PROPERLY THE NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WRAN
ACHIEVEMENT, YOU ONLY HAVE TO RECALL THE DATE, THE TIME, OF
THAT ELECTION TEN YEARS AGO THE FIRST OF MAY 1976.
IT WAS OF COURSE LESS THAN SIX MONTHS AFTER THE GREAT
TRAGEDY AND GREAT CATASTROPHE OF 1975.
I WONDER HOW MANY OF US IN THIS ROOM REALLY BELIEVED THAT IT
WOULD BE POSSIBLE TO ELECT A LABOR GOVERNMENT ANYWHERE IN
AUSTRALIA, MUCH LESS IN ITS MOST POPULOUS STATE, IN THE
ATMOSPHERE AND MOOD OF THOSE TIMES?
YET IT HAPPENED; AND THE REST IS HISTORY.
AND IT HAPPENED, MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, BECAUSE OF THE
FAITH, PURPOSE, DEDICATION AND DETERMINATION OF ONE MANNEVILLE
WRAN.
AND IT WAS ONE OF THAT HANDFUL OF EVENTS IN RECENT TIMES,
THAT CAN BE TRULY SAID TO HAVE CHANGED THE COURSE OF
AUSTRALIAN HISTORY.
AND ITS CHIEF EFFECT, BEYOND ITS IMPACT IN NEW SOUTH WALES
ITSELF, WAS TO GALVANIZE AND REVITALISE THE LABOR PARTY
THROUGHOUT THE LENGTH AND BREADTH OF AUSTRALIA.
IN THESE DAYS OF OUR ELECTORAL ASCENDANCY, IT IS DIFFICULT
TO RECALL THE DESPAIR AND FRUSTRATION OF EARLY 1976.
AS NATIONAL PRESIDENT, I CAN REMEMBER IT ONLY TOO WELL.
BUT IT WENT DEEPER THAN DESPAIR ABOUT OUR GRIM ELECTORAL
PROSPECTS. BECAUSE OF THE NATURE OF THE EVENTS WHICH LED TO THE
DISMISSAL OF THE WHITLAM GOVERNMENT AND THE ELECTORAL
AVALANCHE THAT FOLLOWED, THERE WAS IN MANY SECTIONS OF THE
LABOR MOVEMENT A LOSS OF FAITH IN THE SYSTEM OF
PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY ITSELF.
MORE THAN ANY OTHER EVENT, THE WRAN VICTORY OF 1 MAY 1976
STOPPED THE HAEMORRHAGING OF SUPPORT FOR THE PARLIAMENTARY
SYSTEM AND THE PARLIAMENTARY PROCESSES AND LABOR'S ROLE
WITHIN THAT SYSTEM.
MORE THAN ANY OTHER EVENT, IT RESTORED OUR FAITH, NOT ONLY
IN THAT SYSTEM BUT OUR FAITH IN OURSELVES AND IN OUR
CAPACITY TO ACHIEVE OUR GOALS AND OBJECTIVES WITHIN THE
SYSTEM OF PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY.
AND FOR THAT, EVERY LABOR GOVERNMENT WHICH HAS BEEN ELECTED
IN AUSTRALIA SINCE 1976, INCLUDING MY OWN INDEED,
ESPECIALLY MY OWN IS DIRECTLY AND DEEPLY IN NEVILLE WRAN'S
DEBT. BUT OF COURSE, AN ELECTORAL VICTORY, OF ITSELF, WOULD HAVE
MEANT LITTLE OR NOTHING, IF IT HAD NOT BEEN FOLLOWED UP BY
SUBSTANTIAL ACHIEVEMENT.
AND THE NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WRAN GOVERNMENT LIES IN
BOTH THE STYLE AND THE SUBSTANCE OF ITS ACHIEVEMENT, AND THE
PATTERN IT SET FOR LABOR GOVERNMENTS THROUGHOUT AUSTRALIA.
THERE WqERE TWO KEY ASPECTS OF THE WRAN GOVERNMENT'S
APPROACH, WHICH FIRMLY ESTABLISHED A MODEL FOR REFORM LABOR
GOVERNMENTS THROUGHT AUSTRALIA.
FIRST, THEY ACKNOWLEDGED THAT MISTAKES HAD BEEN MADE IN THE
PAST NOT IN THE SUBSTANCE OF THE GREAT REFORMS WHICH THE
WHITLAM GOVERNMENT SET OUT TO ACHIEVE AND DID IN FACT
ACHIEVE TO A REMARKABLE AND ENDURING EXTENT BUT MISTAKES
IN THE METHODS AND PACE OF REFORM.
