THE CH0ICE.  CONTENTS.  • THE CH0ICE 5.  • PROSPERITY FOR AUSTRALIA 7.  • ENCOURAGING FAMILIES 17.  . RETIREMENT SECURITY 22.  • A SECURE AUSTRALIA 26.  • ONE NATION, ONE FUTURE 31.  . MAKING GOVERNMENT SERVE THE PEOPLE 37.  • THE LIBERAL DIRECTION 45.  This election is about the future for Australian families and the sort of Australia in which they want to live when we reach our bicentenary in 1988.  It is about whether we want families to be able to make their own choices about their own future - about their health care, their school, the way they spend their incomes - or whether we want the Government to make that choice for them.  It is about whether our elderly will have the security they deserve and our young people the jobs - and self-respect - they need.  It is about whether we are to enlarge the role of the Government and diminish the role of the individual and cripple the enterprise and effort on which a prosperous country depends.  It is about whether we want to reward thrift and initiative or punish those who work, save and invest.  It is about whether we want a free competitive enterprise system in which profits create investment and investment creates jobs and wealth or whether we want a system of bureaucratic direction and interference, in which the Government knows best.  It is about whether we want to improve the capacity of Australian industry to compete on the world stage.  It is about whether we want to continue to respect our heritage as a nation - our flag, our Queen, our Constitution, our values and our standards of government - or whether we want to create tensions and division within our community with radical change.  Australia can have one of the best futures in the world. In our resources, our traditions and the quality of our people we have great potential.  The Liberal Party has a clear direction for Australia. It is a direction based on our faith in ordinary Australian families and their capacity to make the most of their opportunities. It is a direction which is based on an optimistic spirit and a confidence in what people can do for themselves - for that is the essence of the Liberal approach. We have set six goals for Australia:  - to achieve prosperity for all.  - to give effective support to families.  - to ensure retirement security.  - to achieve a secure Australia.  - to keep us one nation.  - to make government serve the people.  In this document we have not made lavish promises or given commitments on every subject. Our individual policy statements have indicated our more detailed goals. Here we have set out our main priorities. Recently there have been many warnings about the economy outlook and the budgetary position in 1985 and beyond. Some of them have come from the Labor Government itself. It will only be possible to implement some of our commitments in our program as economic circumstances permit. But in our first budget we are committed to implementing our proposals for:  • a new deal for families with children, through tax cuts and child care rebates.  • abolishing the assets test.  • removing the extra tax on lump sum superannuating.  • starting the process of restoring choice in Medicare.  • beginning to restore the spending cuts in defense spending.  • tax relief for small business.  • widening opportunities in education and further training.  • helping primary industry to reduce its excessive cost burden.  If we can possibly do more we will. But we will not promise more in our first budget than we believe we can fulfil.  GOAL ONE: Prosperity for Australia.  The economic recovery that appears to be underway in Australia is largely the result of three factors for which Labor cannot claim any credit: the growing international recovery; the ending of the drought; and the last Coalition Government's Wages Pause which enabled Australia to take advantage of the international upturn.  Now we need to turn this fragile, short-term recovery into lasting prosperity.  This can only be achieved by a series of fundamental changes which aim directly at improving our international competitiveness. It is only a more competitive economy which can place Australia on a steady path of growth - and provide the jobs we all want to see.  Labor's policies are not jobs policies. Their commitment to high taxation and high spending policies can only penalize investment, incentive and job creation. Under Labor real interest rates have become among the highest in the OECD group, again penalizing investment and jobs. Add all these to Labor's inflexible wages policy and increasingly wider number of regulations - then Australia's economy can only become more inflationary and less competitive.  In contrast, our approach is to take advantage of change with positive and outward-looking policies. The next Liberal Government will:  • Introduce a new industrial relations policy to make Australian industry more competitive and maximize job creation.  • Reduce reliance on personal income tax by broadening the indirect tax base.  • Place effective limits on Government spending to allow tax cuts, reduce the deficit and interest rates and give the private sector room to grow.  • Reduce government regulation and interference.  • Sell off some government controlled enterprises such as ANL, Medibank and TAA where the interests of Australians would be better served if they were operated by private enterprise.  WAGES AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS.  Liberals do not accept the Labor view that high unemployment is inevitable.  There is a way to more widely share the benefits of economic recovery. And that is to gear policies to the interests of ail Australian workers - not only those currently employed but the six hundred thousand out of work.  The reality is that under the exclusive agreement between Labor and the ACTU - the Accord - unemployment remains unacceptably high. The trade unions are an important part of our country - but they are only a part, not the whole. They should certainly be consulted by the Government, but they should not run it.  The Accord's wage index and extensive non-wage cost increases can only reduce the incentive to invest. We have become accustomed to hearing the constant cry for more and more money, more services, more government spending, more perks - but we never hear where the more is to come from. There can be more - but only if we invest and produce it first.  We will introduce a much freer, decentralized and flexible structure in which Australian business and industry can work. A positive environment of industrial relations, reform, deregulation, of incentive for work and achievement will be provided so that business can make profits and workers can get jobs.  The present system takes no account of the realities facing Australian businesses - and it takes no account of the need for awards and conditions to be tailored to what industry as a whole, and individual firms in particular, can afford to pay. The result bas been to discourage competitiveness and keep people out of work. The biggest losers have been the hundreds of thousands of small businesses and their employees and the unemployed, especially the young.  We will introduce a new tribunal to replace the Arbitration Commission. It will have the power to fix a minimum wage. It will be up to individual employers and employees to work out over-award conditions and rates (e.g. penalty rates) and thus share in the benefits of co-operation. The responsibility for the future of a company will not be able to be passed off on to big groups and institutions who have no direct interest in it. Individual companies will also be free to vary award terms and conditions to preserve employment if there is unanimous agreement between an employer and his employees. We shall ensure the tribunal's decisions can be properly en-forced.  Our more flexible wage-fixing structure will mean many companies who want to take on additional workers will be able to afford to do so. Young people will also benefit from our inquiry into junior wage rates to ensure teenagers are not priced out of work.  A Liberal Government will introduce a range of measures to support the nights of workers to choose their own conditions - with a much wider introduction of permanent part-time work on pro-rata terms and conditions, including the Public Service.  We remain opposed to Labor's plan to remove the ban on secondary boycotts.  We shall encourage initiatives such as profit sharing to create a greater sense of partnership in industries.  There has been a lot of rhetoric from the present government about "bringing Australia together". Liberals will commence this process in the heart of the economy - by encouraging employers and employees to share in the responsibilities and benefits of industrial co-operation. The best of our international competitors do this - it is time we did.  CUTTING TAXES.  To become more prosperous, Australia must become more productive and Australians must be given more incentive to be productive.  Taxes have to be held down so that hard work, responsibility and success are rewarded. Our tax policy contains four clear commitments:  • We will not allow any increase in the overall tax burden, and over lime, we aim to reduce taxation as a proportion of GDP by a combination of spending restraint and economic growth.  • We will reduce the present heavy reliance on personal tax as a source of revenue by broadening the tax base and placing greater reliance on indirect taxation.  • We will give families with children priority for personal tax relief.  • We will abolish Labor's assets test and reverse the Labor Government's changes to the taxation treatment of lump sum superannuating payments. We will not introduce a Capital Gains Tax or tax on wealth or death duties.  Today, hundreds of thousands of families on average wages are losing 46 cents of every extra dollar they earn to the tax man - a rate of tax that in other countries only the rich are forced to pay. We now have the highest taxing Government in our peace time history. Such rates are a disincentive to people trying to get ahead.  Australia places an excessive and growing reliance on personal income tax. As a result more and more people are moving into higher tax brackets, destroying the incentive to work or take a risk and reducing the incentive to save. So the next Liberal Government will start the move away towards indirect tax.  Changes will be gradual, predictable and carried out in such a way as not to disadvantage any particular sector. Welfare and pension recipients on indexed benefits will be protected against the increase in prices.  In the current budgetary circumstances, it would be irresponsible to promise further immediate tax relief. In an improved climate, it should be possible to further reduce the burden of personal income taxation. But our direction is clear: less personal income taxation and more incentive to achieve.  REDUCING THE SIZE AND THE POWER OF GOVERNMENT.  The Liberal strategy for growth puts high emphasis on curtailing and reducing government expenditure - the major cause of our current levels of taxation and debt - and in removing those regulations which inhibit economic competitiveness.  By limiting the growth of the Public Service and controlling government program commitments, we can make significant savings and cut the current deficit and level of debt.  In the past two years, the Hawke Government's growth in expenditure has been nearly 7% per annum in real terms. This is in sharp contrast to the previous Coalition's seven-year average growth of only 2% per annum.  Reducing the current rate of growth in government expenditure by only 2%, a feasible target for our first budget, would result in a saving of $1200 million to tax-payers. By placing a ceiling on Public Service growth - a major item of increase in the last two Hawke Budgets - a Liberal Government would produce real savings for taxpayers.  We do not claim that reduction in Labor's frequently sharply higher expenditure programs can ail be achieved dramatically overnight. Some changes can only follow thorough investigation of the effectiveness of the programs that have been introduced. There are, however, some areas of Government expenditure where reductions can be achieved.  For example, largely because of Labor's Medicare scheme, Commonwealth outlays on health have been increased by an extraordinary 81 per cent in Labor's first two Budgets. Expressed in terms of 1979-80 prices, Labor has added almost $1.5 billion to health expenditure in just two years. And because of the fundamental weaknesses of the Medicare scheme itself, there is no doubt that the cost explosion will continue. In contrast, our changes to Medicare would result in major cost savings.  The next Coalition Government also will reduce substantially the cost of government administration. In the 1984-85 Budget, total Commonwealth administrative costs are projected to increase by a massive $724 million (16.7 per cent). In part, this increase reflects the expansion of public sector programs under the current Labor Government and this will be reduced by bringing program commitments back under control.  A Coalition government will also commence a program of sustained deregulation - both to cut government costs and to also allow more competition in the Australian economy.  We will continue the process of getting government out of regulating the, finance market - therefore allowing much greater competition in this area, to the ultimate benefit of business and consumers. We will continue the deregulation of interest rates, a move which will be of direct benefit to ordinary Australians and to Australian industry.  In the section, "Making Government Serve the People", we outline further deregulation and privatization measures which will have the effect of reducing the power of government and improving the position of taxpayers, consumers and business.  Reducing the size and power of government cannot be achieved overnight and there is no one magical solution. Instead, reductions in the burden of government will come from a range of programs within the context of an overall strategy for economic growth. The Hawke Government bas sharply accelerated growth in government and that means higher taxes and charges. It is the Liberal strategy to put firm controls on growth in the public sector now - as the best insurance for the future.  GETTING OUR MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES GOING.  A vigorous, internationally competitive, ex-port-oriented manufacturing sector is a fundamental element in the restoration of economic prosperity and a high standard of living for ail Australians.  Government strategies cannot themselves produce revival - but they can produce the climate within which revival can take place.  The fact is many Australian manufacturing industries are highly efficient but are burdened by a generally uncompetitive domestic cost structure, including an inflexible wages System. Liberal policies are directed at overcoming many of the barriers to competitiveness.  The Liberal direction is to ensure that all of our industries can operate in an increasingly volatile international environment.  Accordingly we reject trade and industry policies which seek to permanently protect Australian industries from the realities of the market. Some industries must be restructured so that others can grow to provide more jobs.  We will promote structural changes to improve efficiency and competitiveness. There will be orderly and phased reductions in Australia's trade barriers, particularly those which are conducive to inefficiency, distortion or inequity. We will act swiftly to protect Australia from the damaging effects of dumping and unfair overseas trading practices.  The emphasis in our policies is to give business more freedom - as is reflected in our industrial relations policy, our taxation and budgetary policy and our policy on deregulation.  In keeping with this approach we will abolish EPAC, the Australian Manufacturing Council, and its advisory Industry Advisory Councils and their bureaucracies. They will be replaced with advisory bodies which are not dominated by big unions and big government.  Excessive regulation is a heavy burden on industry. We will take firm action to reduce the amount of Government regulation and to give both the "victims" and the "beneficiaries" of regulation a voice in reviewing regulations.  We will continue the process of deregulation of financial markets and interest rates - a move which will be of benefit to the consumer and industry.  As budgetary circumstances permit, we will move towards reviewing the current situation with regard to the taxation of dividends and towards maintaining and ex-tending investment allowances, so as to encourage more local investment in Australian companies.  And there will be more flexible research and development incentives in the private sector - through taxation incentives. Australia's record in the field of science is one to be proud of- now there must be more encouragement of greater research in the private sector.  There will be increased emphasis on linking the Australian economy with our neighbors - particularly in the Pacific Basin. We will consider all feasible ways to liberalize world trade, including initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region.  In keeping with our ex port-oriented approach we will amend the IAC Act to change the emphasis of the Industries Assistance Commission to that of an Industries Development Commission.  These initiatives will emphasize, our commitment to the restoration of a growing role for manufacturing industry.  RESOURCES AND ENERGY.  The development of our resources provides a challenge. Partly as a result of high inflation, high interest rates, excessive labor costs and over regulation, our resources industries have lost their competitive edge. Labor's interference has discouraged investment. A reduction in regulation and intervention, and our commitment to free enterprise and a free market, in which profit is recognized as the incentive and reward for investment, will go some way to restore their fortunes.  Where taxation changes are made they should be based on the use of a uniform corporate tax System instead of specific resources based taxes. Tax impact statements will be prepared before changes are made. We are committed to abolishing the coal levy.  Development of uranium mines and markets is essentially a matter for industry not government and we reject Labor's interventionist approach which has caused Australia to lose investment and jobs. Restrictions on marketing Australia's uranium should be limited to the strict maintenance of international safeguards, and national security.  PRIMARY INDUSTRY.  Our agricultural industries continue to make an immense contribution to our export income, provide jobs for hundreds of thousands of people and sustain the economy of the countryside. Policies for the rural sector need to be flexible and take into account the rapidly changing economic circumstances which farmers have to face through changing market and seasonal conditions.  As a major boost to export competitiveness we will ensure the Commonwealth gradually takes over the entire cost of Commonwealth export inspections. A new drought relief structure will be drawn up which will take into consideration the drought related problem of small business and industry in rural communities. Income stabilization will be improved by restoring income equalization deposits, maintaining the full excise tax rebate on diesel fuel used in the industry and continuing the petroleum freight equalization scheme. The wine tax will be abolished.  Assistance to eradicate brucellosis and tuberculosis will be maintained. Special assistance will be given to assist sugar producers through their current problems.  The rural sector will particularly benefit from the Liberal Party's more flexible wages policy. Even in bad years, Labor's wages policy forces primary producers to carry the same increase in wages as other sectors of the economy. The result is lower investment and a loss of the competitive edge built up by the Australian rural sector.  Primary producers are particularly hard hit by Labor's assets test which clearly discriminates against the rural community. We will abolish Labor's assets test.  The rural sector would also be hit hard by proposals for re-introduction of Federal death duties, which could destroy the family farm. We will not introduce death duties. Nor would we introduce a new capital gains tax, which again would discriminate against primary producers.  As the current Primary Industry Minister, Mr. Kerin, said on 1 December, 1983:  "I think it'd be fair to say in the ALP generally there isn't a strong appreciation of the life and values of people in the rural communities in Australia." Labor's tax proposals support Mr. Kerin's views.  SMALL BUSINESS.  Small businesses are the backbone of the economy - and the keys to investment, growth and jobs. Their success depends upon a growing economy, lower inflation, lower interest rates, and a more flexible approach to wages. Our overall economic policies are directed toward achieving these aims.  We will reduce the rate of company tax for smaller incorporated businesses. We have set aside almost $25 million in our first Budget for that tax reduction.  Access to information for small business will be improved including the introduction of a national small business "hot line". These are only a few of the wide range of initiatives included in our Small Business policy. As stated earlier, we remain opposed to Labor's plans to repeal the secondary boycott provisions in the Trade Practices Act.  The reality is that it is the 700,000 or more small businesses in Australia which will give this country the best chance of solving our unemployment problem. Anything which needlessly threatens investment and effort in small business should not be considered. Labor's apparent plans for a capital gains tax are a threat to small business. There is concrete evidence front the United States that a capital gains tax has a major impact on investment in small and medium size companies. These are some of the reasons why the Liberal Party remains adamantly opposed to a new capital gains tax in Australia.  TOURISM.  Tourism is Australia's fastest growing industry. It is employment intensive; and provides substantial job opportunities for many of the community groups who currently have a high level of unemployment (e.g. youth, migrants). Industry studios have forecast that 125,000 new jobs could be created by 1990.  Our industrial relations policy which provides for greater flexibility will assist this growth and job creation potential. For example, award conditions can vary according to the needs of a particular region, location or part of the industry. Again, our policy proposes that the working of standard hours at weekends or evenings should not attract overtime or penalty rates.  The Coalition's policy document on tourism contains a wide range of other initiatives, including tourist discount air tares, education and training, and encouraging the industry to develop combined rail/bus/airline packages. We would also work with the States and travel industry to promote the concept of specific package deal holidays for the Australian motoring public.  GOAL TWO: Encouraging Families. SUPPORTING THE FAMILY.  Effective support for family life and bringing up children is essential to Australia's future. We are proud of the record of Liberal Governments in encouraging families. The new Liberal Government will build upon that record and make up for me deterioration which has occurred under Labor.  The family is not a static institution. It has gradually changed over time. It is our duty to address change in family life while encouraging its strong, enduring features:  • the desire for a family home.  • help in creating a decent community environment.  • practical assistance to family budgets.  • and the provision of services, like education, to ensure that children have every opportunity.  HOME OWNERSHIP.  Under previous Liberal Governments home ownership in Australia rosé to nearly 70 per cent - the highest in the world. Our aim is to maintain and extend that level of home ownership. Crucial to this task is making housing finance more accessible. As such, further deregulation of our financial market will play a vital role.  We acknowledge that the Commonwealth Government has a special responsibility to cooperate with State Governments to assist the disadvantaged in obtaining adequate housing.  Our basic objectives include encouraging and helping home ownership across the widest possible range of income groups, while concentrating Commonwealth assistance in areas of greatest need.  We will retain the First Home Owners Assistance Scheme (F.H.O.S.) and home seekers eligible to receive benefits under this scheme can be safe in the knowledge that we will honor their entitlements to payments for the full 5-year benefit.  To widen opportunities for first home buyers to buy their own home, we will encourage financial institutions to increase the availability of innovative and flexible loan repayment schedules.  However, the most practical way to help the maximum number of Australians with homes is by responsible economic policies. Current real interest rates in Australia are higher than in all the major OECD countries. This is due solely to Labor's big spending programs and in the end will provide the biggest barrier to expanded home ownership.  FAMILY TAX RELIEF.  Families have been particularly hard hit by Labor. There are additional expenses involved in raising children and families with children have a reduced capacity to pay tax. Previous Liberal Governments increased the value of the spouse rebate and introduced family allowances, but under Labor, families with dependent children are worse off in comparison with other taxpayers.  So the next Liberal Government will give top priority to income tax justice and relief for families with children, including arrangements to give families a genuine choice of whether or not both partners will work.  In our first budget our family tax relief will give couples with dependent children the choice for tax purposes of splitting their total income up to a set limit. Each partner will then be taxed as if they had received half of a specified amount of the total income. In other words we will treat the family as a team in which both partners are recognized as making a contribution to the team effort.  It would be irresponsible to promise too much immediately, given Australia's present budgetary position. But we will make a start in our first budget.  There would be a limit to the level of aggregate income that could be dealt with in this way.  One example is where one parent works and earns $18.500 per annum and his wife has no income. If $18,500 is in fact the limit then they will be assessed for tax purposes as if each had received $9,250 per year. The benefit available at that income level would also be the maximum benefit available for higher incomes. This inclusion of a limit contrasts with the previous income splitting proposal by Mr. Hawke and the ACTU under which the higher the income- the higher the tax cut.  The Coalition family tax relief will make it easier for parents who choose not to work to stay at home. The pressure on parents to enter the workforce regardless of their personal wishes will be reduced.  The income-splitting scheme also has the following advantages.  • It reduces the impact of tax creep, particularly in the 46 cent bracket, around which the large majority of one-income families are concentrated.  • It restores equity for mostly PAYEE wage earners with workers who already have access to splitting.  CHILD CARE REBATE.  In many Australian families both parents choose to work, either full or part-time. Many parents - especially those who are sole sup-porting parents - have no choice. We recognize that going to work, and at the same time having to pay for child-care, adds to the financial burden of many parents.  So the next Liberal Government will progressively introduce a child care tax rebate for families where both parents are employed for at least part of the time or for part of the year. Married couples where one parent is employed and the other is invalid would be eligible. The rebate would be given to single parents where they are employed at least part-time. We will ensure, through a combination of adjustments to the sole parent rebate, and the operation of the child care rebate, that sole parents receive an adequate benefit.  The Liberal Child Care Plan will bring Australian taxation into line with the realities of modem family life. It is an initiative which makes a practical contribution to strengthening the family: gives direct help to the single-parent family and improves flexibility and choice for people to select their own life style.  EDUCATION.  A sound education is the first step towards obtaining a job and a rewarding life. We will restore fairness, opportunity, choice and excellence to the schools System.  The Labor party is still obsessed with the structure of the schools system, paying too lit-tie regard to the quality of education. As a result we have a system which in the view of many parents and teachers all too often fails to provide pupils with even the basic tools of literacy and numeracy. We must restore to every child the chance to progress as far as his or her abilities 'allow. So we will introduce a nation-wide "Basic Competencies Program" designed to improve standards of literacy and numeracy and try to ensure nobody leaves school without the 3Rs.  We will halt Labor policies which are undermining good schools.  We support the revitalization of the Government schools system and will support a Special Schools Commission program for those with a variety of special needs. We will re-establish the basic grant for all non-government schools with a percentage link between government school standard costs and grants for non-government schools so that genuine choice is restored. There will be further assistance to needy non-government schools through additional assistance of up to an extra 21% of government school standard cost. Restoring parents' rights of choice will also help raise standards by giving them greater influence over the education their children receive.  