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The Hon. Ronald Boswell, Senator for Queensland
First Speech - 25/05/1983It is with pride that I stand before this chamber tonight to make
my first contribution as the only member of the Opposition who gained a new place
in this Parliament. I am aware of my responsibilities to the people of Queensland
and Australia and I give notice now that I will be one of the strongest advocates
to protect the rights of my State, given under the Constitution. My party believes
in a federal system of government and I will fight tooth and nail to make sure
that Queensland's rights are not subjugated to a centralist Australian Labor Party
Government trying to base all power in Canberra. No person achieves the honour
of gaining representation to this House without a party structure behind him.
I acknowledge my debt to my party and the trust placed in me to represent Queensland
and Queenslanders. The National Party of Australia can trace its origins back
to 1893 when the circumstances of the day demonstrated the need for a party to
look after the political needs of the small businessman, the str
uggling settler
and the people who wanted jobs. That need is as relevant today as it was 90 years
ago. The results of the recent Victorian by-election prove that this party is
in the ascendancy. I will state now that after the next Federal election we will
have at least one more senator from Victoria and another one from Queensland occupying
the National Party benches of this chamber. The National Party supports the private
enterprise philosophy in that it encourages people to run their own businesses.
The National Party, however, will not and does not support the argument that the
market must find its own level, the big must get bigger and the small must wither
and die. My party wishes to see private enterprise flourish and grow with all
Australians enjoying the benefits which this creates. It believes that the growth
of private enterprise creates real and lasting jobs, not the artificial jobs which
this Government is promoting and which will disappear as soon as the public funding
runs out. The National
Party is a party of achievement-achievement for
Australia. Its history is highlighted by great individuals-people such as McEwen,
Fadden and Joh Bjelke-Petersen. I take my place with pride, yet with humility.
I pay tribute to the lady who sits on my left, Senator Florence Bjelke-Petersen.
When she was elected to this chamber three years ago she was greeted with caution,
to say the least. She has proved in Queensland that she is the most popular member
of Federal Parliament because of her tireless work in the electorate. I wish to
place on record my thanks to the retail industry of Queensland for its support
during the election campaign. I also thank the fishing industry and all other
groups of small business people who had faith in me and believe that I can represent
their interests in Federal Parliament. I gave them my assurance that I will be
fighting for their cause and meant it. Two weeks ago this chamber heard a
speech by Senator Crowley who used as her theme the international socialists'
song Bread
and Roses. As I listened it was my view that, in truth, both sides
of the chamber wanted the same thing for the people of Australia. The difference
was in the way this could be achieved. The National Party in Queensland in a tangible
way has provided policies to enable people to have 'bread'. The bible on which
I took an oath of allegiance only the other day states that man cannot live by
bread alone. The National Party deliberately aims at policies which give the opportunity
for people to have bread and for roses to bloom. The National Party is the party
that has been able to offer the people of Queensland the lowest taxes of any State
in Australia. State taxes are some 50 per cent higher in New South Wales and some
70 per cent higher in Victoria. My party believes that the Federal system of taxation
is antiquated and needs a complete review. A more equitable system needs to be
introduced based on providing initiatives and not penalising effort. Surely people
who create jobs do not deserve to be penalised. <
p> The Queensland Government
was the first in Australia to take the courageous step to abolish death taxes,
thus forcing every other government to follow suit. This was a National Party
initiative and one that probably has done more for the rural industry than any
other policy. In the past we saw the family farm being sold off or large parts
of it being hived off to meet probate duties. It was a vindictive tax because
it took away a man's life work from his family after he had paid tax all his life.
It absolutely astounds me to hear that some sections of the Cain Government want
it reintroduced. I told the people about this when I campaigned in Warrnambool.
It probably had something to do with the low that the Labor Party received-it
came in last. The National Party certainly deserved to win Warrnambool. The National's
State taxation policies have ensured that slowly, but surely, the exemption level
of payroll tax is being raised, thus helping small business to create more jobs
and employ more people. The
se are the basic bread policies initiated
by the Bjelke-Petersen-led Government and what a proud record he has to stand
on when he faces the people in the next State election. I guarantee that he will
increase his majority. It should be noted too that 1,000 people are coming to
Queensland every week. Queensland's interstate gain is almost equal to the number
of people fleeing from the socialist governments of Victoria and New South Wales.
