Protect your future.  This election is about the future. It's about protecting the future. Protecting your future. And we can look to the future with a lot more confidence now than we could a couple of years ago. The signs are good. They're pointing the right way. Even for people who've been having a bad time -like those in the beef industry - there's a bit more light ahead. What are the signs? Inflation. Coming down. And it'll keep coming down. Up to 19,5% under the Whitlam Government - we've got it back down to just over 9%. Interest rates. Coming down. And they'll keep coming down. Wage increases. Moderating, although still keeping a lot of people out of work. Investment. Picking up strongly - and that's the way to get things moving again - to get more jobs. New projects. Getting under way again, especially in the mining and energy industries. The one big problem still with us is unemployment. We all know it's bad - bad for the country, but specially bad far the people who need jobs, who want jobs, but can't get them. The thing is - how do we fix it? Not temporarily. Not a patch-up solution. But permanently. To give our young people the chance they deserve. If we look at how it happened in the first place, we might understand how to solve it - and how to avoid it in future. And that's our whole purpose. To protect your future. For 20 years - right through the fifties and sixties, we had virtually full employment. A job far everyone who wanted one. Thousands of new jobs, year after year. What went wrong? Why did we suddenly find, in 1973 and 1974, that we had a big unemployment problem? And remember: two-thirds of the increase in unemployment since 1972 came under the Whitlam Government. Why? Well, let's look at inflation. For 15 years or so, inflation stayed well under five per cent. Then, under Labor, up it went - to a peak of 19,5%. Interest rates. You used to be able to borrow money to build a house at 6 or 7 per cent. Why did it get up to 11,5% under Labor? Let's look at Government spending. Because this is where we'll find the answer. The Whitlam Government spent money - your money - at a very fast rate. In one year, they spent 46% more than they'd spent the year before! The Whitlam Government, in the end, was spending 25% more than it was taking in. They ran up an enormous deficit. Every one of you knows - whether you're running a business or a factory or a farm, or keeping house, you just can't go on spending more than you earn. But that's what happened. And as spending rose, so did inflation and so did unemployment. Every time Mr. Whitlam signed a cheque, he put more people out of work. He deliberately created unemployment by indiscriminate tariff cuts. Now, Mr. Whitlam says he will fix, unemployment by spending a lot of money to create jobs. But that's how he caused unemployment in the first place - by spending to much money. Surely we don't want to go through all that again? You can't permanently solve unemployment that way. Only one way. Creating temporary jobs helps people, sure, but it doesn't fix the problem. The only way to fix it is to get all the other things right -get inflation down, get interest rates down, get investment going again, get development on the move. That's what we're doing. That's how you get people back to work – back into permanent, productive jobs. It's not the easy way, the popular way. It means keeping a pretty firm rein on government spending. But it's the only way it can be done. It's the only way we can protect your future. The farmer needs help. Inflation has many victims. Some are more defenceless than others. The farmer more than most. Most pay packets are protected. They never contain less. But drought, fire, flood, disease, pests, low prices, tough markets, rising costs - especially rising costs - these hurt the farmer. They hurt the farmer in ways not understood by the worker whose pay packet never contains less. Farmers need help. None needs it more today than the farmer who produces meat for the tables of Australia and the world. In spite of record sales of beef, in spite of a doubling of the price of cattle in the last two years, he is fighting for survival. These bad times won't last. The signs are good. In other countries beef production is falling. Demand is rising. Markets will improve. New ones will be found. But while that's happening, the producer must be helped. What we've done. He has been helped. He is being helped. The search for markets has been vigorously pursued. My visits to the Soviet Union and other countries have helped open major opportunities for Australian beef producers. As promised at the last election, we acted on special credit for beef producers, household support money, meat export charges. We're putting millions into disease eradication. There's up to 6 million for classification as a step towards a stabilisation scheme. Carry-on loans, and household support - more funds for those. Special help for Brigalow producers. We're working with the States on weight-and-grade selling. To give producers cash, there's $10 a head for disease control procedures - up to $2,000 for each producer in Australia. These are special efforts to help a major industry in real need. But as well, we have taken many other steps to assist primary producers and all country people. An abbreviated list of these measures appears at the end of this speech. There've, been major tax reforms - the biggest in our history. The new standard tax rates will make every taxpayer better off next year than he would have been under the old rates. There's indexation. That means inflation-proofing. We did it in our first year - not over three years as promised. There's the family allowance - a real help to all families. For primary producers, tax averaging has been improved. The limit has been abolished. So has the property test for pensions -a major advance, especially for farmers. All this has been done in two years. All this - compared with three devastating years of attacks by the Whitlam Government on Australia's farmers. And above all else - two years of resolute effort, successful effort, against the farmer's worst enemy -inflation. Our Traditional concern. The traditional concern of my party has been overwhelmingly directed to the needs of people outside Australia's major capital cities. Our policies and our efforts are designed in very large measure to help the country Australian: the people in the provincial cities and towns, the farmer, the man in business and industry, the miner - he's a primary producer too, all the people who live outside the major cities. This is our special emphasis. And this emphasis is needed. Country Australians do have special needs. They have problems of transport, of communications, of distance and remoteness. This is our special emphasis. And this emphasis is needed. One historic expression of this emphasis has been the provision since federation of a maximum 20% tolerance in enrolments between compact city and vast country electorates. The Whitlam Government reduced this tolerance to 10%, weakening the country political voice. We believe the fair, just and necessary 20% tolerance should be brought back, and we will pursue our efforts to see that it is, in the interests of real equality of political representation. Country Australians do have special needs. They have problems of transport, of communications, of distance and remoteness. They must meet costs - high costs - for things that are vital to them, but which other people get much more cheaply, and take for granted. That's why I'm glad to say that the policies presented last night by the Prime Minister, and which I'm enlarging on today and tonight, represent one of the strongest and most concerted attacks ever made on country problems. The policies of the Fraser/Anthony Government, of course, are directed to all Australians. But they have special relevance to country Australians. The fight against inflation, against rising costs -absolutely vital for country Australians.  - Lower interest rates.  - A better tax deal.  - The family allowance.  - The pension test.  - Greatly improved finance for local government.  - The investment allowance.  - Better industrial laws.  These help all Australians. I've spoken of the wide range of assistance we're providing for the rural industries - especially the beef industry, where the going's very hard. But now we're launching a new attack on the special problems of the country. Major new initiatives.  OUR PROGRAM FOR COUNTRY AUSTRALIA.  Water Resources. There will be a new National Water Resources Program. We will take far-reaching initiatives to implement a national approach to the assessment, planning, development and management of Australia's valuable water resources. This approach has the endorsement of the Australian Water Resources Council. The development and proper use of Australia's water resources is of fundamental importance, not only to country people, but to the nation as a whole. The commitment of the Fraser/Anthony Government to this task will continue the strong support of previous Governments in which we've been partners. In the five years to 1973, we committed $100 million in grants for 15 water resources projects. Over the next five years, we will provide up to $200 million. This new national program will be carried out in full cooperation with the States, and we would hope that they would contribute equally to the program. We will ask the States to nominate projects and priorities. Projects will cover water conservation and supply, flood mitigation, water quality management, resources assessment and research. We have decided to take part in a new flood mitigation program on the coastal rivers of New South Wales. In the past 12 years, the Federal Government has provided $17 million for flood mitigation, and our support will continue on the same basis. We will participate, with New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, in a co-ordinated attack on salinity and drainage problems in the Murray Valley - problems of national significance. In 1977/78 we will provide $1,5 million for completion of the channel from Monduran Dam in Queensland to the Burnett River. Future Commonwealth involvement in this project will be looked at under the National Water Resources Program. We have also pledged our support far action to control water hyacinth in northern N.S.W. is reduce a serious potential threat to the irrigation areas. We will continue our support for water resources assessment and research. This new national program will ensure that proper attention is given to a wider range of water resources matters in the interests of all Australians. Fuel costs to come down. The high cost of fuel in country areas imposes a very heavy cost burden. Last year, I took action which reduced the cost of gas in country areas. But the high cost of other fuels remains a problem. Country people feel this burden when they run their cars, their utilities, their four-wheel-drives, their trucks, their tractors, their farm machinery, their pumps. Twelve years ago, a Liberal/Country Party Government said it would make sure no-one in Australia paid more than 3,3 cents a gallon more than the capital city price. And we did just that. Four years ago, the Whitlam Labor Government raised the price of petrol to country people. A year later the Whitlam Government abolished the program altogether - just as it abolished so many other things that helped country people. We will now act to ensure that no one in Australia will pay more than four cents a gallon, or a little under one cent a litre, above normal city prices. Over the next three years, we will reduce the margin until it is no more than two cents a gallon, or a little under half a cent a litre. We will do this by reactivating the scheme which Labor abolished, by subsidising freight outside metropolitan areas on motor spirit, aviation fuel, automotive distillate and power kerosene. Better Railways. On another aspect of transport, country people will share in the benefits of the new five-year program on which we will embark to upgrade the national railway network. Probate to be abolished. For many years, my party has worked to reduce the burden of estate duty. Our policy has been the progressive reduction of probate, with a view to its ultimate abolition. Over the years there have been reforms which have reduced the impact of this tax - a tax which in many cases has caused real hardship, the breaking-up of properties and family distress. Effective immediately, all deceased estates passing between husband and wife or parent and child, will be exempt from federal estate and gift duty. Probate in these cases, has now been abolished. This is the first step in a program in which we will abolish all estate duties in the life of the next Parliament. This major reform, for which country people have fought for so long, will be of real significance to them. The Beef Industry. A lot of work has been done in recent years in an attempt to devise a sound and practical means of stabilising meat prices to producers. The present extended crisis in the beef industry has led to an intensification of this work, especially by my colleague Ian Sinclair. In preparation for the possible introduction of a stabilisation scheme, the Government has assisted in commercial trials of carcass classification equipment. Recently we offered to provide up to $6 million towards the cost of implementing such a system. Now, we will hold urgent discussions with the industry and the States on the introduction of a buffer fund marketing scheme. In further recognition of the continuing difficulties of beef producers, we will seek the agreement of the States on a number of extensions to assistance already being provided.  We will propose:  - An extension to three years of carry-on assistance to beef producers.  - An increase in loans from $30,000 to $45,000 in the pastoral zone and from $20,000 to $30,000 elsewhere.  - That the administering authorities have discretion in the amount to be lent in any one year, within the three-year maximum amount.  - That State reconstruction authorities have discretion to extend the term of individual loans beyond the existing maximum repayment term of seven years.  - An extension of the repayment holiday for carry-on loans to three years.  - An increase in the lump sum payment for household support from $3,000 to $5,000.  - An extension to one year of the period in which household support assistance is normally converted to a grant, with State authorities having discretion to extend support for two more years.  We will also add $600,000 to the 1977/78 Budget allocation for beef carry-on focus in the Northern Territory.  Drought Relief. A system of drought relief already exists, and the Government provides substantial aid to producers who suffer the impact of drought and other natural disasters. Should the present serious drought become worse - as seems likely - we will be ready to sympathetically examine the need for further action to help producers cope with their difficulties. Wool Marketing. Many improvements have been made in wool marketing in Australia in the last seven or eight years. The reserve price system we introduced as far back as 1970, and strongly supported - and progressively strengthened - has been of enormous benefit to growers. A Liberal-Country Party Government, in 1971, took the first action that put a fixed floor in the wool market. In the last two years, we have raised the floor on a whole clip average basis from 208 cents per kilo clean to 284 cents. We will maintain the reserve price scheme, and give assurances for two years ahead. We want to further improve wool marketing, and will work with the industry to do so - especially in relation to export standards and protection of the reserve price system.  Dairying. Underwriting for the dairy industry will be extended after the end of this financial year to ensure new marketing arrangements for the industry are concluded without major disruption to the income of dairy farmers. Australian Rural Bank. To help primary producers, including fishermen, obtain finance on longer farms, the Australian Rural Bank will be set up as quickly as possible. The legislation has been passed, and we expect that the bank will be in operation in the first half of next year. Finance will be provided for periods up to 30 years.  Small Business The commercial base of country cities and towns is built largely on small business. The small businessman is the foundation stone of free-enterprise. Small businessmen, collectively, employ a lot of people. Control of inflation, which we're achieving, and tower interest rates, are vital to them. Tax cuts are helping, as are the tax concessions on trading stock valuations. To further help the small businessman we are giving him access to Development Bank finance, and will provide for participation in small business ventures by the Australian Industries Development Corporation. With the States, we will set up a counselling service to supplement the information and training programs already provided. Local Government. A further move of special importance to country people will come in the form of increased funds for local government. We have already given local government the capacity to hold down rate increases. We did this by giving local government a fixed share of personal income tax revenue. Now we will work towards increasing that share to two per cent over the next three years. In addition, we will work to increase the tax rebate far local government rates - as well as for life insurance premiums and education expenses.  Decentralisation. My party has long been dedicated to the decentralisation of industry and population. In government we saw the launching of the growth-centre concept. But while this is the way to large-scale development, there's a need we've always recognized for a broader approach to encourage industry and population growth in other areas as well. As part of its new major effort for country Australia, the Government will provide capital funds to encourage sound industrial development in centres other than designated growth centres. This will complement the work already being done by State Governments and local government. Centres chosen in consultation with the States will need to show sound long-term growth prospects. The criteria for selection will include established population growth rates, demonstrable growth prospects, long term employment - generating prospects, suitability for industrial development, and the extent of local commitment to self-help. Projects will be chosen for assistance in consultation with State Governments, and on the advice of a Decentralisation Advisory Board. Assistance will be available for industrial development projects sponsored by the community and by individual firms. The assistance will generally be by way of loans, but grants may be considered in exceptional circumstances. This widening of the Governments decentralisation program will be a useful factor in achieving a better balance of development in Australia.  Homes for the Aged. Government funds to help church and other groups build homes for the aged has helped meet a very important social and human need. This help will continue. But now, because we know building costs are higher in remote country areas, we will provide larger grants for homes in those areas where building costs are more than 15% above city costs.  Sick and Aged Care. Many families prefer to care for sick and aged members within the home. For people in remote areas, this is often the only way. Country people, therefore, will specially welcome the expansion and improvement of the home care nursing benefit which we will introduce.  Medical Treatment. Because we recognize the heavy burden which people in remote areas must pay to obtain the specialist medical treatment which is available only in the larger centres, we will help them with the cost of transport to those centres, and accommodation.  Isolated Children. To further help parents of children in isolated areas in educating their children, we will provide additional assistance. The means test will be liberalised, and for children in the pastoral zone boarding away from home, an extra grant of $100, without means test, will be made for 1978.  Aboriginals. To further help the aboriginal people, there will be new programs to improve facilities and services, especially for the young people.  