LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION  CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY  EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY  ADDRESS TO ALP CAMPAIGN LAUNCH  HURSTVILLE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE  31 OCTOBER 2001  Men and women of Australia:  Today I offer myself as Prime Minister of this great country.  I want the job -- I’m committed, I’m qualified, and I’m here for the long haul.  I have a plan to deliver a fair share, and a secure future, for all Australians.  I stand for the best possible education for all, not just the rich.  I stand for a health system where your Medicare Card is more important than your credit card.  I will put the care back into aged care.  I stand for making the GST simpler and fairer, for relieving the burden on small business, and on families.  I want to ensure Telstra remains in the hands of the majority shareholders – the Australian people, so Telstra can continue its essential nation-building role.  And I want to get this country working again with quality jobs for all our people, whether they live in the city or the regions.  While I have a plan for the future, my political opponent only has a plan for retirement.  John Howard says this election is about leadership – but he won’t commit to a full term.  He will stand, but he won’t deliver.  He’ll stand but he won’t stay.  Time and again in this campaign John Howard has been asked to commit to a full term.  Time and again he has refused.  Let’s get it straight.  If John Howard wins this election, Peter Costello will be Prime Minister at the next.  And let’s get another thing straight.  My pledge is to be around for as long as it takes to bring in Labor’s plan for the future of this nation.  I will go the distance.  We in the Australian Labor Party have always planned for the future, by drawing on the lessons of the past.  In Parliament more than 50 years ago Ben Chifley said this:  'I believe that the best incentive that can be given to workers is a sense of security - security of employment and security against sickness, unemployment, and the disabilities of old age.'.  Those Labor values of Ben Chifley are values I share, values we all share, priorities we all share --- Jobs, Health and Education.  Jobs, health and education -- and a secure future for this country and for all those who live here.  My fellow Australians.  Our pledge for a secure future for this country means security both at home and abroad.  The terrorist attacks on the United States have struck horror into all of us, and changed our world.  We believe this threat must be resisted, pursued, destroyed. There is no difference between the parties on this.  Under my leadership we will continue to work in the international coalition, with President Bush and Prime Minister Blair and others, to find the terrorists and bring them to justice.  We’re proud we have such well-trained and well-equipped men and women to send on this difficult mission.  They go with our blessing, and our heartfelt appreciation of their courage and commitment, and that of their families.  Our security also requires that we protect Australia’s borders. People smugglers are criminals who must be hounded out of business.  It’s why we plan to introduce a proper Coast Guard – a cop on the beat 52 weeks of the year.  We need to work harder at finding diplomatic solutions with our neighbours to take the boats back, or stop them before they leave.  The fight against terrorism and the protection of our borders are common ground in this election.  But on the issue of security at home, we are poles apart.  The public schools and hospitals used by average Australian families have been sadly neglected. Our aged care system is in crisis.  The rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. Those in the middle average Australian families are getting more and more squeezed.  My opponent has no plan for jobs, no plan for schools, no plan for hospitals, no vision for the future.  Well, Australians know this: without decent schools and hospitals, without a clear plan for the future, we are never going to meet the challenges of the new century.  That’s why Labor has a plan to help struggling families, and those in financial difficulties.  Only Labor has a plan to invest in the most priceless assets in the modern world – our brains, our skills, our knowledge.  We have already announced an affordable range of carefully crafted policies designed to help Australians deal with the problems they face:  -- We’ll increase funds for our public hospitals through a Medicare Alliance, to cut waiting times, and employ more nurses and doctors.  -- We’ll introduce Medicare After Hours so families can get 24 hour a day expert medical advice.  -- We’ll restore the dental health scheme for low-income earners - the scheme John Howard scrapped in 1996.  -- We’ll establish Education Priority Zones so we can fund schools and students on the basis of need not privilege.  -- We’ll invest in more Early Learning Centres for 3 and 4 year olds, and will help new parents with our Head start for Families plan.  -- Labor will fix our aged care system by putting more funds in, and taking Bronwyn Bishop out.  -- We will also establish a national scheme to guarantee one hundred percent of entitlements for all workers, not just the lucky few.  -- Labor will also introduce a Social Charter for banks, so that they start working for their customers, instead of the other way round.  And we’ll make the GST simpler and fairer, to ease the burden on small business, and on families under pressure.  John Howard promised the GST would be simple, and we’d all be better off.  Of course, that was after he promised that he’d never, ever introduce a GST!  And John Howard also promised the GST would be good for the economy, and wouldn’t hurt jobs.  But more than 66,000 people have lost their jobs since the GST was introduced, and many more people are not getting the work they need to make ends meet.  The GST has made the Howard Government the highest taxing government in Australian history.  Bankruptcies have increased by 30 percent since the GST came in, and economic growth has more than halved.  There wouldn’t be a small business in Australia that genuinely thinks the GST is simple.  Well, with Labor’s plans to simplify the GST we are going to replace hours and hours of work with one simple calculation.  As a pharmacist in my electorate said to me: “The changes you will make will give me back my weekends.”  And we are going to stop them being used as unpaid workers for the Tax Office.  Who in this country thinks that the GST is fair?  Who, except John Howard and Peter Costello?  And of course Amanda Vanstone. She even thinks it’s fair to tax funerals – you only die once, she says, so you may as well pay for the privilege!  