1987 FEDERAL ELECTION POLICY SPEECH BY IAN SINCLAIR, FEDERAL LEADER, NATIONAL PARTY 0F AUSTRALIA : CESSNOCK TOWN HALL, JUNE 21, 1987  My friends.  This day 200 years ago those hardy and unwilling souls who were to be Australia's first European settlers were braving the tempestuous Atlantic as they pitched and rolled towards the uncertainties and hazards of their new home.  Ashore, the original Australians with their elemental culture faced an even bleaker future.  Today under the Hawke Government we who are their successors can be no more confident of what lies ahead for us.  Like the passengers in a boat on a mighty river our course is set by the helmsmen.  When the weather was fine and the water clear and calm the task was easy. As the water have grown darker and deeper and rougher the vessel's progress has almost stopped. Ahead we can sense the rumbling and the roar of a mighty waterfall.  If we steer on the same economic course, we are headed for disaster.  We cannot just trim our course a degree or two - that will only delay the inevitable.  We roust make a decisive change - and now.  It takes courage to make that change, determination to carry it through, and understanding to know what the course must be.  Our present helmsmen say our economic course has been good enough: stick with it, they argue; and the threat of that ominous precipice will go away.  But the rush of the economic flow, accelerated by the indulgences of the past, is such that decisive change is vital.  This premature July 11 election gives you the chance to make that change.  When you vote, you will be doing much more than giving a political party the right to govern for the next three years.  You will be given the choice to change the future of Australia, and most vitally, that of your family and yourself.  We've had over four years of hard Labor.  And I ask you are you better off today?  What has four years of Labor done?  - It's given us the biggest-taxing Government in peacetime history;  - It's given us the biggest-spending Government in peacetime history;  - It's driven the dollar lower and interest rates higher than they've ever been;  - It's tripled our foreign debt to $105 billion gross or over $80 billion net;  - It's pushed inflation to four times the level of our overseas competitors;  - It's given us new taxes like the capital gains and fringe benefits taxes;  - It's given us a health System which pushes costs out of control and creates massive queues for treatment at our public hospitals;  - It's allowed education standards to slip and opportunities for tertiary education to decline;  - It's cut family living standards by over $31 a week;  - It's pushed bankruptcies particularly among small businesses to new record levels;  - It's pushed farmers off the land and put thousands more on the edge of disaster;  - It's left more than 23% of young people and 8.2% of the total workforce unemployed;  - And it’s let the union bosses virtually control the country as this week's seatbelt dispute affecting the whole motor vehicle industry so clearly demonstrates.  I could go on but it would take all day. Labor's policies have been tried. They have failed.  Lahor has pursued tired old socialist rhetoric perhaps more subtly under Hawke but equally as comprehensively as under Whiblam.  It has allowed a burgeoning bureaucracy to stifle individual initiative. Big government and big unions have flourished. Ordinary Australians have been forgotten.  On July 11, you have a choice  You can follow Labor to economic disaster, to a future of high interest rates, high taxes, high inflation and massive debt, where the Banana Republic prophecies of the Treasurer are confirmed.  You can follow a party that jumps to the strings of its union maskers, scorns the flag and the family, destroys our health System, poisons our education System and refuses to accept its responsibility for national security.  But you have a choice - a real choice.  In the Senate and the House of Representatives on July 11 you will be given a chance to alter the course of this nation and restore hope once more for your family, your friends and yourself.  Your living standards are the issue of this election. To get living standards up again for ordinary Australians, decisive steps must be taken, and now.  We have to get government spending down, the budget deficit down, interest rates down, and taxes down.  THE ECONOHY  To improve living standards net after tax profits and net fake home pay for the individual Australian must increase.  Greater productivity will mean more jobs and greater personal reward. To achieve this we need lower government spending and tax cuts.  The size of the Government's take under Labor has been a real disincentive. Keating's four deficits have left a national shortfall of nearly $27 billion over four budget years.  These deficits, the explosion of Australia's overseas debt, and our uncertain industrial record, have led to the loss of our Triple A credit rating and a real threat to our international competitiveness.  To restore interest rates to continuing comparability to those of our overseas competitors, Government deficits must be cut.  The National Party will seek a balanced budget by 1989/90 and urge State Governments to do the same.  Expenditure cuts will be achieved by the termination of some federal functions, reduction of others and wherever possible the elimination of overlapping responsibilities with the States.  Amendments will be made to the Audit Act to facilitate financial delegation and enhanced awareness of the costs and savings possible by more effective financial management within the public sector.  Further personal and corporate tax reductions should then be pursued so that the maximum rate of tax would be no more than 25 cents in the dollar.  The "bonus for working" concept involving the introduction of a flat 23% tax rate for increases in taxable income from one year to the next should be carefully assessed and if achievable PAYE scales amended accordingly.  Fuel is a major cost item for all Australians. Automatic fuel indexation should be terminated as soon as possible.  For farmers, fishermen and the forestry industries there will be a full rebate of excise on petrol and diesel used off-road.  An exemption of sales tax on lubricants used in these industries will be provided.  For most taxpayers in primary industry the cyclic effect of variable incomes has meant large tax payments and penal provisional tax rates in a year of drought or other financial exigency.  The National Party, therefore, will seek once more the re-introduction of full tax deductibility for Income Equalisation Deposit Bonds, in the year of deposit with tax payable in the year of withdrawal. Interest rates on IEDs will be at lower than market rates.  Australians for too long have been encouraged to be a nation of spenders, not savers.  The National party recognises the worth of achieving greater Personal savings. If a scheme could be developed to allow for all taxpayers a deduction for up to the first $5,000 of interest earned it would increase enormously the domestic funds available for investment in this country.  Were this possible without facilitating tax evasion and within deficit priorities it would have the strong support of the National Party.  THE FAMILY  Over the past four years it is not just the individual but the traditional Australian family that has suffered.  Our tax policy is designed to give significant assistance to single income families with children.  Existing family allowances will be maintained and the dependent spouse rebate kept at $1,000 a year.  We will seek to make child care expenses incurred by working parents treated as a business related expense in the tax System.  Bodies such as the Constitutional Commission, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, the Commission for the Future the National Health and Occupational Safety Commission, the Prices Surveillance Authority, the Coal Industry Tribunal, the Advisory Council on Prices and Incomes, the Economic Planning Advisory Council, and the Schools Commission, to name but a few, will go.  Redundant public sector assets will be sold. These funds, however, will be used predominantly to reduce our national debt.  Significant cuts in public spending have now been separately identified by the National Priorities Project, by the Liberal Party and by the Queensland National Party Senate candidate and former Secretary of the Treasury, Mr John Stone.  Some of these proposals are acceptable, others may not be. Even Treasurer Keating with the immense resources of government behind him has been unable to accurately assess the yield from his capital gains and fringe benefits taxes.  I accept, therefore, that with any detailed list of cuts in Opposition, complete precision may prove difficult. Suffice to say after careful examination I am convinced that necessary cuts and tax changes can now be legislated simultaneously in our first budget.  Experience shows that tax reform without simultaneous legislation to implement related expenditure cuts could lead to rejection of the latter and a deficit blow-out.  This, of course, would be totally unacceptable.  Accordingly, as a first step to major tax reform and in light of the consideration given to National Party concerns in the tax policy of the Leader of the Liberal Party, Mr John Howard, the National Party will support his program, both for expenditure savings and immediate tax reform.  Above all the capital gains tax and the fringe benefits tax introduced by Hr Keating will go in legislation introduced in the first session of the new Parliament.  Labor's negative gearing measures will be repealed.  Bona fide entertainment expenses met in the course of doing business again will be tax deductible.  However, the Party does not see this as the end of tax reform nor of expenditure cuts.  Labor's lump sum superannuation tax scales will be modified to be taxed at 25%.  We will seek further changes in due course. The corporate rate must be reduced to the maximum personal rate.  The Family Law Act will be changed to ensure that parents meet their maintenance payments and to take into greater account the needs of children.  Our Government will work with the States to introduce laws to give the police and the courts power to deal with offensive anti-family or anti-social behaviour.  The party will seek a national inquiry into all forms of child abuse. Children are our future and they must be protected.  AIDS AND DRUGS  The money currently spent on sensationalised advertising campaigns on AIDS and drugs will be diverted to work on cures and real assistance to sufferers.  The emphasis in our drugs campaign will be on penalising drug pushers and helping drug users to kick the habit.  EDUCATION  We will commence a nationwide "basic skills" program for children to lift minimum levels of reading, writing and arithmetic.  Technical education at school and at TAFE colleges is essential to developing the work skills necessary for personal satisfaction and job generation.  The Nationals will place particular emphasis in working with the States to encourage opportunities for young people in these fields and to ease the present restraints imposed by the existing apprenticeship scheme.  The number and value of AUSTUDY scholarships will be maintained to ensure access to tertiary education on ability but without penalising the financially disadvantaged.  Post-graduate scholarships, particularly at a doctorate level, have declined in relative value in recent years. In conjunction with private enterprise initiatives will be taken to maintain adequate opportunities for students to qualify for senior degrees so that basic and applied research and innovative design and conceptual thinking may be enhanced.    EHPLOYMENT   The Commonweatth Employment Service is administratively top-heavy and too often it has failed in its task to match employer demands with employment needs.  The CES, together with the Community Youth Support Scheme, will be overhauled and where possible responsibilities transferred to the private sector. Encouragement will be given to occupational training to better prepare the unemployed for jobs.  We have to he imaginative enough in our planning and brave enough in our commitment to diversity in education to give young Australians a real chance to gain skills and get jobs.  SOCIAL SERVICES  Work for the community or approved job training will be required for those receiving unemployment benefits.  The work test will be strengthened.  Unemployment benefits will no longer be paid to under 18 year olds although in cases of financial need a special benefit will be maintained.  For those leaving non-seasonal jobs voluntarily a 26 week qualification period will be required.  Entitlement for supporting parents benefit will be revised. Payment will be restricted to those with children up to the age of 16 unable to support themselves and their children nor obtain support from the other parent. Those who apply for the benefit must prove they have tried to obtain maintenance. Maintenance dodgers will be pursued through a maintenance collection agency.  The administration of the Social Services Department will be tightened to minimise social welfare fraud.  THE ELDERLY  Labor's Assets Test has been yet another anti-family measure for so many in small business and in the rural sector.  The transfer of ownership for family enterprises between generations inevitably leaves sortie assets in parents' hands.  In today's adverse circumstances those assets are earning insufficient income to sustain even a reasonable standard of living, yet the Assets Test denies the owners access to any pension.  The Assets Test will go.  The National Party will also work for the extension of present earnings permissible while maintaining the right to a full pension.    HEALTH   Medicare is a shambles.  It has meant high costs and impossible public hospital queues.  Australians deserve better.  Pensioners, the disadvantaged, and the chronically ill will pay nothing as at present.  All Australians again will have the right to choose their own insurance arrangements.  Basic health care will be available from a nominated private health fund. The cost will be covered by your Medicare levy.  Those Australians who can afford to will pay the first $250 of their hospital and medical costs in any one year. Voluntary health funds may offer additional insurance to cover this payment, the additional 15% you are required to pay for medical expenses under the existing Medicare plan and the cost of private hospital and other health care.  A special program will be introduced to give immediate access to private hospitals for existing complaints for those thousands of Australians who are unable under Labor's Medicare to gain access to public hospitals for elective surgery.  That 100,000 Australians today are denied access for such operations in the public hospital System is itself an indictment of the Labor Government. That a delay of two years is not uncommon compounds the offence.  We will negotiate with the States to relieve the acute shortage of nurses by allowing the registration of nurses following in-hospital training, as in the past, as well as through the recently introduced tertiary courses.  INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS  Under Labor Australia has been living through an industrial nightmare.  The wages accord was a disaster. The superannuation loading was a con.  A few weeks ago Labor did another deal with the unions and introduced yet more industrial legislation into the Parliament.  Had they proceeded with it, unions would have been put even further above the law. If there were to be another Hawke Government, that unwanted legislation can be expected to return.  The National Party believes in responsible unionism. But more than that, we believe that workers are more important than union bosses. If workers want to opt out of a union they will be allowed to.  If a business and its employees want to enter into a voluntary agreement on the terms and conditions of employment and register these with award status they will be allowed to.  Those agreements could cover penalty rates and the hours to be worked before overtime or penalty rates are incurred. Importantly, union bosses will be subject to the same reporting and financial obligations as directors of public companies.  Income other than union fees of all industrial organisations will be subject to tax.  INDUSTRY  Our economic and social policies are designed to encourage the individual and foster opportunities for employment and economic growth.  These cannot succeed unless Australian industry is once more allowed to function in an environment as free as possible from government regulation and control.  Under the Nationals Labor's anti-business taxes will go. Under the Nationals Government regulations will be reduced.  Under the Nationals investment will be encouraged in an environment where inflation and interest rates will go down.  SHALL BUSINESS  Industrial relations changes will enhance job prospects in small business.  The National Party will ensure the Government meets its trading debts within 30 days. Greater contracting out to the private sector will be required.  Small businesses will gain access to Australia's postal services through new Post Office franchises similar to those now applicable to newsagents.  A special industrial advocate will be briefed as required to represent small business before the Arbitration Commission and to help in court cases involving the secondary boycott provisions of the Trade Practices Act.  PRIMARY INDUSTRY  Separately my colleague, the Deputy Leader of the National Party, Ralph Hunt, has issued a full and detailed policy statement outlining the party's intentions to revive the family farm and restore the viability of our major rural commodities. However, no policy speech of the National Party would be complete without particular reference to our concern that Government constraints such as export inspection charges will be lifted.  Water and soil conservation too are major concerns.  Labor terminated our Bicentennial Water Resources Program.  Now assistance will be given not only for on-farm conservation but to the States to help provide water for regional city and town supplies.  Subject to discussion with the Queensland Government, a special grant will be made to complete the pipeline from the Burdekin Dam to the City of Townsville.  Greening Australia, a major non-Government program to increase tree stocks, has our full support.  We will negotiate with the States for more effective assistance for natural disaster relief, provide dollar for dollar Commonwealth assistance for the duration of drought and extend drought assistance to small business in drought declared areas where those businesses depend on farm businesses.  MINING AND RESOURCES  Another great export industry that has suffered under Labor has been the mining industry.  Commonwealth mineral export controls will go. So too will the coal export levy.  Resource Rent tax will be abolished as will any coal marketing authority.  