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QUEENSLAND BROADCAST NO, 2  flic

RESOURCES

RECORDED BY THE PRIME M IN IS T E R  FOR BROADCAST 3 0  MARCH 1 9 7 5

One of the great t h in g s The Labor Government

has done for Queensland is  secure f a ir  market p r ic e s -

VASTLY HIGHER PRICES -  FOR HER MINERAL EXPORTS, TH IS

IS  ESPECIALLY TRUE OF QUEENSLAND'S COAL, OUR, P O LIC IE S

HAVE BROUGHT A HUGE INCREASE IN WEALTH AND EXPORT

EARNINGS TO AUSTRALIA -  AND TO T H IS  STATE' IN PARTICULAR,

You' l l  remember that when Labor was

ELECTED ONE OF THE F IR S T  THINGS WE D ID  WAS SET UP A

new Department of Min e r a ls and energy, Because of the

IMPORTANCE" OF A U S T R A L IA 'S  MINERAL RESOURCES WE WANTED

A STRONG DEPARTMENT/ WITH A STRONG M IN IS T E R / TO LOOK.

AFTER THE EXPLORATION/ DEVELOPMENT/ PROCESSING AND SALE

OF OUR RESOURCES IN COOPERATION WITH PRIVATE ENTERPRISE,

WE WERE DETERMINED THAT OUR MINERALS WOULD BE DEVELOPED

IN A WAY THAT WOULD BRING MAXIMUM BENEFITS TO THE

Au s t r a l ia n  p e o p l e,

, , /  2 i

Th i n g s  were i n  a p r o p e r m e s s when we

cam e i n , Th e r e was no n a t i o n a l  p o l i c y  for our m i n e r a l

AND ENERGY RESOURCES. flORE AND MORE OF THEM WERE

FALLING INTO OVERSEAS HANDS, AFTER YEARS OF LIBERAL

Co u n t r y  Pa r t y  r u l e , 6 2 1 of our e n e r g y  r e s o u r c e s

WERE CONTROLLED BY FOREIGN COMPANIES, THE PREVIOUS

Go v e r n m e n t  h ad a l l o w e d  t h e  m i n i n g  in d u s t r y  to w r it e

LONG-TERM CONTRACTS AND DETERMINE PRICES FOR OUR

EXPORTS WITHOUT REGARD FOR THE NATIONAL INTEREST,

The r e s u l t  was t h a t  e x p o r t in g  c o m p a n ie s  were f i g h t i n g

EACH OTHER, CUTTING PRICES FOR THE SALE OF OUR MINERALS

AND REDUCING THE RETURNS TO AUSTRALIA, ONE OF THE

S ILLIE S T.A S P E C TS  OF THE 'ANYTHING GOES' APPROACH

WAS COMPETITION BETWEEN THE STATES, QUEENSLAND WAS

ONE OF THE PR IN CIPAL LOSERS IN T H IS  FREE-FOR-ALL,

Our new d e p a r t m e n t , h e a d e d  b y my

COLLEAGUE, ReX CONNOR, PUT AN END TO ALL T H IS , W lTHIN

WEEKS OF COMING TO OFFICE WE DECIDED THAT THE NATIONAL

GOVERNMENT SHOULD HAVE FULL AUTHORITY OVER THE EXPORT OF

OUR MINERAL RESOURCES, W e DECIDED IT  WAS TIME TO

HALT THE DRIFT OF OUR INDUSTRIES INTO OVERSEAS HANDS,

- 2-  -

,73

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-3-

YOU HEAR,A LOT OF C R IT IC IS M  OF REX

Connor and h is  departm ent, but the facts and fig u r e s -

PROVE JUST HOW SUCCESSFUL OUR P O LIC IE S  HAVE BEEN,

The future of Qu een slan d' s coal industry has never

LOOKED BRIGHTER, EXPORTS ARE AT A RECORD LEVEL, BOTH IN

VOLUME AND PR IC E, I n  QUEENSLAND, WHERE THE COAL INDUSTRY

IS 85% FOREIGN OWNED, INTERVENTION BY THE AUSTRALIAN

Government in  n e g o t ia t io n s has resulted in  s u b s t a n t ia l

p r ic e in c r e a s e s, The  t o ta l value of increases n e g o tia te d

BETWEEN THE BEGINNING OF 1 9 7 3  AND THE END OF SEPTEMBER

LAST YEAR WAS MORE THAN $ 1 , 3 6 4  M IL L IO N  OVER THE FULL

DELIVERY TERMS OF ALL QUEENSLAND COAL EXPORT CONTRACTS,

The value of the increases a c tu a lly r e c e iv e d in  the same

PERIOD WAS IN THE ORDER OF $ 6 7  M IL L IO N , AUSTRALIAN

COAL EXPORTS TO A LL MARKETS ARE ESTIMATED TO BE ABOUT

$ 1 1 0 0  M IL L IO N  FOR T H IS  YEAR, 1 9 7 5 ,  T h A T I S  AN INCREASE

OF ABOUT $476 M ILLIO N  OVER LAST YEAR, I n THE CASE OF

IRON ORE, THE TOTAL VALUE OF AUSTRALIAN EXPORTS TO ALL

MARKETS TH IS YEAR IS LIK E LY  TO EXCEED $800 M IL L IO N , ‘

Th a t' s more than double the export earnings in  1 9 7 2 ,

THE LAST YEAR THE LIBERAL-COUNTRY PARTY GOVERNMENT WAS

IN OFFICE, -

. , ,74

Of c o u r s e t h a t ' s n o t a l l  w e' v e d o n e i n  t h e

MINERALS AND ENERGY F IE L D , We HAD A GREAT BATTLE

i n  Pa r l i a m e n t  t o g e t our l e g i s l a t i o n  t h r o u g h for a