We don’t think the Howard Government’s GST is fair – and we are going to remove it from some of life’s essentials– from funerals, from women’s sanitary items, from charities helping people in emergencies, from children’s nappies, and from the rents paid by long term caravan park residents.  And with electricity bills going up by more than 14 percent since the start of the GST, we will remove it from electricity and gas bills completely.  Peter Costello has described our plan as ‘peanuts’. It may be peanuts for him, but ten percent tax off electricity and gas bills is not peanuts for pensioners, or families under financial pressure.  Peter Costello does not want to see us take the GST off selected items to help families. He believes there should be no exemptions! He has said so.  If my opponents are so opposed to our plans to make the GST simpler and fairer, let’s have a debate about it.  You know, I really enjoy debating John Howard. And I want to do it again.  I’m available any time, any place, between now and November 10.  But let’s face it: John Howard is avoiding another debate because he can’t guarantee a secure future for this country – he has no ideas to boost jobs, or fix schools or hospitals.  On Sunday he promised a modest tax break for a small number of Australian families, if they can work their way through the fine print.  Walk down any street in Australia, and ninety percent of the families get absolutely nothing out of John Howard’s baby bonus.  Working mothers with children born before July this year will never see a cent of benefit. Of those that are eligible, 60 percent will receive only the minimum amount.  With John Howard he always says one thing then does another. Just ask the over 60s who were all promised $1000 before the last election. Forty percent got nothing!  But elect a Labor Government and every family in every street will pay less GST on essentials such as gas and electricity and nappies.  Labor’s GST tax relief goes to everyone, and lasts forever.  And let me just remind you: if John Howard is re-elected, nine out of ten taxpayers will get no tax relief whatsoever!  John Howard isn’t interested in any of Labor’s long term plans to fix the GST, or to repair our education and health systems, because he won’t be around long term, and he won’t be accountable for any of his promises.  Well, if John Howard won't commit to three years, why should you commit to him?  We Australians are a clever and creative people. We always have been.  But under the Coalition new ideas have been smothered.  Where smart countries around the world are investing in innovation and better education, the Howard Government lets our best and brightest people leave for overseas jobs.  Many Australian ideas in areas like biotechnology, and information and communications technology, have been developed overseas because they can’t find a sponsor here at home.  With real leadership, we can stop the brain drain and get our best people back here, employing other Australians to develop Australian ideas in the knowledge economy.  That’s what we mean by the Knowledge Nation – high-wage, high-skill jobs for this generation and those to come.  It’s about making you and your family better off.  It starts with a good education; a foundation to help people in the new world of work—a world that is changing rapidly, for everyone.  Because we all know there is no such thing as a job for life any longer.  The days are over when you could leave school at 15, start on the factory floor and work your way to the top, without further education.  Every job today requires education and skills – a car mechanic uses computers for his business. Nurses need to operate complex medical equipment, and manage computerised records.  We have a small population, we can’t afford to waste the talents of a single citizen.  But under the Howard Government there is no effort going into education and training, no interest in retaining Australian ideas, or reversing the brain drain.  If we don’t change course, the next generation will look back and say to us – ‘you had your chance but you didn’t invest in the future! When everyone in the world was telling you knowledge is the key’.  And if we don’t change tack, our children will also say, ‘You made it a golden age for some, but not for all. You left society more unequal, more divided than it was – you made a mockery of the fair go’.  They will remind us that the Howard Government invested millions in the privileged Category One schools, but did nothing to help the public schools attended by 70 percent of Australian children.  And why should ordinary Australians get a second-class education while the well off get first class?  Why shouldn’t we aim to bring every schoolboy and girl, every student, in this nation up to the same high standard!  Well, Labor has a plan for this country’s future, and it will start from my first day in office.  It is a fully costed, fully funded plan, and even with our new proposals we will keep our Budgets in surplus.  Just let me make some points about our approach to economic management.  We go to this election with no proposals for new taxes.  We also go to this election with no proposals to raise taxes.  We think Australians have had enough of new taxes and higher taxes in recent years.  Our plans for jobs, to rebuild our health system and repair education in this country are fully costed by independent experts.  By spending within our means, a Labor Government will keep the pressure off interest rates, and keep mortgages down.  And our plans are as affordable as they are necessary.  We will be prudent economic managers.  By limiting our programs to what we can afford, we will ensure interest rates are not under pressure.  For Labor, sound economic management is not just an end in itself.  Good economic management delivers growth.  Growth, in turn, delivers jobs and will allow us to continue the urgent repair of our social institutions.  The first repair job must be in education – because nothing is more important to guarantee a secure future.  As Prime Minister I will lift investment in new knowledge, and education for all Australians, to the top of the government agenda.  Within a decade, if Labor is elected to office, every member of an average family will be touched by the Knowledge Nation plans that I am proud to announce today, and I want to start with universities.  Since coming to office John Howard has ripped billions from our universities, and even the head of the Vice-Chancellors’ Committee has admitted they are in crisis.  We simply cannot allow these important institutions to slide into genteel poverty, with ever–declining morale.  To build the Knowledge Nation we must increase the number of workers with university and technical qualifications, and increase the extent and quality of our research and innovation.  