Throughout the education system, we are committed to excellence and equality of opportunity. We are vigorously opposed to Labor's "equality of outcome" which really means "leveling down" and producing children who are ail much the same. Through a range of programs, we will provide equality of opportunity and encourage the development of different talents and levels of ability. We will encourage a diversification of the senior school curriculum to allow students to acquire desired and valued skills.  We will introduce an expanded program for computer education in schools to equip young Australians with the technological skills they need. We will retain the Centers of Excellence program in Universities.  Greater access for the thousands of Australians who want further education will be provided through an Open University. This will particularly assist those people who, because of family, work, health, location or travel commitments, cannot attend tertiary institutions.  To encourage young Australians who want to continue their education, we will increase TEAS to narrow the gap between it and the unemployment benefit.  FIGHTING CRIME.  Australia is one of the best places in the world in which to bring up children. But we must be careful to maintain the standards the community expects and wants, We must give children and young people every chance to grow up in the best possible environment.  That is the responsibility of parents as well as Government.  The approach of Labor to these problems has been inadequate. The Costigan Commission was prematurely terminated despite the pleas of Commissioner Costigan. A National Crime Authority has been set up which is not strong enough and is potentially subject to political veto and interference. And the Labor Government was clearly reluctant to undertake any serious inquiry into video pornography. In the meantime, the war on heroin and other addictive drugs is becoming more and more difficult.  Extreme forms of pornography will have no place in our society. A meaningful inquiry into pornography and the pornography trade will be conducted and appropriate action taken.  A Liberal Government will crack down hard on drugs. There will be no mercy given to organized crime.  As part of the fight against drugs, we will establish a special surveillance command within the Australian Defense Force situated in northern Australia. All the necessary resources of State and Federal governments could be coordinated under this command.  GOAL THREE: Retirement Security.  One of our great national achievements was to lead the world in care for the elderly. Liberals can take pride in the fact that ,we have helped build a society in which those who worked and saved were rewarded in retirement. Australians are as united as ever in their support for a "fair go" for the elderly. Yet in less than two years of Labor Government, retirement security has been undermined. The imposition of the assets test has caused confusion and anxiety. Labor's 31 per cent tax on lump sum superannuating has wrecked retirement plans and forced ordinary Australians to take annuities instead of a lump sum.  The Liberal retirement program will restore certainty and peace of mind to the elderly. People should be actively encouraged by Government to put aside a nest egg for a secure retirement. They should be allowed to work, plan and save knowing that the rules will not be totally changed by Government. These principles are at the heart of Liberal retirement policy.  Th new Liberal Government will act immediately to:  • Scrap Labor's assets test on pensioners.  • Scrap Labor's tax of up to 31 per cent on lump sum superannuating.  We will scrap the assets test for the same reasons we scrapped it in 1976. Those reasons come under four basic headings: intrusion, unfairness, complexity and costs. They are analyzed in detail to indicate the misplaced priorities of Labor.  Intrusion; The truth is that at least naïf a million elderly Australians will receive unwelcome forms and letters from the Departments of Social Security and Veterans' Affairs. The great majority of these people will not be wealthy.  They will be ordinary Australians who live in modest houses and units. Their only mistake was to work a lifetime and pay their tax. Yet now they are told that the rules have changed. They will have to put a value on personal goods and if that value exceeds the limit set by the Government they will lose a part or ail of their pension.  The assets test forms require pensioners to provide information on virtually every aspect of their personal finances and goods. Intrusion is an ongoing feature of the assets test. Pensioners will be required to update information on a regular basis.  Unfairness: Assets tests are by nature, bound to be unfair and discriminatory in operation. This test is no different. It is rid-died with anomalies and inequities.  The assets test discriminates against those 479,000 pensioners who live in rented accommodation. While the Liberal Party firmly supports home ownership and the desire of people to improve their homes, we do not support Government imposing penalties on those who rent.  The assets test heavily discriminates against the 170,000 families who live on family farms. The family farm as a productive unit is not exempt from the assets test. Farmers approaching the pensionable age and those on pensions cannot give their farms to sons and daughters who have often already put in many years of work in building up the farm. The assets test threatens the future of the family farm.  Complexity: The assets test is already generating red tape, entangling and confusing those least able to rearrange their affairs. An additional 1500 public servants have already been employed to introduce and enforce the assets test. In addition to the Departments of Social Security and Veterans' Affairs, the Valuation Section of the Taxation Department will be actively involved in valuing property resulting in many pensioners having to con-tend with more than one Government Department.  Future: In its introduction and first year of operation, on the Government's own figures, the assets test will actually cost taxpayers nearly $55 million. While the costs are growing the Government bas become increasingly vague about future savings in 1986 and after.  The uncertainties surrounding the projected savings from the assets test leads to one conclusion. The present rules and regulations are only the beginning. No Government imposes an assets test that only returns comparatively small amounts of savings.  Should Labor win this election they would be in a position to tighten the regulations and restrictions. For these fundamental reasons, the next Liberal Government will scrap the assets test. We will encourage, not penalize, Australians to work towards a retirement free of worry. Our goal is peace of mind and stability for the elderly.  LABOR'S LUMP-SUM SUPERANNUATING TAX.  We will scrap the 31 per cent tax on lump sum superannuating for similar reasons. No Government has the right to tell people how they can take their superannuating pay out. In the past there was always a choice because of the widely differing circumstances of people. People need increased flexibility in their retirement options for the future. With changing work patterns and increasing movement from one career to another Australians need more flexible superannuating Systems.  Many men and women now complete their first career in their 40s and 50s. They often prefer to take their superannuating pay out as a lump sum to use to start a new business or buy a retirement home.  The Liberal Party superannuating policy lets people make their own choice about how they take their superannuating. We will scrap Labor's 31 per cent tax and return to the previous, fair arrangement.  INDEXATION OF PENSIONS.  We will continue the indexing of pensions according to movements in the Consumer Price Index. We will also move to liberalize the eligibility provisions for the Pensioner Health Card as budgetary circumstances permit.  These are Liberal priority objectives for the elderly. In the longer term though there is a need for fundamental reform of retirement policy.  We see the following elements as vital considerations in the long term improvement of the retirement System:  • Reduction of disincentives and impediments to self-provision caused by the combined effects of the means test and income tax.  • Simplification of procedures to enable pensioners to choose to deal with a single Government department instead of both Taxation and Social Security or Veterans' Affairs.  • A more effective integration of Government income support with superannuating.  • Encouragement of the widest possible employee superannuating coverage with appropriate safeguards for portability and the preservation and vesting of benefits.  • Recognition of the special problems of the self-employed to ensure their treatment is similar to employees. The Liberal Party has supported the comprehensive review of pensioner needs through the current Senate Inquiry. That Inquiry has unfortunately been delayed by the premature election. We look forward to receiving the recommendations of the Senate Inquiry after the election as thy new Liberal Government.  GOAL FOUR: A Secure Australia. FOREIGN RELATIONS.  We cannot isolate Australia from our region or the rest of the world. Our security is totally bound up with the security of our friends and allies in the Western World. It will be guaranteed best by strengthening and contributing to the Western Alliance, the ANZUS Treaty and the Five Power Agreement.  For three decades the ANZUS partnership has been the effective cornerstone of our national security. Our defense links with the United States through ANZUS are rightly seen by Australians as essential to a secure future.  Recent developments have shaken the ANZUS link. The Labor Government has cast uncertainty over the docking and visiting rights of the ships of our allies. The denial of repair facilities for HMS Invincible caused concern and uncertainty amongst our allies.  The actions of the New Zealand Labor Government in banning visits of nuclear powered or armed ships to their ports threaten to reduce ANZUS to a hollow shell. Labor's response has been weak and contradictory in spite of the Soviet naval build-up in the Asia-Pacific region.  We will repair the damage Labor has done to our national security through the weakening of ANZUS. Our strong preference is for ANZUS to continue as an effective alliance with the full participation of all three partners. A Liberal Government will make this clear to the New Zealand Government.  But if the New Zealand Government finds itself unable to play a full part in ANZUS, then the new Liberal Government will enter into negotiations aimed at concluding a bilateral alliance with the United States. Australia's national security cannot be left in continuing uncertainty.  The next Liberal Government will end the uncertainty over the visiting and docking privileges of our allies. While insisting on the highest standards of safety we will welcome the visits of allied ships. We will reaffirm our commitment to the continued operation of the Joint Defense Facilities in Australia as a contribution to world peace and support joint exercises to safeguard the Pacific and Indian Ocean approaches.  As a developed country, geographically close to developing countries, Australia can have a special role of building up trade, political, economic and development ties with our region.  PEACE AND DISARMAMENT.  Of central importance to Liberal Party policy is the prevention of nuclear war. In recognition of this the Coalition has issued a separate policy on "Disarmament and Arms Control".  In a nuclear war there can be no winners, no escape for neutral nations and no protection in so-called nuclear-free zones. Nuclear effects are world-wide.  Clearly, this whole issue is central to the future of mankind.  Under a Liberal Government, several initiatives were taken to promote the cause of peace and disarmament, including Australian participation in the influential United Nations Committee on Disarmament.  We believe that there is a place for nuclear technology in the world in such areas as agriculture, medicine and energy. But we will strongly resist the spread of nuclear weapons. For that reason, we will actively encourage more nations to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and urge the five nuclear weapon states to strengthen their side of the non-proliferation commitment.  Whilst nuclear disarmament promises the best long-term solution to avoiding nuclear war, it is only one part of the answer. The other is the continuation of a viable deterrent as long as it is required. At this time, deterrence remains the only effective and viable restraint.  It is not sufficient to try to prevent only nuclear war. Conventional weapons (including chemical, nerve and bacteriological weapons) are greatly increasing in lethal and destructive power. Moreover, a conventional war involving significant interests of major powers could rapidly accelerate into a nuclear exchange.  A pre-requisite for any effective long-term disarmament must be continuous diplomatic moves to eliminate or reduce areas of tension. In such matters Australia can and must play an active part.  We urge the early resumption of the Strategy Arms Reduction Talks (START).  We will advocate and support a universal agreement to achieve a comprehensive nuclear test ban whether atmospheric or subterranean. We oppose, the French testing in Mururoa Atoll.  Australia is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty - and we should continue working to bolster and broaden its scope. As an exporter of uranium, Liberal policies have established stringent safeguards and monitoring Systems.  We will work to strengthen the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to improve its programs and its safeguards and surveillance Systems.  As a respected member of the Conference on Disarmament, Australia has a valuable opportunity to influence discussions and decisions in the plenary sessions.  The task of securing effective arms control and a permanent and just peace cannot rest solely with governments and international conferences. It demands a full community understanding of the many complex problems. It requires comprehensive and reasoned public debate on the issues.  In recognition of the need for a well-informed community, we will provide accurate and objective information and will encourage thorough public debate and scrutiny. With a full public understanding, we will seek to achieve bi-partisanship between all political parties, both on facts and actions.  DEFENSE.  The maintenance of an Australian Defense Force able to deter aggression against Australia, its territories, maritime zone and legitimate national interests is a prime responsibility of the Federal Government.  The Australian Defense Force should be at least independently capable of handing a low level threat and be progressively strengthened so that this independent capability is enhanced. The Australian Defense Force should have the capability to operate and integrate with allied forces.  As the recent Report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense concluded, Australia's present defense strategy is inadequate and our forces are thinly spread and generally ill-prepared.  Under Labor, defense has not received the budget priority that the current strategic situation requires. There has been a rundown in spare parts, ammunition and fuel. Weapons and equipment are aging. The fixed wing aircraft of the RAN have been sold. Units are operating below establishment. The RAAF has no aerial refueling or airborne early warning radar. The Reserves have suffered an enforced reduction in numbers, bars to new recruitment and a reduction in training.  Liberal defense policy is dedicated to restoring the strength and vitality of the Australian Defense Force. The new Liberal Government will ensure that the ADF is efficiently organized, adequately manned, well trained, properly equipped and backed with the logistic support necessary for it to fulfil its responsibilities.  The serious budget outlook makes it impossible to assess precisely the level of available resources, but we are committed to giving defense a high budget priority. Redressing the run-down under Labor will begin in our first Budget. Priority will be given to Northern and Western Australia for new basing and deployment including a patrol boat facility in NW Australia and a RAAF base in the Cape York Peninsula.  A strong Divisional structure must be retained in the Army and it must be equipped with the manpower and arms it needs. Upgrading the capability of the Operational Deployment Force based at Townsville will be a major priority.  We will program the acquisition of air-borne early warning radar aircraft and bring Jindalee over-the-horizon radar into operation as soon as possible.  An urgent investigation will be initiated into the best replacement for the Oberon Class submarines. We will strengthen the Navy's mine countermeasure forces and anti-submarine capability.  GOAL FIVE: One Nation, One Future.  In four years time Australia will celebrate its two hundredth birthday. Over two centuries, we have built up a great heritage. Perhaps the most outstanding feature of our national experience has been the social cohesion and unity we have achieved. While other nations have been bitterly divided within, Australians have stuck together.  This has taken work, effort and practical wisdom on the part of many Australians. Successive governments have matched a vision of a growing Australia with a sensitivity to making sure that we have the social and economic climate which can absorb the many different peoples who have settled here.  In the next four years, and beyond, we have to apply the same wisdom and sensitivity. There are tensions in our society between groups and it would be unwise to assume that "she'll be right". In controversial areas such as land rights and immigration, we have to exercise foresight and judgement in making sure that we make the right decisions for all Australians.  LIBERAL SUPPORT FOR THE FEDERAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.  Australia has been well served by its Constitution and the Federal System of Government it established. The Liberal Party is a strong defender of the federal system. Unlike Labor we do not support the centralization of government power.  In a nation as vast and diverse as Australia effective Federal, State and local government Systems are needed to fulfil a variety of functions. We strongly support the division of powers amongst the three tiers of government.  A Federal Liberal Government will respect the powers and functions given to the States under the Constitution and built up over eighty-four years of federal experience. We will work with the States to produce genuinely co-operative and workable solutions to problems that arise.  NATIONAL SYMBOLS.  The Liberal Party reflects the views of the great majority of Australians who support the retention of our flag, and the constitutional monarchy. We believe that many of these traditions are binding influences in our society. The aim must be to build on the strengths - not to destroy them.  As we move toward the Bicentennial Year of 1988, our national symbols will take on added meaning. They embody a great national history. We do not seek to deny our past or to distort it.  IMMIGRATION.  Australia has one of the world's great records in immigration. To continue that record we affirm the following fundamental principles of a responsible immigration policy.  • that people should be admitted as refugees or for family reunion or for the benefit of the Australian community.  • that the size and composition of the immigrant intake should not jeopardize social cohesiveness and harmony within the Australian community.  Immigration criteria will be applied consistently to all applicants regardless of their race, color, nationality, or sex  Applicants will be considered for migration as individuals or family units.  Eligibility standards for migrants should reflect Australian social mores and Australian laws. Migration to Australia should be for permanent settlement.  While migrants have the same rights as other Australian residents, individually or collectively, enclave settlement will not be encouraged.  Policies governing entry and settlement should be based on the premise that immigrants should integrate into Australian society.  The current community concern and debate over immigration policy is the direct result of changes in the immigration program made by the current Government. These changes were made without adequate community consultation.  The Labor Government has departed from the bi-partisan policies implemented by Liberal Governments. Labor has overlooked an essential part of any successful immigration program in that they have failed to take the Australian community with them.  The next Liberal Government will move to restore community support for the immigration program. We will support the family reunion program, fully consider the employment needs of Australians and the short and long term national need for migrants with skills and capital.  MULTICULTURALISM.  The Coalition supports multiculturalism as an enhancement of the Australian way of life. Australia's strength and greatness is enhanced by the diversity of its ethnic groups  The prime thrust of our approach to multiculturalism is not to institutionalize differences between groups. The aim must be to encourage all groups in Australia to participate in the broad mainstream of the Australian way of life, using the general community based services. These services are more responsive to the needs of all Australians, particularly minorities.  Grant in aid schemes to community-based ethnic groups offering services in welfare, education and family support will be maintained. Emphasis will be given to those groups with greatest need and those servicing the most recently arrived settlers.  ABORIGINES AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDERS.  Australians have a special responsibility to Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. Though there are enormous differences, as a group Aborigines are the worst educated, worst fed and worst housed people in Australia. We will give special attention to their real needs through a range of programs better targeted to ensure funds get through to those who can benefit most.  Our policy is to provide a practical approach to the problems confronting the Aboriginal community, with co-operation and consultation between the Aboriginal people and all levels of Government. We recognize that the needs of Aborigines are not uniform across Australia and, in most cases, are most appropriately dealt with by the States. For this reason, we oppose Labor's uniform land rights policy.  Liberal Land Rights policy does not include overturning existing titles and resuming farming land or private property; isolating vast areas from exploration and development; or the Commonwealth Government assuming State responsibilities.  With regard to Sacred Sites we will initiate consultations between the Aborigines and Commonwealth. State and Territory Governments with the aim of developing a better approach to identifying such sites prior to development.  We recognize the need to amend the Northern Territory legislation in some areas, including setting a specific date for the lodgment of land claims and resolving the impasse that has been created in relation to mining exploration and development.  OUR NATIONAL HERITAGE. OUR HUMAN HERITAGE.  A nation that is truly proud of itself respects its natural environment and its historical past.  The previous Coalition Government look several important conservation initiatives. We retain our commitment to managing our environment as a vital natural resource, enabling it to provide our needs for today and tomorrow. We support the National Conservation Strategy for Australia and its objectives of protecting essential ecological processes and life-support Systems, preserving genetic diversity and ensuring sustainable utilization of species and ecosystems. These goals will be met through in-creased Federal-State cooperation.  A Liberal Government will nominate appropriate areas for World Heritage listing with State approval II will encourage the States to join a national program of land use assessment- It will implement a National Conservation Strategy for Australia in consultation with the States, business, farming and environmental organizations. While coastal and marine management are primarily the responsibility of the States and local government, we will work towards the development of a national coast policy. We will also support the development of a national environmental data bank.  We will establish an Australian Environmental Corps where the unemployed may volunteer for service in assisting with conservation projects. We will maintain and develop existing animal protection projects, the National Tree Program and work towards a national program for controlling hazardous chemicals and waste.  To give young Australians a sense of responsibility for their environment, we will look at ways to encourage school children to be actively involved in the regeneration of plant and bush cover in their suburbs cities and towns. The program will give many Australian children the chance to plant a tree for Australia.  In order to preserve our historical heritage, a Federal Liberal Government in cooperation with the States, will give strong support to the Australian Heritage Commission. We will support a program to enable buildings and homes listed on the National Estate to be maintained or restored if they are in serious danger of neglect or demolition.  SPORT AND RECREATION.  Sport and recreation play an important part in our national life. Our sporting triumphs are a focus for national unity and pride. This was recognized by the previous Liberal Government which gave strong support to many of our national sporting endeavors. The establishment of the Australian Institute of Sport was an outstanding example of our commitment to the encouragement of sporting excellence.  We will maintain and develop programs of assistance to our national sporting and recreation associations and support the planned extension of the Australian Institute of Sport.  Sport also plays a vital part in improving the physical, mental and social health of Australians. We will maintain support for community and State based sport and recreation sporting programs. Consistent with our goal of ensuring that the disabled play a full role in the community, we will promote the integration of able and disabled participation and competition.  Sponsorship of sport has become a vexed issue in the Australian community. Our position on this is unequivocal a Liberal Government will support the right of any individual sport to select or reject sponsors.  In regard to sporting contacts with South Africa, the Coalition abides by the principles of the Gleneagles Agreement of June, 1977 and the subsequent code of conduct of May 1982.  ARTS.  The last decade has witnessed a dramatic revival in the understanding and expression of Australia's distinctive national cultural heritage and aspirations. This has been reinforced by an increased community support for, and interest in the Arts and cultural activities.  Funding for the Arts in Australia is a responsibility shared by all levels of Government - Federal, State and Local. The majority of Federal Government funding should continue to be through specialist coordinating bodies such as the Australia Council, the Australian Film and Television School and the Australian Film Commission  We view with concern the controversy over the Australia Council Theatre Board's recently-announced funding guidelines There is a potential threat to the continuation of major Theatre groups which have built up their high standards of excellence over many years.  We will, in Government, initiate an extensive review of the distribution of Government support to the Arts.  GOAL SIX: Making Government Serve the People.  Government plays a necessary part in our lives. But it has also got out of control in some areas - a development which has meant that it costs too much and interferes too much. The Hawke Government's big taxing program is adding to the cost and intrusion of Government.  The Liberal Party is committed to correcting the balance so that government serves the people rather than taking away their freedom to make decisions for themselves.  In previous sections, we have detailed some of the more valuable functions of government. In this section we outline other ways m which we will ensure that government does a positive job to serve Australians.  We also discuss the need to get government out of certain areas, or to curtail its activities. There are some fields - for instance, transport - where a lot less government involvement would result in a lot more benefit to the Australian taxpayer.  EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING.  The present System of looking after the unemployed has created a series of dead end, dole-recycling programs, which have become incredibly costly. Our first priority is to create flexibility in the economy so that people can get jobs.  We will also introduce new approaches for those seeking work, especially the young. Labor has failed to tackle the major problem of the young unemployed. For a Liberal Government, it will be a priority.  Immediately on being elected to Government, we will sponsor a major. Arbitration Commission inquiry into the relativity’s between youth wages and adult wages, to determine the guidelines for setting junior wage rates in the future. The Bureau of Labor Market Research has found that "youth employment would tend to rise if youth labor costs were reduced relative to those of adults". It also found that junior wage rates have been set in an arbitrary and ad hoc manner, and that tribunals have made little assessment of the needs of juniors or the value of their work.  This is an inquiry which the Government has refused to hold. We will hold it. Social welfare organizations, and other groups representing the young and the unemployed, will be invited to take part in that inquiry.  We will propose to the Commission that they should establish a new training wage for the unemployed, set at a level which reflects the fact that school leavens are unskilled and have little or no work experience. This training wage will last for a specified period, after which young employees will go on to the prevailing award wages.  We will carry out an Australia-wide survey of employer attitudes, to find out more precisely why employers are reluctant to take on school leavens. We will also undertake a survey of jobs which have traditionally been performed by juniors, to establish the extent to which they have disappeared because of new technology, and to see what occupations can be adapted to young people.  Our industrial relations policy will deliver what world-wide experience shows is crucial to the provision of increased job opportunities - namely, a wage-fixing System which is flexible, and responsive not only to the state of the national economy but equally to the economic circumstances of individual industries and enterprises.  These initiatives are particularly important in the light of the finding by the OECD that as the economy recovers from recession, employment growth will be in areas which will not favor young people.  In its Occupational Training Policy, the Coalition proposes a retraining program to update and upgrade the skills of the unemployed, and so make them more attractive to the modem requirements of employers.  The Coalition will establish a new Occupational Training Service to oversee all occupational training and remedial programs, including a major upgrading of the Commonwealth Employment Service based on the Job Bank.  This philosophy of recurrent education faces up to the fact that many Australians - and certainly the vast majority of poorly skilled ones - will need to update their skills perhaps several limes during their working lives in order to keep pace with structural changes in employment.  The entire employment and training resources of the Commonwealth will be redirected towards occupational and remedial training. Subsidized employment merely for the purpose of removing people from unemployment statistics is out. Make-work programs with little or no training component will not be continued - though those currently taking part in them will be picked up by new training programs.  The Community Employment Program will not be continued in its present form. Too many CEP projects are failing to lift the level of skills or employability of those participating. The result is that when the CEP project ends, people go straight back on to unemployment benefits. This is disheartening for the individual, a waste of Australia's human resources, and poor use of the tax-payer's money.  A new program, to be known as Work-prep, will be introduced to provide remedial training to the most disadvantaged unemployed aged under 30. This will be designed to improve young people's reading and writing skills, increase their motivation, and provide work experience and competence of a kind which will improve the individual's chance of gaining stable employment.  In addition, we will establish an experimental program to enable people to perform voluntary work while on unemployment benefit. Local authorities will be permitted to provide work on casual award rates equivalent to the current rate of unemployment benefit plus a supplement of $35 a week. This will aid the transition of unemployed people from part-time to full-time employment, while at the same lime providing better social and economic benefits from the social welfare funds involved.  In tandem with our industrial relations policy, especially its provisions for much greater recognition of part-time work, the new Liberal initiatives in employment and training will provide a comprehensive strategy for getting people into jobs - and providing them with the skills and assistance that will keep them there.  HEALTH CARE.  Liberal Health Policy will build a better health care system by ironing out the faults in Medicare and building on the strengths of a universal health care System.  Medicare is discouraging self provision. It increases the proportion of health funding from the taxpayer and removes disincentives to overuse of services,  With fewer private dollars in the System and the need for budgetary restraint, bureaucratic controls have been tightened without regard for the patient  Under Labor, confrontation in hospitals and attacks on the medical profession and ever lengthening queues for surgery and specialist services have become a feature of today's health services.  Labor's 35 day rule, in combination with the Government's strangulation of private nursing homes, has imposed needless suffering on the acutely ill. It is not part of the Australian way of life to put sick people on the streets with nowhere to go.  Our health policy will assure comprehensive cover and will restore consumer choice; encourage private and voluntary effort; decentralize administration; and contain costs through incentive, not direction.  We will maintain a safety net of universal health insurance but will remove those aspects of Medicare that are harmful to the interests of patients, health care workers or the public or lead in the direction of nationalized health. Changes will be phased in carefully to emphasize consumer benefits and avoid confusion and disruption. High priority will be given to removing the problems faced by the long term or chronically sick and the elderly. We will implement our policy in three phases.  We will improve private insurance services by restoring stability and creating more genuine competition including permitting "gap" insurance and restoring one-stop shopping by allowing private insurers to act as agents for Medicare.  Insurers will be encouraged to include optional packages, to inhibit unnecessary use of services, reduce costs and reduce premiums. For example contributors could agree to meet an agreed amount of costs before making a claim or agree to pay a set percentage for each service.  Medibank will be converted into an independent cooperative owned by its contributors.  We will improve the hospital system by relaxing the 35 day rule and devising ways of meeting the needs of the long-term sick without causing financial hardship and distress. Restoring the $80m hospital reinsurance subsidy will enable private insurance to provide more effectively for those with long term illness.  We will end the attack on doctors with the removal of unnecessary provisions which give the Federal Minister control over con-tracts with public hospitals. Bulk billing which makes doctors the servant of the Government, will be limited to patients with PHB cards, Health Care Cards or other confessional entitlements.  In the second phase of our policy as early as possible in the life of the first Parliament, we will widen consumer choice by allowing those currently paying the Medicare levy to opt out if they have taken out a private package at a minimum prescribed level.  The size of the levy for those choosing to remain with Medicare will be tapered for low income earners.  Free public hospital care will be limited to holders of the PHB card or Health Care Card and other welfare beneficiaries unless State Governments choose to spend some of their own resources on it.  In the third phase, we will take steps to improve choice by encouraging a variety of forms of health cover such as establishing Health Maintenance Organizations which sign up contributors and meet all their health care requirements including preventive care; by promoting other competitive procedures such as "Preferred Provider" Schemes where lower premiums are offered in return for agreement to use certain doctors and hospitals; and by investigating a voucher scheme for those in receipt of benefits so they  can use the benefits towards private schemes if they wish.  In co-operation with the States we will seek a more decentralized, efficient system with local community input and greater responsibility for hospitals and doctors rather than bureaucrats.  SOCIAL SECURITY.  In keeping with the approach that we have adopted in many other areas, Liberal policy in the area of social security will be to encourage people to provide for themselves as much as possible- hence our opposition to measures such as Labor's tax on lump sum superannuating.  We will maintain the present supporting benefits in the social welfare area with a commitment to maintain income tested benefits and pensions on the presently indexed basis. Veterans and their dependants, families in crisis, the disabled and supporting parents will continue to receive special assistance.  We support the present Senate inquiry into retirement incomes as part of a need for a total comprehensive review of the income support system. Our general approach to a reform of the social welfare system incorporates the following principles:  • reduce the disincentives and impediments to people providing for themselves.  • simplify procedures so that people have to deal with one government department rather than both Taxation and Social Security.  • encourage the widest possible and most flexible employee superannuating schemes.  • increase support for voluntary agencies and for increased Federal-State cooperation in the provision of welfare services.  • ensure that the disabled are as fully integrated into the community as possible.  • make the whole system of social security more straightforward and simple.  DEREGULATION AND PRIVATIZATION.  On return to government the Liberal Party will take urgent steps to tackle the major problems of reducing the burden of regulation in Australia. We have an across the board approach to cutting red tape. It includes government regulation of business, regulatory schemes and programs, by laws and other regulatory issues. Liberal aims are:  • to maximize competition and minimize government intervention while safeguarding consumer interests.  • to achieve positive deregulation.  • to secure a more efficient process of making, reviewing and scrapping  regulations. We will achieve these aims by:  • ensuring regulations are only introduced if there is clear evidence their potential benefits exceed their potential costs.  • giving preference to self-regulation.  • concentrating on ensuring regulations are efficient and follow a rigorous, cost-benefit analysis and public consultation.  • ensuring there are effective and regular review mechanisms for existing regulations and proper scrutiny of new proposals.  • working with industry and State Governments in removing duplication and achieving uniformity of standards.  For the first time in this nation's history a coherent program for cutting red tape in the federal tier of government has been developed. The details of that program are contained in the Liberal "Regulation and Reform of the Regulatory Process Policy".  Pruning back the mass of regulations is one part of making government the servant of the people. Another vital part is reducing the size of government.  When governments regulate they are doing so to alter the way people behave and to change the uses to which resources are devoted. Public ownership is a form of regulation, since it has both these effects.  Australia's investment in state-owned enterprises runs to billions of taxpayers' dollars. We want to ensure that this vast investment is managed productively and wisely. We want to ensure that the taxpayer is getting the full value for his money.  At the moment Australians are not getting the maximum value from all State enterprises. This is not to say that people employed in public enterprises are not working diligently and responsibly. But they are often bound by rigid rules, regulations and precedents which are a barrier to efficiency.  The private sector, and privately owned companies, are equipped to do this Successful companies offer consumers the best value for money. That is how they stay in business.  In the public sector, on the other hand, a failing company which is not meeting consumers' needs is likely to be rewarded, not penalized They are frequently propped up with taxpayers' funds. No one asks the tax-payers whether they approve of this.  Liberals believe that in some carefully selected instances Australians will receive a better service as consumers, and the community's resources will be better utilized, if ownership is returned to the private sector.  Transport is a good example. While the Federal Government should have some involvement in the area of transport (for example, building the Alice Springs-Darwin railway line as part of a commitment to Northern Development), both the consumer and the taxpayer would be better served by a withdrawal by the government from certain activities. Thus, the Coalition would sell the Australian National Line. With appropriate care being given to the transition from public to private hands, this would result in cheaper shipping services and relief to the taxpayer.  We will move to terminate the two airline agreement and make TAA a private company. This deregulation will be of significant benefit to air travelers and to the economy.  We have a wider program of privatization. As well as selling ANL and TAA a Liberal Government will place the Australian Industry Development Corporation, Medibank Private and the Housing Loans Insurance Corporation in the private sector.  The Liberal Direction.  When you look at the history of our country, one thing stands out - Australia was built by the individual efforts of people, not by Big Governments or Big Unions or Big Business. They played their part but the real Australian success story is the story of men and women who struggled hard against the odds, who got things going and who provided a better life for their children. Our country was built by people who are sometimes referred to as "ordinary Australians' but who are in tact the real heart of our nation.  Today our future lies in the hands of the same sorts of Australians. If they get the chance to go ahead then Australia can really go ahead. And yet these same Australians are not getting the chance. Hard work and saving is not rewarded as it should be and Australia is losing as a nation.  In a few years our country will celebrate its two-hundredth birthday. But we are concerned about the kind of Australia we could be living in. That is what the election on the first of December is all about - not just which political party will govern Australia but what life will be like for the Australian family in the years ahead  When did you last hear Labor talk about the small business person; about the person who runs his own shop, or the woman who manages a business, or about a farmer, or about the worker who wants to better him-self, or about the migrant family trying to beat the odds; or about women trying to cope with the pressures of both having a job and raising a family?  