THIS GOVERNMENT IN NEW SOUTH WALES DEMONSTRATED TO ALL
AUSTRALIANS THAT LABOR WAS CAPABLE OF LEARNING FROM ITS
MISTAKES. SECONDLY, THEY DEMONSTRATED THAT, GIVEN THE RIGHT APPROACH,
REFORM COULD BE ACHIEVED EVEN IN THE FACE OF A HOSTILE
POLITICAL CLIMATE AND AN UNFAVOURABLE ECONOMIC CLIMATE.
IT IS TOO EASILY FORGOTTEN THAT THE FIRST SEVEN YEARS OF THE
WRAN GOVERNMENT COINCIDED WITH THE YEARS OF THE FRASER
GOVERNMENT, CULMINATING IN THE WORST ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
CRISIS IN AUSTRALIA FOR FIFTY YEARS.
AND THE BASIS OF THE APPROACH TO REFORM IN NEW SOUTH WALES
WAS ALWAYS CO-OPERATION AND IN PARTICULAR, CO-OPERATION
BETWEEN BUSINESS, UNIONS AND GOVERNMENT.
THE PRESENCE HERE TONIGHT OF SO M4ANY LEADERS OF THE BUSINESS
COMMUNITY, AND THE CONTINUING SUPPORT THIS GOVERNMENT
RECEIVES FROM BUSINESS, IS ITSELF EVIDENCE OF THE SUCCESS OF
THAT APPROACH.
BUT IN MORE SUBSTANTIAL TERMS, THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SYDNEY
AS THE FINANCIAL CENTRE OF AUSTRALIA, THE REJUVENATION OF
THE HUNTER VALLEY AND THE ILLAWARRA AND THE STRONG GROWTH OF
THE INDUSTRIAL BASE OF NEW SOUTH WALES, ALL REPRESENT THE
FRUITS OF THE EMPHASIS ON CO-OPERATION RATHER THAN
CONFRONTATION. IT WAS A MATTER OF GENUINE NATIONAL IMPORTANCE AND NATIONAL
BENEFIT THAT WHEN, AFTER MARCH 1983, WE WERE ABLE TO SET THE
NATIONAL AGENDA FOR NATIONAL RECONCILIATION, NATIONAL
CO-OPERATION AND NATIONAL RECOVERY, THE APPROACH HAD BEEN
TRIED AND HAD SUCCEEDED IN THE LARGEST STATE.
AND THE NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT OF THE PAST THREE YEARS ABOVE
ALL THE CREATION OF 670,000 NEW JOBS COULD NEVER HAVE BEEN
ACHIEVED WITHOUT NEW SOUTH WALES, WITHOUT A LABOR GOVERNMENT
OF NEW SOUTH WALES.
I NEED ONLY INSTANCE THE CONTRAST OF THE ONE MAINLAND STATE
IN WHICH THE POLITICS OF CONFRONTATION STILL PERSIST. IT'S
NO COINCIDENCE THAT QUEENSLAND, UNDER THE PRESENT
DISPENSATION, HAS BEEN UNABLE TO SHARE FULLY IN THE FRUITS
OF NATIONAL RECOVERY AND HAS FALLEN BEHIND THE REST OF
AUSTRALIA IN ALMOST ALL THE MAIN INDICATORS OF ECONOMIC AND
SOCIAL ADVANCE.
I NEED ONLY BMiEFLY INDICATE THE MAIN AREAS OF REFORM
ACHIEVED BY THE WRAN GOVERNMENT A GREAT DEAL OF IT THROUGH
PIONEERING LEGISLATION WHICH LEADS THE AUSTRALIAN STATES.
THE COMPLETE OVERHAUL OF THE STATE'S FINANCIAL
ADMINISTRATION, LEADING MALCOLM FRASER HIMSELF TO
CONCEDE THAT NEW SOUTH WALES WAS THE BEST MANAGED STATE
IN AUSTRALIA;
THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM;
THE SWEEPING ELECTORAL REFORMS, ABOVE ALL, THE BRINGING
OF DEMOCRACY TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL FOR THE FIRST
TIME IN ITS LONG HISTORY;
THE REVITALISATION OF SYDNEY FINANCIAL, PHYSICAL,
CULTURAL, AND MOST OF ALL, AS A PLACE TO LIVE AND WORK
FOR ALL TO ENJOY;
PIONEERING ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAWS AND THE CREATION OF
A GENUINE MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITY;
AUSTRALIA'S MOST ADVANCED CONSUMER PROTECTION
LEGISLATION; COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE PROTECTION
PROGRAMS THE THREE-FOLD INCREASE IN THE AREA OF
NATIONAL PARKS, THE PROTECTION OF THE STATE'S
RAINFORESTS AND COASTLINE;
AND MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, THE PROGRAMS FOR THE WELFARE
OF THE PEOPLE THE STATUS OF WOMEN, THE PROTECTION OF
CHILDREN, CARE FOR THE AGED, SPECIAL ASSISTANCE FOR THE
YOUNG UNEMPLOYED.