Communications. One of the most obvious disadvantages suffered by country people, especially in the remoter areas, is the difficulty of securing adequate communications. We will make special new efforts to ease this difficulty. The provision of free telephone line plant, which we previously extended to 12 kilometres, and which Labor reduced to eight kilometres, will now be extended to 16 kilometres. We plan substantial reductions in off-peak telephone call charges, with the objective in due course of a 60% reduction. A comprehensive programme to bring television to remote rural areas over the next three years will be introduced. Work will begin immediately on specifications and land and equipment purchases. Thirty-six new repeater stations and twenty translator stations will be installed in the three years beginning 1978/79. Another 20 translator stations will be built in the fourth year. Taken together, all these new initiatives mark the launching of one of the most significant efforts ever made by an Australian Government to help country Australians cope with their special difficulties. And when these undertakings are given by the Fraser/ Anthony Government, country people know they will be honoured.  Export Incentives. Australia's ability to export is of fundamental importance to the health and stability of our economy. We have decided on new initiatives to help expand our already strong export drive, and to increase the value of our exports. We will augment the existing Export Market Development Grants Scheme, which encourages exporters to develop overseas markets. Exporters will now be eligible to receive cash grants based on improvements in their export performance. The grants will be calculated on the basis of the increase in export sales during the grant year compared with average annual exports during the preceding three-year period. Basically this expanded program is a return to the type of two-pronged export incentive scheme which was dismembered by the labor Government. The Government expects that the expanded program, by rewarding improved performance on export markets, will boost production and will lead to improved prospects for employment particularly in the manufacturing sector.  Processing. We will strongly promote, where feasible, the focal processing of basic raw materials, notably large-scale minerals processing, which will both strengthen and diversify our economy and provide additional and move diversified employment opportunities. While the task is challenging, our highly-favourable resource position will provide us with undeniable opportunities to share in the futures growth of demand for processed raw materials - opportunities which must not be lost. To this end, early discussions will be sought with the States, industry and overseas countries to establish machinery for regular consultations and specialised studies an future processing in Australia and to ensure the views of all parties are considered in the formulation of detailed policies in this area of major prospective national development. It is our firm policy to encourage processing of raw materials in Australia to the greatest extent possible.  Overseas Projects. Australian firms frequently seek assistance from the Government in competing for large-scale development projects in the Middle East and other new markets. In response to these requests, the Government has decided to establish an Australian Overseas Projects Corporation. This will be a statutory corporation which will assist Australian firms, acting in consortia, to compete against Government-supported overseas interests. The Corporation will have a small specialist staff and will provide its services on a commercial basis at the request of Australian firms. It will be responsible to a Board of Directors drawn principally from the private sector, and who will report to the Minister for Overseas Trade. The Government will provide initial working capital of $2 million to enable the Corporation to commence operations during 1978.  Mining and Energy. Nowhere was the damage caused by the Whitlam Government so starkly clear as in the mining and energy industries. Nowhere is the gulf between the Labor Party and the Government parties so strongly demonstrated as in this area. The growth of the mining and energy industries is vital to Australia's prosperity and the well-being of our people. The primary industries - farming and mining - provide the backbone of Australia's economic stability through their large-scale exports. When either is neglected, Australia is the weaker. Yet for three years - not only years of neglect, but of outright antagonism - the mining industries were held back by Labor's interference and obstruction. Not one major project got under way in those three years. Exploration collapsed. Thousands of jobs were denied Australians. Now, after two years of sensible government, there is real, forward movement again. Investment in mining will be two-thirds higher this half-year than in the first half. In the next two years, mining investment is forecast to rise 165% on 1976-77. There is real progress. And why? Because we know mining's needs. We know mining's worth. We know what mining requires:  - proper policies.  - reasonable and practical foreign investment rules.  - sensible government oversight.  - appropriate taxation arrangements.  - effective incentives.  - good trading relationships.  - a well-managed economy.  And what have these policies done? They've re-started exploration. They've revived development. They've restored confidence. They've renewed trust. Today there are 17 new mining projects under way. They'll cost $1,450 million to develop. Three big coal projects are about to start. They'll cost $550 million dollars. Five ether major developments are on the drawing boards. They include the North-West Shelf gas project - the biggest in Australia's history. It alone will cost $2,500 million or more. Exploration for oil and gas is getting back into full swing.  Massive New Development. Mining and energy developments already under way, or being planned, or contemplated for the next few years, on present estimates will cost more than $14,000 million. This is how you cure Australia's ills. This is how you get Australia working again. Australia is an energy-rich nation. Apart from oil, we're very well supplied. We are implementing a National Energy Policy. We must aim for the greatest possible self-sufficiency in oil. Encourage the search for oil. Encourage the fullest recovery of oil we have or find. We're doing these things. Exploration, encouraged by our policies is under way again. Energy is one of man's most precious resources. It must not be wasted. We will apply an energy conservation program. And Australia will play its part - a major part - in meeting the world's energy needs. We will increase research in the energy field to achieve the best use of our exhaustible resources, and to develop the use of renewable sources. This is how we will protect your future! Australia on course. Australia is right on course for renewed security and growth. Whatever we do, we mustn't turn back. We mustn't go back to the government that destroyed the worth of wages and savings. We mustn't go back to the policies that took the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Australians. Two years of firm sensible management have repaired much of the damage. Don't throw that progress away.  Unions and the Community. One of the impediments to economic recovery is industrial action. Action by a few extreme unionists - often they are communists - causes damage that extends far beyond the immediately involved area. The Victorian power strike was a serious setback to recovery. It showed that objectives pursued in war - to paralyse essential services - can also be achieved in time of peace. And while the power workers still have their jobs, the repercussions of their actions will continue to be seen in the businesses, that went to the wall, and in thousands of homes where breadwinners were added to the unemployment list. The Government has acted on its promises to improve the industrial laws. We brought in the secret postal ballot for the election of union officials. We've acted to ensure that vital public services provided by the Government itself will not be excessively disrupted by industrial action. We've given more weight to the Industrial Relations Bureau. We've amended the law so that unions which prevent, hinder or interfere with overseas trade and commerce, or public services, can - as a last resort - be deregistered. We've acted to protect the basic rights of individuals: the right to strike, or not to strike, the right to dissent, as well as to agree, the right to join, or stay out of a union, the right to meet not only union obligations, but obligations to employer and family. There is something seriously wrong when acts which would land most people in court, and even in gaol, can be carried out by a group of unionists, in the name of industrial rights, without penalty or redress. Obstructing another person, depriving another of his livelihood, halting the transport system, paralysing industry -these are things individuals can't do and get away with it, yet unions can. You have to decide whether that's good enough. And we all have to recognise the need for responsibility in our actions. That's something no Government can do by passing laws - make people act responsibly. Every union member must look to himself to see how he measures up.  The Two Choices. In the last 20 years, the people of Australia have been able to compare, from practical experience, the two main competing political philosophies in this country -free enterprise and socialism. Under free enterprise they saw for many years a healthy, growing economy. They saw virtually full employment. They saw law inflation, low interest rates, strong investment and development. Under socialism, they saw Australia slow down. Unemployment hit us. High inflation, high interest rates. Investment fell away. Growth stopped. You've seen how Australia grew and prospered under free enterprise. You've seen how it was hurt by socialism. Much of that damage has now been repaired. The conditions have been established for renewed growth. For new jobs. For fresh opportunities. Inflation is coming down. Interest rates are coming down. Government spending is under control. The tax burden has been eased. Investment is picking up. Development is getting under way again. The destruction of earnings and savings is being halted. Confidence is coming back: Incentive is being re-established. Don't throw it all away again. Don't put the big spenders back in office. Don't give the inflation-makers another chance. Don't let the job-destroyers do it again. Keep Australia safe this time.  Vote for the Fraser/Anthony team to PROTECT YOUR FUTURE.  Some of our actions for country Australia over the last two years.  - New beef markets found - USSR, Eastern Europe. Middle East.  - More beef into Japan, United States.  - $28 million for beef carry-on loans over two years.  - Household support scheme.  - Meat export charge suspended - producers will save $28m. this year.  - $22 million in two years for disease eradication.  - Adequate funds available for drought relief.  - Up to $6 million for beef classification (needed for any stabilisation scheme).  - Meat Board reconstituted into Australian Meat and Livestock Corporation.  - Special help for Brigalow producers in conjunction with Queensland - two year average loan moratorium, plus seven-year extension of loans.  - PJT meat prices inquiry proposed.  - Weight-and-grade selling study.  - $10 a head for disease control and spaying - up to $2,000 for each producer - costing up to $125 million.  - $5.44 for new beef cattle research laboratory, Rockhampton.  - Superphosphate bounty brought back - $40 million this year.  - Nitrogenous fertiliser subsidy extended - $12 million this year.  - $400,000 for Plague Locust Commission.  - Tractor bounty - about $5 million this year.  - Wool floor price lifted - now 284 cents kg/clean.  - $53.4 million in two years for wool research and promotion.  - $7 million quarantine station on Cocos Island planned.  - New International Sugar Agreement @, saving industry from disaster.  - Domestic sugar prices raised in 1976 and 1977.  - New Marketing arrangements and underwriting for dairying.  - Support and protection for the fruit industries.  - $230,000 for Oriental fruit fly eradication this year.  - $10 million for agricultural extension services this year.  - Probate eased.  - Wheat first advance raised to $1.80 bushel.  - Free telephone line distance increased from 8 to 12 kilometres.  - New radio-telephone service in remote areas.  - $260,000 for off-shore fisheries development.  - 40% investment allowance for new vessels purchased by full-time fishermen.  - $7.5 million for Dartmouth Dam and Namoi Rives Weirs this year.  - $6.7 million for water resources assessment this year.  - New commitment to assist flood mitigation.  - Unemployment benefits introduced far farmers.  - $291 million added to term and farm development loan funds.  - Australian Rural Bank now law.  - New standard tax rates.  - Tax indexation (inflation-proofing).  - Tax averaging for primary producers improved.  - Family allowances introduced.  - Income Equalisation Deposits for primary producers.  - New Rural Adjustment Scheme (carry-on loans, debt reconstruction, farm build-up, farm improvement, household support, rehabilitation) will cast $55 milion this year.  - New 40% investment allowance for plant, equipment, improvements.  - Big lift in funds for local government.  - Large rise in rural road funds.   AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY  EMBARGO ON DELIVERY  ADRESS BY  BILL HAYDEN M.P.  LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION  TO THE OPENING OF  LABOR’S FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 1980  THE GREEK COMMUNITY CENTRE  EDMONDSTONE STREET  SOUTH BRISBANE  7.30 PM  1ST OCTOBER 1980  Fellow Australians.  The policies I am privileged to put to you tonight are proposals for all Australians.  They are policies we believe will begin the task of restoring equality of opportunity and national pride to our country, and dignity and fair play to all our people.  They are policies to bring Australians together, not drive them apart policies that unite our country policies that allow all Australians to share our national good fortune and to play their part in the development of our future.  And that, I suggest, is really the great issue before us in the elections on October 18th.  The challenges that face Australia now, and in the years ahead, are challenges that face us all as a nation.  To meet these challenges is not solely the responsibility of government, or big business, or the trade unions, or any other single group or institution in our community.  We ail have a responsibility to each other and to our country. We all face these challenges together.  Australia's worst unemployment in half a century is not isolated to the great industrial complexes of NSW, or Victoria, or South Australia. It extends into all States.  The highest prices in our history are not confined to the supermarkets of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, or the other great cities of our Commonwealth. They must be paid by families in even the smallest country town.  Record taxes and falling living standards are not a burden carried only by some people in some States, but by all people wherever they live, except for a small minority of high income earners.  Economic hardship and social alienation are not found only among our pensioners, and our black Australians, and our tens of thousands of young people who can't get jobs.  They strike into the homes of more than two million of our fellow Australians who live in poverty.  All these destructive elements have gained momentum during the last five years.  All come together now to pose great challenges to which all of us as a nation must respond together.  I don't pretend there are easy solutions. There are not.  I don't suggest that a rash of election promises is all that's needed to meet these challenges. They won't and the record of the Fraser Government proves that they won't.  And I do not claim that a Hayden Labor Government can produce some magic formula overnight to correct all the mistakes, all the hardship, and all the disunity created since 1975. We can't.  What we do offer what we can promise is a more equal, a fairer, and a better Australian society than all of us have known in the last five years.  Our country has tremendous potential. Its development of our industries and our great mineral resources suggests there is nothing we can't achieve in the years ahead.  What we have to ensure is the economic security of Australian families just as much as the physical security of our nation under responsible national leadership administering fair and sensible national policies.  The important thing, the urgent thing, is to deal not only with our specific problems, but to restore a sense of unity, purpose and direction for the entire country.  That is what we are doing tonight.  That is what our policies will do, and that is what a national Labor Government will do, after the 18th of October.  I make no apology whatever for the fact that our basic economic strategy is a policy of six broad programs to reverse the decline in family living standards.  These programs concern taxes, housing, jobs, petrol and energy prices, family health care, and family allowances.  All six areas have an appalling record over the last five years.  All have contributed to the stark reality that the average Australian family is today $16 a week worse off than in 1975.  Five years ago our standard of living was the 8th highest among western industrial countries. Today it has slipped sharply down to 16th.  All Australians are entitled to ask why? Why has this happened in this wealthy and resourcerich country of ours, one of the wealthiest in the world.  Why this decline in our living standards? In our quality of life? In the opportunities and advantages for our people?  We intend to reverse the process.  By doing so, by increasing the real value of the average family income, we restore the security of the family unit in our society.  By improving our basic living standard, we encourage people to spend more to buy more goods and services.  This in turn creates more demand, more production, more jobs, and so the cycle continues as the economy regains confidence and starts moving again.  What we propose is not only a policy to increase the value of the family pay packet.  It is a broad economic strategy to lift the Australian economy out of the rut of the last five years and to bring down inflation.  The most immediate and the most dramatic impact we can make in this process is some moderation in the taxes all families pay.  Six weeks ago I outlined in Parliament three options we were considering in this area:  (I) an acrosstheboard cut in income tax costing $300 million this financial year.  (2) a general reduction in sales tax costing an equivalent amount.  (3) a cut of three cents a litre in all petroleum products.  We'd all like to adopt all three proposals, but in the present economic climate this is neither possible nor responsible.  And unlike Mr Fraser in the last two elections, we will not make promises we cannot keep or which cannot be paid for.  Instead, we have decided to propose a general cut in income tax to nut an extra $3 a week into all pay packets from February 1 next year.  This will be achieved by raising the tax free income level from the present $4041 a year to $4529.  It will free literally hundreds of thousands of low income earners from paying any income tax at all, including 200,000 pensioners, and give a uniform $3 a week tax cut to all other taxpayers.  Despite what our opponents say, this is a tax cut the country can afford.  After all, the Fraser Government's latest Budget two months ago proposes to collect 32 thousand million dollars in all taxes  this year. That's almost double the tax burden of five years ago.  Our proposal, costing $300 million, means a reduction of about one cent in every dollar paid in all taxes in the 12 months to the end of next June.  So it cannot be described as anything else except a very modest tax cut. We'd like to do more, but we can’t and this is a start.  In the longer term, we’d propose a complete overhaul of the entire tax structure so as to introduce a much fairer system than the one now operating.  For the moment, however, we cannot responsibly go any further than the proposal I've just outlined.  