That’s why I announce today that Labor will spend an extra $1 billion on our Plan for Quality Universities.  The centrepiece is a new fund of nearly $500 million. Universities, drawing on this fund, will be able to improve the quality of teaching and research by employing more lecturers and tutors, and reducing class sizes.  It will also be used to increase salaries for our best academic teachers and researchers to help end the brain drain, and to equip university libraries with new resources.  By lifting funding for Australian universities in this way, we will help them get back to the high quality teaching and research of which they were once justly proud.  The Labor Party has always fought for the right of all Australians, whatever their income or background, to get a good education.  But with the effective doubling of HECS under the Howard Government, a university education has been put further out of the reach of more and more ordinary Australians.  I announce today that to make university education more affordable we will make HECS charges easier to repay.  Labor intends progressively to raise the threshold of earnings at which HECS must be repaid. We will lift the threshold of earnings by $10,000 over four years, bringing it close to average weekly earnings.  This will ease financial pressures on many graduates, and encourage more people, from different backgrounds, into higher education to improve their skills.  The Knowledge Nation cannot be built without better schools. And every parent knows that standards in the nation’s schools must be improved.  So today I am announcing a $176 million plan for higher standards in schools.  We will employ an extra 680 teachers nationwide – 400 to help raise standards of literacy and numeracy, and 280 to help improve behaviour in our schools.  Children who want to learn should not be distracted from the task. Currently, too many teaching professionals are tied up with behaviour problems, and getting children up to speed in basic reading, writing and maths.  These new people will help our teachers to get on with teaching the subjects for which they were trained.  Over the five and a half years of the Howard Government research and development across all industries has fallen dramatically.  Australia’s R&D levels were among the fastest growing in the world when Labor left office, but now we are rapidly falling behind.  Rupert Murdoch is not the only business leader warning that we will make ourselves irrelevant on the world stage unless we act urgently to stop this decline.  By the end of the decade our goal must be nothing less than to double our overall national investment in research and development of Australian ideas.  We have the brains and the people – we should be in a leading position, not struggling to keep up with the smart countries of the world.  To begin this task, I announce today my Plan for Research and Development Leadership.  Labor will introduce a new 200 percent tax concession for businesses investing in research and development at our universities, the CSIRO, and other public research institutions.  This will dramatically increase the amount of private funding going into our universities for the basic research needed to boost existing industries, and to kick start new industries.  Enormous opportunities exist for Australia to become a world leader in key industries such as biotechnology, information technology and environmental sustainability.  If we invest properly in this new knowledge we can not only create thousands of new jobs, but we can also start the process of solving the big problems facing our world – such as improving the quality of our air, our water and our soil.  I am also proud to announce today that over the next five years we will invest $160 million extra in the CSIRO, our best national research institution.  John Howard has squeezed this great research icon. It has lost 1100 staff since the Coalition came to power.  Well I won’t stand for that – the CSIRO is at the heart of Australian national identity and achievement and no government I lead will ever let it be destroyed.  And while I’m talking to you today about great national institutions I want to state very clearly that no government I lead will ever sell another share in our national telecommunications company, Telstra.  That’s a rock solid guarantee.  John Howard and John Anderson have been trying to hide their plans to sell Telstra, but Peter Costello blew the whistle on them last Friday.  You don’t see it very often, but Peter Costello had an attack of honesty when he confirmed the sale date.  I don’t know what John Anderson said to Peter Costello over the weekend, but I think you could summarise it like this: “Not happy, Peter!”.  The Howard Government has put huge effort into attacking our institutions – such as Telstra, Australia Post, our universities, our public hospitals, the CSIRO, and the ABC.  Well I’m here to tell you Labor will restore them to their rightful nation-building role.  The Coalition set out to harm the ABC, and slashed its funding. We won’t stand by and see the ABC torn down, so I announce today that over our first term of government we will restore the ABC’s funding to its levels before the Howard Government was elected.  As well, Labor will establish a $140 million National Connectivity Scheme to ensure more equitable delivery of telecommunications services, including voice, mobile phone, dial-up Internet and broadband services, and increased television and radio coverage to local communities, particularly in outer metropolitan, rural and regional Australia.  And we will provide $140 million over five years to create a new nationwide program called IT Kickstart to train Australians how to use the Internet and understand modern information and communications technology.  Just think what a boon it will be to those trying to increase their skills to get good employment, or set up new businesses using new technology. If we can get almost every Australian proficient in the use of these new technologies we will become one of the world IT and communications leaders.  We have announced we will create 100,000 on-line university places through the University of Australia On-line.  It will cost students only half the current HECS rate, and will help thousands of Australians particularly those in remote areas, to get the training and re-training that they need through their home computers, or through public libraries.  Labor will also provide $77 million over five years to boost the number of postgraduate nurses available to work in our public hospitals. This will enable nurses to train in high demand specialist areas including emergency, intensive care and aged care.  