Coal industry workers will be made subject to the same laws of conciliation and arbitration as other workers within our Industrial Relations policy.  We will progressively deregulate the Australian oil industry to give incentive for exploration. Australian crude oil will be sold at word prices and we will move towards a free market for oil sales. Transitional arrangements will be made to ensure a market for small producers.  Labor's policy on uranium has made Australia the laughing stock of the world.  There is so-called "good" uranium from South Australia which we can export but "bad" uranium in the Northern Territory which we cannot.  Nuclear energy is year by year more vital to meet the world's electricity requirements. Australia has a responsibility to ensure its resources are used safely and wisely to meet that demand.  We will resume development of the Australian uranium industry under guidelines that maintain our stringent safeguard requirements and nuclear non-proliferation arrangements.  FOREIGN AFFAIRS  Recent events in Fiji and Vanuatu and differences between the United States and Australia at this weekend's ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting in Singapore reflect the changing strategic situation in our region and the progressive estrangement of the Hawke Government from the United States.  The National Party will co-operate with the United States to protect our joint interests in the Pacific and pursue to the maximum diplomatic efforts to restore New Zealand's participation in ANZUS.  We will re-establish close tics with Papua New Guinea and play a positive role as an active member of the regional community.  We will support multi-lateral disarmament and play a responsible role within the Western Alliance.  Present international trade disputes, particularly those affecting agricultural commodities, are of great concern and positive efforts will be made to lift tariff and non-tariff barriers to our exports.  The National Party rejects apartheid. However, we oppose economic sanctions against South Africa and would seek the restoration of air links between our two countries.  We will terminate Government support for the African National Congress and other terrorist organisations and prohibit any group supporting or involved in terrorism from establishing an official presence in Australia.  DEPENCE  Increasing Soviet military strength in the Pacific, coupled with Soviet attempts at economic penetration and the adventurism of Libya, pose a serious threat to the continuation of a regional stability which had been almost taken for granted.  In these circumstances a well-trained and well-armed Australian Defence Force IS essential.  The disastrous reduction in defence personnel under Labor must be halted.  We will give to the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal a comprehensive reference to ensure comparability of Service pay and conditions to those in the public service and the private sector.  Defence housing will be improved through a special vote from the defence budget.  Administrative regulations will be changed to allow financial delegation to Base Commanders to' permit the transfer of funds between divisions of expenditure and a carry-over of up to 20% of funds from one financial year to another.  Permissible training days and personnel ceilings for the Reserves will be lifted.  School cadets for young men and women will be re-established.  TRANSPORT  In a sparsely populated and vast continent like Australia transport remains a priority for government.  The National Party seeks the allocation of six cents a litre of fuel excise to upgrade the nation's roads. The two cents a litre bicentennial levy will be maintained until 1990.  We will amend the Australian Flag Act to enable foreign vessels to compete in the Australian coastal shipping trade, across the Tasman and in the supply of rock phosphate to Australia.  We will terminate the Two Airlines Agreement.  Australian Airlines and QANTAS will be reconstituted into public companies and a percentage of shares offered to employees and the public.  We will provide a parallel north-south runway at Sydney's Kingsford Smith airport.  COMMUNICATIONS  Telecom will maintain its responsibility for the telephone network. Progressively, line construction and maintenance, the wiring of premises and value added services will be transferred to licensed teletricians in the private sector.  We will ensure the continuation of the rural and remote area telephone program, and give all Australians access to untimed local phone calls.  Australia Post's monopoly on standard letter carriage will be retained, but we will encourage more flexible administrative arrangements to maximise services in rural and remote areas.  The politicisation of the ABC has generated concern as to its ability to function in its traditional way. Its directorate and management will be replaced to re-establish its independence and its structure reviewed to reduce the inefficiencies of its administrative hierarchy.  ARTS  Australian creativity in music, theatre and the arts is particularly significant at this time of increased awareness of our cultural diversity and abundant natural talent.  In changes affecting the operation of the Australia Council, recognition will be given to the need to encourage Australian artists, authors and composers as well as our musicians and performers.  In conjunction with the States, efforts will be made to ensure music, arts and the theatre are available through regional centres.  NORTHERN TERRITORY  The National Party believes that Aboriginal land rights is a matter for the States and rejects uniform federal land rights legislation.  Responsibility for Aboriginal land and national parks in the Territory will be transferred to the Territory Government.  Full powers of self-government will be granted to the Territory as soon as possible.  SUHHARY  Today I have covered the major policies the National Party is offering in the election on 11 July.  Details of all our policies are set out in a policy summary also being released today.  Over the last few months divisions among those who share our beliefs in the urgent need for a new national direction for Australia have gained a lot of media attention.  That these differences have been public rather than private does not affect the essential strength of the National Party around Australia.  The Party has always been a loose federation of strong State organisations.  However, the majority of these Senators and Members elected on July 11 alone will determine our Parliamentary attitude in government.  To do otherwise opens the path to corruption, abuse, and ultimately, tyranny.  Much too was made of the split in the Coalition but already, John Howard and I have had preliminary discussions about the formation of the next Liberal and National Party Government.  The National Party approaches the election with a firm commitment to form once more a strong united and effective conservative partnership.  Since 1950 the National and Liberal parties consistently have worked together as separate parties but in coalition in government.  Our parties led this nation through its greatest age of prosperity - then rebuilt it after the disaster of the Whitlam years brought it almost to its knees.  We are ready now to rebuild it again.  The policies of the Labor Party are the policies of the pasfc.  They have failed.  The National Party gives you a real choice on 11 July.  You owe it to your family, your children and Australia to think of the future when you vote.  Think of Australia, think of how much better off you should be and then vote for the Nationals. Policy Launch by the Prime Minister, Bob Hawke  8 March 1990.  My Friends, Fellow Australians  The message I bring to you today is a message of confidence in the future of Australia, and a renewed commitment to a better, fairer future for all Australians.  It is a message based firmly on realism.  - The realism and substance of our policies for the future.  - The fact that the tough and hard decisions we have had to make for the good of Australia are starting to work.  - The fact that we are building together a nation of opportunity, fairness and security.  - And above all, on the strength of the Australian people.  My Friends,  I know that we have had to take hard and unpopular decisions for difficult times. I know - I understand completely - that those decisions have been tough for many decent, hard working Australians. But I also know that I would not be fit to lead our great country if I had chosen the easy, popular way at the cost of the nation's future. And anyone - however glib or smooth - who tells the people of Australia that the future lies at the end of an easy road is not fit to be your Prime Minister. This is not a time for slogans or hollow rhetoric. It is a time for leadership. It is a time for substance. It is a time for realistic policies. It is a time for real answers. It is a time for vision with realism. And now more than ever, it is a time for stability and unity in government. And by those tests, the people of Australia have never had a clearer choice. And in a very deep sense, the choice lies between two opposing principles - the choice between opportunity and privilege. This, in the final analysis, is the great divide between Labor and the Liberal/National Coalition - a profound difference over goals for the nation, and over a range of specific issues: taxation, education, training, industrial relations, health care, child care, superannuation. On all these vital issues, you have the decisive difference - Labor working to enlarge equality of opportunity for all; a Liberal/National coalition working to deny opportunity and entrench privilege.  My Friends,  Labor presents a comprehensive, realistic, responsible and achievable plan for Australia’s future:  - a plan for continued growth and rising productivity.  - a plan to increase the nation's savings and reduce the nation's debt.  - a strategy to boost exports and replace imports.  - a strategy to free up international trade and to tie Australia into the economic boom in Asia and the Pacific.  - a framework of education and science policies to prepare our young people for the challenges of the 21st century.  - an agenda for a fair society with opportunity open to all Australians wherever they were born, whatever their background.  - a commitment to the right of all Australians to health :are through Medicare.  - a plan to protect Australia's precious environment for all time, for all Australians.  Our plan represents an historic step towards great national goals:  - a modern, growing economy, earning its income, paying its way through exports to the markets of the world, re-equipped and restructured in its attitudes, its institutions and its technology.  - a self confident and vigorous partner in the world economy and in the economy of our region - the region of the future.  Let me emphasise:  The new proposals I present today are achievable, responsible, fully paid for. By contrast, our opponents, at last count, had a credibility gap of $6000 million in unfunded promises. Our new proposals build on our years of hard work together - our work together to create one million six hundred thousand new jobs to take 250000 people off the dole. The task of managing the Australian economy in these times .of strong growth has, of course, called for rigorous `policies - and sometimes tough decisions. And let me say frankly to all my fellow Australians: there was no decision tougher for us than to have interest rates that hurt home buyers and squeezed business. None of us has enjoyed that. But our task was to get the right economic climate, so that the falls, when they came, could be sustained. Because we've followed the right policies, interest rates are going down. And that's the verdict of the banks which set them.  My Friends,  Now is the time for further measures to reform our economy and to improve your living standards. The first element in our plan is the wage/tax and superannuation package we are presenting for your endorsement on 24 March. It is a package which will deliver to the average wage and salary earner the equivalent of an extra $50 a week in wage rises and tax cuts, in four stages over the next 16 months. It is a package which meets fully the tests of economic responsibility, fairness and foresight. It is a package which the country can afford. It is a package which the working men and women of Australia deserve. It is not something which the Government is handing out. It is something which you have earned by your work and restraint. Our package to raise wages and cut taxes – responsibly, fairly, steadily - is central to Labor's plan for Australia's economic strength. By stark contrast, our opponents, with breathtaking irresponsibility, seek to govern without a wages policy. They have no better idea of the outcome of that lack of policy, now, than the Leader of the Opposition had last November when he said: "Who's to know?". But in fact, we do know. We know who would suffer. We know it from their record. The Liberal and National Parties would give us the law of the industrial jungle, where the rich, the powerful, the groups with most industrial muscle, would grab the big but short lived gains. A system that is fair for all would be replaced by a free for all. Theirs is a recipe for a wages explosion - for runaway inflation - for massive unemployment. It is a recipe to feed higher and higher interest rates. It is a recipe to destroy the award restructuring which is doing so much to reform Australian industry. But there is another, immensely serious, consequence of the Liberal/National desire to smash our wage/tax package and the Accord with the trade union movement which underpins it. Australians now have for the first time a national superannuation scheme which all people covered by industrial awards can enjoy; a benefit which helps fight inflation; a benefit which prepares Australia for the ageing of its population; and a benefit which the nation and its businesses, large and small, can afford. Yet the Liberal/National coalition would sabotage this national savings plan, a plan already amassing a huge bank for investment in Australia's export and import replacing industries. Because of our policies, eight out of ten Australian employees already get an average of $15 a week paid into their own personal superannuation scheme by their employer. Over the next three years, under our package, that will double to $30 a week saved for your retirement. And let me add for those who have retired or are planning their retirement that no aged or service pensioner will pay any income tax by 1995.  Every one of the dollars saved through our superannuation plan helps finance Australia's development without foreign debt. It's a national savings scheme - good for you, good for Australia. It's too important to be put at risk.  My Friends,  We need more exports. We need more competitive industry. We need manufacturing muscle, built on the backbone of our great mining and agricultural resources. We have begun, strongly begun, that process. Under Labor the proportion of people working is at record levels. They are better educated than ever before, better trained and working with better tools and technology. What better base for productivity growth? And what more complete rebuttal could there be of the Opposition's putting down of Australia's productivity as virtually zero than the official figures released here and overseas just this very week? There's the fact -Australia's productivity is on the rise, and sharply so. Seven years ago, Australia's steel industry was on the verge of shutdown. We have together - government, unions, employers - transformed the steel industry. Today we are exporting steel to the world - $750 million in the last year. The value of these exports will treble to over $2 billion by 1992. Seven years ago, our motor vehicle industry was collapsing under the weight of self-defeating protection and inefficient work practices. Today we are shipping Australian cars and car parts to Japan and the United States. Our ship building industry has been revitalised. Now the Europeans can catch a ferry across the English Channel - made in Tasmania. We are now exporting electronic equipment to Asia, pharmaceuticals to Europe and optical lenses throughout the world. Australia is now one of the world's great tourist destinations, our telecommunications industry is leading the way into export markets, and our exports of education, health and legal services are achieving unprecedented growth.  But we can do more. We must do more. Earlier in this campaign I outlined Labor's integrated strategy to boost Australian exports. And I outlined a ten point plan to lift further the productivity of our industry.  My Friends,  No longer content to be just the lucky country, Australia must become the clever country. To realise that vision, I am announcing new initiatives today to build on our substantial achievements in education and scientific research - to unleash the skills and talents of our people. When, we came to office, thirty six per cent - around one in three children – completed high school education. Today, sixty per cent finish Year 12; that's sixty seven thousand more kids a year with a better chance in life, a new opportunity for the future. To assist parents with the financial burden of keeping their -children at school longer, for their children's good and the country’s good, we will introduce a new Education Completion Allowance. For those students not receiving AUSTUDY, family allowance for students during the last two years at high school will be replaced with a payment of $300 twice a year - a total of $600 and an increase of $115 - paid at the time when the demands on parents for books and equipment are greatest. And we want to encourage that ever-increasing number of young Australians finishing high school to strive for excellence. So today I'm announcing the Australian Students Prize. Five hundred awards of $2000 each will be made to our best young achievers at the end of Year 12. And for all these kids finishing school there is now a greater opportunity than ever before for a job - or, if they choose, a place in universities, TAFE colleges, apprenticeships and job training.  