IN SHORT, THE WRAN LABOR GOVERNMENT HAS PROVIDED NEW SOUTH
WALES WITH A DECADE OF CONTINUOUS, COMPREHENSIVE AND
CONSISTENT REFORM UNEQUALLED, FOR DURATION AND DEPTH, BY ANY
STATE IN OUR FEDERAL HISTORY.
AND IT IS IMPORTANT TO BEAR IN MIND NEVER MORE SO THAN
TODAY, IN 1986 THAT THE BASIS OF THIS PROGRAM OF LABOR
REFORM HAS, AT ALL TIMES, BEEN SOUND ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT
AS I HAVE SAID, THE KIND OF DISCIPLINE WHICH EXTRACTED EVEN
MALCOLM FRASER'S GRUDGING ADMIRATION.
AND FROM THIS DECADE OF ACHIEVEMENT THE ACHIEVEMENT OF
STEADY, CONSISTENT REFORM AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF WIDELY
FLUCTUATING ECONOMIC CONDITIONS, ESPECIALLY IN THE FIRST
SEVEN YEARS CARRIES IMPORTANT LESSONS FOR ALL AUSTRALIA
TODAY.
AND THE CHIEF LESSON IS THAT WORTHWHILE AND ENDURING
PROGRESS AND REFORM WILL ONLY BE ACHIEVED BY GOVERNMENTS, IN
CO-OPERATION WITH ALL SECTIONS OF THE COMMUNITY, WHO HAVE
THE WISDOM AND THE COURAGE TO FACE UP TO THE ECONOMIC AND
POLITICAL REALITIES NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL REALITIES
OF THE TIME.
THIS SENSE OF REALITY ITS ABILITY TO FACE UP TO THE
PROBLEMS AS THEY EXIST HAS BEEN THE HALLMARK OF THE WRAN
LABOR GOVERNMENT.
IT HAS BEEN THE KEY TO ITS SUCCESS AS A GENUINE REFORM
GOVERNMENT.
AND IT IS A TRIBUTE TO THE COMMONSENSE OF THE PEOPLE OF NEW
SOUTH WALES THAT IT HAS ALSO BEEN THE KEY TO THE
GOVERNMENT'S REMARKABLE ELECTORAL SUCCESS.
AND IT WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE KEY TO SUCCESS IN THE YEARS
AHEAD. NOW OF COURSE THERE IS ALWAYS A PRICE TO BE PAID FOR SUCCESS
OF THE MAGNITUDE ACHIEVED BY NEVILLE WRAN AND HIS TEAM.
THERE IS A POLITICAL PRICE. THERE IS A PERSONAL PRICE.
IN NEVILLE'S CASE, I DO NOT BELIEVE ANY AUSTRALIAN POLITICAL
LEADER HAS BEEN CALLED UPON TO PAY A HIGHER PERSONAL PRICE,
IN TERMS OF SCRUTINY AND OF OBLOQUY.
BUT NO-ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS ANYTHING ABOUT THE HISTORY OF
AUSTRALIA, AND PARTICULARLY LABOR'S ROLE IN THE HISTORY OF
AUSTRALIA, WILL BE SURPRISED OR MYSTIFIED BY THIS PROCESS.
IT IS THE OLDEST STORY IN OUR POLITICAL HISTORY THE DOUBLE
STANDARD AGAINST LABOR, WITH THE ULTIMATE AIM OF DENIAL OF
LABOR'S LEGITIMACY.
WE HAVE SEEN IT AGAIN AND AGAIN THROUGHOUT OUR HISTORY.
WE SEE IT AT A DIFFERENT LEVEL AND I HAVE TO SAY IN A
QUITE SHAMEFUL AND SHAMELESS FORM IN SOME OF THE
POSTURINGS FROM THE PRESENT OPPOSITION AND EVEN FROM SOME
PEOPLE WHO SHOULD, AND I BELIEVE DO, KNOW BETTER ABOUT
TAXATION REFORM.
