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PRIME MINISTER

FOR MEDIA SUNDAY,, 16 MARCH, 19 80

ELECTORATE TALK

Over the past weeks, many Australians have suffered unnecessarily  as a result of the blatant and selfish exercise of union power. Such behaviour is repugnant to the majority of Australians.

We have come, as a nation, through difficult times.  Now, our  inflation is down; our new international competitiveness  means that overseas buyers want more and more of our goods.  - Billions of dollars of investment projects are about to go ahead

in Australia. '  .  .

The most important result of all this activity is obvious.  Employment.1  is up by over 130,000 in the last year. And there are  prospects for future job opportunities. But there are selfish  sections in the community who, if their recent behaviour is

any indication, are prepared to sacrifice these gains by the _   abuse of union power and by adopting attitudes of self-interest.

As has been too often the case in the past, this unthinking,  militant behaviour has been supported or condoned in areas  where it should have been, from the outset, resisted, rejected . .   and condemned.

Let me be specific. New South Wales in particular almost ground to  a halt last week as a result of a strike by petrol tanker drivers,  members of the Transport Workers’Union. This dispute was not  about wages or conditions; not about a fight between unions;

or between Federal and State Branches, of a union; it was a  fight within a union.

It. centred around an Australian citizen, Mr. Leon Laidely, not  trying to deny anyone business, not trying to say a non-unionist  should dp his work, not saying another union should .do the work;  but merely saying that one of his own employees, a member of  the Transport Workers’  Union should perform the job.

The Union wanted the right to say who would perform the job. . It was to prevent this kind of occurence that the Government  introduced Section 45D into the Trade Practices Act. Simply,. 45D is designed to stop organisations - unions or companies -

from hindering or preventing commercial dealings between a  third party and the boycotted company.  '

That Section enabled Mr. Laidely to obtain an injunction against  the Union because it was refusing to allow some of its members  to deliver supplies to Mr. Laidely.

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As Mr. Street said on Friday, while welcoming the cessation  of the dispute, the Government views with real concern the  arrangements under which the settlement was reached.

In the settlement, it now appears that Mr. Laidely's. supplier,   AMOCO, is to deny him supplies thus making a union ban  unnecessary, and rendering Section 45D irrelevant.

It also appears that the Company's action follows an arrangement,  made under the auspices of the Arbitration Commission. """

The Government is obviously concerned that this kind of .  . arrangement can escape the provisions of the Trade Practices Act,  and will look at ways to overcome the problem. .

Not only was last week's strike unnecessary, but also it was  avoidable. The reason it was avoidable is simple. The  New South Wales Government has the powers to face up to Ã¢ÂÂ  militant unions.  For reasons known only to themselves, it

fails to do so. .

My Government has argued for some time that the. difficulties  and confusion created b y  the division of industrial powers  between the State and the Commonwealth need speedy resolution. That resolution, important though it is, is in the future. . For the present, the New South Wales Government has powers which

it gave to itself. Last week, as in the past, it failed to  use those powers adequately. In the national interest, such  an attitude must be reversed.

The 1976 New South Wales Energy Authority Act provides that  whenever it .appears from any cause that available supplies  of a form of energy were likely to become less than sufficient  for the reasonable requirements of the community; or if it was felt

that an emergency situation existed or was likely to exist in  relation to supplies of energy, then the New South Wales Government  has the power to control and direct the sale ÃÂ» the supply and  the consumption of that form.of energy. .

It has the.power to direct a person or persons to transport  that energy and to distribute.’  it. It has the power to enforce  this provision throughout any part of New South. Wales, or .   throughout the whole State.

Because these powers exist, it is unacceptable that the well-being  of people in New South Wales has. to.be regularly sacrificed  while the New South Wales Government, for reasons unknown, yields .   to powerful union interests. '

As happened last week, the control over fuel supplies in  New South Wales was determined by union leaders,  not the  Government. .

After the strike was in place and it became clear that  New South Wales was going to run.short of fuel, the New South Wales  Government did use its emergency powers to freeze supplies of fuel,  and to forbid its sale to all but selected emergency customers. One might say that the New South Wales Government was exercising

its proper powers in an emergency.

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But now it is reported that the priorities - who was to get and who was to be denied petrol - had been determined by the Transport Workers' Union, not the New South Wales Government.  This was a total abdication of Government responsibility and demonstrated that the New South Wales Government was not prepared to stand up and exercise its authority if it meant an

argument with a powerful union. '

The New South Wales Premier attempted to hidÂ§ the abject  behaviour of his Government behind a public-relations exercise  by proposing a referendum to hand over all State industrial  powers to the Commonwealth. Mr. Wran knew very well that a .   proposal' of. that kind - even if agreed to by the other States -  would only operate in the longer term. .  It was not relevant

to the current situation. Ã¢ÂÂ

The New South Wales Government has special powers under its  own Energy Authority Act to control fuel supplies to the  community. Last week we saw these either not used, or used only  under the dictates of a union.

In the oil industry - indeed in any industry - the ceding of such  powers by the State Government to a union threatens the national  economy. -I have said before, the New South Wales Attorney-General is

quick to invoke the lav/ against company directors who do not  operate with, the law - and so he should be. But why should  union leaders who fail to respond to negotiation and conciliation  be exempt from the provisions of the law.

There can be no prospect of long-term industrial harmony if  Governments abdicate from their responsibility in the face of  difficult decisions. The community must know that justice and  the law can, and will be upheld.

As I said at the outset, ..there are difficult problems in the . union movement. The. notion of where Commonwealth and State powers  begin and end is not always clear to the community. There is  usually a belief that because a dispute has a national effect,

then its solution is within the capacity of the national Government.

The Commonwealth Government does have powers, and will exercise them, as  it must, in an effective and responsible way. But very specific  powers are.also held by State Governments and in particular  by the New South Wales Government in relation to last week's  petrol dispute.

Had the New South Wales Government at the outset made it plain  that it would not yield to the absurd demands of sections of  the Transport Workers' Union, then the public could have been  spared the massive dislocation that overtook the State.

In the wool dispute - which has halted regular wool sales  throughout Australia since Christmas - it was also necessary to  resist unreasonable union demands - in this case.the  Storemen and Packers' Union. .

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Naturally, the Government is hopeful that the Conference  now proceeding before Mr. Justice Williams in Melbourne will  bring an early return to work, so that once again our wool  industry can meet its export obligations.

However, the arrangements agreed to by the brokers, growers  and the Government last Friday will be applied progressively  from tomorrow morning.  Their application can only be prevented  by a return to work by the Storemen and Packers' Union.

The Government realises that by responding to the request by Â· Â· -Ã¢ÂÂ    the growers and brokers to bring down regulations to control  the export of raw wool, the entire industry could well be brought  to a halt. The purpose of these regulations will be to ensure  that the industry as a whole has a unified approach to the .  .  ... .  dispute, having regard to the gross disruption to normal, trade  ‘  that has occurred. .

Needless industrial disputes, if. allowed to continue, can have .   a profound effect on the economic recovery that is under way. What we have gained in the last few years can so easily be  destroyed by industrial disruption: by harmful and damaging .

strikes.

It is in all our interests to put conflict aside.

Surely, with the opportunities in front of us, it is time to  put Australia first; to think of the national interests before  self-interest; to see that what we do enhances national  well-being rather than damages it.

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