My Friends,  In this national task of mobilising our human resources, our scientists and researchers stand at the forefront. Australia must reduce its reliance on imported technology and borrowed research. We must become a leader in the production and export of ideas. My Government has already dramatically boosted our science and technology potential - with a $1000 million package of initiatives last year. But to stay abreast and move ahead of the world, we need to pool the talents of our university, Commonwealth, State and private sector researchers and link them more effectively to the rest of the economy. The Government has now decided to establish a network of fifty world class Co-operative Research Centres. These research centres will create additional jobs for about 1000 talented Australian scientists. They will be established over the next five years, built around outstanding research leaders and pooling the talent of outstanding research groups not only from the CSIRO, other government research organisations and the universities, but also from private industry. When fully established we will be providing $100 million a year in additional funding to support the new centres. Each research centre will be staffed with a team of highly skilled scientists, using the latest high tech equipment, exchanging information around the world - making scientific breakthroughs in medicine, technology, pollution control, communications. And so, instead of young Australian scientists having to go to Europe, America and Japan to find the leading edge of scientific research, we'll have their scientists coming to us. The new centres will be located wherever possible on or near university campuses, so that research staff can help in the equally vital task of training young researchers. This is the most significant step ever taken by a Federal Government to draw together the strengths of Australian researchers. It will equip Australians with the scientific research capacity to take our modern nation into the 21st century.  My Friends,  At the same time we cannot afford to exclude any group of Australians from making their contribution to the national mobilisation of resources. In particular, a Labor Government will never accept that any fit and able Australian is unemployable. We will never accept the proposition that some Australians are expendable, to be dropped through a trap door and forgotten. We offer instead a safety net of training and re-training for the unemployed. We will abolish the dole and replace it with a Jobsearch allowance for those actively seeking work. For those who cannot find a job after 12 months, there will be a Newstart allowance, conditional on accepting training or retraining for available work. Despite our success in lifting the proportion of children staying on to finish school, we recognise that some schools and some kids are still missing out. Therefor, Labor will provide $37 million over three years to address literacy and learning problems in disadvantaged schools. Further, we will expand Secondary Education Hostels for Aboriginal Children. And we will provide $60 million over the next two years to improve school facilities, equipment and curricula.  My Friends,  There is a new generation of social issues facing those who live in the outer areas of our cities. The voluntary groups and State agencies that have to deal with crisis in peoples' lives, day to day, know that isolation is becoming a major social problem -isolation from employment opportunities, from family support, from education. I now commit my Government to provide, with the States and voluntary groups, a new level of Commonwealth support. We will extend marriage counselling services. We will establish Family Resources Centres. We will support State efforts to care for teenagers after school. And we will help provide improved transport for outer urban areas through the provision of more trains and buses. The total cost of these measures will be $128 million over three years.  My Friends,  In the task of national mobilisation to build a more productive and competitive economy, the women of Australia have a key role. Today - International Women's Day - I re-affirm our deep commitment to equality of opportunity for the women of Australia. It is a commitment to give women a full say, a real choice and a fair go. We recognise that if women are to have a real choice, they need access to child care. That is why we have established what is already one of the best systems of child care in the world, and why we will make it even better - more places and more affordable access to them. Under our existing child care strategy we will have created 144,000 new child care places by 1992. Of itself that represents a trebling of child care places since we came to office. Today I announce that we will be making available additional funding capable of creating, with the States, another 50000 child care places over the next five years. And, further, we will provide the incentive for employers to extend child care in both the public and the private sectors. We expect an estimated 28000 new places in employer provided and commercial centres. To do this we will greatly increase the fee-relief for low and middle income families. It will mean, for example, that a family with a gross income of $30000 a year, with one child at a child care centre, will receive a fee-relief benefit of $65 a week - over twice the benefit currently paid. And for the first time, we will extend fee-relief to low and middle income families using commercial child care centres. Parents are entitled to be confident they are getting quality attention for their kids, whether they are using Government-funded or commercial centres. So we will work with all the key interests in child care to develop a system of accreditation. In all, we will spend some $400 million in what will constitute the biggest expansion of child care in Australia's history. We estimate there will be a quarter of a million places by mid-1996. Last week in Perth, with Premier Carmen Lawrence, I committed my Government to new policies for women including a national program for the early detection of breast cancer, fully funded at $64 million over three years.  My Friends,  Central to everything I am putting forward today - and central to the decision you will make on 24 March - is the kind of Australia we want for our children. And that's not just a matter of education and jobs and opportunities and economic growth. It is, very importantly, the natural environment they'll inherit. We in this generation have no greater responsibility than to pass on intact to future generations Australia's priceless environment. My Government unequivocally accepts that responsibility. That's why we stopped the damming of the Franklin. And that's why we protected our irreplaceable rainforests, the tall forests of Tasmania, the Great Barrier Reef and Kakadu. Nor do we accept that this responsibility ends at Australia's shores. We are leading the fight to prevent mining in Antarctica. We are leading the fight to end the barbaric practice of drift net fishing in the South Pacific. We are making a strong scientific effort to help tackle the greenhouse and ozone problems and are banning virtually all use of CFCs. And our commitment to the environment will not end there. I will be making a separate statement on the environment in the coming weeks.  My Friends,  It has been said that those who do not learn the lessons of the past will be condemned to repeat them. Everything the Coalition has done, and all it still stands for, shows that they have not learned the lessons of their post failures, and that they wish to condemn the nation to a traumatic and socially destructive repetition of them. I said at the outset that the great divide between us lay between opportunity and privilege. There are two key issues in this election which starkly show the difference - capital gains tax and Medicare. The plain fact about the Liberal/National plan for the abolition of the capital gains tax is this: billions of dollars that would have been available for education, health, training, roads would be shovelled into the pockets of less than one in a hundred Australian taxpayers. The capital gains tax is a fair tax. The vast majority of wage and salary earners do not pay capital gains tax and never will. And you find on Medicare that same conflict between privilege and opportunity. For all their confusion, their twisting and turning, the truth is that the Liberals and Nationals would dismantle Medicare - scrap bulk billing - leave two million and more of our fellow Australians without health cover - benefit only the wealthy - and saddle the Australian family once again with all the burden, the anxiety, the cost, the inconvenience and the confusion that existed before we delivered affordable health care to every Australian. I will tell you our policy in two words: Medicare stays.  Fellow Australians,  A party that cannot govern itself cannot govern Australia. And that's why I've said that your choice on 24 March will determine whether our highest aspirations for the future are to be fulfilled. We can attain stronger national prosperity from a world competitive economy - greater financial security for families - a ladder of opportunity for all Australians - unshakeable protection of the natural environment. We can attain these goals - in the 1990s. Under Labor, Australians will attain them. That is Labor's pledge for Australia's future. And it is my pledge as Australia's leader. I don't seek to create false hopes or to raise unrealistic expectations. There is still hard work ahead of us as a nation. None of us should be under any illusion about that. But I make my pledge for the 1990s with confidence because we have already done much of the hard work, laid the enduring foundations, taken many of the tough decisions in the 1980s. Remember: the reason for those tough decisions and the discipline in the 1980s was precisely so that we can, with continued and united effort, create a more secure future, in a stronger Australia. Only Labor can make that continued and united effort – and- only Labor can create that more secure future. Because only Labor has the plans, the vision, the guts and the leadership to assure our country's future - a future rich in hope and promise as we approach the threshold of the 21st century.  MINISTER FOR FINANCE  MARCH 1990 ERC SCORESHEET - LABOR'S FISCAL DISCIPLINE  90/91 91/92 92/93  $m $m $m  SAVINGS IDENTIFIED (347.7) (547.8) (602.9)  IN ECONOMIC STATEMENT  OUTLAYS ANNOUNCED  Labour marker reform 24.9  Tasmanian package 7.0  Non Govt Schools 5.0  Roads/Land Transport 100.0  Export Marketing 10.0  Initiatives for Women 16.0  Veterans 4.8  Childcare 86.8  Education 37.0  Family Services 8.4  Urban Transport 25.0  Research Centres 5.0  OUTLAYS TO BE ANNOUNCED.  INCREASE TO BUDGET SURPLUS.  PETER WALSH  MINISTER FOR FINANCE  8 MARCH 1990.  EDUCATION STATEMENT.  Over the past seven years, the Government has demonstrated its capacity to provide leadership in improving our education and training system. In an historic achievement in April 1989, the Federal Government, in co-operation with the States, issued the Hobart, Declaration on Schooling. This represents the first step towards a truly Australian system of schooling. Australian Ministers of Education have agreed for the first time on what our schools should be doing and agreed to eliminate unnecessary differences between schools in different States and Territories. This is extremely important for the 70000 school students who change schools between States each year.  Education Completion Allowance.  One of the Government's greatest and most enduring achievements has been to increase dramatically the number of young people who complete their secondary school studies. During their period of office, the Coalition increased retention rates by only two percentage points from 34 per cent to 36 per cent. Since we came to office, the proportion of young people completing year 12 has risen to 60 per cent. If the Year 12 retention rate had remained at its 1982 level, there would have been 67000 fewer students in Year 12 in  1989. Income support has been a major factor in achieving these results. Since 1983 the number of young people receiving AUSTUDY in high school has more than doubled from 53000 to 120000 in 1989. Today, I announce a further initiative aimed at helping more families provide a worthwhile education for their children. A new Education Completion Allowance of two payments of $300 each year will be paid to the parents of full-time secondary students in Years 11-12 and 15-17 year old full-time tertiary students, where Family Allowance is otherwise payable in respect of these students. The new payments will subsume current Family Allowance entitlements for these students, and involve in net terms an additional $115. They will be paid at the time when the demands on parents for books and equipment are greatest, February and July. Parents of senior secondary students aged 18-24 may also receive the payments if they satisfy the Family Allowance income test (as Family Allowance is not currently available in these cases, the initiative provides an additional $600 per annum in support). Eligibility for the payment will be restricted to those full-time students not in receipt of AUSTUDY. The Completion Allowance will benefit an average of 230000 students each year. The Completion Allowance is designed to complement AUSTUDY and assist in the costs associated with continuing full-time education and training, particularly the purchase or hire of textbooks. The payments will be indexed to movements in the Consumer Price Index on an annual basis after 1991. They will be administered through the Department of Social Security's Family Allowance Program. In a full year the cost is estimated to be $34,3 million.  Secondary Support Program.  Increased retention rates have, of course, resulted in extra pressure on our schools. The Commonwealth will provide $20 million to government schools and $10 million to nongovernment schools in each of 1991 and 1992, to help schools meet the challenges of increased retention. These new funds will be used to provide the facilities and equipment needed in schools where the impact of increased retention has been the greatest.  Australian Students Prize.  During our period in office we have been concerned not only to provide opportunities for participation in education and training but also to encourage excellence. We have already announced our support for International Olympiads in maths, chemistry and physics. $1.5 million will be provided over the next five years to support the participation of Australian students in these events. The young people who participate in these events bring credit to themselves and to our nation. In striving to be among the best in the world, in their selected areas, they set an example for all young Australians. Today, I announce a broader initiative to encourage excellence in our school system. Commencing in 1991, the Australian Government will provide 500 awards valued at $2000 each to students who achieve outstanding results in Year 12. These awards will be called the Australian Students Prize in recognition of the contribution these students can be expected to make to the future of our nation.  Disadvantaged Schools Program.  Increased income support has greatly helped students from poorer families make the most of the opportunities our society and education system can provide. Nevertheless, there are some areas requiring further, more specialised, attention. The cornerstone of the Government's commitment to equality of opportunity in education is the $43 million provided annually to assist disadvantaged schools under the Disadvantaged Schools Program (DSP). In 1991, we will introduce a new program to improve literacy and learning skills among students attending disadvantaged secondary schools, at a cost of around $5 million a year over three years. We will also expand the coverage of the Disadvantaged Schools Program to a total of 500000 students next year, at an additional cost of around $8 million each year. Currently the DSP assists 422000 students in 1663 schools around Australia.  Special Education.  To help overcome the problems involved in the education of disabled children, the Federal Government will increase, from the beginning of 1991, its per capita grant for students with disabilities in government schools by 20 per cent, and will fund students with disabilities in non-government schools at the highest rate for non-government schools, category 12. These changes recognise the benefits of increased integration. Accordingly, the new per capita grant levels will be portable, so that all children with disabilities can take their grant with them, upon integration into regular schools. This will cost $4.2 million in a full year.  Girls in Schools.  I have previously announced, on 2 March 1990, that we will provide $3 million over three years to make curricula in our schools equally relevant to girls and boys.  National Negotiation on the Quality of Teaching.  The Government recognises that we depend greatly on the morale and skills of teachers if we are to continue to improve opportunity, excellence and equity in our nation's schools. It is not possible to build greater quality into our schools without responding to the issues which determine the quality of the nation's teachers. Accordingly the Government announced on 1 March 1990 that it will co-ordinate a ‘National Negotiation on the Quality of Teaching’ to be held in the months following the election and involve all parties interested in improving the quality of teaching in Australian schools.  Government Schools.  Federal Government funding for government schools will have increased by 50% between 1985 and 1992. All government schools will have reached the community standard by 1992, and the Federal Government will maintain its per capita funding to government schools at the same level in real terms through to the year 2000.  Non-Government Schools - A Funding Commitment For Australia's Future.  Funding stability and security for Australia's non-government schools will be provided under the Government's policies through to the Year 2000. Between 1992 and the Year 2000 the Government will maintain in real terms its general recurrent grants to all non-government schools and increase its recurrent funding to needier non-government schools. The Government's planned program of real increases for those schools most in need will ensure that, if other funding partners match our commitment, all schools will have reached the 'community standard' by the Year 2000. This will be achieved at a cost to the Government of an additional $116 million per annum by the Year 2000. By the Year 2000, non-government schools will have enjoyed an unprecedented 16 years of stability and security of funding.  Learning for our Environment.  In the climate of concern about the future of our planet, governments have a responsibility to encourage children to think creatively and constructively about the environment The Federal Government announced last year $400000 in 1990 for an environmental education strategy to promote learning for the environment in schools.  EDUCATION.  (Announced 8 March 1990).  Education Completion Allowance Government Schools    90/91 91/92 92/93  $m $m $m  16.2 34.3 34.3  10.5 21.1 10.5  1.0 1.0 1.0  7.2 14.8 15.5  2.1 4.2 4.2    37.0 75.4 65.5  Special Education  (Announced 25 February 1990)  Non-Government Schools 5.0 10.0 13.1  MAJOR NEW SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE CO-OPERATIVE RESEARCH CENTRES.  Background Information.  Background.  For Australia to have a technologically sophisticated economy in the future, it is essential to have a world class scientific and technological capability in the universities, CSIRO and other Commonwealth, State and private sector laboratories. It is also essential that these resources be linked as effectively as possible to the various sectors of the economy. Australia's combined scientific and technological resources are substantial but they are dispersed both geographically and institutionally. This makes it difficult to establish the concentrations and networks of researchers - and the expensive facilities and equipment - needed in many research fields to keep pace with the rapid scientific and technological change occurring internationally. Indeed, there is widespread agreement amongst Australian scientists that, even in traditional areas of strength, Australian laboratories are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain world class research. There is also increasing concern that our undergraduate and graduate programs in science and technology are not always of world class - thereby jeopardising the future quality and performance of the public and private institutions in which graduates are employed. These concerns were brought out strongly at the first meeting of the Prime Minister's Science Council, as was the urgent need to take steps to remedy them.  Co-operative Research Centres.  To address these concerns the Government will establish a major new program to enable outstanding research groups to join together to build a series of world class Co-operative Research Centres. The program has been developed by the Chief Scientist, Professor Ralph Slatyer, following an examination of major research programs in other countries and consultations with leading figures from the Australian technology community, including members of the Prime Minister's Science Council. The program will play a vital role in ensuring that Australia will benefit from the combined strength of the nation's science and technology resources. It will help ensure that Australian research and research training will remain at the forefront in those areas of greatest importance to this country. The basic approach will be to relocate and link outstanding university, CSIRO and other research groups, whenever it is possible and appropriate, into Co-operative Research Centres with facilities concentrated at the one location. Each participating group will retain its separate institutional affiliation but the Centres will constitute integrated collaborative research teams. Supplementing this approach will be the development of research consortia and information networks, so that laboratories or researchers not in close physical proximity can also participate in the program. The work of the Centres will be focussed on challenging research fields and areas which underpin existing or emerging industry sectors. In the establishment of each Centre, the management of Universities, CSIRO and other research organizations will be strongly encouraged to seek the involvement of State Government bodies and particularly industrial firms to provide a commercial focus where necessary. Wherever possible the Centres will be located on or adjacent to university campuses. This will enable non-university staff to participate in undergraduate and research training. It will facilitate the establishment of strong graduate schools in the universities and will enable students to benefit from contact with many outstanding researchers who are at present outside the university system. There will also be benefit to these researchers from contact with students. The establishment of the Centres will also foster the development of precincts around the campuses which will become increasingly attractive as locations for research-intensive and knowledge-based firms. The Centres will be important in enabling expensive facilities and equipment to be utilised efficiently and without unnecessary duplication. In a number of cases, it will be possible to house the Centres in common facilities, through the joint occupancy of buildings by university, CSIRO and other research staff. In the longer term the program will provide opportunities for new approaches to the design and siting of buildings so as to maximise the possibilities of colocation and of changing usage patterns as circumstances change in the future.  The scale of the program.  To ensure that the program has maximum impact on Australian research and research training, it will commence immediately and result in fifty Centres being established over the next five years. The first fifteen Centres will be started during, 1990-91 and the remainder in the following years. Each Centre will build up to full strength over a period of about two years. It is expected that the average size of each Centre will be about twenty full-time researchers, although individual Centres will vary above and below this figure, the scale depending on the requirements in particular research fields. The average cost of each Centre, when fully established, will be of the order of $4 million per year. The co-operating institutions will be expected to provide half the resources for each Centre, with the Government providing the other half. The institutions' contribution would normally include the cost of existing staff facilities and research support. When the program is fully established, the Government will therefore be contributing $100 million per year to it. It is intended that this supplementary Government funding will be flexible and will be able to be used for staff, buildings, equipment or other research support.  Other benefits.  It is expected that up to 1000 additional scientists will be employed in the Centres. The program will therefore be a major response to the concerns of talented young Australian researchers now unable to find sufficiently challenging and rewarding jobs in this country. The program will also provide opportunities for both junior and senior Australian researchers now overseas to return to Australia. The Centres will greatly help in strengthening tertiary education in Australia, particularly graduate education. This will contribute directly to the supply of young scientists, engineers and technologists needed for the large number of posts expected to fall vacant through retirement in the late 1990s. The establishment of the program will also benefit researchers who do not participate directly since it will reduce pressure on research grants provided by the Australian Research Council (ARC), the National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) and other granting bodies. It is expected that a number of research groups and individual researchers now funded by these bodies will have their funding requirements met through various Co-operative Research Centres.In a similar way the task of re-equipping laboratories throughout the universities and CSIRO will be assisted by the existence of the new program.  Establishment and administration.  The program will be administered for the first few years by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, under the guidance of a committee drawn largely from members of the Prime Minister's Science Council. It is envisaged that the Committee will issue an advertisement as soon as practicable calling for applications for funding and setting out guidelines for prospective applicants. A period of about six months will be allowed for applications to be submitted. This lengthy period will be allowed so that prospective participants will have time to consult in depth with prospective partners and submit well argued cases. Assessment procedures will be along similar lines to those already established by the ARC and NH&MRC, but with modified guidelines which will encourage co-operative research. Funding will be approved for a period of the order of five years in the first instance. Continued funding will be negotiated following review and evaluation. The program itself will be subject to careful scrutiny in its early years to ensure that its objectives are being met. It will be thoroughly reviewed once all the Centres are fully operational.  FAMILY SERVICES AND URBAN TRANSPORT.  The Government now intends to provide increased support for the services that are needed by families in the outer areas of our cities. Of most importance, this will assist children to develop to their maximum potential and participate fully in society once they reach adulthood. Labor is committed, in particular, to doing more to address the root causes of disadvantage amongst children. The measures to address education disadvantage (Disadvantaged Schools Program, national literacy initiative) are one element of this (see Education Statement).  MARRIAGE COUNSELLING AND FAMILY MEDIATION.  Disadvantage, however, also often results from family stress and breakdown. Accordingly, the Government will increase, by $15 million over the next 3 years, its support for preventative programs such as marriage counselling and family mediation that support the family and reduce the chances of family breakdowns through factors such as child abuse, domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse and the risk of youth homelessness. Currently many provincial towns and rural areas are unserviced, and metropolitan services are attempting to provide coverage for a wide area. Priority will be given to unserviced and underserviced rural and metropolitan areas.  FAMILY RESOURCE CENTRES.  A large number of family and child support services is funded and delivered by all levels of government and community organisations. However, many disadvantaged families do not know of the existence of such services, have difficulty in gaining access to the right service or are sometimes referred to an inappropriate agency. We will work in close co-operation with the States and community organisations to improve the effectiveness of the services that are provided to assist disadvantaged and vulnerable families and children. An important requirement is to improve co-ordination of service provision so that families and children in need of assistance are able to gain quick and easy access to the particular service that they require. To assist this process, the Government will provide $15 million for the establishment of Family Resource Centres. Such centres will work closely with existing community organisations, provide a focal point for existing family support services at neighbourhood and wider regional levels, and assist the planning of future service provision. Over the next 3 years the Government will progressively establish at least 15 Family Resource Centres located in areas of population growth, such as outer metropolitan areas, where the need is greatest.  OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS CARE (OSHC).  The Outside School Hours Care component of the Children Services Program will be extended to provide facilities for adolescents aged 11-16 years in disadvantaged areas.  Current OSHC services are aimed at 5-12 year olds and generally don't provide activities suitable for older children and adolescents. As a result, adolescents aged 13-16 years often have no appropriately supervised activities after school, with the consequent greater risk of drug abuse, petty crime, vandalism and physical abuse. The Government will allocate over $9 million for extension of the OSHC to provide more appropriate activities for older children such as supervised sporting activities, and drop-in centres with facilities for homework and media/art workshops.  HOSTEL ACCOMMODATION FOR DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS.  The Government will also extend hostel accommodation for disadvantaged students from remote locations to enable them to pursue secondary or further education. This will cost $4 million over three years.  URBAN PUBLIC TRANSPORT.  Increased priority will be given to improving transport systems in the major cities. The continuing growth in traffic is placing increasingly heavy demands on our road systems. The problems of congestion and travel times are most acute in our largest cities. The Government is committed to addressing this problem through our continuing commitment to road infrastructure development, and through increased priority for urban public transport development. Public transport systems have tended to grow from the centre of cities and, therefore, tend not to provide good access to the more distant residential and industrial areas. This contributes to the social and economic isolation of the least-advantaged residents of those areas. In co-operation with the States, the Government will build on its commitment to improving urban transport under the Australian Centennial Roads Development Program (ACRD) by providing an additional $85 million over three years to the States for public transport. In total, well over $200 million will be available under the ACRD to improve urban public transport, particularly in the most disadvantaged metropolitan areas.  EFFECT OF THE GOVERNMENT'S CHILD CARE ANNOUNCEMENTS.  Nearly 280000 families will benefit from new child care arrangements announced today.  The Government's child care policy:  - creates new child care places.  - makes child care affordable.  - is directed to lower and middle income families.  - provides for a minimum level of quality.  - and is relatively easily administered.  CREATING NEW CHILD CARE PLACES.  Today's announcements commit the Government to making available additional funding capable of creating, with the States another 50000 child care places over the next five years. And we will be providing incentives for more commercial child care centres to be built, by extending fee relief to those centres for the first time. Fee relief for employer provided care will be significantly increased. We expect an estimated 28000 new places in employer provided and commercial centres. This total of 78000 places under the new initiatives comprises:  - 10000 centre based places in the community sector.  - 10000 family day care places.  - 30000 outside school hours care places.  - and estimated growth of 28000 employer and commercial places.  INCREASING AFFORDABILITY BY IMPROVING FEE RELIEF.  Many low and middle income families presently have difficulty affording child care because fee relief is insufficient or, in the case of commercial centres, it is not available at all. The measures announced today both increase fee relief and extend fee relief to commercial centres.  The new measures include:  - increasing the maximum fee relief ceiling to $100 a week.  - increasing the income threshold for maximum fee relief from $280 gross weekly income to $370 a week, for a family with one child.  - more generous fee relief withdrawal rates above this income to phase out eligibility for fee relief over a broader income range - so that some fee relief will be available to families with income up to $64000 per annum for one child in care.  - extending fee relief to commercial centres.  Examples of Increased Benefits.  Families using community centres and family day care already get some fee relief, depending on their incomes. The new measures mean that fee relief will be higher for families using these centres and more families will get it. The table below shows these increases. And since fee relief to date has not been available for commercial centres, the table shows the fee relief families using those centres will now get for the first time.  Child Care Benefits.  (Family with one child using 50 hours of care) INCREASE    ANNUAL NEW -------------------------------  GROSS FAMILY WEEKLY FEE Community  INCOME RELIEF(a) Centre  $10,000 $86 $ 8  $20,000 $85 $24  $30,000 $65 $37  $40,000 $46 $46  $50,000 $27 $27  $60,000 $ 8 S 8    GUARANTEEING QUALITY.  To be eligible for fee relief, employer provided and commercial centres will be required to meet State/Territory licensing requirements and other conditions such as minimum hours of operation. The Government will bring together the key interests in the child care industry to develop a system of accreditation for child care services, to ensure children and their parents have access to quality care. For the first time, employer and commercial provided centres will have access to training and management support activities which will help achieve quality across services.  OTHER MEASURES.  These include:  - Introduction of fee relief for families with school-aged children using outside school hours care.  - Improved fee relief for families using occasional care.  - Extra funds for special child care services to meet the needs of Aboriginal, migrant, disabled, and isolated children.  - and $100000 for the Playgroup Associations of Australia to upgrade and purchase equipment.  CONCLUSION.  The Government estimates that by mid-1996 there will be an extra 108000 child care places (30000 already committed and 78000 as a result of today's announcement). This would bring the total number of child care places in Australia to a quarter of a million. By directing fee relief to those who need it, the Government s maximising the effectiveness of scarce budgetary resources in providing affordable child care. The Coalition's child care policy of itself creates no new places. The child care tax rebate is only $20 for a first child under five years old and $10 for any other children. Yet it applies to all families no matter how high their incomes - except poorer families whose second income earner pays insufficient tax and therefore receives nothing. And for those families on less than $50000 the Coalition's policy does little to make child care affordable. Moreover, the Coalition's policy does nothing about ensuring minimum standards of quality. It would be difficult to administer - and therefore is wide open to rorting. In all, the Government will spend $400 million in what will constitute the biggest expansion of child care in Australia's history - properly targeted assistance for quality care, paid in cash, easily administered and of very great value to the hundreds of thousands of families who will get it.  CHILD CARE - BACKGROUND BRIEF.  INTRODUCTION.  One of the Hawke Labor Government's greatest achievements has been in child care. Over the last seven years, in a climate of economic restraint, the Government has provided tens of thousands of Australian families with access to child care services and helped them to meet the cost of care. We have introduced:  - an income tested fee relief system to assist low to middle income earners to afford child care.  - a major expansion of child care places from 1983 to 1988, involving an increase in the numbers of centres, family day care schemes and outside school hours care services.  - guidelines to ensure that working families are given priority of access to services.  - a needs based planning system to ensure that new services are located in areas of high need.  - an expansion of services for children in special need (children from non-English speaking backgrounds, Aboriginal children, children with disabilities and those in remote and isolated areas).  - new services providing occasional care for women at home.  More recently, the Government has introduced the Industry Initiative, a scheme designed to encourage private sector employers to provide child care services on a non profit basis for their employees.  In summary, the Government's policy objectives for child care have been to:  - increase the supply of formal child care places.  - ensure that care for low to moderate income earners is affordable.  - target places to those most in need of work related care.  - promote choice by supporting a range of service types.  - and promote quality of care.  Support has been made available for the following types of services:  - community centres which are open for sufficient hours and weeks in the year to meet the needs of working parents.  - family day care in the homes of carers which is the preferred choice of many working parents with very young children.  - care for children of school age before and after school and during vacations while their parents work.  - occasional care for parents not in the workforce who need to leave their children in the care of others for short periods.  - services designed for the needs of children with disabilities or the cultural needs of Aboriginal children or those from non-English speaking backgrounds.  - child care facilities designed for rural and isolated communities.  - activities to support the training and management needs of workers in the child care industry and the community groups which operate child care services.  These efforts have led to:  - an increase in spending on children's services from $65 million in 1982-83 to an estimated $232 million in 1989-90.  - more than double the number of subsidised child places since 1983, from 46000 to 114000.  - cost sharing agreements with States and Territories both capital and recurrent costs.  - improved consultation including a National Advisory Committee and Planning Committees in each State and Territory to advise on the development of new services.  - more than 132000 families using services funded under the Children's Services Program at any one time and around 14000 workers employed in subsidised child care services together with an estimated 14000 home based carers in family day care schemes.  THE CHALLENGE FOR THE 1990s.  There are two main factors which influence access to child care - supply and affordability. The Government's new proposals tackle both. The number of child care places will almost double which involves the largest expansion ever undertaken of community child care. And child care is made more affordable for low and middle income earners through sweeping improvements in the fee relief system.  INCREASING SUPPLY.  The Government has made a commitment to provide 30000 new places under the National Child Care Strategy by 1992-93. We will now extend this commitment by a further 78000 places to provide a total of 108000 places between now and 1995-96. More than 123000 families will benefit from this expansion. All sectors of the child care industry - community, commercial and employer provided - will be encouraged to participate in providing these new places.  The new places comprise:  - 10000 new centre-based places in the community sector.  - 10000 family day care places.  - And 30000 outside school hours care places including vacation care.  - an estimated 28000 new places in commercial and both public and private employer provided child care centres.  The States will be asked to share capital and recurrent costs for the additional centre-based places planned in the community sector and for additional outside school hours care. It is estimated that around 28000 new places will be created over the next five years in the commercial/employer sector as a result of extending fee relief to low and middle income families using these services. The Industry Initiative, currently available to private sector employers only, will be extended to public sector employers including Commonwealth and State Government departments, statutory authorities and Government Business Enterprises. All employers must meet the capital costs of establishing services. Commonwealth Government employers will charge fees to cover all costs: the only assistance given to employees will be means tested fee relief. It is estimated that more than half of these additional 28000 places will be provided by employers in the workplace. Child care tax rebates, as proposed by the Opposition, would not guarantee any increase in the supply of child care places. Tax rebates would provide the same assistance to all families, rich or poor, except for those where the secondary income is below the tax threshold: these families would receive nothing. The level of tax rebate proposed by the Opposition will have only a marginal effect on affordability and hence is unlikely to encourage any significant increase in child care places. In contrast, the Government's new levels of fee relief targeted to low and middle income earners will make a crucial difference to their ability to afford child care. In this way, effective demand (ie a desire for a service backed up by the ability to pay for it) will increase. The key elements of the fee relief system will be indexed annually to maintain the value of the benefit. There is no such commitment from the Opposition to index their rebate.  FRINGE BENEFITS TAX.  Section 47(8) of the Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act enables employers to secure priority of access in centres under the Children's Services Program and have these payments exempt from the FBT. Similar payments by an employer to a commercial centre are presently not exempt. To encourage the expansion of employer sponsored child care the Government will now enable employer payments to secure priority of access in private child care centres to be exempt from FBT.  IMPROVING AFFORDABILITY.  About 156000 families will benefit from significant improvements to the fee relief system. To help low and middle income earners meet the cost of their child care fees, the Government will:  - increase the fee relief ceiling to $100 per 50 hour week for all long day care services, including family day care.  - increase the fee relief income threshold for maximum benefit from $280 to $370 gross per week.  - reduce the fee relief withdrawal rates to 10 cents in the dollar for one child and 20 cents for two or more children.  This improved system will be extended to commercial centres from 1 January 1991.  From 1 October the fee relief ceilings for long day care will be increased as follows:  - community centres - $92.50 to $100 per week.  - Family Day Care - $68 (for 40 hours of care) to $100 per week (for 50 hours of care).  - About 94000 families using existing Government funded long day care services will receive extra help with their fees.  Tables 2 and 3 show the estimated levels of benefit for families by income and service type, for one child or two children. The family income eligible for maximum fee relief benefit will be linked to the cut-off point for Family Allowance Supplement for non-renting families with one child (currently $370 gross per week) effective from 1 October 1990. This is an increase from $280 per week. Above this income, fee relief will be withdrawn at a lower rate of 10 cents in the dollar for one child and 20 cents in the dollar for two or more children in care, effective from 1 October 1990 (compared with current withdrawal rates of 17 cents and 23 cents respectively). This means that some help with fees will be available to families with incomes up to $64000 per annum for one child in care. The improved fee relief system will be extended to !commercial child care centres from 1 January 1991. About 32000 families currently using these centres will receive help with their fees for the first time. Commercial centres will be required to meet certain conditions relating to matters such as State/Territory licensing requirements and minimum hours of operation. These currently apply to community services and are designed to ensure that the Government's objectives for work related care are met. For the first time, commercial and employer provided centres will have access to training and management support -activities which will help achieve consistent quality across services. The Government will also bring together the key interests in the child care industry - State and Territory Governments which are responsible for licensing and other regulations, Local Government, representatives from the community and commercial sector and the union movements- to develop a system of accreditation for child care services. Our aim is to ensure that children and their parents have access to quality care. It is expected that the process of developing an accreditation system will take some time. For this reason, all State/Territory licensed long day care services, community, commercial and employer provided, will be deemed to be accredited on an interim basis from 1 January 1991. Fee relief will also be extended to existing non profit child care centres currently not funded under the Children's Services Program: an estimated 4000 places by 1 January 1991. Many of these are located in TAFEs and on university campuses and others are parent run co-operatives in the community. Fee relief will assist about 6000 low to middle income working families and people training for employment to use these services. The Government will also introduce a uniform system of fee relief for parents using before and after school care services. About 8000 families will receive help with their fees of up to $9 a week for each child. Eligibility for fee relief in Commonwealth funded occasional care centres will be extended to families who are in receipt of Family Allowance Supplement and do not hold Health Care Cards. Where there are two or more children in care, families in receipt of Family Allowance will become eligible. This will be effective from 1 October 1990 and will help another 16000 families on low and middle incomes with a maximum benefit of $10.80 per session. Additional funds will be made available for special children's services. These funds will assist children in rural and remote communities, provide special programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and extend activities to improve access to standard services for children with disabilities and from non-English speaking backgrounds. The Playgroup Associations of Australia, which reach many families with young children cared for at home, will receive a one-off grant of $100000 in 1990 to upgrade and purchase much needed equipment.  CONCLUSION.  This commitment represents the biggest expansion of child care services in Australia's history. By 1995-96 the Government estimates there will be an extra 108000 child care places, bringing the total number in Australia to over a quarter of a million. It builds upon a solid record of achievement and will support many tens of thousands of Australian families, especially those on low and middle incomes, to meet the challenges of life in the 1990s. As demand for child care services will continue to grow, at the end of this planned and targeted expansion, the Government will consider commitments to the further expansion of the community sector for the second half of the decade. Policy Statement.  OUR PRIORITIES.  In the past few years, Australia has become a ship without a rudder.  The problem is not that our nation lacks resources, for we have them in abundance. Our problem is not our people, for they stand amongst the best in the world. Our problem is not our political System, which is mature and stable. Yet we are dogged by crisis and beset by difficulties. The fundamental truth is that our physical, human and financial resources are not being used in the most effective manner.  Australia's problems are felt every day by Australian families in ever larger bills and ever smaller pay-packets. Those who have been hit the hardest are those who can least afford it: especially families trying to raise children and buy their own home.  The past few years have seen Australia become less internationally competitive. The deficit on our current account - the difference between what we import and what we export - is growing. The inflation rate is far too high. Australia is going backwards.  Australia's gross external indebtedness is now almost $150 billion. The external debt is Labor's legacy to the next generation of Australians.  If there is no change of policies the next generation of Australians will be the first to face a lower standard of living than their parents.  Our productivity growth is virtually zero. Rather than increase the flexibility of the workforce, the Hawke Government has imposed a regulatory strait-jacket in the form of its 'Accord' with the ACTU. It is denying Australians the opportunity to earn more if they work efficiently.  The Hawke Government has been in power for the past seven years. It is responsible for the present crisis. Labor has made things worse in three ways.  First, it has deliberately pursued a high interest rate policy as the main instrument of its economic policy. It has given up on fighting inflation and cutting wasteful government spending.  Second, the role of government under Labor has increased while the freedom of the individual has diminished. Initiative, incentive, and innovation have been crippled by government intervention, and success has been penalized rather than rewarded.  Third, the Hawke Government has provided the trade union leadership and some other special interests with favors and a veto over government decisions. The Hawke Government has undermined the integrity of our political System. A government should govern for all, but the Hawke Government's method is to make deals with 'mates'. It is the politics of expediency. It is a Government for special interests rather than the national interest.  It is not simply that the Hawke Government has governed our nation badly. Labor has reached a dead-end. It will not take the steps that are necessary for Australia's recovery. It cannot: its mates, especially the trade union leadership have, time and time again, stifled key economic reforms.  Labor is out of touch, out of ideas, out of willpower, and out of time. In the past seven years Australia has gone backwards; but now all Labor offers is more of the same.  The Liberal Party does not believe that decline is inevitable. The pattern of decline can be reversed. A prosperous and secure future can be built Australia can compete - but only if our economy is restructured to meet the competitive pressures we now face.  Our priorities in government will be :  (1) To strengthen the Australian family as the center of society and as the focus of government policy, and to recognize the additional costs of raising children.  (2) To build a more productive and competitive economy in which hard work pays and success is rewarded; to ensure that economic policy raises rather than depresses living standards.  (3) To create a more flexible labor market on a shared purpose between employees and employers.  (4) To establish a framework of smaller, more efficient government.  (5) To provide a sound foreign and defense policy, and to work with our allies to foster the principles of freedom and security.  By concentrating on these priorities, by the end of our first term:  - Tax rate will be cut.  - Interest rates will be lower.  - Government will be smaller.  - Inflation will be reduced.  - Productivity and real wages will be higher and.  - Growth in foreign debt will be brought under control.  STRENGTHENING THE FAMILY.  The harsh reality of the Labor years has been falling living standards. High home interest rates, high taxes, and high inflation have meant crushing and unrelenting pressure on the living standards of Australian families.  In the past few years, Government policies have undermined the security of Australian families. Parent's have found it harder and harder to raise their children.  This has not been the result of adverse world circumstances or national misfortune. It has been the direct result of the Hawke Government's policies.  FAMILY TAX PACKAGE.  We are committed to reducing the pressure on families. Our Family Action Plan is aimed at reducing the burden of taxation, particularly on families with dependent children.  Our initiatives will put $2000 million back into the pockets of Australian families through reductions in tax. To assist parents in the raising of their children, we will introduce:  - A new program of child tax rebates.  - Changes to the dependant spouse rebate.  - A new program of tax rebates for child care.  These new benefits are over and above the Family Allowances and Family Allowance Supplements currently provided.  They have been fully costed and with our other promises will be fully funded by the $2700 million cuts in Government Expenditure set out in our Economic Action Plan and supplementary Election Expenditure Statement in areas such as cutting back on unemployment benefits, rationalization of Aboriginal affairs programs and overseas aid, and contracting out of government services.  As a result of our changes, a typical family with three children could get a 20 per cent tax cut.  For example :  • All families with two young children and a wife earning $5000 per annum will get a tax cut of $1063 per year or $20.38 per week under the Coalition's Family Action Plan. This includes a tax rebate for children and an increase in the eligibility for the dependant spouse tax rebate.  • For a husband earning $26,000 per year, this amounts to a tax cut of over 20 per cent.  • Moreover, all families with three young children (the youngest being less than 5 years) who place their children in child care because both the husband and wife work, will be eligible for a tax cut of up to $49.27 per week under the Coalition's Family Action Plan. This includes a Tax rebate for children plus a tax rebate for child care expenses.  Child Tax Rebates.  We recognize the additional cost involved in raising children. We will give families a better deal.  Tax rebates for children will be available for deduction against the tax liability of a sole parent or the combined liability of both parents in two-income families.  The amount of the child tax rebate varies according to the number of children in each family and the age of the child.  For the first child, the rebate will be $250 a year if the child is under thirteen; and $350 a year if the first child is between thirteen and fifteen.  For the second and each subsequent child, the rebate will be $200 a year for children under thirteen and $300 a year for children between thirteen and fifteen.  Dependant Spouse Rebate.  We will reform the dependant spouse rebate to raise the eligibility threshold and ease the withdrawal rate.  At present, where the dependant spouse earns separate income the maximum rebate is reduced by $1 for every $4 earned (that is, a withdrawal rate of 1 in 4) over a threshold of $282. Our policy raises the threshold to $1000, so that the spouse can earn considerably more without any reduction in the rebate. Further, the rebate will be reduced by $1 for every $6 earned by which the dependant spouse's income exceeds $1000 (that is, there will be a reduction in the withdrawal rate to 1 in 6).  