And we have also pledged to double the number of research fellowships in universities, and create a new category of prestige fellowships, to reward our best minds and keep them in this country.  As well, we will fund a regional universities package to double the amount they get to subsidise their communications services, and we will create 400 new regional postgraduate research places.  And to boost employment in regional Australia, I recently announced a comprehensive plan for improving Australia’s infrastructure, investing in regional development and jobs for the future. We will fund this scheme by reinvesting funds that once built one of our greatest national projects, the Snowy Mountains Scheme.  People often ask me to explain in one sentence what the Knowledge Nation is all about.  I’m going to go one better than that, and explain the Knowledge Nation in one word.  That word is jobs.  That’s why Labor’s Employment and Training policies are at the centre of the plan I launch today.  Those policies are about investing in everyone’s skills.  So I pledge $105 million over 5 years for 35,000 Knowledge Nation apprenticeships, to give young people a start in a professional career, particularly in industries that are experiencing a grave shortage of skilled workers.  Our policies are about getting in early to stop people becoming unemployed.  The Howard Government blames the unemployed for their plight, labelling them ‘job snobs’. Well, we want to help people at risk of unemployment, or unable to get the training they need for new jobs.  We will make a $75 million investment over 5 years to help young Australians move from school to work – offering them help through the most crucial transition of their working lives.  And our policies are about being a fair government to those doing it tough. And that is why we are investing $41 million over 5 years in putting real training into Work for the Dole, giving its participants a chance to graduate with an apprenticeship, rather than just a certificate.  It’s why we will invest $8 million in establishing a new level of assistance to mature-age job seekers under the Job Network – some of the people most disadvantaged by the Coalition’s uncaring policies.  And it’s why we will invest $60 million over 5 years in allowing long-term unemployed people to use their unemployment benefits as a wage subsidy to find a job.  Never be in any doubt: I will never tolerate a situation in which my fellow Australians live in the economic shadow lands, drifting in and out of unemployment and low wage jobs without a helping hand.  That is not the Australian way!  Our thinkers, our creators, our inventors, our scientists and technologists: these are just some of the people crucial to Australia’s future.  We need writers and film-makers, artists and musicians, architects and engineers, medical researchers and doctors, teachers and nurses, tradespeople and workers from all walks of life.  What we need are Australian ideas invented here, and developed here.  And that means we have to encourage investment here in Australia, investment in our future as a people.  Only Labor has a plan for that sort of future for this country.  A plan for schools to give every child a chance.  A plan to end the crisis in our public hospitals.  A plan to take the tax off some of life’s essentials.  A plan to guarantee that Telstra stays in public hands.  A plan that is costed down to the last cent.  We will act to guarantee workers’ entitlements and better job security.  And to provide more nursing home beds so that elderly Australians get the treatment they deserve.  We will protect our environment, signing up to the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, and tackling salinity, and other threats to our fragile water systems, and to soil and air quality.  And we must and will aim to provide good living standards with basic services for all Australians, whether they live in the cities or the regions.  The choice on November 10 is clear: Labor is offering a long-term plan that will put schools, hospitals and families first. Our opponents are offering short term fixes from a short term Liberal leader.  I believe we can build a prosperous, secure Australia – a country in which everyone gets a share in our prosperity.  A nation united because it is fair.  -- And strong because the government is on the side of the people it represents.  A nation at peace with itself because we turn to each other, not against each other.  A tolerant nation reconciled with its indigenous peoples.  A creative, clever Australia, confident of its place in the world.  A nation in which new knowledge and high skills are prized, and all can aspire to them.  I want the job of Prime Minister, and I am applying for it, because I want to carry out this Labor vision for our country’s future.  A secure future, a fair share – for all Australians.  That’s what I stand for! AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRAT SPEECHES  SENATOR NATASHA STOTT DESPOJA SPEECH TO THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB    DATED: 1 NOV 2001 LOCATION: NATIONAL PRESS CLUB   I acknowledge the Ngunnawal people, the traditional owners of this land and restate the Australian Democrats’ commitment to reconciliation, and to a treaty with Australia’s indigenous peoples.  I thank the National Press Club for inviting me to speak and the ABC for allowing me to speak to you across Australia.  It gives me the opportunity to address some issues that have been notably absent during this election campaign, to correct the more misleading coverage, and to outline some of the commitments the Democrats have made.  We have already held, in this campaign, public launches of 22 important policy commitments including employment, environmental protection, health and education. And I will outline some of those today.  When the election was called, the Democrats’ first events were designed to encourage young people to enrol to vote and to be part of the political process, through our 1st time voter’s kit, the youth poll, and the promotion of our younger candidates.  We have candidates of all ages, from 18 to 73 years old, with 68 women and 4 indigenous candidates. The Democrats represent the diverse face of Australia.  Over the last weeks the Democrats have spelt out many of our commitments to the Australian people on: Protecting Endangered Species Balancing Work and Family Life An efficient and clean transport system Minimising the tax burden on charities Supporting small business The importance of investment in Education and Innovation, and the Arts and Cultural life, A fair go for rural and regional communities A well funded public health system an independent well resourced ABC. and an employment policy that will actually create jobs.  Yesterday, our childcare policy was released. In the last few days we have also announced a specific plan to save the Great Barrier Reef and our environment policy on waterways and weeds.  