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The task before us is to get Australia back to work, to give our young people, our unemployed, our small business people, our migrants a new hope – hope for decent jobs, hope in their future and the future of their country. The deepening economic crisis, the deliberately created unemployment call for bold, decisive measures. I shall be putting forward proposals to cut through, once and for all, the knot which ties unemployment and inflation. We reject the defeatism and despair which says to...

The Australian people face a historic decision on December 13. On that day, we will be deciding the future of our country. Let us all as Australians determine to restore prosperity, defeat inflation and provide jobs for all. Let us all as Australians decide to reward initiative and encourage achievement. Let us decide to realise at last the aspirations of all Australians for security, self-respect and for freedom to control our own lives. This election results from the dishonesty and...

Challenges Tonight, I want to talk to you about the challenges and opportunities that lie before us. First, we must maintain responsibility in economic affairs because, without that, all else fails. Second, we must harness this nation’s resources in a co-ordinated and responsible programme of national development. Third, we must see that from the prosperity we generate, we provide adequately for those in need. Fourth, as individuals and as a nation, we must encourage ability and cultivate...

Australians have never had a clearer choice than at this election. It is the Liberal Party that is preserving and building a free society. It is the Liberal Party that is working to fulfil the hopes of all Australians. It is the Liberal Party alone that can keep building for the future. We govern for all Australians whether their families have lived here for generations or only a few years. We encourage all Australians to contribute their best to the best nation on earth. This election gives...

When you look at the history of our country, one thing stands out – Australia was built by the individual efforts of people, not big governments or big unions or big business. They played their part, but the real Australian success story is the story of men and women who struggled hard against the odds, who got things going and who provided a better life for their children. