DLP demands action on permissiveness.  The Leader of the Democratic Labor Party, Senator V. C. Gair, opened his party's 1972 election campaign in Sydney yesterday with an attack on the permissive society. Children have a strict right to be protected by the State against the merchants of drugs, pornography and permissiveness, Senator Gair told his Sunday afternoon audience of 500 at Anzac House. A handful of young girls in gold DLP t-shirts in the hall, a map of Australia emblazoned with "DLP," a banner bearing the slogan: "This time make a change for the better, vote DLP, a recording of a song. 'God Bless Australia’, which was set to the tune of “Waltzing Matilda" set the tone of the occasion. Permissive policies could destroy a nation, just as surely as external aggression, Senator Gair said. "To oppose them is the duty of any party concerned with Australia's defence, strength and selfreliance," the stocky figure declared firmly. It is clear that as far as the DLP is concerned, the 1972 poll is to be a morality election. This will suit the Government because the Liberal and Country parties are themselves trying to get "antipermissiveness" to stand as an election issue. The decision that Senator Gair should open the party's campaign not in Melbourne or Brisbane, but in Sydney, was evidence of the party's desire to broaden the base of its support. Another sign of the new DLP ambitions was Senator Gair's determined appeal to the rural vote. He repeated the party's opposition to any revaluation of the dollar which, he said, would significantly reduce the incomes of Australian farmers" and damage the prospects of Australian export industries.  Rural aid.  Senator Gair boasted that the DLP was "the only party" to consistently advocate the establishment of a national rural finance corporation. He criticised the Government’s recent decision to release 565 million for longterm credit as totally inadequate. Senator Gair did deal with the old DLP verities defence and foreign affairs, State aid, and hatred of the ALP. But the most bitter words of the afternoon came from the Federal president of the DLP, Mr J. Brosnan, who made swinging attacks on the press, Leader of the Opposition, Mr Whitlam and the president of the ACTU, Mr Hawke. He charged that large section of the press was going flat out for the Opposition for the first time since 1956. The ALP stood to destroy everything Australians held dear. "They are determined to destroy our defences; they are determined to destroy human life: they are determined to destroy our independent school system; they are determined to destroy the minds of our kids through drugs and pornography," he declared. Mr Brosnan alleged that the ALP had raised $11 million to face the most critical election since 1956. Most of the money had come from "conscripts" in the trade unions. However it was still Senator Gair's afternoon and the DLP's anti-permissiveness theme was accorded proper attention. If the family is the basis of our society, and the DLP believes it is, then it follows that permissive policies, which denigrate marriage, family values and the authority of parents, will, in time, erode the internal cohesion of the nation," Senator Gair said.  Gair outlines DLP election policy.  Keep nuclear options open  The development of nuclear technology as part of the nation’s defence policy was urged last night in the Federal election policy speech of the Democratic Labor Party. This development, first for peaceful purposes, would ensure that our nuclear defence options remain open to arm us against aggression in the event of our having to stand alone and without allies. The speech was delivered in Sydney by the party’s leader, senator V.C. Gair who declared that Australia now stood, this first time in its history, as a nation in its own right. It now had to depend on itself and no longer on allies. As Australians, Senator Gair said, we must never settle for a little timid, inward turning, selfish, defenceless nation, stagnant in growth and self satisfied to the point of folly. The DLP will have 121 candidates in the election on December 2. Senator Gair said Australia must regard its defence policy as its chief insurance premium against aggression. The DLP also urged continuation of national service, a rejection of isolationism, the strategy of forward engagement in South-East Asia, the strengthening of its Indian Ocean naval forces and the quick completion of suitable naval and air bases on the western coastline. There should also be active reserves of fully trained members for all services. Local industry capable of supplying the requirements of the armed services should he encouraged. Other details of DLP policy were:  Economic Policy: Whichever Government came to power after December 2, inflation would be its major economic problem. It was only through a firm prices, incomes and wages policy, under vigorous Government leadership, that the community would be convinced that all sections, and not just wage earners, were being asked to shoulder some burdens in the antiinflation battle. The DLP would urge the Government to support he party’s Prices Limitation Bill, already introduced into the Senate. It would also establish a prices surveillance tribunal with Commonwealth backing whose job would be to publicly examine price rises, especially in key economic areas. It would review tariff assistance so as to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the economy, and also introduce a productivity wage in order to tie wage rises to productivity and to increase purchasing power. There was also need for a much stricter Government control of foreign capital inflow into Australia. Other necessary measures were the restriction of Commonwealth Government spending, effective legislation against restriction trade practice and the establishment of an inflation advisory council.  'Testing' takeovers.  