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QUEENSLAND BROADCAST NO, 2

RESOURCES

RECORDED BY THE PRIME MINISTER FOR BROADCAST 30 MARCH 1975

One of the great things The Labor Government

has done for Queensland is  secure f a ir  market prices -

VASTLY HIGHER PRICES -  FOR HER MINERAL EXPORTS, THIS

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

HAVE BROUGHT A HUGE INCREASE IN WEALTH AND EXPORT

EARNINGS TO AUSTRALIA -  AND TO TH IS  STATE' IN PARTICULAR,

You' l l remember that when Labor was

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

new Department of Minerals and energy, Because of the

IMPORTANCE' OF A U S T R A L IA 'S  MINERAL RESOURCES WE WANTED , . Â· Â· Â· . Â·' Â·#Â»

A STRONG DEPARTMENT, WITH A STRONG M I N I S T E R ,  TO LOOK.

AFTER THE E X P L O R A T I O N ,  DEVELOPMENT, PROCESSING AND SALE

OF OUR RESOURCES I N  COOPERATION WITH P R I V A T E  E N T E R P R I S E ,  ‘

W e were determined that our m inerals would be developed

IN A WAY THAT WOULD BRING MAXIMUM BENEFITS TO THE

Au str alian peo ple,

i/ 2Ã¢ÂÂ 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 21 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 a d a l l o w e d  t h e m i n i n g  i n d u s t r y  t o w r i t 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 i e 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 T S  OF THE 'ANYTHING GOES' APPROACH

WAS COMPETITION BETWEEN THE STATES, QUEENSLAND WAS

ONE OF THE P R IN C IPA L LOSERS IN T H IS  FREE-FO R-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 A

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,

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,,,73

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-3 -

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

Connor and h is  department, but the facts and figures -PROVE JUST HOW SUCCESSFUL OUR PO LIC IE S  HAVE BEEN,

The future of Queensland' s coal industry has never

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

VOLUME AND PRICE, I n QUEENSLAND, WHERE THE COAL INDUSTRY

IS 85% FOREIGN OWNED, INTERVENTION BY THE AUSTRALIAN

Government in  n eg o tiatio ns has resulted in  s u b s ta n tia l

price in c reas es, The total value of increases negotiated

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 actually received in  the same

PERIOD WAS IN THE ORDER OF $67 M IL L IO N , AUSTRALIAN

COAL EXPORTS TO ALL MARKETS ARE ESTIMATED TO BE ABOUT

$ 1 1 0 0  M IL L IO N  FOR T H IS  YEAR, 1 9 7 5 , THAT IS AN INCREASE

OF ABOUT $ 4 7 6  M IL L IO N  OVER LAST YEAR, I n THE CASE OF

IRON ORE, THE TOTAL VALUE OF AUSTRALIAN EXPORTS TO ALL

MARKETS T H IS  YEAR IS L IK E L Y  TO EXCEED $ 8 0 0  M IL L IO N , ‘

Th at' s more than double the export earnings in 1 9 7 2 ,

THE LAST YEAR THE LlBERAL-CoUNTRY PARTY GOVERNMENT WAS

IN O FFICE, -

. ,  .74

Of course t h a t' s not a l l we' ve done in  the

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

in Parliam ent to get our le g is la t io n  through for a

Petroleum and Minerals Au t h o r it y, L ik e the Medibank

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

of both Houses last y ear, And l ik e  Me d ib a n k , people

ARE NOW SEEING JUST HOW VALUABLE AND NECESSARY OUR

Petroleum and Minerals Authority i s , I ts a im  is  to explore

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 -

TH A T'S  WHAT I T ' S  ALL ABOUT, A MAJOR PORTION OF THE

Au th o r ity' s expenditure of $50 m il l io n  t h is  f in a n c ia l  year

IS AVAILABLE TO AS S IS T AUSTRALIAN MINING VENTURES,

W hen Rex Connor was with me in Queensland last year

HE ANNOUNCED THAT THE AUTHORITY HAD TAKEN UP ITS FIR S T

equity in  a Queensland venture -  Mareeba Min in g , It

now has e q u it ie s  in  two other companies as w e ll,

We .HAVE MADE A GREAT START IN OUR PLAN FOR

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

INTERSTATE." ÃÂªÃÂ ÃÂ  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 ,

W hen i t ' s completed it  w il l be the big gest engineering

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

PRESENT MEETS ONLY 1% OF HER FUEL AND ENERGY NEEDS FROM''

NATURAL GAS; COMPARABLE INDUSTRIALISED COUNTRIES USE

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So WHEN OUR GAS RESOURCES ARE BE ING  FUL LY USED

- Au s t r a l i a w i l l b e m u c h l e s s d e p e n d e n t on i m p o r t e d

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

FROM OUR IMPORT $ 1 L L ,

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

URANIUM D E P O S IT S  I N  THE NORTHERN T E R R I T O R Y ,  WE HAVE

AUTHORISED THE ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION J O  M IN E  AND SE LL

OUR URANIUM RESERVES AT RANGER I N  THE A L L IG A T O R  R lV E R

D I S T R I C T ,  I FOUND TERMENDOUS I NT E RE S T I N  THE

PURCHASE OF A U S T R A L I A N  URANIUM DURING MY RECENT

v i s i t t o 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, ‘ ÃÂªÃÂÃÂÃÂ¥ 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,

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

POSSIBLE IN AUSTRALIAN HANDS, AND DEVELOPED IN A U STR ALIA'S

INTERESTS, WE ARE GOING TO BE IN A MUCH BETTER POSITION 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  may not f i n d  f a v o u r  w it h  p a r t i c u l a r

GROUPS OR INTERESTS AT THE MOMENT, BUT BELIEVE 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»