And in the next week we will be releasing more.  You may be wondering why you have not heard more about the many commitments we have made. The Democrats do not get anywhere near the same media coverage as the old parties. Although we are punching above our weight, it is hard to get our message through. We have said from day one, the Democrats should be part of the pre-election debates.  Presently, what we see in the debates, is the Liberals saying, “We’ve done a great job. You have no ticker. This is our policy”.  Then Labor gets up and says, “You are so tricky. You have done a terrible job. This is our policy”.  What should happen, is what actually happens in the Parliament The Democrats come in and say, “We will support that, but that won’t work, and you should consider this.  If the Democrats were not there, every issue would be either a stand off or pass without any real examination.  For instance, during the education debate two weeks ago, Minister David Kemp - actually he did not say much about schools at all - but the Liberals have said they would not change the way schools are funded.  Labor’s Michael Lee said the ALP will take funding increases away from elite category one schools - even though Labor voted for this at the time.  Now, if Democrat Education Spokesperson Senator Lyn Allison had been there at the debate, she would have said that the whole system for funding schools needs reforming. We must address the growing resources divide between and within the public and private schools.  She would have pointed out the gap between the $5-6,500 spent annually on students in government schools, and the $10-15,000 spent on students in even moderately well off private schools.  Lyn would have talked about the need to do more for the 1 in 10 children with a learning disability, and the gifted students who are largely ignored by our education system.  She would have mentioned that Australia is one of the few OECD countries with declining school retention rates, and that teacher shortages is one of the most serious issues facing schools.  Similarly, there was a health debate between Michael Wooldridge and Labor spokesperson Jenny Macklin. They were very polite. Both agreed extra money needs to be spent on health.  But if the Democrats’ Health spokesperson, Senator Meg Lees, had been allowed into that debate, she would have pointed out how it can be done.  We can find the funds to fix our public health system by capping and means testing the private health rebate. This would free up over $1 billion for the public health system.  According to a recent Australia Institute study, by the end of 2002, the private health rebate will be costing Australian taxpayers $3 billion a year.  And the main beneficiaries of the 30% rebate remain the nation’s highest income earners.  Yet both of the major parties are committed to keeping it.  The Labor Party has called the rebate, “the worst example of public policy ever seen in this parliament”. Well, if Labor wants to do something about it, the Democrats will back you up.  That is where the money is for public hospitals.  We believe access to health care should be on the basis of need and not the ability to pay. You know the Democrats will always protect Medicare.  Last week was the Treasurer’s debate. Peter Costello and Simon Crean, both accusing the other of secret plans to increase the tax rate.  The Democrats are the safety net, in case either Costello or Crean change their minds on ‘never, ever’ supporting a rise in the GST.  Three months ago, here at the National Press Club, I pledged on behalf of the Democrats that we would not support any increase in the rate of the Goods and Services Tax.  And we will not allow any narrowing of the important exemptions for health, education and charities, that the Democrats successfully negotiated.  I have always been committed to removing the GST from books.  While we welcome Labor’s announcement that they would remove the GST from educational books, the Democrats are calling for all books to be exempt as well as book aids for people who are visually impaired.  It will cost $100 million but that can come from reducing the Federal Government’s spending on advertising, to $50 million.  For several years, taxation has dominated political debate in Australia, while there has been relatively little discussion about where we - as a nation - should spend those funds for the greatest rewards.  When the Coalition came to power in 1996 it reduced debt – not through trimming waste, or cracking down on tax cheats, but through massive cuts to income support, labour market programs and the public health and education systems.  Yet, the Government is still obsessed with debt reduction, to the detriment of all other national objectives, including public sector investment.  It is not net debt that matters, it is net worth.  This government insists on paying off debts, but refuses to invest in Australia’s most productive assets, its people and its environment.  Economic growth has not made poverty go away. It has not delivered more money for universities and hospitals, and it has not fixed unemployment.  Over the past decade, Australia’s economy has enjoyed a sustained period of growth. In the last nine years the economy has grown by more than 40% and real private wealth has grown by close to a trillion Australian dollars.  This raises two questions: Firstly, what are we doing to prepare for when times may not be so good? How are we going to plan now to avoid a possible future recession?  The second question to ask (of economic growth) is: If things are so good, why are all Australians not sharing in it?  Has this growth translated into jobs in the regions they are most needed? Has this economic growth squandered our environmental resources, or created something for future generations? And are most of the benefits claimed by the rich?  The so-called vision of the old parties is jobless, futureless and ruthless. The Democrats are committed to the triple bottom line: environmental protection, social justice, and good economic management.  Presently, Government policy is concentrating on one line (the economy), and pretty much ignoring the other two.  There are many Australians who are richer than 20 years ago and living at a higher standard, with longer life expectancies. But this is a fact for only certain groups in Australian society.  Indigenous Australians, young people and those living outside the major urban areas have missed out on most of the riches.  Too many Australians are falling through the social safety net. One in nine Australians live below the poverty line.  Queensland Senator Andrew Bartlett, has worked hard to protect those on welfare.  And now the Democrats want to start pulling people out of poverty.  