Our other programs in this package of family policies will compound the benefit of an immediate reduction in taxation.  All of these programs have been carefully worked out and carefully costed. All of them have been announced progressively over the last 11 months.  What we've sought to do is explain our policies in open public debate well before the elections.  In this way we've avoided our opponents' expedient alternative of a grab-bag of promises and scare tactics in the last weeks before polling day.  Housing is one such area of national need and national priority.  The great Australian dream of owning your own home is now out of reach of most families.  Our Family Home Ownership Plan announced last February will cut deposits on homes by as much as 50 per cent for families buying their first home.  It involves a Government grant of $3000 to be used to borrow as much as another $9750 from building societies, or an extra $11,300 from the banks, without having to make higher repayments.  Again it's a modest proposal we can afford. And again it's an initiative that's an absolute priority because of the Fraser Government's failure to keep its promises on interest rates.  Three years ago we were told that interest rates would come down two per cent in 12 months. That promise was never kept.  Interest rates are now the highest in our history. And they're going up again by as much as another two per cent.  The Government is desperately trying to hold them down until after the elections. What the increase will mean is higher home loan repayments and higher bank overdraft rates.  Our family home plan will moderate the impact of these higher charges until we can get economic management under control.  And I have no doubt we will do better in controlling interest rates over the next three years than Mr Fraser has been able to manage in the last five years.  Similarly we must take resolute and positive action to reduce unemployment.  The Fraser Government fights inflation by allowing unemployment to get worse. In five years inflation has come down less than three per cent.  In the sane period unemployment has gone up 170,000. That's an enormous cost for the many thousands of families involved.  Every Australian must have the right to a job. That is a principle we cannot, and will not, abandon.  It won't be easy, and it won't be quick. But it must be attempted. As a first step, we announced last March we would create 100,000 new jobs in our first full year of office for those Australians who need them most.  They will be real jobs providing earned wages instead of welfare handouts.  50,000 of these jobs will be for young people between 16 and 24 under our Community Service Corps Program. Another 20,000 jobs will be created for unemployed adults with dependents, while a further, 30,000 new jobs and training positions will be subsidised up to 50 per cent in firms, factories, and small business.  Certainly these programs will cost money ... $180 million in our first year. But it will be money well spent.  And let me say this: In five years Mr Fraser spent $1600 million of taxpayers money on a tax incentive scheme for factories and industry.  Employers used the scheme to replace jobs with machines. A Labor Government will not feel embarrassed about spending $180 million in getting some of those jobs back.  Tied in with our job programs is a broad agreement we have negotiated with the trade union movement on the development of economic policy.  What this agreement does is establish the framework for consultation and negotiation between a Labor Government and the trade unions on incomes and prices.  It is the first time in this country such an agreement has been reached.  It does not guarantee success, and I won't mislead you that it does. But it was drawn up only after months of patient discussion and negotiation, and it establishes the goodwill of both sides in taking industrial relations out of the jungle of provocation and confrontation.  Nobody likes strikes. Nobody wants strikes. But threatening the unions with punitive legislation is no way to bring industrial harmony and industrial peace to the Australian workplace.  Five years of Mr Fraser's industrial policies have not achieved anything except to embitter trade unionists and increase the number of strikes.  There is no doubt we will do a great deal better with Bob Hawke as Minister for Industrial Relations to make a fair and proper incomes policy work.  Undoubtedly the greatest stimulus to inflation in the last five years has been the rapid increase in petrol prices and medical insurance.  The price of petrol has more than doubled in five years. And 50 cents in every dollar spent on petrol goes straight to the Government in petrol tax.  We can’t blame overseas oil prices. Ninety per cent of our petrol comes from our own oil in Bass Strait. It doesn't cost any more  to produce, it simply costs more for the motorist to buy.  It is a taxing policy, not an energy policy. And it feeds into inflation throughout our economy.  A Labor Government will freeze the price of all locally produced crude oil for 12 months from next January 1.  If this freeze had applied last year, petrol already would be cheaper by 23 cents a gallon, or more than 5 cents a litre.  Medical insurance is another area where Government decisions have forced up inflation.  Five years ago Mr Fraser promised to maintain Medibank. Instead, in a series of bewildering changes, he demolished the most important social welfare reform in the last 30 years.  A Labor Government is committed to restoring universal health insurance. It cannot be done immediately, but as a first step we announced 11 months ago we will extend free medical care in the next Budget to all expectant mothers and all dependent children.  Finally, in these six broad areas of family programs, is a policy we announced last May to give higher family allowances to those families who need them most.  Family allowances have not increased for more than four years. They are now worth almost half their value when the scheme was introduced in 1976.  Since then inflation has gone up well over 40 per cent, while taxes have increased more than 90 per cent.  Given the cost of our other programs, we cannot responsibly propose a general increase in family allowances.  What we do propose is a sliding scale of income supplement payments ranging between $1 and $4 a week for each child for families with incomes up to a ceiling of $14,000 a year, or $270 a week.  Lower income families living on pay packets of less than $155 a week will get the full benefit of an additional $4 a week for each child.  In summary, these six programs will give a direct financial benefit of between $10 and $20 a week to the average family in our community.  All programs will be brought into operation in our first year of office. Legislation enacting the income tax cut will be brought down in the New Year.  These programs are needed and they are necessary. We do not flinch from the additional cost of a maximum $550 million they will impose on this year's Budget. It is a sum well within the limits of responsible economic management.  I repeat: it is money well spent in returning some measure of justice to the living standards of all our people. It endorses a fair go for Australian families.  There is another policy area of vital relevance to family welfare and family development, and that is education.  Our education policy, announced three months ago, reverses the cutback in education funding of the last three years.  It commits a national Labor Government to increase spending by $100 million a year for each of the next three years in areas of education of the greatest need.  I repeat: in areas of education of greatest need.  That principle applies equally for government schools and non-government schools.  We do not believe that money spent on the future of our country's children is money wasted.  I now want to say something about general welfare programs.  What we can do immediately in the welfare area is enormously restricted by the extent of our other programs and what we can responsibly spend.  The greatest service a Labor Government can do for all Australians at this time is to restore a buoyant national economy.  We have to get the economy moving and our people back into work.  The whole thrust of our family programs is designed to do just this.  A healthy economy with strong economic growth will allow us in future years to give greater attention to broad welfare programs.  But even in these restricted circumstances there are two welfare areas we consider of absolute need that cannot be overlooked.  We will extend free pharmaceutical benefits to the unemployed at a cost of $3.8 million.  And we will, in the next Budget, index the means test on fringe benefits available to pensioners at a cost of some $3 million.  I would emphasise, in this context, the 200,000 pensioners who will be freed from all income tax by the provisions of our proposed change to the tax free zone.  This will be of greatest benefit to many in our community in greatest need.  We remain committed to lifting pensions to 25 per cent of average weekly earnings as and when economic circumstances permit.  We achieved the objective in 1975. The national Budget I brought down that year brought pensions up to 25.2 per cent of average weekly earnings.  It has now fallen back to 23.6 per cent, and it will be our objective in Government to regain for pensioners what they have lost under Mr Fraser.  Overall, our programs will relieve much of the poverty in which two million Australians now exist under the policies of the Fraser Government.  Australians have been forced into poverty not only by inadequate income. The high cost and difficulty of access to health services and rental housing are two of the greatest subsidiary causes of poverty.  Our committed policies on rental housing, health, tax, and income supplements will substantially help these people.  They will have a real impact in an area of national disgrace in this rich country of ours.  I want now to set these family policies in a broader context of national policy.  Again, there is little that is new or unfamiliar in what I have to say.  Like our family policies, most of these other policies already have been released over the past year for public scrutiny.  What we have done is to act responsibly in releasing precise policies precisely costed well before the elections so the people of Australia  can measure and assess them.  We have abandoned once and for all the old totem of a policy speech crammed with new promises and new spending programs just a few weeks before polling day.  No one can say we have not taken the people into our confidence.  I do not intend to repeat all our programs tonight, even in summary.  It is in the context of the viability and integrity of our programs that I restate the broad dimensions of our attitudes to national government.  Before I do, there is one firm commitment I want to make on an issue of great sensitivity to the Prime Minister.  Two years ago, the Government purchased with taxpayers' funds two Boeing 707 aircraft for the Prime Minister's use on his numerous overseas travels.  The all-up cost was some $20 million, and they now cost $7 million a year to maintain ... an extravagance the Prime Minister has never sought to explain in the context of his Government's savage reductions in so many other areas of public spending.  Those aircraft have since become a divisive symbol of Mr Fraser's gross self-indulgence at public expense, and his Government's double standards over the last five years.  We do not need them and we do not want them. A National Labor Government will sell them as soon as possible, and put the money to better use for the advantage of the Australian people.  This is not a commitment I expect Mr Fraser to match in this campaign.  Earlier tonight, I referred to the importance of national security to ensure that family life and community development can flourish in a secure environment.  I restate now that a Hayden Labor Government will accept the spending objectives which the Fraser Government has set for national defence over the next five years.  However, we will review the Five Year Defence Program to ensure that equipment programs are the most appropriate for this country in maintaining our national security.  We will not interfere with programs now under way, but we reserve the right to adjust the spending priorities of the present Government where we feel they are necessary.  In particular, we want to make more money available for defence capital equipment.  We will also establish an independent judicial inquiry into the claims of Vietnam veterans for injuries from chemicals such as Agent Orange.  And we will continue to totally oppose any pressures for the restoration of conscription, except where Australia is under direct military threat.  In Foreign policy, we reject the principles of a Government which remains firmly committed to tree vile regime of Pol Pot, the exterminator of Kampuchea.  Those principles cannot be allowed to apply in the Foreign policy considerations of an Australian national government.  More broadly, Australia is firmly allied with the United States as the result of a Labor Government's far-sighted attitudes 40 years ago.  Our nation enjoys a high regard in the Third World, largely because of the efforts of Gough Whitlam's Prime Ministership 8 years ago.  We would use these relationships constructively and realistically in the constant pursuit of a more peaceful and stable world.  Our policies elsewhere deal with the broad rights and freedoms of all Australians no matter where they live or what they do.  In the area of civil liberties, the case for a Bill of Human Rights in this country is overwhelming.  We lack constitutional or legal guarantees on fundamental rights of all sorts.  We have no guarantees on freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly or association, freedom of movement, freedom from arbitrary arrest, or even freedom of religion and conscience.  We have no guaranteed right to privacy, to be assumed innocent until proved guilty, to a fair trial by jury, to equal protection of laws, to non-discrimination on the basis of race, colour, language and religion, or to own property and to hold public office.  We don't even have the right to work something the people of Australia have learned a great deal about under the Fraser Government.  We intend, in our first term of office, to legislate a Bill of Human Rights establishing and guaranteeing these fundamental freedoms essential to a democratic society.  Similarly, we intend to withdraw the Freedom of Information Act now before the Parliament and redraft it in its entirety.  In its present form, it is a useless piece of legislation that guarantees freedom of nothing, let alone the rights of citizens to freedom of information from the bureaucracy and government.  Both these commitments, on human rights and freedom of information, testify to our continuing commitment to civil liberties.  By the same token, our range of family policies reinforce our determination to eliminate disadvantage and to establish a more equal and fairer Australian society .  In this context, I could not fail to mention tonight the plight of our black Australians, even though my colleague Stewart West and I four months ago announced detailed policy commitments on Aboriginal welfare.  The Aboriginal peoples of Australia remain the most disadvantaged, abused, and ignored people in our community.  The Fraser Government's response to this crisis has been to cut real spending on Aboriginal programs by $35 million in four years.  Our programs are directed essentially to their three areas of greatest need: jobs, housing and health. We will implement them as a matter of the greatest priority.  In the field of immigration, our spokesman Moss Cass has announced a series of immigration and ethnic policies in recent months.  There is only one other measure in this area that I announce tonight, and it will cost nothing.  A National Labor Government will transfer responsibility for the administration of Australia's immigration program to the Department of Foreign Affairs.  The present Department of Immigration will be re-organised and re-structured as a Department of Ethnic Affairs with the sole function of looking after new settlers once they arrive in Australia.  As I said earlier, I do not intend tonight to catalogue the details of the various policy statements we have been releasing over the past year.  They cover every facet of responsibility of national government and we shall be releasing a summary in a supplementary statement.  At this stage, I intend only to deal with the new revenue raising measures we will adopt in Government.  We have three proposals to implement:  -   a resource rent, or excess profits tax, on major resource development.  -   the abolition of the present Government's investment allowance under which machines are replacing jobs.  -   and the abolition of tax avoidance.  All three measures, in a full year, will raise a minimum of $1000 million in revenue.  The Government has operated the tax incentive of an investment allowance for the last five years. It has so far cost taxpayers $1600 million.  Its abolition in our next Budget will mean a saving of $250 million.  Only in those few cases where a company could demonstrate beyond doubt that abolition of the allowance would close off new job opportunities would an exemption apply.  The major arm of a Labor Government's new revenue measures will be the removal of the cancer of tax avoidance by the very wealthy in our society.  The present Government acknowledged in its last two Budgets that it lost $600 million in identified tax avoidance schemes.  That additional revenue would have funded for the remainder of this financial year those programs I've announced tonight that we will introduce in Government.  Tax avoidance has increased 2000 per cent under the Fraser Government. It is now costing the Commonwealth $1000 million a year on the very best estimates available.  And every dollar in tax which is avoided by the wealthy and the shrewd is an extra dollar which is rifled from ordinary wage and salary earners.  Pay as you earn taxpayers now have to pay, on average, an extra $4 a week in higher income tax simply to make up for the greed of the tax avoiders.  We intend to legislate against all identified avoidance schemes including trusts, overseas tax havens, contrived internal superannuation schemes, transfer pricing by multinational companies, and the fringe benefits available to very senior company executives. Legislation would apply retrospectively against new schemes.  The introduction of retrospective legislation wiped out tax avoidance in Britain almost overnight. We have no doubt the same can be achieved in Australia.  We estimate it will mean at least $600 million additional revenue in 1981/82.  The second arm of our revenue raising policy will be a resource rent tax on highly profitable resource based projects.  It will recoup for the benefit of the whole community a substantial part of the super profits generated in some areas of mining .  The tax will be based on the cash flow of a project and will operate only after exploration, development and operating costs are recouped with a rate of interest set sufficiently high to make the investment attractive and to take account of inflation and risk factors.  It will not deter investment in exploration and mining, nor will it jeopardise marginal projects.  The tax will be applied so that no profitable project would be made unprofitable by its imposition.  Many other countries impose similar taxes, and it is important to recall that the present Government once supported such a tax. Ministers like Mr Anthony, Mr Lynch and Mr Viner are on the record as endorsing its imposition.  We estimate that such a tax would raise at least $100 million in its first year of operation.  No doubt in the remaining weeks of the campaign we shall continue to hear the Government scare-mongering against our policies with the old chestnut: "Where's the money coming from?".  We meet that question with complete confidence and without hesitation.  Our proposals for the next three years represent the most responsible, balanced, practical and carefully costed program ever put before the people.  At a time when Australians are paying the highest taxes in their history, we believe it is every bit as relevant to demand of Malcolm Fraser: "Where is the money going to?".  The coalition parties never seem to find any difficulty with cost in rushing out a whole new set of pork barrelling promises, as Mr Fraser did last night in his apology for a policy speech.  The matter of cost is a matter of priorities.  The Fraser Government is now spending more money than at any time in Australian history. It is simply a question of how you spend that money, and how you use it to the best advantage of all Australians.  In conclusion, let me say that national politics during the last five years has been marked by the attitude widely held by many Australians that national leadership in our country has failed.  The shabby conduct of the present government in so many aspects of administration has not escaped the Australian people, and this has been reflected in massive disillusion with national government .  The intense feeling the Australian people have for their country has not been matched by qualities of national leadership.  To put it frankly, I do not believe the people have been given any reason to feel proud of their Government.  One of the tasks of the new Labor Government will be to restore national pride by providing honest, creative and fair administration of the nation's affairs.  That is our task and that is our challenge to stop the rot, to arrest the decline, to restore unity and purpose, to raise the standard.  It is a task which our policies take head-on.  It is a task to which I dedicate myself tonight as Leader of the Australian Labor Party.  It is the task we shall pursue in Government after the 18th of October.  Thank you. Five years ago we committed Australia to a new sense of direction and national purpose We have fulfilled that commitment. Five years ago we pledged ourselves to recharge the nation's capacity. We have fulfilled that pledge. And let us never forget that five years ago the confidence and optimism of Australians had been shattered. Today, a new spirit, a new enthusiasm, a new dynamism, is at work in Australia. In an often troubled and dangerous world, here we are at the gateway of a new decade much better placed than many overseas countries.  - A new confidence is alive in Australia's men and women.  - Our financial position is the envy of many industrialised countries.  - Business expectations are high.  - The optimism of overseas investors has been restored.  - Manufacturing exports are growing strongly.  - Last year rural exports were the highest for the decade.  - Last year, our balance of trade was the best result for the decade.  - This year we achieved the best employment growth for ten years.  - And under the Fraser-Anthony Government, Australia has won a respected place in world affairs.  And while achieving all this, we have enhanced the dignity and self-esteem of those in need. Australia is the best place in the world to bring up a family. And we are going to keep it that way. But what has taken us five years to build can easily be destroyed. Do we want our dreams of the future to be turned into another Labor nightmare? Can we trust our hard-won victories to the Labor Party?  CHALLENGES.  Tonight, I want to talk to you about the challenges and opportunities that lie before us.  First, we must maintain responsibility in economic affairs because, without that, all else fails. Second, we must harness this nation's resources in a co-ordinated and responsible programme of national development. Third, we must see that from the prosperity we generate, we provide adequately for those in need. Fourth, as individuals and as a nation, we must encourage ability and cultivate excellence. And finally, in a world where there is conflict, division and illusion, we must guide Australia safely through the difficulties and the dangers.  FIRST CHALLENGE: RESPONSIBLE ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT.  The first challenge facing Government in the 80s is the pursuit of responsible economic management. Responsible economic management may sometimes sound far-away from our everyday lives. But responsible economic management has brought our inflation rate to:  - much less than it was in 1975.  - much less than the inflation rate of Britain.  - below that of the United States.  - and below the average of advanced industrialised countries.  But there is more to be done. Continued economic responsibility demands restraint in Government expenditure. And last year, we achieved the largest ever recorded reduction in the Budget deficit - $1.5 billion. And now, this financial year, the domestic deficit will be wiped out altogether.  TAXATION.  We earlier committed ourselves to reform the tax scales. We have fulfilled that commitment absolutely.  Under the Hayden/Labor scales:  - from $7.000, you paid 35 cents in the dollar.  - from $10,000 you paid 45 cents in the dollar.  - from $15,000 you paid 55 cents in the dollar.  Under our scales, you are on the standard rate of 32 cents in the dollar, right up to $17.239. And on the first of July this year, taxes were cut by over $600 million - of particular benefit to single income families. Under our present policy of half tax indexation there will be a further tax cut of around $ 500 million from July the first next year. Of course, we would have preferred to go further. But any tax cut purchased at the cost of higher inflation would be no tax cut at all And we will continue to fight inflation.  No wonder British investors recently said that their confidence in the Australian economy was "Conditional upon the continuation of a Liberal Government." And we plan to keep it that way.  SECOND CHALLENGE: DEVELOPMENT.  And so I come to the second challenge - the need for a broad based and responsible programme of national development. In my Policy Speech in 1977, I said Australia could look forward to $6000 million of development. Some amazement was expressed at this even disbelief. Because the Labor Party had stopped development dead in its tracks  Yet in the two years after that, more than $6000 million was invested in mining and manufacturing. And now, prospective investment is $29000 million. This development promises to be as important to Australia and individual Australians as anything in the last 35 years. Already, new aluminium smelters and mines are being established in Australia along with the associated new towns, railways, roads and port facilities. The benefits of this will be felt nation-wide. We are not talking about development just for development's sake. We are talking about development because of what it means to people:  - and it means jobs, prosperity and security for Australian working men and women.  To achieve all this, we have had to trim our sails once or twice. For the world is a harsher place than anyone expected five years ago. But responsible management means placing Australia first; not once, or twice, but always.  UNIONS.  Placing Australia first is the responsibility of management, labour and trade unions just as much as it is of Government. Responsibility to Australia means:  - achieving greater rank and file influence within unions and  - giving rank and file trade unionists, confronted with the demand to join a strike, the option of a secret ballot.  But, above all, it means:  - rejection of 35 hour weeks.  - rejection of unrealistic wage claims, and  - rejection of extremist union leaders.  And that rejection is the duty of us all. Let me give you another measure of what is happening in Australia. The increase in electricity generation through the 80s will be almost equal to that which occurred over the last thirty years. We are going to do in ten years what previous generations took thirty years to accomplish. Modern new industries are coming on stream with modern plant and equipment involving the most advanced technology. These new developments will give Australia in the 80s a much stronger international base. New markets are opening up for Australian industries. None of this has happened by accident.  We have introduced:  - firm anti-inflationary policies.  - policies which encourage and support new Australian initiatives.  - policies which reflect a responsible and reasonable attitude to overseas investment, and  - policies which protect the Australian environment. What is happening is the result of our policies.  PARITY PRICING.  And our oil parity pricing policy is an important part of the overall plan. We want Australia to be as energy self-sufficient as possible in future years. We do not want Australia to be a beggar for fuel on the international market. We want to attract investment in alternatives to oil. And we are succeeding. The giant Rundle shale oil project in Queensland is likely to be the largest ever undertaken in Australia, and one of the largest in the world. That would not have occurred without parity pricing.  We are not just concerned for next year or the year after. We are building Australia for the next decade and beyond. To do otherwise, would be a betrayal of you and your children. Against the dangers and the difficulties of the current war in Iran and Iraq, does anyone dare tell us that we should alter our policies?  OIL REVENUE.  It is fair enough to ask where the oil revenues are going. Every cent is being returned to Australians.  For example, this year:  - more than $600 million in tax cuts.  - more than $500 million on defence, and  - over $460 million to further reduce the Budget deficit.  The growth and confidence in Australian industry is broad based. Industries generally are looking to the future, encouraged by incentives for investment, for innovation, for research, and for export. These policies will continue.  SMALL BUSINESS.  The tax laws will be altered again to make it easier for small businesses to build up their reserves.  TOURISM.  We will provide additional incentives for the tourist industry; amongst these, many of our airports are being remodelled and rebuilt. We have built on our programmes for Tasmania; and with New Zealand approval, the Hobart to Christchurch air link will soon begin. And we have decided to proceed with the Alice Springs-Darwin railway.  FARMERS.  Five years ago, it was an unhappy business travelling around the Australian countryside Many farmers were bankrupt, prices had collapsed. Farmers did not know whether to encourage their sons to stay on the land, or to desert their farms. Now, all that has changed. Our rural industries are doing much better. Our fight against inflation; our policies in support of rural industries; our effective trade offensive overseas; these have played a major role in rural recovery. We understand rural industries. We assist them through troubled years and variable prices. And new initiatives will be taken in the coming Parliament.  DROUGHT.  I know that, as I speak tonight, there is severe drought in many parts of Australia. We will continue to co-operate with the States to see if there is more we can do to assist.  LABOR TAXES.  Would anyone exchange our programmes of assistance for the threat of Labor's death duties? Would anyone exchange our current industrial and rural strength for the certainty of Labor's wealth tax? Would anyone trade their present position for the policies of the Whitlam years and the introduction of a capital gains tax?  EMPLOYMENT.  As a result of rural recovery, last year, for the first time in 30 years, farm employment grew. Indeed, in the 12 months to August this year, total employment in Australia grew by over 200000. What are the Labor Party doing? They are promising to provide half that number of jobs - but they are going to charge you a thousand million dollars to do it  Our dedication to strengthening the economy is the only way to create more jobs. I know it is difficult for some people who leave school. Some move smoothly into a job; others have difficulty. Because of this, we have established a range of manpower and training programmes to improve the skills, the versatility and the mobility of those looking for work. These programmes will benefit this year more than 236000 Australians. And last year, the number of apprentices in training was an all-time record of 136000.  We will do more by extending counselling services and introducing a new allowance providing much greater encouragement to the young unemployed to take advantage of new and expanded training opportunities.  LABOR.  I am not going to say much about the Labor Party tonight. Mostly, they speak for themselves. Their essential policy is a massive programme of additional spending. In only six areas they promise to spend an additional $2500 million of taxpayers' money. These programmes have been costed by Government Departments, and by the Department of Finance. The figure of $2500 million is a figure that would have to go into any Labor Budget. If this amount were to be paid out of taxes, it would represent an average of over $8 a week - more than $400 a year - for every Australian taxpayer. Are Labor's policies worth that to you? Would you allow any of Labor's three leaders to spend your money in this way? And they have the nerve to suggest that they could lower taxes.  But there are more than 250 other programmes to which the Labor Party is committed and which have not been costed. Well, I say to Bill Hayden and the Labor Party stand up and be costed. Stand up and tell us that these promises would be funded through higher taxation or by printing money. Stand up and tell us that these measures will fuel inflation, promote unemployment, and kill off economic growth. Labor in the 80s is merely the Whitlam years recycled. There is not a word in what Labor say or do, that will encourage investment, promote growth, increase productivity or contain the unions. And they try to kid people that they are raising the standards. The Fraser-Anthony Government is the only option for the 80s. It is only Liberal-National Country Party Government that can provide sustainable economic growth.  THIRD CHALLENGE: FAMILIES.  Only economic growth enables us to meet our third challenge - the provision of assistance to those in need. It is our belief that the strength of Australia depends upon the strength of Australian families. That is why we are spending almost one billion dollars a year on family allowances. That is why we have increased the tax rebate for single income families. Our programmes of family support will continue:  - we will establish crisis accommodation for families in distress.  - we will initiate a new building programme for homeless persons to help, in particular, homeless youths.  And, with the States and voluntary organisations, we will establish a national children's foundation to help tackle the problems of child abuse.  HOUSING.  In 1977, we introduced a new and improved Homes Savings Grants Scheme.  Now, we are going to lift the home value limits up to a maximum of $ 70000. And, for an eligible family with children, the maximum grant will be increased to $3000.  EDUCATION.  Our progress as a nation can be no faster than our progress in education.  We will continue our extensive support for education with increased emphasis on vocational and technical training. We will provide increased capital and recurrent funds to non-government schools. And we will provide further assistance to isolated children.  AGED AND HANDICAPPED.  A measure of our compassion as a society is the extent to which we provide for dignity in old age, and for the realisation of the potential of handicapped people.  The Government meets these objectives in many ways. For example, over the next three years, we will fund over 800 projects for the aged, the disabled and our senior citizens.  MIGRANTS.  Our commitment to migrants will continue. Post-arrival services for new citizens have been greatly expanded. Ethnic television is being introduced. And we will provide support for ethnic community schools with an open admissions policy.  ABORIGINALS.  Our policies for Aboriginal people are designed to assist them to achieve a greater management and determination of their own affairs. We have established the Aboriginal Development Commission whose responsibility will be widened to include the disbursement of Commonwealth funds for Aboriginal housing. And we will work with the States to improve the environmental health of Aboriginals.  DRUGS.  One of the great issues confronting modern society is the drug problem. We are. working actively with the States to combat the damage and danger of drugs, especially in relation to young people.  WELFARE SUMMARY.  These and many other initiatives represent a proud record of compassion and concern. They demonstrate our determination to see that all Australians receive the opportunity to share in the nation's increasing resources.  FOURTH CHALLENGE: EXCELLENCE.  An important and often ignored challenge facing us all is the pursuit of excellence.  For a continuing feature of our national development is the rich, artistic and cultural talent which complements our national character The world of film, science, literature, theatre, opera, dance and sport has produced great Australians. Australia's record at home and abroad is a catalogue of excellence That excellence will be fostered. We have provided greatly increased funds for medical research and, with the Government of Victoria, we will rebuild the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. We have increased funds for marine research in Townsville. We will fully fund the rebuilding, in Sydney, of the National Institute of Dramatic Art and the Australian Film and Television School.  Australian film-makers and actors are winning international acclaim. We will provide special and additional incentives to induce further investment in the film industry. And we will make funds available for the support of Research Centres of Excellence in Australia's universities. We have established a National Sports Institute in Canberra. And we will develop international standard sports facilities in the States and the Territories.  The Government will continue to support Australians of ability; to allow them, with their imagination and their capacities, to advance Australia.  FINAL CHALLENGE: NATIONAL SECURITY.  But finally, over-riding all these considerations, is the challenge to safeguard our national security. We must lead Australia safely through a world of increasing tension and difficulty; an increasingly dangerous world, a world of Afghanistan, Kampuchea, Iran and Iraq. That is why:  - we must contribute to the strength of the western alliance.  - we must co-operate and consult within our region.]  - we must seize the opportunities provided by membership of the Commonwealth, and  - we must strengthen our links with other middle-sized powers, all of whom have an important role to play. That is why we are expanding our defence forces. That is why we are building up our reserves.  But the defence of Australia is more than men and destroyers; patrol boats and tactical fighters. The defence of Australia is the courage to speak up for Australia. We are only 14 million people on a large continent. That is why we need to cooperate with our friends and allies. We are revitalising the 5-power defence treaty with Singapore. Malaysia, New Zealand and Britain. We have contributed:  - to the settlement of racial problems in Zimbabwe.  - to the establishment now, on a permanent basis of a new regional grouping of the Commonwealth.  - to a new sense of concern and participation in the Pacific region.  - to a new phase of co-operation with ASEAN.  And there is closer co-operation with the United States today than there has been for a long time. With the world as it is. we need that co-operation. The last five years have seen a progressive strengthening of Australia's place in the world. Is this the time to be lukewarm to the cause of freedom? Is this the time to be uncritical of socialism or communism? This is the time for responsibility, not apology. This is the time for commitment, not compromise.  CONCLUSION.  Undeniably, the challenges we face together are great; but our potential as a nation is even greater. We are entitled to be confident of our capacity to march through the decade ahead at a better pace than almost any other nation. We are entitled to be  optimistic about our future. A future in which Liberal Government will seek power and authority, not for its own ends, but for the service of all Australian people, their freedom and their dignity. This is the future I seek for all Australians. Let us work together to achieve it. Above all, let us be proud of our country; where it stands in the world; what it means to the world. We owe this much to the Australian men and women who have given:  - their talents and their dedication.  - their courage and their hard work.  - even their lives, for almost 200 years to bring us the Australia we now enjoy.  Let us be enthusiastic about the tasks ahead. Let us communicate this enthusiasm to one another. Let us unite in a full-blooded commitment to a progressive, free and independent Australia.  GOVERNMENT IN ACTION.  GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES SINCE JULY 1980.  INCLUDING: THE 1980/81 BUDGET AND THE LIBERAL PARTY POLICY SPEECH 1980.  A summary attachment to be read in conjunction with the Policy Speech of the Prime Minister. The Rt. Hon. Malcolm Fraser, CH, MP, Melbourne, 30 September 1980.  RESPONSIBLE ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT.  Only in a thriving economy with government spending, taxes and inflation kept down can private enterprise generate the wealth which alone can create real jobs and lasting security for all Australians and their families. Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - a reduction in the overall Budget deficit of 23 % in 1980/81.  - a domestic Budget surplus of about $39m. for 1980/81.  - 50 % tax indexation from 1 July 1980.  - an increase in the dependent spouse rebate to $800 from 1 July 1980.  - a rise in the sole parent rebate to $559.  - an 11 % increase in payments to the States, NT and local government.  - an increase in local government tax sharing entitlements of 36% to $302m (2 % of personal income tax collections).  - an inquiry into zone allowances.  - further legislation to tighten up on tax avoidance.  - an increase in interest rates payable on IEDs from 5% to 7 %.  Building on these initiatives, in the Policy Speech the Government has announced:  • Under our present policy of half tax indexation there will be a further tax cut of around $ 500 million from 1 July next year.  Industrial Relations.  Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - the extension of secret ballot provisions to enable individual employees to apply for a secret ballot to express their views on strike action.  - legislation to facilitate the amalgamation of unions where there is "a community of interest".  - a joint Commonwealth/State review of the arbitration system.  Employment and Youth Affairs.  Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - a 22% boost to manpower, training and youth support programmes.  - increased funds for training programmes to assist 236,000 people.  - continued funding of the School-to-Work Transition programme.  - a Commonwealth Work Experience Programme for secondary school students.  - new initiatives for trade training.  - a 34% increase in the Australian Public Service intake of apprentices in 1980/81.  - extra support for the Occupational Information Programme.  - a campaign for work and training opportunities for disabled people in support of the International Year of the Disabled.  - International Youth Exchange Programme with South Pacific countries.  - a $500,000 programme of assistance to youth organisations.  Building on these initiatives, in the Policy Speech the Government has announced:  - a transition allowance to encourage young people to undertake fulltime training; a higher subsidy for young unemployed for training under SYETP; development of special counselling services for young unemployed ($25 million in a full year).  - expansion of the Australian Volunteers Abroad Programme.  HARNESSING OUR RESOURCES.  A balanced programme that develops our resources - minerals, energy reserves and farmlands - will not only create the maximum opportunities for Australians now, but will also conserve those resources and our environment for the future.  National Development and Energy.  Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - a 50% increase in funding for alternative energy research.  - a $52m increase in the petroleum products freight subsidy to assist rural areas.  - commitment to funding construction of the Burdekin Dam in Queensland.  Building on these initiatives, in the Policy Speech the Government has announced:  - taxation concessions to encourage the storage of liquid fuel ($10 million in 1981/82).  - the extension of the $ 80 per tonne LPG subsidy for household use to traditional users in decentralised industries ($8-10 million per year).  - that it will encourage the States to give special assistance to local government authorities in remote areas which generate electricity from diesel fuel.  - $3 million for the States in 1981/82 for soil conservation purposes.  - additional funds through the Commonwealth Extension Services Grants Scheme to improve access to information on fuel saving technology and equipment.  Industry and Commerce.  Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - a 27% increase in Government assistance to manufacturing industry.  - a 20% loading to existing depreciation rates for plant.  - a 55% increase in industrial research and development funding.  - increased funds for export assistance.  - self-employed superannuation up to $1,200 per annum to be tax deductible.  - legislation to protect licensee and lessee petrol retailers.  - a PJT Inquiry into petrol product prices.  - a commitment to protecting jobs in textiles, clothing and footwear industries and a new programme of assistance including bounties, duties, quotas and tariffs.  - a National Tourism Outlook Conference to be held in 1981.  Building on these initiatives, in the Policy Speech the Government has announced:  - extension of the private company retention allowance during the life of the next Parliament.  - removal of the present specific exclusion from the investment allowance of plant for use in connection with amusement or recreation ($5 million).  Primary Industry.  In the Policy Speech the Government has announced:  - tax concessions for capital costs involved in connecting mains electricity in rural and remote areas ($5 million).  - three year funding of the Primary Industry Bank's operations.  - tax concessions to compensate for the cost of private electricity generation in country areas (up to $5 million).  - special depreciation allowance for new machinery used in agricultural, pastoral and forestry operations - also to apply to the purchase of new vessels in the fishing industry ($ 7 million).  - Government financial support for wool promotion on a three year basis.  - full tax deductibility of capital expenditure on soil conservation by a primary producer ($1 million).  - maintaining concessions for farmers for full write-off of the cost of providing bores, dams and reticulation facilities.  - withdrawals from IEDs can be made up to 31 August.  Transport.  Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - signature of a new Two Airline Agreement encouraging greater competition between TAA/Ansett and allowing regional airlines to operate over sections of domestic trunk routes.  - an inquiry into domestic airfares.  - a $145 million major airport development programme.  - a Hobart/Christchurch airlink by Ansett/TAA (awaiting New Zealand Government approval).  - the introduction of international air services from Townsville to Honolulu, Los Angeles and New Zealand.  - signature of an agreement with South Australia to enable the Adelaide/Crystal Brook railway standardisation project to commence.  - an allocation of $3,650 million to the States, the Northern Territory and local government over the next five years for roads.  - $30 million for Tasmanian Freight Equalisation in 1980/81.  Building on these initiatives, in the Policy Speech the Government has announced:  - a firm commitment of $ 10 million for the first stage of the construction of the Alice Springs/Darwin railway and the provision of funds to complete the railway within ten years.  Post and Telecommunications.  Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - a commitment to cable and subscription TV.  - increased funds for the ABC in 1980/81.  - commencement of multicultural TV services in Sydney and Melbourne.  - continuing reductions in a range of telephone call charges.  - tendering for the domestic satellite.  Science and Environment.  Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - approval for a $52 million rebuilding programme in the Antarctic over 10 years.  - the nomination of the Great Barrier Reef for the World Heritage list.  - initial allocation for construction of oceanographic vessel.  - $16 million for Australian scientific research.  - development of a National Conservation Strategy in co-operation with the States and the Northern Territory.  POLICIES FOR PEOPLE.  Helping people to become home owners, improving the standards of our children's education, and concentrating health and welfare services on the effective support of those most in need is the best way to support family life in Australia.  Education.  Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - a 3.2% increase in real terms in spending on schools in 1981.  - a 20% increase in major allowances under the Secondary Allowance and Assistance for Isolated Children Schemes.  - $23 million for the Disadvantaged Schools Programme to improve standards.  - a 10% increase in Tertiary Education Allowances.  Building on these initiatives, in the Policy Speech the Government has announced:  - increased emphasis on vocational and technical education.  - additional capital grants of $25 million over three years (1981-83) for nongovernment schools in the States and NT for the provision of new places.  - compression of the existing six levels of non-government schools to three levels in the life of the next Parliament ($ 5.8 million over three years).  - an increase in the per capita grants to Level 6 non-government schools to 40 % of overall government schools standard running costs in the life of the next Parliament ($44.8 million a year by the third year).  - an additional $ 2 million a year for the Schools Commission from 1981 to develop educational programmes for severely handicapped children.  - commencement of a $4 million, three year pilot programme, to provide on loan video facilities to isolated students in areas without regular television services, commencing with School of the Air students.  - an increase in the basic boarding allowance under the Assistance to Isolated Children Scheme to $780 a year from 1981 ($2.7 million in a full year).  - a per capita grant of $ 30 a pupil a year for two years to non-profit making ethnic part-time schools, provided they have an open entry policy ($3 million).  - $ 1 million for the establishment of Research Centres of Excellence in a number of universities in 1981, and allocation of a further $15 million during the 1982-84 triennium.  - additional funds for the Tertiary Education Commission to support the establishment of courses in community languages in universities end/or CAEs.  Housing.  Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - a major forward commitment for welfare housing with the States involving a Commonwealth guarantee of a base funding level of $200 million a year for five years from July 1981.  - a significant increase in home value limits under the Home Savings Grants Scheme.  Building on these initiatives, in the Policy Speech the Government has announced:  Further improvements to the Home Savings Grants Scheme, involving a full year cost of $25 million and to apply from 1 October 1980, include:  - a family bonus of $500 for families with one dependent child and $ 1,000 for families with two or more dependent children. This would increase the maximum grant to $ 2,500 for families with one child and to $3,000 for families with two or more children.  - an increase in the value of homes on which the maximum grant is obtainable to $60,000 reducing to nil grant at a value of $ 70,000.  - widening of the forms of savings acceptable for the grant.  Full tax deductibility of home insulation costs for a person's first home where that home was purchased or where construction commenced after I October 1980 ($5 million in a full year).  Health.  Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  a 30% rise in funds for Medical Research.  an additional $75m for the Hospital Benefits Reinsurance Fund.  an increase in the Domiciliary Nursing Care Benefit from $2 to $3 a day.  a new programme of "aids for daily living" for the disabled.  improvements to the Isolated Patients Travel and Accommodation Assistance Scheme.  Building on these initiatives, in the Policy Speech the Government has announced:  - that it will join with the Victorian Government in the construction of a new building for the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (Commonwealth share: $11.25 million).  - an additional $ 500,000 for continuation of the national development of the "help yourself" health promotion campaign  - an additional $ 200,000 support for alcohol and drug abuse rehabilitation.  - in line with a previous commitment, benefits will be increased from the first pension pay day in November to cover the cost of fees for 70% of patients in non-Government nursing homes.  Welfare.  Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - an increase in spending to $9.9 billion in 1980/81.  - $52.5 million in 1980/81 as part of a three year $225 million programme for aged persons accommodation.  - $4 million in 1980/81 as part of a three year $12 million programme for senior citizens centres.  - commitment of $155 million over three years for handicapped persons facilities commencing 1 July 1980.  - an increase in pensions in November 1980 of $3.05 ($5.10 married).  - a substantial increase in income limits for unemployment and sickness benefits.  - from November 1980 a $2 a week increase in unemployment benefits for those 18 and over without dependents.  - from November 1980 extension of the supporting parents' benefit to cover the first six months of sole parenthood.  - increased allowances for children of pensioners and beneficiaries.  - increased allowances for handicapped children to assist an estimated 27,000 children by June 1981.  - support for the International Year of Disabled Persons 1981.  - rights of appeal for pensioners and beneficiaries to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.  Building on these initiatives, in the Policy Speech the Government has announced:  - $10 million for a three year homeless persons assistance programme, with special priority for homeless young people.  - an increase in the personal care subsidy for residents in hostels for the aged and disabled from $15 per week to $ 20 per week ($ 5.8 million per year).  - expansion of the Family Support Services Scheme (S 10 million over three years).  - Crisis accommodation for families in distress (in consultation with the States).  - establishment of a National Children's Foundation (in consultation with the States and voluntary organisations).  Veterans' Affairs.  Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - a rise in repatriation and other benefits from November 1980.  - consideration of only half the disability pension in determining eligibility for fringe benefits.  - an increase in the maximum loan for Defence Service Homes to $25.000 and a reduced waiting period of 10 months.  - establishment of an advisory committee on the Commonwealth Institute of Health study into the possible effects on veterans and their children of herbicides and defoliants including Agent Orange.  COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.  Safeguarding individual rights, promoting equality of opportunity and encouraging the pursuit of excellence in the arts are essential elements for a strong and vital community.  Attorney-General.  Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - $32 million for legal aid (in 1980/81).  - ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  - establishment of the Human Rights Bureau.  - implementation of legislation to reform procedures for judicial review of administrative action.  - the creation of an Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence.  - special judicial inquiry into drug related organised crime.  - the opening of the Institute of Family Studies.  Building on these initiatives, in the Policy Speech the Government has announced:  - reintroduction of legislation on both the Human Rights Commission and Freedom of Information.  - introduction of legislation on Complaints against the Police.  Aboriginal Affairs.  Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - a 19 % increase in direct spending by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs.  - the establishment of the Aboriginal Development Commission from 1 July 1980 with funds of $23,8m in 1980/81.  - $59.9 million for Aboriginal housing and health.  Building on these initiatives, in the Policy Speech the Government has announced:  - responsibility for Aboriginal housing to be transferred from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs to the Aboriginal Development Commission.  - $50 million for environmental health improvement over five years.  Immigration and Ethnic Affairs.  Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - $28 million for adult migrant and refugee education programme.  - commencement of multicultural TV services in Sydney and Melbourne.  - further expansion of the telephone interpreter service.  - the introduction of a system of nomination of overseas relatives and friends of Australian residents.  Building on these initiatives, in the Policy Speech the Government has announced:  - upgrading of adult migrant education.  - further expansion of the telephone interpreter service.  - a public awareness programme to encourage migrants to obtain citizenship.  - the expansion of the Bilingual Information Officer system.  - a review of NUMAS.  - an extension of the refugee programme.  Home Affairs.  Since July 1980 the Government has Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - increased funding for culture and the arts.  - $7.1m for National Gallery acquisitions.  - a 45 % rise in funds for the Sports Development Programme.  - preparation of a Plan of Action on combatting discrimination following the UN Mid Decade for Women Conference in Copenhagen.  Building on these initiatives, in the Policy Speech the Government has announced:  - tax concessions to encourage investment in the production of Australian films ($2 million).  - establishment of permanent homes for both the Film and TV School ($9 million over five years) and the National Institute of Dramatic Art ($3 million).  - further development of the National Library.  - $25 million, on a dollar for dollar basis, with the States and Territories, over three years, for the development of international standard sports facilities.  - support for the Australian National Games and the National Athlete Award Scheme ($350,000).  - special assistance for the development of sport and recreation for the disabled.  A STRONG AND SECURE AUSTRALIA.  Unless we secure and defend our freedom today, there will be no free tomorrow.  Foreign Affairs and Defence.  Since July 1980 the Government has implemented or announced:  - $547m for foreign aid.  - a 7% real growth in defence spending this year and in following years as part of the five year $17.6 billion programme.  - a record $2,000 million peacetime naval construction programme.  - a replacement for HMAS Melbourne.  - commitment to build two new FFG-type destroyers at Williamstown.  - funds for accelerated increases in defence manpower in regular and reserve forces.  - payment of certain assurance premiums for reservists.  - Darwin to be long term base for a Tactical Fighter Force Squadron.  - tenders for 940 trucks for the Army.  - potential of $800 million of defence work for Australian industry.  Liberal policies are designed to enable all Australians to live free and independent lives in a secure nation. They are policies to promote the enterprise and initiative which will enable people to secure their own future through the rewards of their own efforts. They are also policies of compassion and concern for those in need.  Lead on, Liberal.  Note: Costings. The programme initiatives announced in the Policy Speech will cost approximately $185 million in a full year. The taxation measures announced in the Policy Speech involve a foregoing of revenue of approximately $40 million in a full year (not including continuation of our present policy of half tax indexation).  1980 POLICY SPEECH.  SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENTS.  RESPONSIBLE ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT.  HARNESSING OUR RESOURCES.  POLICIES FOR PEOPLE.  A STRONG AND SECURE AUSTRALIA.  To be read in conjunction with the Policy Speech of the Prime Minister. The Rt. Hon. Malcolm Fraser, CH, MP, Melbourne, 30 September 1980  SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENTS.  RESPONSIBLE ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT.  The fight against inflation will go on. The central objective of the Government's economic policy is to reduce inflation and thereby promote real economic growth and employment. Our policies will continue to be directed to:  - maintaining the environment for economic growth and increased employment.  - underpinning the development of our vast mineral and energy resources.  - encouraging our rural and manufacturing industries to grow and prosper. A strong private sector is essential for economic success. It should be encouraged, not fettered, by government. This is the only way to:  - raise our living standards.  - create new jobs.  - provide the capacity to help the disadvantaged.  INFLATION.  The Government's policy has already brought Australia's inflation rate down from a record 17.6% under the Labor Government to 10.7%. This is 2-3 percentage points below the industrial world's average. This achievement is the result of five years of consistent economic policies designed to counter inflation. The Government's own house is in order. While maintaining a strong commitment to revenue sharing with the States and local government, overall Federal spending is on a very tight rein. Since 1976 spending has increased in real terms on average by only slightly above 1 % a year - by far the lowest rate of increase for a long time. The Government has wiped out the domestic Budget deficit and, for this financial year, estimated a domestic surplus of some $39 million - the first surplus in seven years. This has reduced the pressure on interest rates and lessened the impact on Australia of increases in those rates overseas. The individual buying a home, the investor creating jobs, the producer and the consumer, all benefit. This reflects the stability and consistency in the Government's economic management. The results are impressive:  - the highest employment increase for 10 years - in the year to July 1980.  - a considerable improvement in Australia's competitive position.  - the value of exports up by one third in 1979/80.  - foreign investment at record levels.  - the best prospects for business in years.  - an encouraging lift in expenditure on personal consumption.  - huge new investments in industry and resource development.  We are now going in the right direction but we must try to reduce inflation further to create more jobs and protect people on fixed incomes. To a large extent success will depend on moderation in wage demands, a reduction in industrial disputes and continuing tight control on government spending at all levels.  TAXATION.  The Government will maintain its declared taxation objectives:  - to keep taxes at the lowest level possible compatible with responsible economic management and community needs.  - to distribute the tax burden as fairly as possible, with particular concern for low income families.  - to provide incentives for initiative and enterprise.  Personal.  Taxation scales have been reduced and simplified during our term of office We have introduced new concessions and incentives. We are clamping down on tax avoidance. Today most individual taxpayers pay tax at the standard rate of 32c in the dollar. The first $4,041 is tax free-$6,542 for a man with a dependent wife. Tax indexation at 50% and the increase in a wife's allowance from 1 July this year means that a wage earner on standard rate with dependent wife now pays $4.76 a week less tax. Under our present policy of half tax indexation there will be a further tax cut of around $500 million from 1 July next year. The top marginal tax rate has been reduced from 65c in the dollar to 60c. This is the lowest top rate since 1942. By reducing the number of steps in the tax rate scale from 7 to 3, taxpayers no longer move into higher tax brackets as quickly as before. Hard work, overtime and promotion are worthwhile once again. We have restored the rewards for enterprise and achievement. We have also made adjustments in the tax system to strengthen our commitment to the family and those with special needs:  - we have doubled the dependent wife's allowance to $800.  - we have increased the sole-parent's rebate by 180 % to $559.  - we have helped lower income earners by increasing the tax free threshold from - $2,579 in 1975/76 to $4,041.  - we have introduced a special tax concession for self employed persons and those not covered by employer superannuation to assist them in providing for retirement.  - we have announced an inquiry into zone allowances for those living in remote areas.  - we have abolished all Commonwealth estate and gift duties.  The contrast with Labor's period of office is dramatic. In those three years personal tax collections rose by 125% as men and women from all walks of life were dragged into paying higher taxes. If Labor's 1975 tax scales had remained, a taxpayer on average weekly earnings today with a dependent wife and child would be paying an extra $22.55 a week more tax.  Business.  We believe fair rewards for business are just as important as fair rewards for people. Only a healthy, profitable private sector can provide real, lasting, secure jobs. Concessions to our primary and secondary industries have been designed to foster profitability and reinvestment of profits. We have, amongst other measures  - reintroduced the investment allowance.  - allowed accelerated depreciation to assist business with technological change.  - raised the Private Company Retention Allowance from 50 % to 70 %, which is a benefit of $60 million in a full year.  - introduced income equalisation deposits for primary producers.  - abolished previous income limits on the tax averaging scheme for primary producers.  - stimulated resource development, oil exploration and energy conservation through special tax concessions.  Overall, we have created a fair, balanced tax system. That is why we are taking a hard line on tax avoidance. We are committed to continuing our restraint on public expenditure and ensuring we get value for money so that we can continue to keep taxes down. Unlike Labor, we know that governments have no money of their own to spend only taxpayers' money.  INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS.  The Government's principal objectives are to:  - work to improve the industrial relations climate.  - protect the rights of individuals and the public interest.  - emphasise the responsibility of all parties to meet their obligations.  - improve conciliation and arbitration procedures.  The Government is concerned that almost four million working days were lost through industrial diputes last year. This is an improvement on the record of over six million working days lost under the Labor Government in 1974. But the figure is still too high and far too costly for individual employers, employees and their families, and the community as a whole. There are Constitutional limits on the Government's industrial relations powers. Nevertheless, we have already acted within those powers to protect the public interest. We have legislated to:  - establish the National Labour Consultative Council and ensure regular consultation at national level.  - provide secret postal ballots for elections in Federal employer and employee organisations.  - require industrial organisations to produce audited annual financial accounts to members.  - protect genuine conscientious objectors to union membership.  - improve the procedures of the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission.  - extend grounds for deregistration of organisations acting to damage the interests of the community.  - strengthen the Commission's powers to deal with demarcation disputes.  - establish the Industrial Relations Bureau to secure observance of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act, Regulations and Awards. The task is a continuing one. For the future, the Government proposes to:  - extend the secret ballot provisions to enable individual employees to apply for a secret ballot to express their views on strike action.  - legislate to facilitate the amalgamation of unions where there is a "community of interest".  - in consultation with industry, initiate a major campaign of advice and assistance to all levels of management on the conduct and practice of industrial relations.  The Government remains firmly committed to the principle of conciliation and arbitration.  EMPLOYMENT.  We have made substantial progress in creating more jobs. 205,200 more people joined the work force in the year to August 1980. Unemployment is still high, but Australia is making better progress than many other developed countries. Through the Commonwealth Employment Service alone half a million jobs were filled last year. Those placed included 9.000 disabled people. Three out of four jobs in Australia are in the private sector. That is why the Government is strongly committed to encouraging its growth. Over the next few years resource and manufacturing development projects will create at least 60,000 new jobs directly and thousands more indirectly throughout industry and commerce. In our five years in Government more than 570,000 Australians have received specific help through our manpower and training programmes. We have given special emphasis in these programmes to job and apprenticeship training for young people. All our programmes have been reviewed to meet the challenge of technological change and the special needs of the nation's new development projects We will spend $139 million on manpower, training programmes and youth support to assist another 236,000 Australians this year. New features of job programmes will include reform of the trade training system to increase the supply of tradesmen trained in Australia. This will include shortened indentures for those with appropriate qualifications and experience and renewal of the $1,000 bonus scheme for apprentices in short supply. Australia is now training an all time high number of apprentices and a record level of first year apprentices. To complement this scheme and the School-to-Work Transition Policy, the Government will also provide further assistance to young people who find difficulty in obtaining regular work. This will provide for:  - a transition allowance (unemployment benefit plus $6) for young people unemployed four months or more who undertake a transition course, and a similar allowance for those unemployed for eight months or more who take up any full time training course in Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutions likely to lead to employment.  - a higher subsidy (up to $ 80 a week) for the training under the Special Youth Employment Training Programme (SYETP) of those unemployed 18 to 24 year olds who have been out of work for eight out of twelve months.  - automatic eligibility to SYETP for those who successfully complete a transition course and need further on-the-job training.  - development of special counselling services for young unemployed registered with the Commonwealth Employment Service for eight months or more.  This new programme is a further expression of the Government's commitment to assisting young people.  HARNESSING OUR RESOURCES.  RESOURCES.  The Government is firmly committed to the development of Australia's abundant natural resources - one of the great tasks for the 80s - for the benefit of the Australian people. Its objective is to ensure that Australia takes full advantage of its unique combination of natural resources, competitively priced energy, improving cost competitiveness and proximity to major growth markets. The Government has already acted - and will continue to act to:  - stimulate increased exploration and development.  - encourage more processing of raw materials in Australia.  - attract overseas investment, with due regard for Australian participation in resource projects and the assertion of our national interests.  - assist development through support for essential infrastructure.  This has led to an estimated $29 billion investment in major mining and manufacturing projects, either committed or under final study. Three-quarters of this expenditure should be on goods and services bought in Australia. Around 60,000 jobs will be created directly and thousands more will be created indirectly in supply and service industries. In support of this development the Government has already approved a total investment of $4.7 billion in infrastructure programmes, e.g. railway electrification; electricity generation; and coal export facilities.  ENERGY.  Our aim is to ensure adequate energy supplies for Australia for the long term future and to help energy hungry countries whose living standards are threatened.  Our national energy policies are based on four goals:  - to conserve petroleum fuels to the maximum.  - to convert from oil to other energy sources (e.g. gas, electricity, coal).  - to explore vigorously for oil and gas.  - to develop the production of synthetic fuels (e.g. oil from coal and shale, ethanol from biomass. methanol and fuels from renewable sources).  The world is consuming oil at twice the rate it is finding it and the price of oil must reflect its scarcity value. Most of the world is energy-hungry, with few or no local substitutes for oil. Australia is energy-rich in coal and uranium and has significant resources of natural gas. Therefore we must accept and develop our responsibility as a major international supplier of energy. We can, and must, be a major energy exporter, consistent with our own domestic needs.  Oil.  Australia's local oil reserves are diminishing rapidly. Without further major oil discoveries our current 67 % self-sufficiency will fall to 50% in 1985. 40% in 1990 and to as low as 10% by the turn of the century. The key to achieving our goals is the import parity pricing of oil (i.e. reflecting its world scarcity value). The high cost synthetic fuel industry depends for its competitive survival upon the maintenance of import parity pricing. It cannot compete if oil prices are held down artificially. Yet, without synthetics Australia would be energy hungry and perilously dependent on the uncertainty of high cost oil imports. The Rundle shale oil development and other large synthetic enterprises like it are vital to ensure energy for the years ahead.  Gas.  The Government will support the development of LPG as a premium fuel with top priority for automotive use. A clear price differential between LPG and petrol will be maintained. The $ 80 a tonne subsidy paid to domestic consumers will be extended to traditional users of LPG in decentralised industries. Where practical natural gas pipelines will be extended in country areas.  Electricity.  We will continue to co-operate with the States in infrastructure financing for the increased development of electricity generation capacity to meet heavier demands. Growth in power generation in this decade will be greater than in any two previous decades. The concept of an electric power grid for south-eastern Australia is now under intensive study.  Uranium.  The Government recognises that many countries will be compelled to develop nuclear power generation in order to meet their energy needs. Australia will supply uranium for peaceful purposes under the strictest safeguards, including the monitoring of materials and the disposal of radioactive wastes.  Research and Development.  The Government will continue to expand energy research and development through existing agencies particularly in the field of renewable energy sources.  Water, Soil and Decentralisation.  The Government will also:  - expand the Water Resources programme in partnership with the States.  - allocate $3 million to the States in 1981/82 for soil conservation purposes.  - continue to aid regional development programmes with the advice of the Decentralisation Advisory Board.  MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY.  A vigorous and profitable manufacturing industry is fundamental to real economic growth and new jobs. The Government is committed to the development of efficient, outward-looking Australian industries. Tariff reviews, sensitively approached, have a role to play in facilitating desirable changes in industry structure and in encouraging greater specialisation. In the longer term, the Government considers that Australia will be best served by an industry structure placing less reliance on protective measures than at present. However, movement toward this goal must necessarily be gradual and appropriately timed. Where reductions are appropriate we will give industry advance warning and time to adapt to change. The record of industry in the past year reflects its own enterprise and the Government's success in fighting inflation:  - internationally, the competitiveness of Australian industry is at its highest level for many years.  - employment in manufacturing rose by 41,000.  - factory production expanded by 7 % in real terms.  - manufacturing investment increased significantly.  - the volume of exports reached a record level  Incentives.  The Government has provided significant assistance and incentives for the private sector. It has:  - greatly increased direct financial assistance to manufacturing industry over the past five years to a record $416 million in 1980/81.  - provided $540 million over the five years to June 1981 for modernisation assistance through the reintroduction of the investment allowance.  - increased depreciation rates on plant and equipment by 20 % in the last Budget.  - lifted industrial research and development grants by 180% over five years to $54 million.  - increased export development incentives by 225 % over five years to $260 million.  - ensured Australian firms can participate in the current upgrading of Australia's defence force with business worth in excess of $800 million this year.  The Government will continue to take positive action to encourage the development of an outward-looking, specialised and innovative manufacturing  sector. The Government will continue its strong support for export incentives beyond 1982. Industrial research and development grants and export incentives will continue to be essential elements of our industrial policy. We will avoid over regulation of business, which stultifies initiative and enterprise and imposes costs that must ultimately be borne by the public.  SMALL BUSINESS.  There are half a million small businesses in Australia, about 90% of Australian businesses, providing 40% of total private employment. They are a central feature of the Australian free enterprise system. The most important assistance the Government has given to small business has been to lessen the burden of inflation. We have also helped small business to help itself. We have eased its taxation burden by $60 million a year by increasing' the Division 7 retention allowance from 50% to 70%. During the life of the next Parliament this allowance will be extended further. We have also:  - given a special tax concession to self employed persons and employees not covered by employer superannuation arrangements to encourage them to make a proper provision for their retirement.  - assisted with finance by relaxing constraints on the Commonwealth Development Bank's powers to lend to all small firms.  - abolished all estate and gift duties.  TOURISM.  Tourism is an important Australian industry and has outstanding prospects for further growth. In 1979 tourism earned around $650 million in foreign exchange and between 1973/74 and 1985 it should have created some 60,000 new jobs. The Government's policy is to promote Australia's tourist attractions and encourage a vigorous, competitive industry.  We are assisting the industry by:  - funding a threefold increase in the Australian Tourist Commission's overseas promotion.  - upgrading airports at Brisbane, Coolangatta, Perth, Canberra, Townsville, Darwin and Norfolk Island.  - including the industry's overseas tourism promotion in the Export Market Development Grants Scheme.  - introducing lower international airfares.  - encouraging investment in new accommodation by a 2.5% depreciation allowance for hotel/motel buildings  - allocating funds to the Northern Territory for a tourist resort village at Ayers Rock.  In addition the Government will remove the present specific exclusion from the investment allowance of plant for use in connection with amusement or recreation.  PRIMARY INDUSTRY.  The Government has always recognised the importance of Australia's primary industries to the national economy. We are committed to ensuring a strong, viable and  efficient rural sector. We have always stood ready to assist rural industries. where and when such assistance has been necessary. We will continue to do so. As a result of our policies:  - our overseas markets for agricultural products have expanded and consolidated.  - orderly marketing of commodities has been established.  - facilities and allowances for people living in country areas have been improved.  Stability.  During the next three years, the Government will continue to build on its record of achievement to ensure that primary industries remain strong and viable.  Major stabilisation programmes are already in place for wheat, wool and sugar. We have abolished Federal estate and gift duties, greatly improved tax averaging provisions and introduced Income Equalisation Deposits (IEDs). To assist further those primary producers who take advantage of the IEDs the Government will now provide for withdrawals to be made up to 31 August each year for the previous year. We will maintain the wool reserve price scheme and guarantee that the floor in the 1981/82 season will not fall below this season's reserve price. A new Dairy Industry Stabilisation arrangement will be negotiated with the industry, with the object of establishing a long term scheme. New underwriting arrangements will be introduced for the apple and pear industry and proposals are being developed for new support arrangements for the dried vine fruits industry. We will continue to fund the development of a beef carcass classification system and to encourage sheepmeat exports, both through the important live sheep trade and the carcass trade.  New Measures.  To assist the long term stability of rural industries:  - Capital costs incurred by consumers on rural properties and people living in remote areas in connecting to mains electricity supply will be fully deductible in the year of expenditure.  - The Government's continuing support for the Primary Industry Bank of Australia will be extended by the provision of a three year funding commitment for the Bank's operations.  - The Commonwealth will seek the cooperation of the States to request States Grants Commissions to give special consideration to the needs of local government authorities in remote areas that have to generate electricity from diesel fuel because there is no alternative fuel supply.  - Assistance will be provided through the taxation system to help compensate for the cost of private electricity generation at the principal place of residence or business in country areas where mains supply is not available.  - The current $80 per tonne LPG subsidy for household use will be extended to traditional users of LPG in decentralised industries.  - A special depreciation allowance of 20% a year on a prime cost basis over five years applicable to new machinery used wholly and exclusively in agricultural, pastoral and forestry operations will be introduced. The allowance will also apply to the purchase of new vessels in the fishing industry.  - Government financial support for wool promotion will be placed on a three year basis.  - Full deductibility of capital expenditure by a primary producer on soil conservation will be introduced.  - $ 3 million will be allocated to the States in the 1981/82 financial year for soil conservation purposes.  - In consultation with the States, additional funds will be provided through the Commonwealth Extension Services Grants Scheme to improve access by farmers to information on fuel saving technology and equipment.  - To encourage the storage of fuel the Government will make expenditure on the purchase and installation of storage facilities for liquid and gaseous fuel to be used in carrying on a business fully deductible in the year the expenditure is incurred.  - The Government will maintain the concession allowing farmers to write off in full in the year of expenditure the cost of providing bores, dams and reticulation facilities on their properties.  ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION.  The Government's policy is to maintain a responsible balance between development and conservation Wide-ranging measures have already been introduced to protect our physical environment and our unique flora and fauna. These are being strengthened in co-operation with the State and Territory governments, specifically through Ministerial Councils. Under a Constitutional settlement the States, the Northern Territory and the Commonwealth now share powers and resources in the seas surrounding Australia.  The Barrier Reef and the Kakadu National Park have been nominated by the. Government for the World Heritage List. The Commonwealth's Register of the National Estate already includes several thousand other places in the natural and physical environment. The Government supported international action to protect whales and has banned whaling in Australian waters.  Strategy.  The Government has already recognised the World Conservation Strategy and will develop an Australian Strategy in cooperation with the States and the Northern Territory.  For the future, the Government reaffirms its decision not to allow drilling on the Barrier Reef or any drilling or mining that could damage the Reef. In co-operation with the Queensland Government the Federal Government is developing a plan for an extension of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The Government has provided substantial funds for:  - protection of the Alligator Rivers region from the effects of uranium mining.  - continuation of the Biological Resources Study of Australian flora and fauna.  - conservation of Antarctic flora and fauna.  - the Australian Institute of Marine Science.  - the National Parks and Wildlife Service.  - voluntary conservation organisations  TRANSPORT.  The Government's transport policy aims to develop and maintain an energy-efficient, safe and socially acceptable transport system.  Aviation.  We will encourage healthy competition between the domestic airlines and continue to support the extension of innovative fares and cheap advance purchase fares. Overall, in real terms domestic economy airfares and freight rates are today at the same level as in 1968, while the cheapest airfare between Perth and Sydney is lower today than it was three years ago. The Government has established an inquiry into the structure of domestic airfares. Following the introduction of new cheaper international airfares in 1979, tourist visitors to Australia have increased by over 25%. The International Civil Aviation Policy will be reviewed in 1981 as previously announced. A number of matters will be considered, including the question of Qantas' rights as Australia's sole international flag carrier; the desirability of international charter flights and Laker's proposed Sky Train; and the servicing of international regional routes. The Government will legislate to ratify the recently signed Two Airlines Agreement which will enhance competition between Ansett and TAA. Under the Agreement air freight will no longer be restricted to Ansett and TAA, and regional airlines will be able to operate over sections of the domestic trunk routes. Conditions on the type of aircraft imported by regional airlines and air freight operators will be liberalised and the development of commuter services will be encouraged by the introduction of a supplementary airline licence. The Government will retain TAA as a competitive, commercially oriented airline. We will continue to provide special subsidies for aviation services to remote centres. New or expanded facilities will be provided at Adelaide. Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Coolangatta, Darwin, Perth, Townsville and Norfolk Island at an estimated cost of $400 million over five years.  Railways.  A major project is the construction of a railway from Alice Springs to Darwin. This will link Darwin into the national railway network, boost the development of the Northern Territory and be a significant addition to defence facilities. The Government has firmly committed $10 million to the first stage and will provide funds needed to complete the railway within ten years. The new $140 million railway line from Tarcoola to Alice Springs has already been completed and, with the standardisation of the Adelaide/Crystal Brook line over the next three years, Adelaide and Darwin will be ultimately linked by a standard gauge railway. The continent will then be spanned by a mainline railway system from north to south and east to west. In association with the States the Government will continue overall mainline upgrading programmes. These programmes include electrification of important sections and links to ports and major resource developments.  Roads.  The Government will provide $3.650 million to the States, Northern Territory and local government over the next five years to assist in the development of our road network. It will proceed vigorously with the national highway programme and will ensure that future national road construction is undertaken under the tender and contract system. The Government will encourage the further development of the road transport industry and pay particular attention to the role of the owner driver. The 1978 Urban Transport Assistance Act provides assistance to the States for improving urban public transport facilities and increased emphasis will be given to the introduction of energy-efficient systems.  Shipping.  Sea transport plays an important role in the movement of freight and bulk commodities.  The Government has co-operated with the States to develop uniform shipping laws making it easier for Australian ship owners to exploit developing opportunities for coastal shipping. The first four of a new generation of coal fired ships have recently been ordered by ship owners The Government has established a special committee to provide a focus through which the sea-going unions and the ship owners can work together to revitalise sea transport. We will give special attention to the need to develop commercial and competitive opportunities for Australian flag vessels in overseas liner and bulk trades.  Special attention is being given to civil coastal surveillance in Australian waters for health, immigration and customs purposes. Effective protection is essential for off shore installations in Bass Strait and on the North West Shelf.  POST AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS.  The Government's policy is to:  - ensure all Australians get the best possible communications services at the lowest cost.  - promote a real element of choice in the broadcasting system.  - support the ABC to develop and continue high quality broadcasting services  - develop multicultural and ethnic broadcasting services.  The introduction of Community Access 80 has assisted many people Basic tariffs for telephone charges have not been increased since 1975 and there have been major reductions in charges for long distance telephone calls in daytime, off peak, evening and lunchtime periods: telex calls: and international telecommunication calls. Some long distance telephone charges will be reduced further from Easter 1981. By 1985 all but 10,000 subscribers will be connected to automatic exchanges. and the remainder by 1990. A system to provide subscribers with full details on their accounts of long distance calls will be introduced. Increases in the cost of basic postal charges have been held back to less than the rise in the CPI. A major review of the administration and regulation of citizens band radio services is in progress. There have been significant reductions in the licence fees for the use of radio communication services and the establishment of a differential for private and non-private users. Major developments in broadcasting have included:  - a complete review of the role and activities of the ABC and an increase in its funds  - introduction of multicultural broadcasting.  - establishment of commercial FM radio.  - a decision in principle to introduce cable and subscription TV.  - development of proposals to bring a much wider diversity of broadcasting services to regional areas.  The Government has decided to establish a domestic communications satellite system. A Request for Tender is to be issued by 30 October this year, and will close on 1 March 1981. In the interim the system will be owned and managed by the Overseas Telecommunications Commission. Further consideration will be given to the possibility of private enterprise involvement in the satellite system. The Government has also used an international communications satellite INTELSAT to extend ABC television to remote areas.  POLICIES FOR PEOPLE.  THE FAMILY.  The family is the focus of Australian life. That is why the Government is extending its social security and welfare policies for families, especially those most in need. These policies also cover sole parents and disabled people of all ages. The assistance for these groups is identified in the Government's education, housing, health, social security and other welfare programmes. The Commonwealth shares the responsibility for these programmes, with State and Territory Governments. The financial commitment is large and this year the Government has allocated increased funds to ensure that the real level of these services is maintained.  EDUCATION.  The Government will spend $2,867 million on education in 1980/81.  Its objectives in education are to:  - promote freedom of choice and equality of opportunity in schooling.  - achieve standards of excellence at all levels.  - help the disadvantaged in the community.  The Government will direct more of its resources to vocational and technical education. Its priority is to provide more help for students to make the transition from school to work. The Commonwealth reaffirms its commitment to provide $150 million over five years for the School-to-Work Transition programme. The Commonwealth meets virtually the entire cost of Universities and Colleges of Advanced Education, approximately $1,280 million a year. The Government reintroduced triennium funding arrangements for these institutions in 1979 and this provides them with a greater capacity for forward planning. Grants to the States for Government schools in 1981 will be maintained at the same real levels as in 1980. Declining school enrolments mean this is an effective increase in expenditure on a per student basis by the Commonwealth. The government will maintain its policy of @ grants to non-government schools. @ movements in the average cost of educating a student in a government school. The programmes of aid for disadvantaged schools and disadvantaged country areas will be continued. These programmes have helped 400,000 students in 1350 schools throughout Australia this  year. Special provision has also been made to  - assist Aboriginal children in their schooling.  - provide multicultural education and help non-English speaking migrant children improve their English language skills.  - assist refugee and handicapped children.  New Commitments.  New commitments include:  - an increase in the per capita grant to Level 6 non-government schools to 40% of average government schools standard running costs during the life of the next Parliament.  - compression of the existing six levels of non-government schools (as defined by the Schools Commission) to three levels in the life of the next Parliament.  - additional capital grants of $ 25 million over three years, 1981-83, for new places in non-government schools.  - a special allocation of $2 million a year from 1981 to develop education programmes for severely handicapped children.  - a per capita grant of $ 30 a year for two years to non-profit, part-time ethnic schools providing supplementary community language and cultural programmes.  - funds to establish new courses in community languages in universities and/or colleges of advanced education.  - funds for the establishment of Research Centres of Excellence in a number of universities at a cost of $ 1 million in 1981 and a further $ 15 million during the 1982-84 triennium.  - a three year pilot programme to provide on loan video facilities for isolated students in remote areas, beginning with students of the School of the Air.  - for those who qualify, an increase in 1981 to $ 780 a year for the basic boarding allowance under the Assistance to Isolated Children Scheme.  HOUSING.  Today, 73% of Australians own or are purchasing their homes The Government strongly supports home ownership and will continue to give a high priority to the availability of housing finance. Over a million home seekers have been helped to get housing loans in the last five years. Housing loan approvals were at a record level last year.  Home Savings Grants.  The Government has progressively developed the Home Savings Grants Scheme to assist first home buyers. We will now go further and:  - provide from 1 October 1980 a new Home Savings Grant Family Bonus of $ 500 for families with one dependent child and $1,000 for families with two or more dependent children. The respective maximum grants, therefore, will increase to $2,500 and $3,000.  - increase the value limit for which a maximum grant is payable to $60,000, reducing to nil at $70,000.  - widen the form of acceptable savings.  - allow full tax deductibility of home insulation costs for a person's first home where that home was purchased or where construction commenced after 1 October this year.  Funding for welfare housing was increased in the last Budget. The Commonwealth/State Housing Agreement has been changed to give low and moderate income earners increased opportunities to own their own homes. The Government has announced a major forward commitment for welfare housing with the States. This provides a guarantee by the Commonwealth of a base funding level of $200 million a year for five years from July 1981, with specific arrangements for concessional interest rates and grants for rental housing assistance, interest subsidies and leasing.  HEALTH.  The Government is determined that all Australians should have access to high quality health care. It recognises the important part the private hospitals have in our health services. It is totally committed to ensuring the viability and preservation of private hospitals, especially the non-profit component. We established the first ever inquiry into Australia's hospitals seeking recommendations on how waste could be reduced and efficiency increased. The Inquiry's report will be considered as a matter of urgency.  The provision of health services involves substantial cost and this needs to be contained within a responsible economic policy. This year the total is over $3,000 million. We have increased assistance to help the aged, chronically ill and disadvantaged. In line with a previous commitment, benefits will be increased from the first pension pay day in November to cover the cost of fees for 70% of patients in nongovernment nursing homes.  The Government this year has increased its financial support for medical research by 30% and has decided to:  - fund on a $ for $ basis with the Victorian Government a new building for the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research at an estimated cost to the Commonwealth of $ 11.25 million.  - significantly increase funds for alcohol and drug rehabilitation programmes. In addition, more funds will be allocated to continuing the national development of the "Help Yourself" health promotion campaign.  SOCIAL SECURITY AND WELFARE.  Historically, many of the major advances in social security and welfare have been introduced by Liberal Governments. In the past five years, the Government has directed more resources to assist the aged, the disabled and other disadvantaged groups than any previous government since Federation. Total spending on social security and welfare expenditure has risen from $5 billion in 1975/76 to almost $10 billion in 1980/81. Major reforms have included:  - replacement of the means test on pensions by a simple income test and introduction of automatic indexation of pensions.  - cash assistance direct to mothers under the Family Allowance Scheme.  - introduction of a supporting parents benefit.  - expansion of home-care services for the aged and welfare services for special need groups, e.g. Aboriginals, migrants and disabled people.  - programmes to assist families and children.  