People are marching to Queensland because they know that a National Party-led
Government will provide them and their families with jobs. The Australian Bureau
of Statistics figures show that 28,000 people gave employment as the reason for
moving to Queensland. Indeed, Quensland's job creation record is the one bright
spot in Australia's employment statistics. For the period of the wage pause, Queensland,
with only 16 per cent of Australia's population, created 28 per cent of Australia's
jobs. The State Government is trying hard to create employment. But it is
being frust
rated by the Federal Government's policy to turn away foreign
investment. This Labor Government should be honest with the unemployed and tell
them how many jobs the Foreign Investment Review Board has spiked in just the
last seven weeks. I shudder every time I hear that the Labor Government has shelved
another project. How can it say that it is looking after north Queensland when
it has shelved the Townsville domestic terminal project and refuses to honour
a commitment of the former Government to fund a feasibility study for the Bradfield
scheme, a scheme which could have tremendous implications for north Queensland
and for Australia as a whole? That scheme could provide Australia with another
Darling Downs and if it was feasible it would provide many more jobs for the unemployed
of north Queensland. Furthermore, it has become well known in Cairns, which faces
a serious unemployment problem, that the construction schedule for five naval
patrol boats is to be slowed down. The people of Queensland are fast
becoming disillusioned. They cannot complain because this Government has abolished
specific ministerial responsibilities for northern development and there is no
Federal Minister with an electorate north of Brisbane and only one in Queensland.
How one Minister can look after the total needs of Queensland is beyond me. Even
the Australian Labor Party in Queensland, according to media reports, is disillusioned
with the Hawke Labor Government. Mr Hawke has left our colleague Senator Reynolds
way out on a limb because he has given her no answers for the people of north
Queensland. She is going to have to do some fast footwork when I go to north Queensland
and explain how this Government is treating the people there. Last year 50,000
people came to Queensland. They came because they believed a private enterprise
government could provide them with a better chance of employment and a better
chance of owning their own home. Far more importantly, they came because Queensland
could provide far more opportunities for a
stable future for their children.
This is what we must be talking about in both chambers-the creation of a better
future for all Australians. When we talk about creating new jobs and better
opportunities, we must talk about small business. Small business is becoming a
section of the vote that all parties are wooing. I can honestly say that I understand
the problems of small business. I established my own business on 18 years of sheer
drive and initiative. That business ended up employing 10 people out of one man's
initiative. That is the type of small business that creates jobs. As I look toward
the Government benches, I see union representatives and academics. There is no
one there who really understands small business. The National Party, particularly
in Queensland, is helping small business deliberately to create new jobs. That
is why I can say the National Party has more in common with the worker and any
other party represented in this chamber. It is a party of self- made people who,
every time they m
ake something, also provide more opportunities for working
men and women. In Queensland some 500,000 people are involved in small business.
The Senate will have heard many times the following facts, but they warrant repeating:
Small business enterprises employ over 50 per cent of the total work force; collectively,
small businesses with up to 10 employees contribute more than half of the profit
of the business sector; and small business contributes more in tax revenue than
big business, including most of the resource development sector. Small business
is an under-represented section in and outside parliament. It was not considered
important enough for the National Economic Summit Conference. More needs to be
done in future to weld this section of business into a recognised organisation.
Small business ultimately must develop as much clout as the Australian Council
of Trade Unions and be as effective as the National Farmers' Federation. My party
will be working with all the vigor and force that it can must
er to achieve
this. The small business section needs a tax system that will not bankrupt
small operators. The taxation system, as it now stands, takes everything made
this year and, through provisional tax, most of what the Australian Taxation Office
thinks is going to be made 'next year'. Small business needs the implementation
of an education scheme whereby the small operator can learn the principles of
business management such as the control of overheads and the relation of sales
to profit and profit to overheads. So many times we see excellent tradesmen and
people with various skills establish their own businesses and fail because they
have not got the faintest idea of business management. Generally, they lose their
homes and any other assets they have built up. It needs the funding for three
years of a federal small business organisation which can report and represent
the needs of small business to the Government. The Queensland State Government
has established such an organisation-the Small Business
Development Corporation.