Pe t r o l e u m  a n d Mi n e r a l s  Au t h o r i t y , L i k e  t h e M e d i b a n k

B I L L S ,  IT  HAD TO BE PASSED AT THE JO IN T  S IT T IN G

of b o t h Ho u s e s  l a s t  y e a r , And l i k e  Me di b a n k , p e o p l e

ARE NOW SEEING JUST HOW VALUABLE AND NECESSARY OUR

Pe t r o l e u m a n d Mi n e r a l s  Au t h o r i t y  i s , I t s a i m  i s  t o e x p l o r e

DEVELOP, PRODUCE, TRANSPORT, PROCESS AND SELL AUSTRALIAN

PETROLEUM AND MINERALS, AND I T  W IL L  DO SO WHILE

RETAINING MAXIMUM AUSTRALIAN OWNERSHIP OF OUR RESOURCES -

t h a t ' s WHAT i t ' s AL L ABOUT, A MAJOR PORTION OF THE

Au t h o r i t y' s e x p e n d i t u r e o f $ 5 0  m i l l i o n  t h i s  f i n a n c i a l  y e a r

i s a v a i l a b l e  t o a s s i s t  Au s t r a l i a n m i n i n g  v e n t u r e s,

Wh en Rex Con n or was w i t h me i n Qu e e n s l a n d l a s t y e a r

HE ANNOUNCED THAT THE AUTHORITY HAD TAKEN UP IT S  F IR S T  n

e q u i t y  i n  a Qu e e n s l a n d  v e n t u r e  -  Ma r e e b a  Mi n i n g , I t

now h as e q u i t i e s  i n  two o t h e r  c o m p a n ie s  a s w e l l ,

We .HAVE MADE A GREAT START IN OUR PLAN FOR

A NATIONAL P IP E L IN E  SYSTEM.TO CARRY-NATURAL GAS

INTERSTATE." THE NATIONAL P IP E L IN E  W ILL MEAN TWO THINGS -

STEADY SUPPLIES OF GAS AND STABLE PRICES, OVER 4 0 0

KILOMETRES OF THE P IP E L IN E  HAVE ALREADY BEEN L A ID ,

When i t ' s c o m p l e t e d i t  w i l l  b e t h e b i g g e s t e n g i n e e r i n g

ACHIEVEMENT IN A U S T R A L IA 'S  HISTORY, AUSTRALIA AT

PRESENT MEETS ONLY 11 OF HER FUEL AND ENERGY NEEDS FROM-

NATURAL GAS; COMPARABLE INDUSTRIALISED COUNTRIES USE .

SO WHEN OUR GAS RESOURCES ARE BEING FULLY USED

Au s t r a l i a  w i l l  b e much l e s s d e p e n d e n t  on im p o r t e d

FUEL O I L ,  AND M IL L IO N S  OF DOLLARS W IL L  BE CUT

FROM OUR IMPORT $ 1 L L ,

S i m i l a r l y , to d e v e l o p  Au s t r a l i a ' s v a s t

URANIUM DEPOSITS IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY, WE HAVE

AUTHORISED THE ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION J O  MINE AND SELL

OUR URANIUM RESERVES AT RANGER IN THE ALLIGATOR RlVER

D IS T R IC T , I FOUND TERMENDOUS INTEREST IN THE

PURCHASE OF AUSTRALIAN URANIUM DURING MY RECENT

v i s i t  ÃÂ ÃÂ¿  Eu r o p e, At t h e  sam e t i m e  we h a v e  r e a c h e d

AGREEMENT WITH JAPAN ON A JO IN T STUDY IN URANIUM

ENRICHMENT -  A PROCESS THAT W ILL GREATLY INCREASE

THE VALUE OF OUR RESERVES,

Th e s e  a r e a l l  s o u n d , p r a c t i c a l , p o s i t i v e

ACHIEVEMENTS, ‘ THEY W ILL NOT ONLY INCREASE OUR _

NATIONAL WEALTH AND STANDARD OF L IV IN G  BUT MAKE US MORE

S E LF -S U F F IC IE N T , ÃÂªÃÂ ÃÂ  WORLD ENERGY SHORTAGE HAS

BROUGHT PROBLEMS TO MANY OF OUR GREAT TRADING PARTNERS,

W i t h Au s t r a l i a ' s p r e c i o u s r e s o u r c e s k e p t a s f a r a s

POSSIBLE IN AUSTRALIAN HANDS, AND DEVELOPED IN A U S T R A L IA 'S

INTERESTS, WE ARE GOING TO BE IN A MUCH BETTER PO SITION IN

THE YEARS AHEAD TO DEFEND OUR STANDARD OF L IV IN G  AND

DEVELOP OUR COUNTRY IN AN ENERGY-HUNGRY WORLD.

Some of our p o l i c i e s  m a y n o t f i n d  f a v o u r w i t h p a r t i c u l a r

GROUPS OR INTERESTS AT THE MOMENT, BUT B E L IE V E  ME, THEY

ARE IN  THE LONG-TERM INTERESTS OF OUR COUNTRY AND OF

a l l t h e Au s t r a l i a n p e o p l e, Â»