Our Liberal policies will encourage men and women who want to have a go, who want to achieve a better life for themselves and their families. That is what the Liberal Party believes in and that is what Australia is all about. Australia truly is a great country.  What a mighty future we have, if we have the right sort of Government.  A Government which puts its emphasis on people.  A Government working as a team not just concerned with  the image of one man.  A Government with depth - with strong, capable and responsible Ministers.  A Government you elect not tied to outside powerful forces, not subject to big union direction, not answerable to a non-parliamentary executive in its policy processes, not wavering towards the Socialist Left in ideological commitment.  A Government consulting with and working for all Australians and their families.  As we launch our campaign today, I could promise you the world: tell you that if you vote for the National Party you will live happily ever after.  That's not the case - you know it, and I know it.  What I can do is give you the commitment that the  National Party will work to make Australia a better  place to live, to work, and to play.  We know that small government is the best government;  and that government intervention in the lives of men and women reduces their initiative and lessens the ability of individuals to choose in their work and leisure, in education, health care, investment and spending.  Halfway through a normal Parliamentary term, Labor is taking us to the polls.  Before this inordinately long campaign began, Labor tried to head off criticism by conditioning Australians to accept an early poll.  Saying it would happen does not make it right. In Government, the Nationals will press for the Coalition Government to go its full three-year term.  When we were in Government last we made some mistakes.  But we've learnt from those mistakes.  But in only 18 months, Labor too has made mistakes.  It bas put the nation in reverse.  The family standards and social values on which Australia's heritage and traditions were built have been forgotten.  The integrity of the High Court, the final Court of Appeal in the land, is threatened by the indifference of Labor to the findings of the Senate Inquiry into Mr Justice Murphy.  The investigator, and not the accused, is being made the butt of Labor criticism in comments about the report of Mr Frank Costigan, QC, into the Painters and Dockers’ Union.  Hard drugs and crimes associated with their distribution and addiction must not be ignored.  Labor's uniform Aboriginal Land Rights legislation threatens to divide white and black communities. Mineral rights must remain with the Crown.  There will be no uniform legislation with the Nationals  _-_ and the Northern Territory legislation will be amended.  Yesterday in the United States, the conservative leadership  of President Ronald Reagan was swept back into office.  Americans can stand tall again - so could Australians.  Americans have confidence in their conservative Government's emphasis on individual initiative and enterprise and fax cuts.  So should we.  In the UK, lasting economic recovery is under way under the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.  So too, lasting economic growth and recovery in the private sector will take place under the conservatives in Australia.  Like the Democrats in the United States, so Mr Mondale's ideological running-mates, the Australian Labor Party, should be swept from office, to give Australians a go.  What holds many Australians back is the high level of Personal taxation, funding the biggest-spending, biggest-taxing, biggest deficit government in Australian history.  Under Labor, our national debt has increased dramatically.  Under Labor, the interest bill exceeds the education vote, nearly equals the defence vote, and worse lies ahead.  Big spending means more taxes.  Big spending and a renegotiated Prices and Incomes Accord, dictated by the ACTU, mean more taxes for all Australians.  Labor's first fax on capital - on lump sum superannuation is already operating.  We'll abolish it.  We all know the union emphasis on capital taxes and wealth taxes - as well as death duties, which of course includes the family home too.  The Nationals will not have a bar of any of them.  They are on Labor's fax agenda.  They will never be on ours.  Our tax reform starts with those who need the help the most - the families where one partner works and the other stays home to look after the children.  For fax purposes, we will give families with children the option of splitting the breadwinners' pay, up to a determined limit.  Under this reform we would expect a one-income family on the average income of about $350 a week to save about $8 a week in tax.  That means a holiday away, new clothes, a new lounge suite, help with a deposit on a new home, or a chance to save.  Our second family tax cut option is for families with children where both parents work, and for one-parent families.  Where both parents work, we will give them a tax rebate on the cost of child care.  For one-parent families, the sole parent rebate and the new child care rebate will be adjusted to give the same level of help.  The saving will be comparable with that available under income splitting.  If you save, it means banks have more money to lend to others.  If you spend more, it means business picks up.  Either way, it means more jobs.  Most of those jobs will be with small businesses:  not just with big corporations or with big government.  We always read about big business, and of course, it plays an important role in the development of the nation.  We hear little, however, about the thousands of Australians who have decided to have a go and set up on their own in business, in trade, or a profession.  Some 60 percent of our workforce is in small business.  Small business is big business.  We want to see it get bigger, to provide permanent jobs to help our young people and those now unemployed because of changing economic circumstances.  Labor's attack on unemployment has been directed to employing more public servants in Canberra: a 4.3 percent increase in the last 12 months, compared with only two percent over the whole seven years of the previous Coalition Government.  But who will pay for Government if we are all employed by it?  We need less government, not more government.  Labor has maintained the Coalition's Community Employment Program - and we will continue this scheme.  But Australians need permanent jobs.  Certainly we need education and skill in our workforce, and training for the unemployed, but we need to help the private employer so that he can provide jobs.  The Nationals will work to reduce the size of government, to eliminate unnecessary red tape which so wears down initiative and individual enterprise.  We will reduce the tax rate too on private company income to help fund small business growth.  Among our most efficient small business men and women are Australian farmers.  Labor is making it harder and harder for them and their family business to survive.  Family farms are facing huge problems.  Overseas markets have contracted, with hardly a  protest from Labor. We will pursue them.  Costs have risen alarmingly. We will attack them.  We will initiate a major new trade drive in association with agriculture commodity groups in markets in Japan, Korea, South East Asia, the Middle East, America and Europe.  We will give more than just a sympathetic car to the difficulties in Australia's great beef, wool, wheat, grains, fat lamb, poultry and horticultural industries.  We'll push ahead with the brucellosis and tuberculosis eradication campaign, and bring it to a successful conclusion.  Charges for export inspection, where necessary to gain access to overseas markets, will be eliminated.  We recognise the worries of fat lamb producers and other farmers about the level of imports from New Zealand.  We will enter immediate discussions with industry organisations and under the CER, with the New Zealand Government.  For the sugar industry there are enormous difficulties.  Labor says, "Buy Australia's sugar overseas."  The Nationals say, "We will support the sugar industry as it has supported Australia by ils export earnings for  so long."  Me will ensure unemployment benefits are available to cane growers, subject to their preparedness to accept work and their income being below a determined level.  We will allow them to remain on their farms pending job availability.  In conjunction particularly with the Queensland Government, adequate funds will be provided under Rural Reconstruction for carry-on loans and debt reconstruction.  Our cane growers and millers and those whole communities dependent on sugar, with Government's, can then determine permanent solutions to the industry's problems without premature and heartbreaking bankruptcies and financial collapse.  Immediately after the election, we will begin talks with all sections of the industry and the Queensland Government on the progress of the Sugar Industry Review and the prospects for a new International Sugar Agreement.  We will initiate consultations between the industry and customer countries who are parties to bilateral sugar agreements with Australia.  A few years ago crude oil prices increased sharply.  Today they have eased.  Fuel prices for agriculture and fishing must come down.  Heavy tariffs are adding to the already high prices for imported headers and big agricultural farm machinery.  These will be replaced by bounties.  Recurring drought is a worry; although 1 suspect few today in Tamworth, or in some other parts of Australia, would realise that was so!  The Nationals will introduce a new drought policy.  Where necessary, financial assistance will be provided on a continuing basis and not terminated where drought continues at the end of each financial year.  We will introduce too a bicentennial water resources program.  $10 million will be allocated at a dollar for dollar basis with the States for an on-farm water and soil conservation and  tree regeneration.  A worthwhile Income Equalisation Deposit scheme will be reintroduced.  Tax averaging will be maintained,  For those who have been plagued with uncertainty through  Labor's action in seeking to locate army range and  exercise areas on productive agricultural land, there  will be the recognition of landholders' rights to private ownership.  Crown land will be sought first.  No measures will be taken without consultation with people affected.  Productive land will not be used for these purposes.  Australia's great mining industries, so important for regional development and in generating export earnings, face slack world markets and low prices.  Increasing costs threaten their competitiveness.  The Nationals will work to reduce the red tape of unnecessary bureaucratic regulations which stifle the development of new mines.  We will work to make Australia more competitive in  processing our raw materials.  Uranium exports will be permitted subject to strict safeguards - and not just from ore produced in South Australia.  The major source of jobs is in the manufacturing sector.  Rapid technological development, wage and labour on-costs out of line with our competitors, have reduced seriously our industrial capacity.  Manufacturing must be allowed to be internationally competitive.  Our tax and wage policies will help.  We will introduce measures to allow manufacturing to become more export minded.  We will pursue tariff reduction and work to free world trade.  Research and development are vital to our industrial development.  The CSIRO will be funded to ensure the maintenance of its programmes and in all industry sectors.  We will ensure it is able to maintain research in the many primary industry fields where the benefits of its work has been so invaluable and unique among world-wide research establishments.  We will help the CSIRO diversify into other areas of high tec. and industrial research.  We recognise the importance, too, of basic research in tertiary institutions, through the NHMRC and in private industry.  Incentives will be introduced to ensure Australia maintains its place in the technological race.  Research and development within the Defence vote will be concentrated, wherever possible, in private industry to encourage Australian procurement and the development of new industrial capability with both defence and civil applications.  The election of a Labor Government in New Zealand with policies identical to those of many within Australia's Labor Party, threatens the survival of ANZUS.  We will enter into immediate negotiations with New Zealand on the future of ANZUS, and failing their successful conclusion, pursue the negotiation of a bilateral defence agreement with the United States.  Our relations with Indonesia over Timor and with ASEAN countries in general over Labor's initiatives with Vietnam have deteriorated under Labor.  That cannot continue.  We will restore responsibility to Australia's foreign relationships. We will play a continuing positive role within the western alliance and with our regional and oceanic neighbours.  At the same time as Labor has sought a more independent and non-aligned role, isolated from our friends and allies, it has allowed Australia's defence capability to slide.  Remember the HMS Invincible non-dry docking fiasco and the effect not only on our relationships with the United Kingdom but with the USA?  In Service numbers and in training opportunities, the last 18 months has seen a serious defence decline.  Conditions of service too were affected by tax decisions affecting lump sum defence superannuation and by taxing half Reservists' pay. Even for the use of recreational facilities built by servicemen and women in their own time, Labor has threatened to charge.  These will be reversed.  In our first budget we will provide an extra $80 million for defence, over and above the considerable increased spending committed under the Five Year Defence Plan.  In defence, our first priority will be to correct the identifiable deficiencies in the Australian Defence Force.  Particular emphasis will be placed on northern defence.  Our initiative to build a RAAF base for a new FA/18 squadron at Tindal near Katherine in the Northern Territory will proceed.  New procurement necessary for modernisation will be funded.  Modernisation of the arms and equipment of the Operational Deployment Force at Laverack Barracks in Townsville will be given priority.  Training and exercising will be maintained to ensure operational standards.  The Reserves will be given an identifiable peactime role. Establishment levels and training days will be set at levels adequate to sustain required levels of efficiency.  Events of the past few weeks highlight the threat of terrorism and the fragility of peace in so many areas of the world.  No party has a priority on abhorrence at the possibility of war - nuclear or conventional.  Me will maintain our defence relationships.  