On the subject of overseas investment and capital inflow, Senator Gair urged that all takeovers of Australian companies should be the subject to Commonwealth Government approval. A usefulness test should be applied to all new imports of overseas capital. Australian industries should be encouraged to use the Development Bank and other sources of capital investment within Australia. In the case of exploitation of Australian resources by foreign companies against the national interest, the government should have the legal right to intervene. The Government should also have the power to control dumping or "the loading of the prices of goods produced in Australia by agreement with foreign parent companies. On wages the DLP believed the Government should support substantial increases for workers on, or near, the minimum wage. Senator Gair also urged the Government to support the case for equal pay for women where the work was of equal value. This would prevent employers from using women as cheap labour. It would also slow down the wholesale absorption, on economic grounds of married women into the workforce. This caused severe physical and mental disturbances to countless Australian children.  Family allowances: the DLP would continue to press strongly for a significant increase in the level of family allowances. This would be done by substantial increases in child endowment, an initial increase to at least 10 per cent of average weekly earnings, and the payment of a realistic allowance for the wife who chooses to remain at home and care for the family. There was no reason why family allowances should not be calculated as part of taxable income. Taxation: The DLP believed that the concession of greatest value to married people in general and parents in particular, was the family tax concession. The Taxation Committee of Enquiry should consider this as a matter of priority. Other recommendations for consideration by the Committee were a site tax which would be additional to present rates and land taxes, to be imposed on all land zoned for industry at a rate proportional to the market value of the land and a substantial payroll tax to be imposed on all employment in densely populated areas. The proceeds would be used to pay subsidies to assist employment in sparsely populated areas or in new cities distant from existing metropolitan areas. Both these measures would encourage decentralisation. On the question of family help, families needing assistance should have their incomes assessed in the normal way. If their incomes fell below the accepted minimum income on a needs basis, the government should supplement their income by an extra payment. In the area of Commonwealth State taxing powers, Senator Gair said the State should he made responsible for meeting their entire expenditure from their own taxation, principally personal income tax, wealth tax and mineral royalties. 'These fields of taxation should he reserved exclusively for the States," Senator Gair said. The Commonwealth should confer with the States to devise means of providing capital assistance to local government bodies. This would enable them to undertake urgent sewerage works and thus combat pollution.  Arbitration to stay  Industrial relations. The present system of conciliation and arbitration could not practically be replaced as the characteristic method of industrial organisation in Australia, senator Gair said. The DLP did not believe that union organisation should be weakened by legislation. But political stoppages, strikes and black bans, imposed by unions for nonindustrial purposes, should be outlawed by severe penalties. All union ballots should involve compulsory voting and be conducted by commonwealth or state electoral officers. Monopoly power in unions should be resisted. Thus all union ... should be conducted according to a democratic code which adequately safeguarded members rights. ... The DLP regarded the issue of abortion as a fundamental question of human rights, not as a religious question. Therefore the DLP strongly opposed any widening of Federal or State laws which might lead to abortion on demand. Abortion on demand was a direct attack on a fundamental human rights, the right to live. It was also an ultimate threat to the fundamental rights of all citizens. The DLP believed that all Australians should have access to free medical and hospital treatment. Although present voluntary schemes (private fund and government pensioner schemes, etc) were reputed to cover some 93 per cent of the population, there were areas here the cover was as low as 53 per cent. Since 1957 the DLP had supported a national compulsory superannuation-cum-health scheme. The scheme should be paid for out of general revenue. However, the existing fund schemes would be encouraged to continue in operation to provide for private and intermediate hospital systems. Social services. Until a national superannuation scheme was introduced to cover all pensions, unemployment and health insurance, the DLP urged an increase in pensions to an amount equal to half of the basis wage. The amount of social service payments should be worked out by an independent tribunal not by .... The tribunal would also review the ... of living, wage increase, prices and other relevant factors when assessing the amount of pensions payable.  Housing: senator Gair detailed four main reforms which would enable young married couples to raise finance for home building. These were interestfree marriage loans, regular UPdating of home savings grants, priority in home finance loans to young couples buying their first home and capitalisation of child endowment payments for housing purposes. The DLP also urged the provision of a reasonable minimum proportion of housing loans by major institutions in Australia at low interest rates. Tax deductions should be made available on money invested in housing. Taxation rebates should also be made available for home maintenance. Population: the DLP believed that Australia should increase its population quite significantly. The country needed more people both as means of defence and to develop rapidly its economy and resources. The basis of the DLP migration policy was:  Maximum encouragement to family groups. The linking of migration to land settlement and the expansion of secondary industry; sponsorship of migrants to the maximum extent possible; efficient medical examination and screening of migrants to ensure proper moral, psychical and mental standards. A more reasonable balance between sexes in the migration program. The DLP was totally opposed to the radical new population policy which a Whitlam government is pledged to implement. This policy was fraught with grave danger to Australia’s defence, development and social stability. Education: the DLP advocated a system of student loans. These would be for the payment of tuition fees for tertiary education  , to be repaid within a specially determined period. If the student regularly passed his exams, he would receive a certain proportion of the loan back again. As an immediate step towards assisting the non-Government schools to meet their running costs, the DLP urged per capita grants to their students of 50 per cent of the average cost of education a child in the State system. Conservation: Senator Gair advocated the establishment of a national conservation authority, financed by the Commonwealth government and with its own chairman and necessary administrative officers. Rural: To cut costs in the rural sector, senator Gair listed several measures. These were:  - a strong attack on inflation.  - A wide ranging reduction of Australian tariffs.  - Commonwealth aid to lower municipal rates, freights and fares.  - The abolition of Commonwealth estate duty and strong action to eliminate restrictive trade practices.  These policies would help overcome the unfair advantage at present enjoyed by secondary industries over primary industry. Senator Gair condemned the Government's plan to release $65 million for long-term credit for farmers as a totally inadequate substitute for a national rural bank. The money administered through an orthodox banking system, was clearly insufficient to meet rural finance needs. There was no substitute for an adequately capitalised national rural bank to meet the farmers’ cyclic needs for long-term, low-interest credit. Overseas aid: Australia's contribution to overseas aid should be at least equal to one per cent of the gross national product. The Government should also set up an appropriate agency to co-ordinate all aid by Australia, both Government and private, to overseas countries.  Denial by Whitlam on abortion.  The leader of the Federal Opposition, Mr Whitlam, denied last night that a Labor Government would relax the laws on abortion. Mr Whitlam speaking at a press conference in Sydney on the eve of his election campaign opening at Black Town Hall tonight, said this was one of three false claims made in Liberal Party advertising so far in the campaign. He said on advertisement saying the Labor Party would relax laws on abortion is totally false. The two points on which Mr Whitlam claimed Liberal Party advertisements had misrepresented Labor’s policy or intentions were on the health scheme and assistance to independent schools. He said: there is an advertisement saying that under a Labor health scheme there won’t be freedom of choice. There will be freedom of choice for both the doctor and the patient. Another advertisement had claimed a Labor Government would reduce assistance to independent schools. There will be more assistance, he said. On abortion he said: The Labor Party regards this as a moral question for the individual, not the party collectively. Many Liberal Party members in the NSW and Federal Governments had expressed their personal views in favour of relaxing abortion laws as had individual Labor members. At the same time, similar numbers of Liberal and Labor State and Federal parliamentarians had expresses their opinion that abortion laws should be tightened. Mr Whitlam said there would be no collective Labor Party decision on the abortion law issue. It was a matter on which no Federal Government could do anything outside the ACT or the Northern Territory.  Left wing pulls the strings, Lynch.  CANBERRA, Sunday. A political party which had as a candidate a person hiding from the law was not the party to lead Australia, the Minister for Labor and National Service, Mr Lynch, said today. The ALP’s endorsement of Barry Johnston as their candidate for Hotham is a clear example of what government by them would mean, government by sectional interests of the community, he said. Speaking in Melbourne, Mr Lynch mid said the endorsement exposed the so-called reformation of the Victorian branch of the ALP for what it was, cosmetics surgery. Action of this type illustrates to the public that nothing has really changed, the Left wing pulls the strings and the machine acts ..., he said.  Vote switch on leaders.  A change in the leadership of the Liberal Party or the Labor Party could have a marked effect on voting patterns, the latest Herald Survey has found. Only 4 per cent of non-Liberal voters said they would definitely vote Liberal if Mr McMahon was replaced by a leader they preferred; 9 per cent said they would probably vote Liberal if the present leadership was changed and of a solid core of non-liberal voters, 17 per cent said they would probably vote Liberal, and 49 per cent said they would definitely vote Liberal if the leadership was changed. In the same way only 3 per cent of nonLabor voters said they would definitely vote Labor if Mr Whitlam was replaced as leader; 10 per cent said they would probably vote ALP in the event of a leadership change, and 22 per cent of non-Labor voters said they would probably not vote Labor, and 41 per cent would definitely not vote Labor, if Mr Whitlam was replaced.  The Herald Survey interviewed 2500 people in 25 marginal metropolitan and non-metropolitan electorates in six states, the interviews were conducted two weeks ago. Herald Survey is conducted by the Herald by the Australian sales research ... in association with the department of political science in the University of Melbourne.