Child Care Tax Rebate.  Labor's mismanagement has meant that in many Australian households both parents are required to work to minimize the decline in their standard of living.  Whether both parents work from necessity or choice, the cost of child care is expensive.  We will introduce tax rebates for child care. These rebates will be calculated against the tax liability of a sole parent or, for two parent families, on the secondary earner's income.  A rebate of$20 a week will be paid for the first child under five. For each other child under five, and for each child aged between five and twelve, the rebate will be $10 per week.  To receive the rebate, child care expenditure will have to be substantiated. However, a range of child care facilities will be eligible.  These measures will be over and above the current programs for child care. This includes the provision of 30,000 new child care places, support for %6 government funded centers, and fee relief for low income families.  The rebate will also lead to an increase in available child care places as the non-government sector responds to the increased demand for child care.  Our other taxation measures will also assist Australian families including the move to a flatter two-tier tax rate System, abolition of the Capital Gains Tax and its replacement with a Speculative Gains Tax and a return of bracket creep. These are outlined later in the document.  HOME INTEREST RATES.  In the past few years, the Hawke Government has imposed record high home mortgage rates on Australian families. With its lack of will to restrain government expenditure and inability to bring wage rises more into line with productivity increases, Labor has used the blunt instrument of interest rates  3°S" in an attempt to reduce demand. Australia's economic problems, including the problem of high interest rates, have to be tackled at a fundamental level.  The next Coalition Government will conduct monetary policy with the medium-term objective of reducing and eventually eliminating inflation.  A monetary policy pursued steadily over the medium term, in conjunction with our industrial relations, fiscal, and structural policies, provides the only means of reducing inflation.  From day one, we will put our economic policies into place which will bring about a significant and sustainable reduction in interest rates during our first term.  As an integrated package, our Family Tax Package represents fundamental reform. It is the practical expression of our philosophical commitment to the Australian family. A Coalition Government will support, encourage, and maintain the family unit, providing the security and certainty that has been undermined by Labor.  BETTER QUALITY HEALTH CARE.  Labor's health policy has resulted in endless hospital queues, a declining quality of care, and a compulsory tax levy which falls well short of funding even one quarter of Federal health costs. Medicare has caused widespread disruption in public hospitals and placed an enormous burden on dedicated health care professionals.  Health care professionals - from the public, private, and consumer sectors - need to be involved in developing strategies to overcome the deficiencies of Medicare.  This is why our health policy is based on co-operation rather than confrontation. Immediately on attaining office, we will establish a Medicare and Health Insurance Advisory Council, which will draw its membership from all areas of the health care sector and health insurance industry, and include public and consumer representatives.  The Council will undertake a comprehensive review of the health insurance System and advise the government accordingly. The Council's review will adhere to the following principles:  No individual or family will be worse off as a result of policy change.  No State or Territory government will be worse off in the funding of its public hospital System.  Medicare will be retained and improved for those not covered by private insurance.  Taxpayers will be able to 'opt out' of paying the Medicare tax levy by taking out private health insurance, and will be encouraged to do so through the provision of a tax rebate. And genuine competition will be promoted.  Elderly people have a particular need for good-quality health care. We will retain Medicare for the elderly, the disadvantaged and anyone else who wishes to retain the right to be covered by Medicare, just as they are at present.  At the same time, we will encourage and assist more people to take out private health insurance.  Those with private health insurance will be able to opt out of paying the Medicare levy. They will also be eligible for a tax rebate to assist them in meeting their premiums for comprehensive private medical and hospital insurance, which may include 'gap' insurance.  The targeting of this tax rebate towards the bottom end of the income range means that private health insurance will again be an affordable option, even for low income earners.  Under our policy more people will voluntarily go back into private health insurance allowing Medicare to better look after the very people it should be looking after, in particular the aged and the disadvantaged.  The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will be retained and the existing patient subsidies will remain in force.  The Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AEDS) will be treated as a serious public health problem requiring public health solutions.  Women's health will be a priority, particularly in relation to preventative measures such as breast cancer screening.  Past neglect of mental health will be addressed by working with State and Territory Governments to establish a National Mental Health Data System and a National Mental Health Council to advise government Preventative health measures, including the promotion of improved dental health, will be an important part of overall health policy and be delivered through the Better Health program and other associated measures.  Existing medical research programs will be maintained and expanded over time to produce improved health care and health outcomes.  A MORE PRODUCTIVE ECONOMY.  In our Economic Action Plan and other policies we have released the most comprehensive blueprint for economic reform ever put forward by an Opposition. We offer an integrated, coherent, predictable plan for reconstruction and recovery.  The key to economic recovery is increased productivity through micro-economic reform, restructuring of the labor market, and greater incentive through a flatter, more efficient tax System. Only productivity growth can help us bring the current account deficit and therefore the external debt under control.  Labor has proved incapable of effective economic management. Is has been running the economy on 'Bankcard' for seven years, and the amount due will have to be paid by the next generation of Australians.  TAXATION REFORM.  Any government should work towards keeping taxes as low as possible. This is a fundamental Liberal aim.  Under Labor, Australians have paid more tax than ever before. Tax is now 25 per cent of Australia's Gross Domestic Product.  The main focus of our tax changes will be to provide relief to families as we have indicated earlier in this document.  The tactic of the Hawke Government has been to give a little with one hand while taking a lot with the other. Small cuts in income tax rates have masked the reality that millions of Australians have been pushed up the tax schedule by inflation. This is 'bracket creep'.  By some estimates, 'bracket creep' will impose an additional income tax burden of between $2 billion and $2.5 billion on Australians in the current financial year as inflation pushes people into higher tax scales.  The Coalition makes a commitment to forego the increase in revenue because of 'bracket creep' each year. We will hand back any increase in tax through 'bracket creep'. Never again will inflation be permitted to swell government coffers and rip off taxpayers through 'bracket creep'.  This is a very significant discipline for a government to impose on itself, but one which the Coalition willingly undertakes. It limits the size of government and it limits the tax burden.  Our goal is also to achieve a flatter two-tier tax rate System, with the top marginal rate equal to the corporate rate, by the end of the Coalition's first term.  The income tax structure proposed by the Coalition will reward hard work, responsibility, and success.  ABOLITION 0F THE CAPITAL GAINS TAX.  Millions of Australians have been or will be hit directly or indirectly by the Capital Gains Tax imposed by Labor - a tax which it promised it would not introduce.  Labor has tried to claim that its tax only affects the rich bit it cannot escape the reality that millions of Australians across all income levels will be affected:  - 750.000 owners of farms and small businesses.  - One million individuals with their savings invested in the stock market, and  - Millions of members of superannuation funds.  And the numbers will grow as people die, their estates pass to their families and assets previously exempt become taxable.  We will abolish the Capital Gains Tax and replace it with a speculative gains tax which phases down to zero over five years.  For assets held for less than one year 100 per cent of the realized capital gain will be taxed. For each year thereafter and the asset is held, the tax will be reduced by 20 per cent. For an asset held for five years or more therefore, there will be no tax.  We believe in wealth creation and private enterprise. Our policy to abolish the Capital Gains Tax will remove Labor's de facto wealth tax and death duties. It will reduce the tax burden of superannuants. Our policy is directed towards encouraging and rewarding initiative and hard work.  LABOR MARKET REFORMS AND WAGES POLICY.  If we are to run an efficient internationally competitive economy, we must seek increased decentralization of decision-making so that price and wage outcomes are consistent with the circumstances of our individual enterprises competing in a global trading environment.  The process of liberalization of product and labor markets must proceed hand-in-hand. Sensible wage outcomes will be harder to achieve where regulation or protection policies have allowed management’s and unions to avoid the winds of competition. Similarly, it is harder for those who face such competition to be confronted with centralized wage decisions which do not pay regard to their special circumstances.  Our Industrial Relations policy sets down a detailed blueprint for a more flexible, market oriented approach to wage determination.  It is a blueprint for higher real wages growth underpinned by productivity growth.  Our aims are:  - To ensure a much closer link between wages and productivity.  - To introduce incentive and reward for effort, thus encouraging higher productivity.  - To achieve labor cost growth at least in line with that of our trading partners.  We believe that the most efficient, positive way to achieve these aims is to shift the focus of industrial relations and wage determination to the workplace. Research by the Business Council of Australia suggests that an enterprise-based system could increase enterprise productivity by an average 25 per cent.  A complementary requirement will be to re-establish and uphold the rule of law in industrial relations. The disturbing imbalance of power within the conciliation and arbitration system where unions frequently defy Commission orders with impunity will be redressed. Voluntary agreements will be legally enforceable.  Under our policy employees and employers will be given a choice to:  (a) Remain with the centralized award system, albeit a more flexible and accountable one.  (b) Enter into a certified agreement which allows a greater enterprise focus but which continues to come under the control of the Industrial Relations Commission.  (c) Enter into a new stream of Voluntary Agreements.  These employer-employee contracts - outside the jurisdiction of the Commission - are a significant innovation and will provide maximum flexibility and scope for better performance and reward. While generally available, they will be of particular relevance to the dynamic small business sector which plays such a vital role in wealth creation. They will set a competitive pace for the whole industrial relations System. Agreements may be negotiated individually by employees or groups of employees.  Agreements may take account of the specific characteristics of enterprises such as regional economic conditions and the availability of different types of labor.  These agreements would offer the incentive to remove archaic work practices, introduce new technology and management methods, and improve employer-employee relations.  In particular, they provide the scope for introducing more flexible hours of work, permanent pan-time work and specific rewards for skill, effort and ability.  Our policy details the safeguards which will be available to protect the interests of employers and employees alike, including the provision for at least the minimum hourly award rate of pay for ordinary hours of work.  Complementary to voluntary agreements will be the encouragement of employee participation and incentive schemes.  The task of the next Coalition Government will be to facilitate the introduction of such schemes.  Both the abolition of Labor's Capital Gains Tax and our decision to privatize several major government businesses will also encourage the spread of employee  share ownership schemes.  We recognize, however, that the Industrial Relations Commission will, for the foreseeable future, continue to settle disputes and determine the wages and conditions of employment for a significant proportion of the workforce. It is essential that the centralized System itself develops a more flexible approach, one that encourages enterprise negotiations and is responsive to the needs of individual enterprises and industries while at the same rime taking into account the impact of its decisions on the national economy.  We will legislate to require the Commission to have greater regard for economic factors, especially international competitiveness, productivity and inflation.  We will submit to the Commission that it put in place wage principles based on the concepts of flexibility and competitiveness and which allow for differential wage increases between industries and enterprises.  At the same time, the Commission will be given enhanced powers to ensure compliance with its decisions by employers and employees.  The introduction of genuine voluntary unionism, the requirement for secret ballots before strike action and provision of greater scope for workers to choose their union will help bring about a union structure which is more accountable and enterprise-focussed. In particular, we will facilitate the creation of single-enterprise bargaining units.  The basic difference between the Coalition proposals and Labor's System is that we offer a choice.  Under Labor, there is no choice: employers and employees are locked into a system defined by bureaucracy, rigidity, and conflict.  INDUSTRY REFORM.  During the last election, Labor declared that microeconomic reform was to be the hallmark of its third term. This is another of Labor's broken promises.  The Liberal Party believes that, in general, government assistance and involvement in industry is counter-productive.  It is vital that industries are exposed to, not protected from, changing economic conditions. Our program includes privatization of public enterprises, reductions in protection, the reduction of imposts on business and the rationalization and reduction of business regulations, an open (but monitored) foreign investment policy and the revamping of education and training.  The next government will reduce protection further as part of our overall agenda.  We recognize the importance of predictability in reducing protection to provide a more certain environment for industries to undertake restructuring, and for this reason, will announce a comprehensive timetable of reduction in our first term of Government.  Prior to the expiry of the sector plans for certain industries, we will develop programs for further reductions in assistance to those industries with the aim of speeding the pace of adjustment.  The emergence over the last several years of policies designed to 'pick winners' is of great concern. We also strongly oppose ad hoc industry policies which distort resource allocation and favor some producers over others. We are committed to the repeal of the Kodak Bounty.  Our fundamental view is that governments are in no position to judge the likely success or otherwise of industries. Rather, we believe that the appropriate role of government in industry policy is to encourage an environment in which winners can select themselves.  Decades of protection have discouraged many firms from investing in new technologies, and fostered non-market competition, leaving Australia lagging behind comparable overseas countries in terms of technology use and research and development.  We reiterate, however, our view that direct support from government should be the exception rather than the rule.  DEREGULATION AND PRIVATIZATION.  We believe that the privatization and deregulation of public enterprises are long overdue.  The cost of government regulation is staggering. The Business Regulation Review Unit estimated that the aggregate cost of regulation to business was $47 billion a year, or 19 percent of GDP. Seventeen thousand public servants are involved in regulating business activity at the Commonwealth level alone.  Our aim is to stem the flood of regulations and remove the bureaucratic roadblocks which undermine productivity. We will undertake a systematic review of regulations and repeal any regulations which do not have specific justification. Each department will be required to set a deregulation agenda and report annually on progress.  The rates of return on capital invested in public trading enterprises are significantly lower than those in the private corporate trading sector. Resources are thus tied up inefficiently in public enterprises -predominantly in the important areas of transport and communications. When such essential services are not provided in the most efficient manner, Australian businesses and households suffer through higher prices, inadequate standards of service and lower real incomes.  Our privatization program will be governed by the following principles:  • There should be a clear consumer and/or taxpayer benefit.  • Employees of privatized enterprises will be offered the opportunity to buy shares in that enterprise on a preferential basis, thus promoting employee participation and providing the incentive for increased productivity and strengthened industrial harmony.  . The quality and availability of services to remote areas will be maintained.  . Implementation of the privatization program will be gradual and preceded by a thorough investigation of available options.  • Sale price will not be the key consideration in the transfer of public enterprises to the private sector. In particular, we will not maintain intact the monopoly rights of an enterprise in order to enhance the sale price.  The Coalition has already decided on a number of bodies to be privatized when we are elected:  - Australian Airlines.  - QANTAS.  - Domestic and international airport terminals.  - OTC (49 per cent).  - AUSSAT.  - Housing Loans Insurance Commission.  - Medibank Private.  - Pipeline Authority.  - Commonwealth Bank.  - Australian National Line.  - Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation.  Privatization, because it increases competition and efficiency. Where possible, we will give employees the opportunity to buy shares on a preferential basis. We believe that employee share ownership provides a common interest in an enterprise for employees and employers and an incentive to improve productivity.  The proceeds of privatization sales in our first year will exceed $ 1.6 billion, which will be used to retire debt interest burden currently being borne by taxpayers by $ 105 million in our first year alone.  Telecommunications changes.  In May 1988 the Government admitted that compared with twelve other major telephone enterprises around the world Telecom had 60 per cent more employees per unit of services.  Under a Coalition Government, Telecom will be required to compete on normal commercial terms in a wide range of services, including the provision of the first phone. Deregulation will make room for new and existing small businesses and independent contractors.  The potential exists for a substantial drop in STD rates, to the benefit not only of business, but also to many rural subscribers for whom a reduction in phone charges and an improved quality of service could be guaranteed.  Furthermore, our reforms by promoting specialist services will reduce the amount of new capital investment required by telecom to meet peak load requirements.  The Coalition proposes to sell a license for establishment of a second cellular mobile telephone service, providing for much-needed competition in this growing market.  A mobile hand-helped phone in Australia currently retails for around $ 2500, with car phones around $1300. By comparison, in New Zealand car phone units cost around $400 and in the United Kingdom they are less than $100. These lower prices reflect the benefits of competition.  Initially only one additional license would be sold, but we envisage additional licenses being made available in five years' time.  Legislation enabling the sale of the second CMTS license will be introduced as early as possible after the election of a Coalition Government.  TRANSPORT. Reform of Waterfront and Shipping.  Labor has proved incapable of carrying out substantial reform on the waterfront and in coastal shipping, despite the fact that our vital export industries would reap huge benefits from change.  The Coalition will ensure that the waterfront and coastal shipping become more competitive and efficient.  The IAC estimates that a 20 percent improvement in labor productivity in the water transport industry as a whole, combined with a faster turn around time of ships in port, would produce an initial cost saving of $860 million in 1986-87 dollars. This would lead to an increase of over $1 billion in GDP in the long run.  Containers lifted per gross working hour in Melbourne are less than half the figure for Rotterdam, with Sydney even further behind.  Other gross inefficiencies on the waterfront are well documented. Under the next Liberal/National Government, those who engage in cozy arrangements through inefficient and costly work practices will no longer be able to hold the rest of Australia, particularly our export industries, to ransom.  There is a desperate need to encourage competition among port authorities and stevedoring companies and to firmly establish a company-based employment System for waterside workers.  The requirement now is not for more compromises which are aimed at covering up the mess but which, in the past, have had only a limited and temporary effect on industry costs.  The government can force the pace of change on the waterfront. The Coalition will not hand over taxpayers' money without ensuring that there will be genuine and permanent change.  A more competitive approach must be taken to stevedoring operations. A present, stevedoring firms operate under national awards which provide identical terms and conditions. Firms cannot use industrial relations practices as a way of gaining a competitive advantage over other firms in the industry.  Employers and their employees should be free to negotiate their own pay and conditions. This will be facilitated by the Coalition's encouragement of voluntary agreements and changes to union coverage arrangements, including voluntary unionism.  Shippers and others should be given the opportunity to offer stevedoring services in competition with established firms.  This approach will spur unions and stevedoring companies to lift their game or to risk becoming irrelevant.  These changes will achieve radical improvements on the waterfront which will boost exports and significantly improve our competitiveness and current account deficit.  The maze of Government and other regulations regarding recruitment must also be swept away. Individual employers should be free to determine how many employees, including casuals, they require. Employers should not be required to recruit labor from the Waterside Workers' Federation Register.  Our coastal shipping strategy has several elements:  - negotiate with New Zealand to open trans-Tasman shipping to foreign vessels plying the route on longer journey.  - phase out cabotage over five years, initially through more lenient granting of single voyage permits.  - interim tariff protection of 10 percent to 15 percent would be provided to help shipping companies to adjust to the abolition of cabotage.  and  - repeal of all economic sections of the Navigation Act, including regulation of  minimum manning levels.  Roads.  Under Labor the level of road funding has declined by 30 per cent in real terms, despite huge increases in the revenue gained through fuel excise.  In our first year of government we will increase funding by an amount equivalent to one cent per liter of excise duties.  In addition, we will increase road funding by the equivalent of a further one half of one cent per liter of excise in the second year and a further one half of one cent per liter in the third year so that, by the end of our first term, funding will have been increased by the equivalent of two cents per liter of excise duties per year. This amounts to an addition of over $ 1000 million in road spending during our first term.  One of our first priorities will be the implementation of a major upgrading program for the Pacific Highway, to be completed by the year 2000. As with this project other spending priorities for road funding will be determined after consultation with State and local governments.  A more competitive transport sector will raise national productivity, and encourage exports.  Increased use of Rail Freight.  Private enterprise has expressed an interest in greater access to the rail network.  The scheme would involve giving access to permanent ways, under negotiated terms, to private enterprise for it to operate its own or leased rolling stock on existing railway lines. The Federal Governments can exert a leadership role through the Australian Transport Advisory Council in order to encourage the States to enter negotiations for private sector use of railway lines.  Heavy vehicle freight is expected to increase by 60 per cent during the next decade which will more than double wear and tear on existing roads. This proposal will direct freight away from the road system, thereby easing pressures on the road network.  PRIMARY INDUSTRY.  Primary industry, including forestry and fisheries, provides 50 per cent of Australia's net export income. Australia's rural industries are entering a period of growth and diversification. The application of new technology can, in a suitable economic environment, bring about a substantial increase in the export of value added farm products and import replacement.  The objectives of our rural policy are to ensure that this optimistic forecast for primary industry achieved.  Primary industry today is often affected more by general macro-economic policy than those policies which are industry specific. Therefore the general policy initiatives of a Coalition Government have a beneficial impact on the Industry. They include:  - Tariff reform which reduces agricultural input costs.  - Improved transport and waterfront efficiency.  Trade policies that are directed at increased access to markets for Australian primary produce.  - Structural adjustment that allows primary industry to positively react to market forces.  - Support for primary industry research and development projects in order to maintain Australia's leading role in agricultural technology and productivity.  - Measures that provide income stability to agriculture.  However, several specific measures will also assist the industry:  - Removal of tariffs on imported agricultural machinery and spare parts where they are not made in Australia.  - A credible and predictable commitment to wool promotion.  - Reinstatement of95 per cent underwriting for the Wheat Industry.  - Establishment of a Forestry Industry Research Fund and re-establishment of Rural Research as a major part of CSIRO research effort.  - Maintenance of effective quarantine arrangements.  - Provision of a tax write off in the year of expenditure for farm business electricity connection.  - Reduction of agricultural export inspection charges to a maximum of 50 per cent of the total cost of the service.  - Adjustments to Labor's assets tests for farm family retirement, for Austudy and for the Isolated Children's Scheme.  TOURISM.  The pilots' dispute, exacerbated by thy intervention of the Hawke Government, is one of the worst industrial disputes in Australia's history. It has cost 22,500 jobs in the tourist industry and over $650 million in direct losses.  Our Tourism Action Plan is a comprehensive plan of action designed to permit Australia's tourist industry to reach its full potential as a major export earner and employer with initiatives that will substantially decrease the cost of air transport and tourism packages in particular.  The key elements of the Plan are :  - Maintenance of the Tourism Recovery program.  - Opening up the skies by freeing up of the air rights regime to allow international airlines easier access to Australia.  - Allowing foreign carriers to carry their own traffic between Australian ports.  - Allowing QANTAS to continue interlining the traffic of other carriers.  - Priority upgrading of Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport.  - Active encouragement to charter operators from overseas to begin new services.  - A more focussed role for the Australian Tourist Commission.  - A review of the sales tax regulations so that Australia can become a more attractive 'shopping' destination for international tourists. And  - Privatization of QANTAS and Australian Airlines.  IMMIGRATION.  Australia's national interest requires an immigration intake attuned to our economic needs. A Coalition Government will select people for immigration to Australia as individuals, regardless of race, religion or origin.  In choosing additional migrants we will place a premium on migrants who are able to make a direct and immediate contribution to Australian society.  We will increase Australia's migrant intake by approving migrants who are younger and who are skilled, knowledgeable, educated and employable. Particular emphasis will be given to expanding the number of migrants with financial resources and entrepreneurial skills.  This approach will not end the admission of migrants under the Family Reunion category. Rather it will adjust the proportions within a larger total migrant intake toward a greater number of migrants with skills and entrepreneurial capacities.  A Coalition Government will also continue to fulfil Australia's international obligations to provide for the resettlement of refugees.  A sound immigration program has lasting benefits for Australia and should not be subjected to unpredictable changes. We will introduce a five year rolling program for immigration commencing in our first year of office.  A FAIRER AUSTRALIA.  In a democracy, a government must govern for all.  The Labor government has adopted the pattern of making policy according to short-term political pressures and political bargains with interest groups. It governs not for the many but for the few. We will govern not for special interests, but for the public interest.  UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS.  We are committed to a reduction in taxes for working Australians and a limit on the time for which unemployment benefits are paid. This will provide a structure of incentives, which will encourage people to find jobs.  We will provide unemployment benefits for a limit of nine months, which is a reasonable period to assist those who are seeking work.  People who remain unemployed beyond the nine month period in which they have received unemployment benefits and who are not capable of providing for themselves and/or their family will be eligible to apply for Special Benefits subject to the more rigorous testing which applies to the provision of these benefits.  Unemployed people under eighteen, and school and tertiary leavers over eighteen with no dependants, will be entitled to the Job Search Allowance rather than unemployment benefits.  These reforms mean that unemployment benefits will not constitute a permanent alternative to work. They will prevent people from sliding into a pattern of permanent dependence.  At the same time, we intend to reform the national employment and training effort to make it more coherent and flexible. Several schemes will be eliminated and others targeted more effectively.  Increased emphasis will be placed on skills training strategies and restructuring and there will be less emphasis on job creation and job subsidy schemes.  RAISING EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS.  Unlike the Labor Government, we have a non-discriminatory approach to education. We are committed to better education for all Australians.  Schools.  While recognizing that primary responsibility for schools resides with the States, we see a need for higher standards, greater parental choice and increased local accountability.  Working in consultation with State government’s and non-government school authorities we will establish a National Standards Monitoring program 506 to provide an objective measurement of teacher training, school curricula, testing methods, and student performance.  Funding.  Our funding policy emphasizes choice and equity. We recognize the right of every Australian child to a reasonable measure of Commonwealth support for education.  In the case of government schools, the Commonwealth's full direct and indirect contribution so to the 100 per cent funding of each primary and secondary student at a government school will continue to be paid directly to State governments. The total Commonwealth grant money will be determined in respect of every child enrolled at a Government primary or secondary school.  For non-government schools and Systems we will introduce a simpler and more equitable funding regime incorporating a basic per capita grant with additional needs-based funding. We guarantee that during the implementation of this new funding mechanism for non-government schools, no school or school system will receive less per capita funding than it would have received under Labor's recently announced policy. We will also provide an additional $10 million per annum for building projects over a three year period starting in 1991.  Higher Education.  In higher education, we will dismantle the centralized bureaucracy of Labor's Unified National System and withdraw the arbitrary requirements for the amalgamation of institutions. Our aim is to restore the autonomy and integrity of Australia's higher education institutions.  We will abolish Labor's $1800 (indexed) graduate tax, replacing it with a $ 1200 annual tuition charge, backed by government guaranteed loan arrangements.  Institutions will be allocated scholarships exempting one in four students from the tuition charge. These scholarships will be awarded on the basis of merit and/or need, at the institution's choice. In other words, at least 85,000 students each year will have free higher education.  A FAIR GO FOR WOMEN.  Under Labor, real choice for women - in employment, life-style, and family opportunities - has been reduced. We intend to decisively reverse this trend.  Women will benefit from the greater flexibility of working conditions afforded through voluntary agreements between employers and employees. More flexible hours and pay will be a major advantage for those who have to cope with both work and family commitments.  We recognize that many women, because their employment patterns are interrupted by family responsibilities, do not have access to superannuation schemes. The introduction of Retirement Savings Accounts will encourage and enable women to plan for a secure financial future.  To help married women continue their contributions while out of the workforce their spouse will be entitled to tax deductions for contributions made to the account on their behalf.  The Coalition Government will act immediately on an area of major concern to women in Australia - breast cancer.  Nearly 2500 women die each year from breast cancer and it is estimated that at least one third of these tragedies could have been prevented by early detection.  We will increase the number of screening units so that more women have easier access to effective screening at a cost of $10 million in the first year.  SECURITY IN RETIREMENT.  Our policies for the Aged have two primary objectives:  (i) To ensure that pensioners are able in live in dignity and financial security.  (ii) To encourage ail Australians, through a range of initiatives and tax incentives, to properly plan for and improve their life-style in retirement.  Our aim is to see that older Australians receive a fair go, and are accorded the respect they deserve. Our focus is on increasing their opportunities and choices.  Labor has constantly eroded the security of the elderly. Its policies have been confused and inconsistent. It has changed the pension income test seven times in seven years. Our policies are clearly explained in our Economic Action Plan and our Retirement Income Policy.  In the area of health we are committed to retain and improve Medicare as it operates for the aged.  Our proposals to allow taxpayers to "opt out" of Medicare will reduce public hospital waiting lists. This will allow the elderly to gain quicker access to hospital services.  We have given a guarantee that all existing social security benefits for the aged will be maintained, and we have undertaken to enhance benefits in the most important fields.  