The joint facilities with the United States in Australia are a positive contribution to ensuring war will never occur.  These we will maintain.  Australians have a great future with the right Government.  Our Government will not attack the elderly.  And we will abolish Labor's assets test.  Have you seen the forms?  The worry they bring, the "Pay As You Die" scheme,  the attack on those who have saved hard all their lives - we condemn this test.  Our aged pensioners, our returned Servicemen and Servicewomen have lived through two World Wars, depressions and recessions, and they deserve better from Government.  We will ensure people are not disadvantaged where they endeavour to protect themselves for their retirement.  Nothing gives Australians more pride than the international successes of our sporting men and women.  Remember the feeling that swept Australia when Australia II won the America's Cup?  Or the pride when Dean Lukin lifted that great weight  to win the Olympic gold medal at Los Angeles?  In Government, the Coalition developed the Institute of Sport. It will be expanded.  Help will be given too, not just for the best, but so that all men, women and children will recognise the value of keeping fit.  Fitness is a good investment - healthy people do not need hospitals; healthy people do not need doctors.  A healthy nation will save the taxpayer money.  For those who do need health care, Medicare will be revised.  Gap insurance will be re-introduced.  Agencies for Medicare will be established so that every town and suburb will enjoy access for processing patients’ claims.  The 35-day limit for the chronically ill will be lifted.  You once more will have a choice, your doctor or the hospital's - whichever suits you best.  Australia's high standards of medical and hospital facilities must be maintained.  Private nursing homes will be given appropriate status in the nation's health care system.  The medical profession will not be discriminated against as it is under Labor.  Education is a right for all Australians.  We will give the choice: between the government or the independent school System.  All parents should have the right to choose the education they wish for their children.  All children will have the right to some Government assistance for their education.  Whatever the school they attend, we will ensure they get it.  School cadets with the backing of the Department of Defence, once more will be funded.  $15 million will be allocated as a separate line item in the first Coalition Budget and within the defence vote for this purpose.  Access to post-secondary education, technical and academic, is essential.  TEAS levels cannot be allowed to continue so much below unemployment benefits.  Regional education centres with great institutions like the University of New England, and regional Colleges of Advanced Education, must be funded to allow them to grow and develop alongside their city counterparts.  The impetus given TAFE Colleges by Federal funding under previous  Coalition Governments will be maintained.  Residential colleges in tertiary institutions, under Labor next year, would lose their federal support.  We will implement the recommendations of the Tertiary Education Commission to ensure students forced to live away from home can receive a tertiary education, without being disadvantaged through excessive residential college fees.  Good communications are essential to us all. We will ensure your telephone works and that competition is available in the Systems able to use the telephone network.  The Commonwealth Bicentennial Road Programme was a National Party initiative. It has led to significant highway development in the last two years. It will be maintained. In conjunction with State Governments and Local Government we will ensure the construction and maintenance of Australia's overall road network is funded.  In 18 months of Labor, the directions of Australia subtly, and sometimes blatantly, have been changed.  The breaking of the drought and the surge in national income that resulted have concealed a continued underlying increase in real levels of unemployment.  They have absorbed a malaise of a burgeoning national debt, excessive deficits, too high taxes and overspending.  Unless the 'no' is given to Labor's big spending, interest rates will increase and taxes go up. New capital taxes will be introduced/ and inflation will again spiral.  On December 1, you will vote not just for the House of Representatives, but in each State for half an expanded Senate.  A vote for our Coalition team in New South Wales, and for the National Party team in each other mainland State, will ensure that proper and adequate scrutiny is given to all legislation.  The importance of the Senate is not just in the area of legislative scrutiny, but in the significance of the reports of its Committees.  The Report into animal welfare, now nearing finality, the National Party awaits with interest.  Effective, balanced consideration against the aggressive arguments of vocal minorities, such as ... animal liberationists whose views so often are based on emotion, not common sense, is essential.  That, your National Party Senate candidates will bring.  You will also be called to vote on two referenda.  The first, the so-called Simultaneous Elections question, is itself a misnomer.  The intention is, of course, to make the term of Senators subject to the whim of the Prime Minister in the same manner as the terms of the Members of the House of Representatives.  Were this to pass, it would threaten the independence of the Senate in passing proper judgement on Government legislation.  It would lead to more elections, not less.  It would threaten the very review process which is the strength of Australia's two House Parliamentary system.  The second question on the reference of powers from the States to the Commonwealth, equally we reject.  When Labor is in office in four States, the prospects of a greater concentration of power in Canberra are apparent.  There is a process for Constitutional transfer of powers already available.  It should not be changed.  To this referendum question we also recommend you vote ‘no’.  Above all, we ask you, on December 1, to think of your future and that of your family.  The Nationals will take a stand for you and Australia.  Join us and vote for the Nationals.  PRIME MINISTER  EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY  ELECTION CAMPAIGN POLICY LAUNCH SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE - 23 JUNE 1987  Fellow Australians,  Never in peace-time has Australia's future depended so much on a single decision - your decision on the llth of July.  Never have you, the Australian people, been called upon to make a more fundamental decision for yourselves, your families - your children - about the way you want your country to go - about what kind of a country you want Australia to be.  It is a decision about what kind of a people we are.  It is a decision about what kind of a nation we are going to be.  Are we to continue to unite together in the great task of national renewal, reconstruction and revitalisation, for which we have been working so hard together, and on which the success of our country depends?  Are we to go forward with strength and stability - stability in government, stability in our society?  Or are we to take the other course, the path of our opponents - inflicting upon the nation itself all their own divisions, all their own disunity, all their own instability?  On behalf of the Australian Labor Party I ask for a resounding decision, a decision that will show the world just what kind of a people we are  - a strong, united, stable, confident, forward-looking people  - responding to the leadership of a strong, united, stable, confident, forward-looking government.  We come before you as one, united team.  We come before you with one pledge - that as one, united team, we will continue and intensify our undivided efforts in the task of national renewal and revitalisation of our economy, our industry, our society.  Fellow Australians,  This election is about our faith in Australia's future. It is about our faith in ourselves.  And it is about our belief and faith - my faith, our government's faith in the character and calibre of the Australian people. And it is a belief and faith based firmly upon experience.  Four and a half years ago I pledged a Labor government to seek national reconciliation instead of confrontation and division - to create 500,000 new jobs in three years.  Our opponents said it couldn't be done. That was their judgement about the Australian people.  But together we did much better. We easily exceeded our 'o target.  In four years, we have created 800,000 new jobs - and in the past six months alone - 100,000 new jobs.  Two and a half years ago we called for a continuation of the economic restraint so necessary for the reconstruction of our economy and industry, which is the key to our future.  Our opponents mocked the concept of co-operation and restraint. They wanted - as they still want - a return to confrontation in industry. That was their judgement on the working men and women of Australia and the business community of Australia.  But, building on the basis of restraint and responsibility, we have saved the steel industry, transformed the motor vehicle industry, set about the reconstruction of Australia's entire manufacturing and services base.  Exactly one year ago I put to the people of Australia the greatest challenge of all. ^  I told you of the disastrous drop in the prices of our exports ~ a collapse in world trade that has now cost every Australian family $2,000.  I said then that this meant a year of the toughest decisions imposed in peace-time.  Our opponents said that the Australian people would never cop it.  They said the Australian people would never understand why the loss of $9 billion in our national income meant that we all had to adjust - that it was not just for the farmers and the other exporters to carry the loss - we all had to shoulder the burden.  We said we would not shirk the hard decisions needed to ensure a bright future for us in this generation and for our children in theirs.  I told you I would rather risk electoral defeat than take the soft options that would mean we mortgage our great future.  And it is because we backed our judgement of the Australian people - took the tough decisions, made the hard choices -that we can now stand before you, confident and proud of what we have achieved together, but more important, confident and proud of the great things we can achieve together, for our families, our children, for our country, in the years ahead.  Yet our opponents', who are incapable- of governing themselves, now seek to govern Australia on a grab-bag of contradictory proposals drummed up on the run - proposals which could only have one result: They would wreck utterly the efforts we, the Australian people, have made together over the last four years and in particular over the past year.  They have not only got their sums wrong.  They have got Australians wrong.  Friends,  The real danger from our political opponents is this:  All that has been achieved by your restraint and responsibility would be wasted. The benefits you have foregone and the sacrifices you have been called upon to make would have been in vain. ;  It is only because we have made the tough decisions, and put them in place in the last Budget, the May Statement, and two successive Premiers' Conferences, that we can now give these undertakings:  Interest rates are again falling and under Labor will continue to fall.  Inflation is again falling and under Labor will continue to fall.  Employment is growing - at twice the rate of the rest of the Western world - under a government which has created 800,000 new jobs in four years; and under Labor, employment will continue to grow.  In the completed Budget in September there will be no new taxes and no tax increases.  But we shall never jeopardise Australia's future by irresponsible promises.  We make our future undertakings on the firm basis of the c achievable, the credible, the responsible.  And let me emphasise: 0  Everything in our program is affordable, achievable and economically responsible.  This Labor Government has achieved the most significant C reform of the taxation system since Federation.  And the fundamental reason why our our opponents could never achieve any tax reform in all their years in office is that they never had the courage to act against tax avoidance. And they let it become Australia's biggest growth industry -and that's the description given by their own Royal Commissioner.  We have smashed the tax avoidance industry.  We have cut out wasteful privileges and windfalls for the few.  That is why we are able further to reduce income tax. Following the first round of tax cuts in December, new tax scales will operate from 1 July, 1987. They will bring the top marginal rate down from the Liberal legacy of 60 per cent to 49 per cent.  And the rate for taxpayers on average earnings will have been brought down from 46 per cent to 40 per cent.  And it is because of our tax reforms that we are able to undertake that the September Budget will continue the full indexation of pensions.  This is what a Labor Government means for the next three years: genuine reductions in taxation, lower inflation, lower interest rates, higher pensions, more jobs.  Yet our opponents invite you to throw all this away, for a tax bribe nobody believes in - least of all, its discredited authors - and something which, if ever seriously attempted, would destroy the economy and rip apart the social fabric -the basis of the Australian ideal of a fair go for all.  They invite you to turn your backs on the meaning of everything we have been able to achieve together over the past four years. .  They invite you to turn your backs on the real meaning of Australia's future -  a future founded on the great ideals of fairness and justice in our society - a fair go for all.  Indeed, my friends, it is almost impossible to judge which is the more dangerous  - their economic vandalism,  - or the wholesale vandalism they propose against the social framework of this nation.  They have long been the parties of social division. Now they stand as the parties of social devastation.  The whole basis of our call to the Australian people at the election in 1983 and again in 1984 was an appeal to this great truth about the Australian community - the truth that the legitimate aspirations of the diverse groups and interests which go to make up the nation can best be achieved, not by fighting each other, not by setting group against group, Australians against Australians, but by working together, recognising and respecting each other's rights, fair expectations .and fair hopes and aspirations.  That was the basis on which we sought a mandate and that was the basis on which the mandate has been twice given.  And it is on that basis - the people's response - the recognition of this great truth about Australia - that we have been able to fight back together against the huge difficulties imposed upon us by events abroad.  