When I spoke here three months ago I announced an initiative that would mean a much needed increase in income for one million Australians - half a million unemployed; 400,000 youth and students; and around 100,000 widows and those on sickness, partner and mature age allowances.  We can achieve this over a five-year period. In the first year, we propose that the proceeds of reforming the tax treatment of trusts will fund the bulk of our welfare reform package.  We can reduce poverty.  The biggest single cause of poverty in Australia is unemployment.  It is extraordinary how little the old parties have mentioned unemployment, or for that matter, protection of our environment, during this election campaign.  Economic and employment growth has not benefited everyone. Regional Australia in particular, has been left out.  The Government may boast about a national unemployment rate of 6.6 per cent, but unemployment is two, even three times that in some regional areas. The Democrats would initiate real job creation.  The Democrats have released responsible costed plans to create more than 200,000 jobs by spending $525 million dollars, and thereby reducing unemployment to around 4.8%.  We can create jobs in rural and regional Australia through industry investment schemes, with wage subsidies to the private sector. Jobs that provide community services, and social supports, and such as transport, housing, health and childcare.  Yet, the Minister for Employment Services, Tony Abbott described our employment policy as a recipe for unemployment.  Well under his policy, there are around 670,000 unemployed persons and only one job vacancy for every eight unemployed.  Twenty per cent of the Australian population have only the most basic literacy and numeracy skill and are unable to read sufficiently to understand tables, schedules, maps or be able to perform arithmetic printed material.  That is a recipe for unemployment and poverty.  The employment agenda of the old parties is dominated by the old anti-union versus pro union debate but the real divide today is not between employers and employees but between those who are over worked and those who are unemployed or under-employed.  There are more than 2.5 million Australians who are now working more than 45 hours a week. At the same time, one in five children is being raised in households where no one has a full time job.  We need to have a community conversation about how to spread the work around.  The Democrats have made a commitment to help Australians balance work and family life. A Fair Hours Fund and a maternity leave payment to tackle the twin issues of overwork and unemployment, and help address the pressure on families.  The Fair Hours fund will help reduce the length of the working week to an average of 38 hours.  The paid maternity leave plan would mean all working women in the private sector would have access to basic pay - 12 weeks at the level of the minimum federal wage - when they had a child.  The Liberal plan to give tax breaks to new mothers, announced last Sunday, would least benefit those mothers who need support the most.  The Prime Minister’s plan says babies to poorer mothers are worth $500 and babies to richer mothers are worth $2500.  This is badly targeted.  What women want is paid maternity leave. Seventy five per cent of Australians support paid maternity leave. Women need support to take time off around the birth of their baby and to know there job will be there if they want to go back.  The Australian Democrats’ commitment to women includes not just maternity leave for all Australian women, but also a $25 million violence intervention and prevention program, and a $5 million fund to create new childcare services in regional centres.  We need to make it easier for parents to work and care, and easier for employers to hang on to their productive, highly trained and experienced workers - more and more of whom are women.  All of us benefit from the creation and care of the next generation. That is the flip side of the ageing population issue.  Last weekend the PM announced a $416 million package for aged care over four years. $416 million sounds good until you realise it allocates only 5,000 places per year.  There are more than 12,000 elderly and frail Australians waiting to enter nursing homes and the number of people needing nursing home care is rapidly increasing.  The Democrats are the only parliamentary Party to have consistently spoken out for the value of post secondary education.  Government’s investment in education has proportionately declined since 1992, and public expenditure on education is significantly less than the OECD average.  The Australian Democrats would invest: $670 million into TAFE over 3 years.  There are 1.75 million students in the TAFE sector - three times the number in our universities - yet the Coalition does not even mention TAFE in their statement, Backing Australia's Ability, and the ALP’s Knowledge Nation just makes passing references.  Both the Coalition and the ALP have seem to forgotten that vocational education is a great deal more than just traineeships.  The Democrats welcomed the ALP’s overdue acknowledgment yesterday that investing in education is fundamental to our future social and economic prosperity, but their proposals for our universities and schools still fall short of what is required.  The Democrats would invest $1 billion into universities over 3 years including $500 million in the first year.  And we would abolish differential HECS in science, engineering, maths, computer science, IT and engineering. This would effectively, be an investment in the next generation’s role in the knowledge economy of $161 million.  When I spoke here three months ago, I pledged that the Australian Democrats would raise the level of youth allowance for students and study payments to pension level and pay rent assistance to students - and we believe that needs to be done now, not in 2004, as Mr Beazley proposed yesterday.  The Democrats believe welfare reform is part of this nation’s unfinished business.  Recent studies show that two million Australians do not have enough money to take care of basic, everyday needs such as housing, clothing and food.  For more than a decade, Australians have been promised that economic growth would fix poverty – it has not worked.  We believe we can pull people out of poverty, we can create jobs and we can care for older Australians.  If unemployed people and students have enough money to live on and access to decent housing, transport, education and jobs, they will find employment, and we as a community will be able to look after the aged and frail. Housing is a fundamental need.  If there had been a housing debate during the campaign, the Democrats would be there too, saying: Put Housing Back on the National Agenda. Invest in public housing to address the growing list of Australians on the waiting list and boost the construction industry.  The Liberals have said they will phase out the First Home Owners Grant. The Democrats say keep it, but target it at disability and environmental considerations. We should consider linking the first home owners grant to enable all new homes to have solar power and be wheelchair accessible.  Labor has said they will offer cheaper electricity bills. The Democrats say why not also invest in making homes more energy efficient so people pay less for electricity?  The Democrats have made these commitments to the Australian people.  The Democrats have always argued against the funding cuts to the ABC by both Liberal and Labor governments. Funding to the ABC is now at an historic low.  Senator Vicki Bourne has long campaigned for an independent and well resourced National Broadcaster.  You know the Democrats will always protect the ABC.  The Democrats recognise the importance of an Australian broadcaster telling Australian stories.  Particularly at a time when our armed forces are serving overseas.  Our immediate concern of course is for the 1550 Australian Service personnel, as well as those of other countries, who are being deployed, and the innocent civilians of Afghanistan. Tragically, it is estimated hundreds have already been killed.  The Democrats believe there are alternative ways to fight terrorism than dropping bombs on Afghanistan.  Australia can assist by supporting stability in the region, through multilateral diplomacy, overseas aid and encouraging democracy.  And you know the Democrats will always oppose conscription. Aside from the moral issues to be considered around conscription and, of course, conscientious objection, calls for conscription do not recognise that today's defence personnel are highly trained and skilled.  The Democrats recognise the special obligation we owe those who serve, and we will support compensation and care where it is needed, just as we have stood up for the recognition of veterans from previous conflicts, and past nuclear tests by Governments.  Some of the issues the Democrats work on are not as well recognised – such as veterans affairs, but also small business and supporting rural and regional areas.  Small business is a crucial element in employment creation, Australia’s cohesion, and in providing services to communities.  The Democrats are working towards reduced red tape, a fairer competition regime and better workplace relations for small business.  The needs of small business are often quite different from those of big business.  The way the GST was implemented for example, was a disaster for many small business people. The Democrats have helped simplify the BAS and the Personal Services Income forms in order to protect small business and we will keep on doing so.  We have committed to raising the threshold for the use of cash accounting from $1 million to $5 million. We will allow a much larger number of small businesses to have access to a simpler way of keeping their accounts.  We also recognise that small business can only compete against big business when the playing field is not stacked against them. The Democrats support tougher powers for the ACCC, including 'cease and desist' powers to ensure that the ACCC can intervene in a timely manner.  We also support making it easier to prove misuses of market power, like predatory pricing.  Big business do not like a lot of these changes, but they make the system better for the rest of us.  The Democrats also have a proud record in addressing the disadvantage suffered by rural communities, particularly the brutal changes as a result of deregulation.  We are committed to fair farm gate prices, no further privatisation of Telstra, and the end of National Competition Policy reforms.  The Democrats are the only parliamentary party that voted against National Competition Policy.  National Competition Policy has meant farmers are paid less for food but at the supermarket you are paying more .  While the Government blindly pursues competition policy, deregulation, privatisation and out-sourcing - and all the other catch cries of ‘small Government’ - the Democrats recognise that, not only are people and communities being hurt by these policies, but economically, they are often just not working.  It is about commonsense and compassion.  The Government’s ideological commitment to smaller Government has meant privatisation and out-sourcing. Contracting out the government services, may suit the Government’s preference for ‘free markets’, but the reality is usually reduced services and increased costs.  The old parties have voted together before to sell public assets. In the last few days secret plans have been revealed to sell more of Telstra.  The Democrats will vote against the further sale of Telstra. Our record proves it. We are the only Parliamentary Party that has always voted against the privatisation of public assets.  It was our bank, our airline, our Telstra. They sold them.  Labor may not have voted for the first sale of Telstra, but they have voted to sell public assets before.  And who could have predicted that Mal Colston would leave Labor and give the Government the numbers to sell the first part of Telstra?  The Australian people cannot risk giving the balance of power to a grab bag of independents again.  The Democrats are your only real insurance policy in the Senate.  We are a sensible, balancing force between Government and Opposition when they bicker, and we provide an alternative voice on the many, many occasions when the old parties vote together.  Whether you think the Coalition and Labor sound like two dogs barking or look like the two Ronnies, we know they are just too alike.  We provide a voice for many Australians. Australians who want more resources for public schools and for public hospitals; Who want our unique and fragile natural environment protected; And those who want a compassionate approach to refugees and to the most disadvantaged Australians.  On the immigration legislation, the ALP, abandoned their principles, followed the polls and voted with the Government. They voted to turn away asylum seekers who approached our shores, to say parts of Australia were not really Australia for immigration purposes, and many other initiatives that reflected neither common sense nor compassion.  This left the Democrats as the only Parliamentary Party that voted against the immigration legislation.  While the Democrats could not prevent the passing of these bills, we could keep them honest, we could ensure that parliament does what it is supposed to do, scrutinise legislation.  We were able to reveal their flaws, and ensure that the many arguments against this approach to asylum seekers, were put on the public record.  