Among our initiatives are commitments to:  • Modify the assets test to ensure that the age pension is not withheld from those in genuine need.  • Raise the superannuation lump sum tax-free threshold from $60,000 to $125,000.  • Abolish compulsory retirement for those who would qualify for the aged pension but who wish to remain in employment or live off savings and give them increased pension payment for each additional year of deferment  • Relax the administration of the Pension Income Test.  We are determined to ensure that the living standards of the elderly of Australia are fully protected.  VETERANS.  War veterans deserve the greatest understanding, recognition, and support that a responsible government can afford. We will maintain a separate, modem Department of Veterans' Affairs.  In giving this commitment we recognize the compensatory nature of repatriation expenditure. Notwithstanding these difficult economic times, we reaffirm our commitment to:  Maintain a separate and comprehensive Repatriation General Hospital System.  Maintain the Disability Pension Scheme.  Maintain the Service Pension Scheme.  Maintain the War Widows Pension Scheme.  Restore the Independent Monitoring Committee.  Rectify existing anomalies in the repatriation System.  As a result of a 1989 Budget decision the ex-Prisoner of War community has been split into two groups as far as dental benefits are concerned -those who were captured by the Japanese and those who were captured in European theatres of war or elsewhere. The limit on dental benefits will be removed for all ex-Prisoners of War.  ENVIRONMENT.  The protection and enhancement of the natural environment for the benefit of all Australians will be a central concern of the next Coalition Government. A healthy, attractive environment is as important a bequest to the next generation as a soundly functioning and productive economy. We see the environment as a community asset; it is therefore appropriate that its protection should be a community responsibility.  The Labor Government has failed to establish clear principles of environmental management. In several cases, such as the Coronation Hill gold mine, it has ignored the existing procedures for environmental assessment in response to immediate political pressures.  The Hawke Government's lack of consistency has turned important environmental issues into battlefields on which no-one wins. Labor is motivated by political pressure rather than the interests of the nation and it begins from the premise that environmental protection and economic development are incompatible.  We do not accept the "us-against-them" mentality. We believe that it is possible to balance environmental protection and economic development to the satisfaction of the vast majority of Australians.  Our environment and conservation policies are set within a comprehensive framework which lays down the broad principles through which protection of the environment and the sustainable use of its resources can be integrated.  Our National Conservation Strategy aims to:  Integrate conservation and development, emphasizing common ground rather than differences.  Focus on the underlying causes of environmental problems as well as the symptoms.  Accumulate and disseminate knowledge on the environment, in the form of a national land use inventory.  Educate the community and individuals about the interdependence of resource conservation and sustainable development.  We acknowledge the importance of Australia's federal System in environmental policies and management.  We believe that any environmental issues that may arise between the commonwealth and the States can be resolved through negotiating. We will work with the States and act firmly in the national interest whenever it is necessary to do so.  Our approach will emphasize consistency, predictability, and co-operation. A Coalition Government will establish guidelines for the protection and use of the environment which are firm and fair.  We are proud to have made the first entries on the World Heritage list and under us no World Heritage sites will be de-graded or de-listed. Building on our record, we are now announcing a number of new initiatives.  Soil Conservation.  We are committed to the existing 10-year Land Care program. We will double the funding for soil conservation in our first year and maintain that increase for at least our first term of government. In our first year this means we will increase funding by $23.2 million to $46.4 million. The additional funding will be split between:  • $18.2 million in additional funding for soil conservation under the Land Care Program. We will ensure that the bulk of these extra funds are directed to local projects undertaken by Land care groups. We will also encourage landholders to undertake projects on their own land to repair and prevent land degradation caused by soil erosion and salinity.  • $5 million for expanding the definition of works eligible for deductibility under Section 75D of the Tax Act to specifically include expenditure on the establishment of trees, shrubs or pasture species designed to combat or repair erosion.  Along with the repair and prevention of land degradation, the additional funding for soil conservation will result in an improvement and rehabilitation of habitat for many species of our unique wildlife.  We will also explore with various farming and conservation organizations the possibility of other tax measures to encourage such activities as agro-forestry which have the potential to arrest soil erosion while providing additional resources for our timber industry.  Pilot Urban Waterways Renewal Study.  We recognize that the majority of Australians live in an urban environment and that they are concerned about the quality of that environment and especially the quality of their urban waterways.  As an initial step we propose a pilot project to conduct a study of the problems of the Brisbane, Derwent and Tamar Rivers.  The Commonwealth will bear the cost of this study and we are confident it will be supported by relevant Local and State Government authorities.  In addition to its direct involvement with conservation, a Coalition government will encourage the private sector to repair, sustain, and protect the environment.  Beach Pollution.  The Coalition Government will support an application by the NSW Government for a special additional borrowing allocation under the Loan Council's Global Borrowing Agreement to fund development of infrastructure for the clean up of sewerage and beach pollution. "Special Additions" are not uncommon. Western Australia has continually received one over recent years to assist in projects by the State Electricity Commission of WA (SECWA).  Allocation of Malabar Land for Extension of Sewerage Treatment Works.  We will provide to the New South Wales Government approximately 14ha of land at Malabar for the construction of extensions to their sewerage treatment works. In conjunction with the State Government, we will guarantee the future use of the Anzac Rifle Range.  Antarctic Center.  Tasmania already has close geographic and historical links with Antarctica. Valuable research and service facilities relating to the southern continent will be enhanced, in full co-operation with the Tasmanian Government, by the development of an Antarctic Museum in Hobart.  Such a museum would be the first stage of the overall development of an International Antarctic Center. We will initiate moves to attract corporate support for the project and will work in co-operation with the State Government to provide joint funding to commence the construction phase. The estimated cost to the Commonwealth will be $ 1.5 million each year for the next three years.  ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS.  Our policy approach to Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders starts from the belief that all Australians share a common national future.  The policies of the Labor government have, far from promoting self-sufficiency amongst Aboriginal Australians, entrenched a pattern of dependence.  To provide a new vision, we will:  . Provide programs which meet the real needs of Aborigines and Islanders.  • Place the highest priority on improving the health of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.  • Improve the administration of Aboriginal Affairs and improve the delivery of services to those most in need.  • Increase the proportion of funds reaching Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in need.  . Maintain the Institute of Aboriginal Studies.  • Protect and promote Aboriginal culture.  • Work with the States and Territories to achieve greater school attendance by Aboriginal children.  • Continue to address areas of social and legal discrimination. We oppose and will abolish the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Commission, which by its nature seeks to separate rather than unite all Australians.  We strongly believe the proposal for a treaty is flawed in legal, political and historical terms and will not proceed with treaty negotiations believing a treaty will cause great divisions in the Australian community.  DECLARING WAR ON DRUGS.  Drug-related crime and violence is a major threat to our way of life. In Government we will crack down on the drug industry by:  Ensuring Australia's coastline is effectively patrolled to guard against drug runners.  Giving the Australian Federal Police, the National Crime Authority and Australian Customs more support to fight drug smuggling and distribution.  Providing for tougher sentences for major drug crimes.  Using Federal funds more effectively to deal with the problems faced by Australia's 70,000 homeless youth.  HOMELESS YOUTH.  We are committed to the principle that parents have the primary responsibility for providing adequate care for their children. Unfortunately, too many children are abused and left without adequate in-come, education, health services and accommodation.  Their situation is the result of both complex social and economic pressures including family break-down, drug, alcohol and sexual abuse resulting in the inability of many to complete their education and acquire job skills.  Our primary objective must be to address the causes of youth homelessness rather than continually establishing new programs directed at the effects. Consequently parental responsibility must be emphasized and we will support the States in their efforts to restore children to their parents.  When this is not possible, or the children would be placed at risk, we will ensure that both Federal and State programs are better integrated so that children can be assisted to continue with their education or training and receive adequate counseling, accommodation and income support prier to entering the workforce.  LOCAL GOVERNMENT.  We will reinvigorate Australia's System of local government. Labor has constantly attacked the funding basis of local government, introducing uncertainty and instability.  We will restore tax sharing as the basis of general purpose grants to local government by matching in our first year the amount provided for in the present Government's forward estimate for 1990/91, specifically $716.7 million. At the end of the first year, this sum will be calculated as a percentage of actual total Commonwealth taxation revenue received in 1990/91 and untied general purpose grants to local government for subsequent years guaranteed at that fixed percentage. This will arrest the decline of general revenue assistance as a proportion of commonwealth taxation receipts.  A SECURE AUSTRALIA.  Over recent months, we have witnessed the transformation of the world's most important political conflict of the past forty years: the Cold War.  We have seen the grand failure of communism in Europe, and the attractive power of political and economic freedom has been plain for all to see.  The word of the 1990s will be more complex and interdependent than ever before. There will be an emphasis on the management of resources, the maximization of the new economic opportunities that are opening up a concern with environmental issues and with health issues such as drug use and AIDS. For all these changes, there are important elements of continuity.  Competition between states will continue. The potential for instability, particularly within our own region, will remain. Protectionist pressures may increase.  Labor' s foreign policy has too often been driven by domestic political considerations, not international realities.  As Labor's China policy tragically demonstrates, Labor has concentrated too much on personalities and too little on hard-headed assessments of our national interest.  Australia's scope for a constructive international role has been hindered by Labor's mismanagement of the national economy. We offer a different way of managing our international interests. We will:  Undertake a major review in a White Paper of the economic and security implications within the Asia-Pacific region of the historic changes taking place in Europe and elsewhere in the world.  Maximize our economic opportunities in a changing world, giving a special priority to the Asia-Pacific region.  Maintain an active and mutually beneficial involvement with the United States in the economic and security affairs of our region.  Develop Australian - US security relations under ANZUS.  Revitalize our economic relationship with Japan through a new framework of co-operative trade, marketing, and research opportunities.  Redress Labor's failure to maximize Australian involvement with the South Pacific Island countries.  Target development aid, particularly in South-East Asia and the South-West Pacific, more effectively.  Pay close attention to the environmental impact of development projects undertaken with Australian aid.  Seek a comprehensive, democratic, and peaceful resolution of the Cambodian conflict (including legal action for genocide in the International Court of Justice against the leaders of the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s).  Australia's international interests in the 1990s will require realistic policies, not wishful thinking. A Coalition Government is best equipped to fulfil them.  The first responsibility of any Australian government is to ensure the security of the nation against military attack or other forms of pressure that threaten our basic freedom.  We are committed to maintain a strong and self-reliant Australian defense force, capable of defending our national security interests and co-operating effectively with our friends and allies.  There are five fundamental requirements for a coherent and credible long term defense policy which have been absent under the Hawke Government. These are:  • A strong economic base, growing fast enough to maintain our competitive position internationally and especially in the Asia Pacific region. The Hawke Government's economic policy failures have diminished our international standing and resulted in a failure to sustain a consistent financial commitment to achieve the objectives it proposed for the Australian Defense Force (ADF) in its 1987 Defense Policy Information Paper, "The Defense of Australia 1987".  • Integration of foreign, economic, trade and defense policies within an overall strategy for national security. The failure of the Hawke Government to achieve this integration has been most evident in South East Asia and South West Pacific, with potentially serious consequences for regional stability.  • An effective strategic planning process for Defense, ensuring agreement between the key decision makers in the Government and the Defense Organization on strategic doctrine, financial guidance and ADF force structure development. There is still no organized, continuous process of strategic planning integrating political and defense thinking. The result is ad hoc Cabinet decision making, discontinuities in financing and consequent disruption of our defense effort.  • Effective organizational structures and management processes for Defense, ensuring the best possible allocation to achieve the Government's objectives. Although there have been some improvements in organizational structure and management processes in recent years, the Defense Organization is not well equipped to manage its resources to best effect. Misallocation of resources has led to a weakening of operational capacity and the crippling problem of personnel wastage from the ADF.  • An understanding of the human contribution of defense - those who elect to serve in the armed forces, and their families, whose feeling of self respect and whose physical and mental well-being have suffered under Labor Government policies.  A Liberal National Government will redress Labor's deficiencies by:  Restoring Australia's economic heath and our ability to maintain a consistent allocation of national resources to our Defense effort. Establishing a Security Committee of Cabinet supported by a National Security Unit.  Redefining Australia's Defense strategy to make it more outward looking and more co-operative with our regional friends and allies. Acting decisively to improve management structures and processes within the Department of Defense.  Redressing the critical neglect visited on Service personnel and their families by Labor which has resulted in low morale and record wastage rates.  Labor has not met its targets for defense spending. It has now indicated that it will cut $80 million from next year's Defense forward estimates to pay for its election promises.  In our first year, we will maintain Defense spending at projected levels in real money terms.  In particular, Labor has neglected the interests of our Service-men and Service-women and their families. Members are leaving our defense force in record numbers. Our defense capability has been weakened as a result.  We will improve the management of defense so as to restore the morale and effectiveness of all three Services. We will re- allocate from within the Defense Budget around $70 million to personnel and Service family needs to meet their most pressing problems and to improve management, morale and effectiveness.  We will increase assistance to schools that wish to establish cadet units or to maintain existing units.  THE AUSTRALIAN RENEWAL.  The issue for the 1990s is the renewal of Australia: of family life, of economic institutions of the right of choice, of Australian society itself.  We have the vision, the ability, and the strength to take Australia through the next decade and into the next century.  We will reinvigorate Australia's basic values, drawing on the inherent strength of our people and the fundamental unity of our society.  Australia's problems are too complex to be solved overnight. But with determination and courage they can be solved.  We offer our commitment and our energy in the cause of Australian renewal. We offer faith and conviction. We offer the hope of a better future for Australians and their children. In this election we are offering the answers for the new decade. The answer is Liberal.