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EMBARGO; 5.00PM

PRIME MINISTER

FOR MEDIA '  SUNDAY, 6 FEBRUARY 1983

ELECTORATE TALK

I have explained over the last week why the election is  important and why it is being held at this time.  In the last  day or two we will have all read reports in the paper that the  Labor Party would fight this election on a progam of reconciliation.   There are one or two questions I would like to ask about that.  If  the Labor Party wants reconciliation, why is the Labor Party  itself so divisive,  why does it threaten the consensus we have  had for a long while on defence and education and above all, on  the wage pause?

The Federal Government successfully negotiated the wage pause  with all State Governments, Liberal, Labor and National Party. It is rare for such a consensus to be reached.  But the pause has  not only been supported by every Government, it is respected  and supported by the majority of Australians. Everyone knows

that the $300 million the Commonwealth alone will save in  wages will provide jobs and the pause will help to make our  industries competitive and profitable.

A week or so ago even Mr Hayden recognised economic reality  and gave grudging support to the pause. Then the unions, or  possibly Mr Hawke, cracked the whip and Mr Hayden returned to  full opposition to the wage pause.  By opposing-the pause the

Federal Labor Party and the trade unions - the two cannot be  separated - are the odd ones out. Federal Labor voted against  it in Parliament in both Houses and since then Labor's Deputy  Leader has incited people to take industrial action against the  pause. When asked whether Labor would support industrial  action, the Deputy. Leader said on 27 January "yes, you have  got to do that"..

Mr Hawke's statement last Friday that the wage pause would  continue until a national economicÂ· summit is called, is  meaningless.  The pause would only continue for a week or so,  because the summit would be his first act.

It would seem clear from everything Labor has said that it  in fact supports the 8% claim by the oil workers,  The Deputy  Leader of the Opposition made that clear when he said the unions  were entitled to take industrial action, yet the key people in

the dispute - the electricians on strike - are earning up to  $30,000 a year.  if these demands were met it would start a new  major wage round, undermining the whole basis of the wage pause.

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Now, in these circumstances the Federal Labor Party cannot turn  around and say everyone else is being confrontationist and it  is the only Party capable of reconciliation, because the  reverse is the truth. It is the Federal Labor Party which is

confronting all eight Governments. It is the Federal Labor  Party which is being destructive. It is the Federal Labor  Party which is breaking the unity, the consensus of Australia.

The ANZUS Treaty has been regarded as an integral part of  Australia's defence for decades and it has been supported  by all major parties. But the Victorian Government has made it.  perfectly plain it does not welcome visits to Victorian ports  by American nuclear ships. As I have often explained, that

means keeping all American ships out of Victorian ports because  by saying whether their ships are nuclear armed or not, the  United States would be giving vital defence secrets to the  Soviet Union and they obviously cannot do that. The Victorian

Government's attitude has been reinforced by the Deputy  Leader of the Federal Opposition who has said that "we cannot  allow Australia's defence forces to become inter-linked with  those of the United States".

The Commonwealth Government had to press the Victorian Government  very firmly and insist that the visits would continue to take  place, but the Federal Labor made no effort to stop the Victorian  Goverment and if Labor took that view in Government it would  make it impossible for the Americans to fulfill their obligations

under ANZUS. The American alliance is a long-standing policy  which is acceptable to nearly all Austalians. Why then does  Labor challenge some essential elements of it? What sort of  ally are we if we say to the United States,  we want your help  but your ships cannot visit our ports?

If Labor believes in reconciliation, why does it threaten  to take away the inalienable right of every child to some  Government support for his or her education, a right that had  come to be accepted by all political parties? Labor is thus  creating insecurity and uncertainty and is denying a choice  in education to thousands of families who are not as well-off  as some Others. .

These are three issues on which the Labor Party is seeking  to breach what, without them, would be a full national consensus.  One of the reasons why the Labor Party is divisive is that they  are a party of factions, and one of the strongest of those

factions is the Socialist Left, totally.opposed to almost  everything that Australia stands foir. If the Labor Party wants  reconciliation, why do they have in the platform a commitment to  turning Australia into a republic? Why do they want to tear

up our flag and get a new one? That is a further commitment in  their platform. Why do they raise these issues if they want  reconciliation? I don't suppose they will want to talk about them  during this campaign, but as platform items, all Labor members of

the Labor Party would be committed to put them into effect.

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Against the background of their recent actions and committed  policies, their slogan about bringing Australia together is  total humbug. Labor's internal divisions make it very difficult  for them to reach decisions on policies.  For example, they  oppose the wage pause even though they have absolutely no  economic policy of their own. I asked a large number of people  last week if they could name one single policy of the Labor  Party which is relevant to the current economic circumstances  *of Australia. One or two said "oh, they would call a conference",  but a conference isn't a policy. We consult with people all  the time, the unions, management, the State Governments. It is  a continuing process, but it is not a policy. The fact that nobody could think of a single Labor policy  which is relevant to the Australian economy in 1983, and that  Labor offers no more than a threat to the national consensus .   says something very fundamental about this Labor Party, It  shows that not only is the Labor Party thoroughly divided,  divisive and confrontationist in its approach, but also  that a Labor Government would lead to enormous insecurity  for Australian families. ,_______ If anybody wanted to risk the future and elect a Labor Government,  it would be the greatest gamble in the history of their own  lives. ---0O0---

Against the background of their recent actions and committed  policies, their slogan about bringing Australia together is  total humbug. Labor's internal divisions make it very difficult  for them to reach decisions on policies.  For example, they  oppose the wage pause even though they have absolutely no  economic policy of their own. I asked a large number of people

last week if they could name one single policy of the Labor  Party which is relevant to the current economic circumstances  *of Australia. One or two said "oh, they would call a conference",  but a conference isn't a policy. We consult with people all

the time, the unions, management, the State Governments. It is  a continuing process, but it is not a policy.

The fact that nobody could think of a single Labor policy  which is relevant to the Australian economy in 1983, and that  Labor offers no more than a threat to the national consensus .   says something very fundamental about this Labor Party, It

shows that not only is the Labor Party thoroughly divided,  divisive and confrontationist in its approach, but also  that a Labor Government would lead to enormous insecurity  for Australian families. ,_______

If anybody wanted to risk the future and elect a Labor Government,  it would be the greatest gamble in the history of their own  lives.

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