The recent Budget increased most rates of unemployment benefit and subsidies for "meals on wheels" for aged people. Allowances for the children of pensioners and beneficiaries were also increased. A high priority has been given to increased assistance to disabled people. The amount has more than doubled in five years to $1,060 million in 1980/81 The fixed rate income-test-free pension for those 70 and over was maintained.  There are to be further advances in social security and welfare. The Government has decided to:  - allocate $10 million for a three year capital programme for homeless persons with special provisions for homeless young people.  - in consultation with the States, establish crisis accommodation for families in distress.  - establish in conjunction with the States and voluntary organisations a National Children's Foundation to create greater public awareness of child abuse and to encourage support from voluntary organisations in this field.  - commit more funds over the next three years for an expanded Family Support Services Scheme.  The Government will also increase the personal care subsidy for residents in hostels for aged and disabled people from $15 to $20 a week.  VETERANS' AFFAIRS.  The Government has kept the needs of wartime ex-servicemen and women and their dependents under constant review. In its term of office it has made significant increases in veterans' allowances and benefits:  - major pensions have been indexed.  - extra help has been provided for the more seriously disabled.  - access to fringe benefits has been increased by liberalising eligibility for the Pensioner Health Benefit Card.  - service pensions have been made available for Allied Veterans of all wars.  The Government has continued to support and upgrade the major Repatriation Hospital in each State and many other veterans' medical institutions, It has increased the Defence Service Homes loan to $25,000 and reduced by four months the waiting time for houses being built. Loans for house construction are immediate.  HUMAN RIGHTS.  The Government is actively committed to the protection of human rights. The procedures it has already introduced within Australia are working effectively. It has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The procedures for appeals by citizens against decisions of tribunals within Commonwealth jurisdiction on Security, Administration and Repatriation matters have been strengthened and a Human Rights Bureau established. Further action to protect the rights of individuals will include:  - establishment of a Human Rights Commission.  - freedom of information legislation to give greater public access to Government policy and decision making.  - new procedures to investigate complaints about police conduct.  Family Law Courts are now in operation and emphasis is being placed on conciliation and agreement between parties in matters of custody and property.  LAW ENFORCEMENT AND DRUGS.  The Government has accepted the recommendations of the report of the Royal Commission on Drugs and Law Enforcement. As a result it has given to the Australian Federal Police the responsibility of enforcing Commonwealth law against imported drugs. Other proposals arising from the report include:  - a Joint Commonwealth/State Bureau of Criminal Intelligence.  - international law enforcement arrangements.  - forensic science services.  The Government is also seeking the cooperation of the New South Wales, Victorian and Queensland Governments for a judicial inquiry into drug related organised crime and corruption in law enforcement agencies.  ABORIGINALS.  The Government's principal objectives are to enable Aboriginals to be as free as other Australians to enjoy a lifestyle of their own choosing, to manage their own affairs and to ensure that their rights are protected. Assistance for housing, health, education and employment are high priorities. The new Aboriginal Development Commission of ten Aboriginal members began work this year. The Commission will acquire land for Aboriginal communities and groups, lend money to Aboriginals and finance business enterprises. It has a budget of almost $24 million, of which $10 million is the Government's first contribution for investment purposes.  Self-management.  Further responsibilities will be passed by the Government to the Commission. In future, the annual grants for Aboriginal housing, other than those to the States, will be placed under the responsibility of the Commission.  The Government's special programmes to assist Aboriginals include:  - thirteen new projects this year in community health, alcohol rehabilitation, health. education and nutrition.  - $22 million for welfare rental accommodation in addition to nearly $50 million through the Department's other programmes.  - increased accommodation in Aboriginal hostels.  - subsidised job training and new community development projects.  - special projects with local government agencies, the private sector and Aboriginal organisations to provide more jobs.  The Government will commit $50 million over five years for environmental health improvement. This year over 7,000 young Aboriginals are receiving post-school training.  The Government is consulting with Aboriginals, mining companies and State Governments to establish practical means of resolving problems where there may be a conflict between Aboriginal and development interests. The National Aboriginal Conference, a 35-member all-Aboriginal elected body and the Aboriginal Development Commission, an appointed 10-member all-Aboriginal body, have continued to be sources of valuable advice to the Government. The Conference recommended - following the electoral education campaign conducted by the Electoral Office - that voluntary electoral enrolment for Aboriginals should be changed to compulsory enrolment. This would put them in the same position as all other Australians, The Government will legislate to do this.  ETHNIC AFFAIRS.  The Government's innovations and assistance programmes for migrants have done much to increase their self reliance and integration within the Australian community. These will continue on an increased scale. Most of the specific recommendations of the Galbally report on migrant and ethnic problems have been carried out or are well advanced. More than $25 million has been provided this year to carry on this work A further $28 million has been allocated for the extension of the adult migrant education programme; an increase of 23 to accommodate 115.000 enrolments this year, The Government will upgrade migrant education in such areas as the Home Tutor Scheme. The Government is introducing new programmes to give impetus to the development of our multicultural society. It has accepted a recommendation of the newly established Institute of Multicultural Affairs to provide per capita grants to non-profit making ethnic part-time schools providing supplementary community language and cultural programmes.  More Migrant Centres.  Migrant Resource Centres are being increased throughout Australia. More than 130 bilingual information officers have been recruited to work among migrants. In the future officers will cover more geographical areas and more languages. More orientation courses are being conducted. This year 17,000 adults will be assisted compared with 3.000 two years ago. Ethnic radio has continued to flourish and the Government remains committed to multicultural television. The telephone interpreter service is to be expanded, especially in remote areas like the Pilbara, the Riverina and Mt Isa. The Government will mount a public awareness programme to encourage migrants to obtain Australian citizenship. A new system of nominations of relatives and friends of Australian residents has been developed. The Government will undertake a review of the Numerical Migrant Assessment System (NUMAS) to see if it continues to reflect adequately the extent to which Australian residents can assist in settlement of their relatives. The refugee programme will be extended to include provision for migrant entry of people from a diverse range of minority groups having connections with Australia.  WOMEN AND YOUTH.  The Government remains deeply committed to equality of opportunity for women and is active within the limits of its Constititional authority to achieve this. The National Women's Advisory Council, established by the Government in 1978, continues to be active in an advisory and research role. The Government will introduce legislation in the Australian Capital Territory to:  - proscribe discrimination on grounds of sex in areas such as employment, land, housing, accommodation and the provision of goods and services.  - establish procedures for the confidential conciliation of all complaints about discrimination and provide for civil proceedings if conciliation fails.  Outside the ACT anti-discrimination legislation is largely a matter for the States. The Government will maintain its commitment to youth and the National Youth Advisory Group, which it established, will continue to advise on the aspirations and needs of our young men and women. Support for the work of national youth organisations has been increased to $500.000 this year. A programme of international youth exchanges between Australia and South Pacific countries has been initiated and funded by the Government.  THE ARTS.  The Government's objective is to promote excellence in the creative and performing arts.  Through the Australia Council and other statutory bodies, including the International Cultural Corporation it has funded national and international cultural activities on an increasing scale. This year the Australia Council has had its grant increased to $29.4 million. Artbank was established this year and funds totalling $650,000 have been provided to date to buy works of Australian artists and, through the display of these works, encourage a wider public appreciation of Australian art. Tax deductions for gifts of works of art and cultural properties will now be permanent. The Government legislated this year for a Museum of Australia. and will continue its support for the construction of the National Gallery and the expansion of National Library services, including the application of new technology to its services. The Australian Film industry, which has already established a reputation for quality and enterprise, will be given a new tax incentive. The Government will, in future, allow 150 % of capital expenditure in the acquisition of the initial copyright in new Australian films to be eligible for write-off in the first year of expenditure and an exemption of an amount of net earnings by an investor in such a film up to 50% of his investment. Appropriate safeguards will be incorporated to prevent abuse of this concession. The scheme will be reviewed prospectively after three years. Other initiatives will include funds for permanent homes for the Film and Television School ($9 million) and for the National Institute of Dramatic Art ($ 3 million).  SPORT.  Australia is a sporting nation. The Government will continue to support its athletes and their organisations in the pursuit of excellence. It has established an Australian Institute of Sport to help promising. athletes, Mr Don Talbot, the distinguished swimming coach is returning from America to be its Director. The Government has assisted in the development of programmes of national sporting associations, the education of sports administrators and the provision of facilities of international standard. This year the Government has allocated almost $13 million for the extension of these programmes. A major initiative, in co-operation with the States, will be to provide funds for the holding of National Games beginning in 1983. Next year, as a forerunner to the National Games, the Government will provide $200,000 for special games at Brisbane using facilities being constructed for the Commonwealth Games in 1982. A sum of $150,000 will be provided in 1981 under the National Athlete Award Scheme to assist our world-ranked athletes with training and competition. The Government will also continue to provide funds for pre-event training for the 1982 Commonwealth Games and the 1984 Olympic Games.  Facilities.  Over the next three years the Government will provide $25 million, on a dollar for dollar basis with the States and Territories, for the further development of international facilities. The Federal Government will identify facilities and priorities in consultation with State and Territory governments. Facilities contemplated include; New South Wales - a multi-purpose indoor sports hall. Victoria - an equestrian centre and hockey field. Queensland-a shooting complex. South Australia - an indoor aquatic centre. Western Australia - a ballistics complex. Tasmania - a rowing and canoeing course. Northern Territory - a multi-purpose indoor sports hall. The Government will also provide funds to help establish an international standard motor racing circuit in the Australian Capital Territory. Special funds will also be provided for sport and recreation programmes for mentally and physically handicapped people and will be administered by a new body of representatives from major voluntary national organisations. The Government will provide assistance for Australian teams of disabled athletes to attend the next Paraplegic Olympics  A STRONG AND SECURE AUSTRALIA.  FOREIGN AFFAIRS.  The Government's foreign policy objectives are to:  - safeguard the independence and security of Australia.  - support our friends and allies in a practical way.  - play a responsible role in our own region and the wider world.  - adhere to the principles and practice of the United Nations Charter.  - seek to promote dialogue to bridge the gap between rich and poor countries.  - respond realistically to changes in the strategic international and regional environment.  The Government has taken initiatives in alerting the nation to the emerging realities of Soviet power and supported international moves to limit its threat to world peace. We condemned the Soviet backed Vietnamese invasion of Kampuchea and were the first nation to offer humanitarian assistance. We have pledged more than $14 million to relief programmes. The Government has continued to seek, in conjunction with ASEAN, a settlement in Kampuchea premised on the withdrawal of Vietnamese troops and free elections by the Kampuchean people. We have condemned the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and supported the United States in protest measures. We supported international protests to Iran on the hostages issue. The Government is closely examining the means of enhancing defence co-operation with the United States to facilitate American Indian Ocean operations.  Global.  Our foreign policy is global and will continue to be so. We played a major role in achieving acceptance of the proposals for constitutional settlement in Zimbabwe and independence for that nation. Australia has continued to contribute to the global dialogue aimed at bridging the gap between North and South. In this regard the Committee on Australia's relations with the Third World presented its report to the Government in 1979.  The scope and implementation of Australia's aid programme has been further developed Aid expenditure has been increased to approximately $547 million in 1980/81. The Government decided to permit tax deductibility of donations to eligible non-government organisations involved in the provision of overseas aid. The Government will provide additional support for the programme of the Australian Volunteers Abroad.  Throughout. its term of office the Government has been strengthening Australia's relations with major friendly powers and regional groups by:  - reaffirmation of the ANZUS Treaty in Canberra in 1979 and in Washington in 1980.  - initiatives within the Commonwealth of Nations and its regional members which developed the concept of regular regional meetings now known as Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting (CHOGRM).  - consolidating our relations with Great Britain and the other countries of Western Europe.  - new arrangements for closer links and regular consultations with Japan.  - a steady consolidation of our relations with China.  Regional.  In the region we have:  - increased consultation and formal links at Government and private sector level with ASEAN member countries.  - announced an enlarged three year rolling aid programme to the South Pacific.  - given unequivocal support for the independence and territorial integrity of Vanuatu.  - sponsored a study of the concept of a Pacific Community arrangement.  - taken initiatives for the development of our traditional relationship with New Zealand.  - completed the Torres Strait Treaty fixing the sea boundary between Australia and Papua New Guinea.  - negotiated maritime delimitation agreements with Australia's neighbours and proclaimed a 200 mile Australian fishing zone.  Australia has been elected to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and  continues to take an active part in the work of United Nations agencies. Australia has played a leading role in the development of a Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. As a result Hobart has been selected as the site of the headquarters of the international commission. The Government proposes to build on this record in pursuing the declared objectives of its foreign policy and will:  - strengthen our regional relationships.  - work constructively for a better balance between the rich nations and the poor.  Much has been done. There is still much we can do, having established a credible foreign policy and proved to be a reliable ally after the unease and uncertainty of the Labor Party's term of Government.  DEFENCE.  The Government is bringing Australia's defence forces up to a new level of strength and preparedness. The object is to:  - maintain the security of the nation.  - enable us to fulfil our commitments to friends and allies.  - contribute to the stability of our region.  We cannot ignore recent events in the Middle East, Afghanistan and South-East Asia. They have given an increased strategic significance to the Indian Ocean and to bases in Northern and Western Australia This has been recognised in our planning and the Government is closely examining means of enhancing defence co-operation with the United States in Indian Ocean operations.  Expansion.  The defence expansion will include:  - a record peace time naval construction programme estimated to cost $2,000 million.  - a reorganisation of the tactical roles of the permanent Army.  - a substantial increase in the Army Reserve and the acquisition of new equipment to provide increased mobility and firepower.  - a new Tactical Fighter Force and new capabilities and technologies for the RAAF.  - new bases in the north and west of the continent.  - high level defence co-operation with regional neighbours.  The current Five Year Defence Plan provides for a sustained growth in expenditure totalling some $17,600 million by 1985. In that period the permanent defence force will reach 76,600. Reserve forces are set to reach 30.000 by mid-1981. The Government will pay certain assurance premiums for Reservists who voluntarily take out an assurance cover to provide compensation for themselves and their families higher than that provided under the Compensation Act for injuries while on part-time service. The Government has not contemplated and does not intend to contemplate conscription for the armed forces in peacetime.  New Bases.  The current and proposed defence facilities in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory, will ring the top half of the continent. New patrol boat bases are being built in Cairns and Darwin and sites are being examined in the NorthWest. A new airfield will be sited at Derby and the Learmonth base is being upgraded. The Darwin airfield will be equipped as a base for one of the three new Fighter Squadrons. The Government will spend $1,400 million on defence equipment, stores and facilities this year. This will provide large business opportunities for Australian industry and should help to foster greater self-reliance in industry support for the defence forces. The whole thrust of Government defence policy, in both its civil and military aspects, is towards greater self-reliance. This is in the Nation's best security interests. Liberal policies are designed to enable all Australians to live free and independent lives in a secure nation. They are policies to promote the enterprise and initiative which will enable people to secure their own future through the rewards of their own efforts. They are also policies of compassion and concern for those in need.