The toughness with fairness we have applied to the affairs of this nation and the response of the Australian people now enable us to set new goals - realistic, responsible achievable goals for Australia's future.  We seek to create an Australia where there are no second class citizens.  And we will achieve that only by refusing to accept - as a Government, as a society, as a people - second rate policies.  In this highly competitive world we cannot settle for the second rate in industry, in technology, in education.  *  We must continue - now as a matter of urgency - the work of modernising and revitalising our economy and industry, so that we can compete with the world - on the world's terms.  That is the only way we can restore and improve living standards for all.  The greatest resource in Australia is not something that we can grow or dig up from the soil. It is the capacity of its people, our great human resource. And above all - the resource of the future - the children of Australia.  For our next term, we are setting achievable new, goals for Australia's future in the world.  And at the head of those goals is the future of all our children.  So we set ourselves this first goal:  By 1990 no Australian child will be living in poverty.  And to this end, my Government will establish a new program of family help - a program designed to lift more than 1 million Australian children into security and to help the more than half a million Australian families in greatest need, the hardest pushed, the most disadvantaged.  Labor's new Family Allowance Supplement will be paid, to mothers, on the basis of family income and family size.  The Family Allowance Supplement will total $22 per child per week - with an extra $6 a week for children aged between 13 and 15.  Where those families are in privately rented accommodation, they will also be eligible for rent assistance of $15 a week.  The Government will further recognise the special costs faced by families with children who are disabled. They will receive a Child Disability Allowance of $112 a month, free of, means testing.  This government sets the welfare of the Australian family as its top priority.  But for us, the family is not about statistics and abstract averages. It is about real people and real needs.  Friends, it is just impossible, with any credibility, to proclaim concern for families and then proceed to smash every part of the social infrastructure that determines the welfare of Australian families. Yet that is the measure of our opponents' hypocrisy.  For us, the family means jobs. It means bringing inflation down. It means housing. It means bringing interest rates down. It means child care. It means education. It means health care that every Australian family can afford.  We will continue to put the health of Australian families first. With the introduction of the Medicare program, Australia now has, for the first time, a fair, affordable and stable health insurance system covering all Australians.  We will continue the work of improving Medicare, as a system of universal health insurance, and even more important, the fairest means of delivering the best achievable health care ±>oU to all Australians.  Our opponents propose a return to the pattern of their years in Government, with five separate confused and confusing schemes in seven years. They propose to consign more than two million Australians to a life-time of insecurity in the face of ill-health.  They propose to tear Medicare apart. c You pay more - you get less. That's what they are about.  I ask for your renewed mandate for Medicare. There is no more vital issue for the families of Australia.  We have boosted the purchasing power of the pension by eight per cent since coming to office - compared with a two and a half per cent decline during the Fraser/Howard years.  The next Labor government will take two further initiatives which ensure that temporary changes in circumstances will not lead to a loss of entitlement to fringe benefits or the pension. The details of the measures are set out in the comprehensive Policy Statement I have issued today.  We have improved greatly the availability and quality of care for the aged and disabled at home. We are shifting the emphasis away from unnecessarily putting the aged in nursing homes and towards home and community care. And that's the preference our senior citizens themselves have expressed.  But I repeat - for us of-the Australian Labor Party, our commitment to the families of Australia rests on our concern for their jobs, their housing, and the education of the children of Australia.  And we mean education for life.  So that no Australian child need go through life frustrated and diminished by not having had a chance to develop his or her full talents.  And by making sure that we do that, we will at the same time lay the strongest possible foundations for the challenging task ahead -  . mobilising all the skills and talents of this nation  . harnessing the new technology to lift Australian industry into the 21st century  . making Australia more competitive in this tough and competitive world  . placing Australia foremost in the ranks of the world community.  Our approach to education and industry policy is designed to build upon our strengths to enable us to capture a larger share of the most dynamic areas of world trade.  We are determined to give Australian children their flying start in life.  When we came to office, barely a third of our school children stayed on to Year 12.  We have boosted that proportion to half.  Our goal for 1990 is to have two thirds of our school children staying on to Year 12.  We will maintain the 8-year funding scheme for all schools, which has guaranteed unprecedented stability and security in funding and planning for all schools - government and non-government. ,  But we are now taking major steps to ensure that training and the development of skills does not stop at the school gate.  And I now announce the initiatives foreshadowed in the May Statement.  A new skills training program will be introduced to upgrade the skills of Australia's workforce.  Vocational training opportunities for young people will be expanded through continued support for apprenticeships and the introduction of a new youth training program for 15-20 year olds who have been unemployed for at least six months. The adult training program will be restructured and expanded.  Our ability to provide jobs for our people will depend increasingly on the competitiveness of our industry. This is the most urgent challenge we face.  The wage restraint exercised by the trade union movement coupled with the depreciation of the Australian dollar, has made Australian industry more competitive than in recent memory.  Under the Labor Government, Australian workers will continue to receive wage increases as large and as prompt as Australians economic circumstances can afford. The Liberal/National Parties have opposed any wage rise in 18 of the last 20 National Wage Cases stretching over a decade. Their policy now for Australian families is for a wage ' freeze.  There will be no wage freeze under Labor.  Wage restraint and price restraint 90 hand in hand.  The continuation of our policies will reduce the inflation rate to seven per cent by Christmas and six per cent by the middle of next year.  We will extend the already successful network of Price Watch Committees to every regio in Australia.  We will continue to give the highest priority to housing.  We will continue our First Home Owners' Scheme which has assisted nearly a quarter of a million young Australians to buy their own homes.  One of the few matters on which the warring factions of the Opposition agree is the total abandonment of Commonwealth responsibility for public housing.  And the only consequence which all their conflicting policies have in common is that interest rates would go through the roof - a fact recognised by independent commentators, here and abroad.  And one of the most critical factors in this election is this: the return of our Government and the maintenance of our policies, is essential if interest rates are to continue to fall.  But let's be very clear.  We can make all the right decisions about the economy, the right and responsible decisions about taxation, the right decisions about education, the right decisions for the security of the old, the sick, the underprivileged.  But in the end all that will be in vain if we don't live in a world at peace.  And under my Government, Australia will continue to make the maximum contribution towards ensuring a peaceful world.  And we have done that not by shouting, not by waving banners, not by bandying slogans - but by the hard, undramafcic, grinding work, addressing ourselves to the real issues.  Our alliance relationship with the United States, whose close and constructive nature has been reaffirmed in the / past two days, has given us a position of influence from which to work positively for peace.  As befits two great democracies, this fundamentally close relationship does not depend on absolute uniformity of views. For example, without calling into question the integrity of the United States in developing its concept of space defence, we have made it quite clear that Australia will not participate in the Strategic Defense Initiative.  Our voice on the vital issues of peace is heard and respected in Washington, in Moscow, in Western Europe, in Beijing, in Tokyo and in the great region to which we belong.  The prospects for real progress in disarmament between East and West are better now than for years. We can all take great encouragement and some pride from the likelihood of an agreement between East and West on intermediate nuclear arms before the end of this year  - encouragement, because this will surely provide a stepping stone towards cuts in strategic nuclear weapons,  - pride, because Australia's voice has been at the forefront of those urging the super-powers towards meaningful negotiations.  I was gratified.when the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament said to me in January this year that Australia now played a leading role for the cause of peace and disarmament and that those causes would be better served if other countries followed Australia's example of strong political commitment and technical expertise.  We have taken the initiative to develop the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone. It is a testimony to our determination not to leave the great issues of peace and disarmament to the super-powers but to do what is within our capacity to shape our destiny and to associate ourselves with the aspirations of our South Pacific neighbours.  Under Labor. Australia has been a leader at the United Nations in seeking to outlaw all nuclear testing by all states in all environments for all time through a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Such a Treaty is the first requisite towards ending the nuclear arms race and ultimately ridding the world of nuclear weapons.  Side by side with our unremitting efforts for peace, we have firmly and faithfully discharged the first duty of any Australian Government - the defence of Australia.  We have embarked upon the largest defence capital program in Australia's peace-time history. We have set the course towards a decade of development, towards self-reliance in the defence and security of Australia.  And, for the first time in Australia's history, we are ensuring that the defence of Australia, through our defence-related industries, promotes the industrial and technological base of Australia in peace-time.  And that is an outstanding example of our Governments r fundamental approach - an integrated, comprehensive, ° coherent and consistent approach - with all sections of industry, all departments and levels of government, making the maximum contribution to our national goals.  My friends, Now we are in mid-course - and we are on course.  Let's make absolutely sure that Australia is not blown off course.  Let's see it through. And let me emphasis this:  We of the Labor Government have never believed that sound economic management and the economic growth we have been able to achieve as a result, was the supreme end in itself.  We have never believed that the only values in life - in the life of our nation, in the life of our families- - are the ones with the dollar tag upon them.  The matchless beauty of our land has a value beyond dollars and cents. That's why we stopped the Franklin Dam. That's why we have made mining illegal in Kakadu. It's why we are protecting the special forests in Tasmania. And that's why we will save the Daintree.  The enrichment of the arts and culture and leisure opportunities of our people goes to the very heart of-our future together - our national identity - how we see ourselves, how the world sees us.  Above all, we of the great Australian Labor Party are deeply committed to our vision of a generous and open Australia, a fairer, more just Australia -  - an Australia where true equality of opportunity for all is the reality for all - not just in education, job-training and the development of skills, but in all the opportunities life in this abundant country can offer.  There are people from something like 130 lands in our country ~ all capable of making their contribution to the common good - the future we can all share.  With this rich diversity, we have at the same time a deep underlying unity and stability.  If we make sure that we keep hold of that unity and~-stability, then that is what is going to make Australia a truly great and unique nation.  Fellow Australians:  We stand together on the threshold of the third century of one of the most remarkable experiments in nation-building ever attempted in the course of human history.  No beginning could have been more unpromising.  And sure, we have Australian achievements - splendid achievements - to celebrate.  But we Australians have mistakes to rectify, amends to make and wrongs to put right if Australia is to achieve its full promise of what it can be and should be - simply the best and fairest nation on earth.  So let's use this election as a springboard to the future -towards the promise of the future.  It is a promise of what can be achieved in our time, for this generation and for the generations to come  - By a free, proud, independent, intensely individualistic, uniquely diverse people  - Yet a united people  - A people who want a fair go for themselves and their families  - But just as much, a fair go for all their fellow citizens, for all their fellow Australians  - For their own children, their own families - but for all Australian children, all- Australian families  - For all members of this great Australian family. This is the promise of Australia. This is the Australian vision. This is the reality of the Australian dream.  Together, let us begin a new century of Australian i achievement.  - A new century of opportunity - of even greater equality of opportunity for all.  - To make the best country in the world an even better, fairer Australia.  Australia will win through. Let's see it through -Together.