It knows the contribution that small business makes to Queensland. Since 1893
the National Party, as I said earlier, has helped small business. It is still
helping this important group. Last year my party rejected out of hand moves
to deregulate trading hours. It knew the devastating effect that this would have
on small retailers and on the family unit. Parents would have to work on weekends
and thus their children would be unable to enjoy the company of their parents
on Sunday-to go to church or just have a family day together. The Premier has
promised that in the next parliamentary session a Bill will be introduced to protect
tenants from unscrupulous practices in retail shop leases; and, of course, everyone
in Queensland knows that what Joh says, he does. My party wants to ensure that
small business can continue to be the nation's leading employer and give the bread
that is basic to life. It is clear that Labor State governments, and probably
the Hawke Government too, do no
t understand small business. They talk about
it and make promises but they do not act; not one Labor State government has legislated
on shopping centre leases. They promised to do it. In Queensland, the Government
is strong and positive-it acts and carries out its promises. The Labor Party promises
tax cuts, lower petrol prices, but fails to deliver. It works to a plan. It is
to promise and renege. Premiers Wran, Cain, Bannon and Burke did it. So did Mr
Hawke. I repeat: The National Party-led Government promises only what it can deliver.
There are no illusions and no deceptions. I now wish to talk about roses.
All people have holidays and Queensland is blooming as the best place to holiday.
In 1982, 33,000 Americans alone visited Queensland, the majority coming in via
Townsville. The Gold Coast attracted 81, 000 overseas visitors. The tourist industry
is now worth $1.7m to Queensland's economy. Its growth rate is 7.4 per cent compared
with the national average of 1.6 per cent. This exceptional growth rate
in
Queensland's tourist industry did not just happen; it was a result of a State
government initiative to set up the Queensland Tourist and Travel Corporation-an
efficient, independent body to promote Queensland. It is doing a magnificent job.
The tourist industry leads the way for job creation. Many more jobs could be made,
however, if penalty rates were abolished. In Queensland alone it is estimated
that 10,000 extra jobs could be created. The ALP and the unions acknowledge that
tourism is one of the few industries that has any real job growth. There should
be a new tourist award to cover the industry and wages should be restructured
to enable penalty payments to be abolished. This is National Party policy.
The National Party-led Government has given jobs and hope to thousands of Australians,
in contrast to this Government that was elected on the promise of creating 500,000
jobs. Until 19 May, I had not seen one initiative or piece of legislation that
would create one job, let alone half a million. What
the electorate got was
cosmetic jobs-jobs which will last for six months. This country needs a private
enterprise-led recovery, not public sector pump priming. Where was the help for
small business and industry? They were ignored! The primary producers were the
ones who had to pick up one third of the recovery tab. This Government's priorities
are not recovery and jobs. Let us look at its record: Stopping the Tasmanian dam;
vetoing finance for development on the Gold Coast; shelving the Townsville domestic
airport development; and slowing down construction of the five patrol boats being
built in Cairns. I now want to mention the proposed Sex Discrimination Bill.
The subject of this Bill and its interpretation is putting women against women,
Christians against alternative religions and family against family. In other words,
it is developing into an ugly and unnecessary struggle in the Australian community.
It has the capacity to be the most divisive subject debated in this Parliament
since the abortion mat
ter. Consultation and consensus supposedly are the
Hawke Labor Government's modus operandi. I call upon Senator Susan Ryan and the
Hawke Labor Government to drop this Bill as it is dividing the community. There
is no consensus. There is only confrontation. Evidence of the opposition to this
Bill may be ascertained by the thousands of petitions coming to both chambers
and requesting the Government not to proceed with the Bill. In conclusion,
as a Queensland senator, I will do all in my power to aid the growth and development
of this nation as a whole-Queensland in particular-so that the vision of bread
and roses will be obtainable by all Australians. My special interest will be,
however, small business. This is the industry which, if allowed, will provide
bread and roses for more than half Australia's work force. 
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