We are able to give a voice to the many Australians who do not support this, to the many who recognise that it is unworkable, inhumane and unjust.  The Democrats stand for compassion, commonsense and good economic management. The Government’s present approach to asylum seekers is none of these things.  On November 10, many Australians are going to wake up, and think…. “Oh damn, I have to vote”.  Before you vote you might read the newspaper. The editorial will probably contain advice on whether you should vote Labor or Liberal, depending on which newspaper you read.  You go to the polling booth, a local school or community hall. Outside there are large numbers of posters and pamphlets and people trying to hand you pieces of paper.  These are, of course, ‘how to vote’ cards and they reflect the different political Parties’ advice to you, on how to vote.  Usually political parties advise you to put them no.1. After that, they advise where you should put your preferences.  The Democrats will always advise you to preference like minded parties, like the Green Party, before Labor and Liberal. In most seats, we will not make any comment at all on who you should choose between Labor and Liberal.  In a small number of Lower House seats, the Democrats are suggesting who you should preference. There is nothing secretive about it. It’s right there on the How to Vote card, who we are preferring.  And there is nothing secretive about why we are doing it. We are doing it because it will help get Democrat senators elected. The fact remains, you, as a voter, do not have to follow what is on the How to Vote card.  There is no need to be concerned that anyone is going to get your vote if you don’t want them to have it. You just number the boxes according to your own preferences.  In terms of changing politics, the Australian Democrats are the only parliamentary party to have consistently pushed for openness and accountability from political parties and politicians.  We have always played by the rules and we have always argued for the rules to be stricter.  Politicians and political parties receive millions of dollars in public funding and exercise enormous influence on the lives of all Australians.  We have opposed the suspect fundraising practices of the old parties, and have advocated workable reforms to end secret donations.  We support placing a limit on the amount of money any Party can receive from an individual or organisation.  We have pushed for better political party regulation, an end to secret donations, branch stacking and preselection abuse.  Senator Andrew Murray has championed stronger legislation to tighten accountability.  We have put forward, argued for, and voted for reforms to make political parties democratic and to bring parliamentarians’ entitlements in line with community standards. And we have been largely opposed by the combined votes of the old parties.  For 20 years now, the Democrats have been calling for the banning of ‘how to vote’ cards. Labor and the Coalition vote against it.  So on election day, yes, you will have to run the gauntlet of party volunteers handing out How to Vote cards.  You might take all the pieces of paper that are offered, either because you are still making up your mind, or just to be polite.  You might take just one or you might take none because you already know how you are going to vote.  Some people will just do a donkey vote - nearly half a million did last election. And I think that is a real pity to waste your vote like that.  It is the great equaliser – no matter what sex you are, what you do, how much you earn, in that polling booth, your vote counts just as much as anyone’s in Australia.  And seats have been won and lost on a handful of votes.  When you are in that polling booth, you have an opportunity to change politics.  And no matter where you live, you have a real and credible alternative this election. Every one of the more than 12 and a half million Australians has the chance to vote Democrat.  We are running candidates in every seat across the nation.  Senate candidates in every state and territory.  And House of Representatives candidates in 150 seats. From Mayo to Solomon, from Kalgoorlie to Cunningham and from Sydney to Boothby.  We may have the momentum to win our first lower house seat and finally break the House barrier.  There is a spot at the back of the House of Representatives, on the left hand side of the curve, that looks just right for the Democrats.  It is even conceivable that - one day - the Democrats could hold the balance of power, not only in the Upper House but the Lower House as well, and that really will change politics.  When you go to vote, you can vote Democrat twice.  You have two ballot papers – one for the Senate and one for the House of Representatives.  You have two ballot papers because you have two choices at this election.  You are choosing, not just a Government, but who will watch over them. Who will hold the balance of power in the Senate?  Electoral analyst Professor Malcolm Mackerras has predicted that at this election the Democrats will lose two seats.  I want you to prove him wrong, otherwise.  The balance of power would shift towards a collection of independents and minor parties including One Nation.  The balance of power, is hanging in the balance, at this election.  Most Australians don’t want the Senate to be a rubber stamp or obstructionist.  Australia cannot afford a grab bag of minor parties, independents, and One Nation. Instead of coherence, and commonsense, that will be a cacophony.  When you vote on November 10, you will not just be choosing if the Coalition will keep Government, but who will keep Government honest?  The Democrat Senators are expert legislators. For the last 24 years, the Democrats, have negotiated to ensure the fairest laws for all Australians. We want to continue to do so. And I am here asking for your help.  Twenty years ago, one of the Democrat’s most famous founders, Don Chipp posed this question:  "When you decide on a party you'll support, you're not really thinking about yourself... are you? Subconsciously, you are in fact thinking about your children and your grandchildren. You know that somehow or other, you and I will survive the 80s, but what kind of Australia are we going to present to our kids?".  We have that answer now - it is a lot better than it would have been if the Democrats had not ventured onto the political landscape and built our own foundations.  When you are in that polling booth, ask yourself “What kind of Australia are we going to present to our kids over the next 20 years?”.  On November 10 you have the power to change politics – and the future - by voting Australian Democrat. Peter Costello, Chris McDiven, my parliamentary colleagues and my fellow Australians.