AND NEVILLE HAS BEEN JUDGED AGAIN AND AGAIN BY THAT DOUBLE
STANDARD. INDEED, UNIQUELY, HE SUBMITTED HIMSELF TO THAT
JUDGEMENT. HIS INTEGRITY HAS BEEN TESTED AND RETESTED AND YOUR
PRESENCE HERE TONIGHT IS ITSELF THE TANGIBLE TESTIMONY THAT
HE HAS NEVER BEEN FOUND WANTING.
IN HIS POLITICAL CAREER AND IN HIS PERSONAL CONDUCT, HE HAS
DEMONSTRATED TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE THAT BRAND OF COURAGE
DESCRIBED BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY AS ' GRACE UNDER PRESSURE'.
AND THAT HAS BEEN AN ENDURING SOURCE, NOT ONLY OF HIS OWN
STRENGTH, BUT THE STRENGTH OF THE GOVERNMENT WHICH HE LEADS.
AND I'M DELIGHTED TO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY TONIGHT TO ADD MY
TRIBUTE AND ACKNOWLEDGE OUR INDEBTEDNESS.
ONE OF THE MESSAGES NEVILLE RECEIVED ON 1 MAY WAS ONE WHICH
RAN " IF A WEEK IN POLITICS IS LIKE A YEAR ANYWHERE ELSE,
THANK YOU FOR 520 GREAT YEARS".
6.
AND TEN YEARS IS A LIFE-TIME IN MODERN GOVERNMENT.
BUT NOT THE LEAST REMARKABLE ATTRIBUTES OF THE WRAN
GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN THAT ITS VIGOUR AND DRIVE HAS NOT BEEN
DISSIPATED BY THE PASSAGE OF THE YEARS.
EVEN THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD NOT AN UNDULY SYCOPHANTIC
SOURCE ACKNOWLEDGES THIS IN AN EDITORIAL LAST MONTH.
IT SAID " AFTER 10 YEARS MOST GOVERNMENTS WOULD BE A TERMINAL
CASE, BUT THIS IS NOT TRUE OF THE WRAN GOVERNMENT".
YOUR GOVERNMENT, NEVILLE, HAS NOT ONLY PROVIDED NEW SOUTH
WALES WITH UNPRECEDENTED STABILITY OVER A DECADE, BUT A
CAPACITY FOR SELF-RENEWAL AND REJUVENATION.
AND WHEN WE LOOK AROUND THE LABOR GOVERNMENTS THROUGHOUT
AUSTRALIA, IN THE FOUR STATES AND THE NATIONAL CAPITAL, YOU
HAVE TO BE STRUCK BY AN EXTRAORDINARY PHENOMENON.
AND IT THIS. IN THE SPACE OF A MERE DECADE, A WHOLE NEW
GENERATION OF LABOR PARLIAMENTARIANS HAS COME FORWARD TO
LEAD LABOR GOVERNMENTS, A NEW GENERATION OF LABOR MEN AND
WOMEN WHO, COLLECTIVELY AND IN THEIR SEPARATE
ADMINISTRATIONS, IN SYDNEY, IN MELBOURNE, IN ADELAIDE, IN
PERTH AND IN CANBERRA, FORM THE MOST TALENTED, THE MOST
VIGOROUS AND MOST COMPETENT POLITICAL LEADERSHIP THIS NATION
HAS EVER HAD.
THE ELECTION AND THE EXAMPLE OF THE WRAN GOVERNMENT WAS
A CATALYST IN HELPING BRING THIS NEW GENERATION FORWARD INTO
THE SERVICE OF OUR PARTY AND OUR NATION.
THAT IS AS STRONG A REASON AS ANY FOR CELEBRATING THIS TENTH
ANNIVERSARY. IN TIMES LIKE THESE, THE DECISIONS WE MUST MAKE, AS
GOVERNMENTS AND AS A COMMUNITY, ARE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT,
REQUIRING ALL OUR SKILL, DETERMINATION, DEDICATION, AND
FORESIGHT. WE MUST MUSTER AND MARSHAL ALL OUR COMBINED
TALENTS AND RESOURCES.
I REPEAT, THE TEN YEARS SINCE NEVILLE WRAN'S ELECTION HAVE
PRODUCED, IN OUR LABOR GOVERNMENTS, THE MOST TALENTED AND
DEDICATED LEADERSHIP IN AUSTRALIA'S HISTORY.
AND THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SINGLE FACT IN AUSTRALIAN
POLITICAL LIFE TODAY A FACT OF MONUMENTAL IMPORTANCE FOR
OUR FUTURE FOR THE FUTURE OF AUSTRALIA UNDER LABOR
GOVERNMENTS IN THE YEARS AHEAD.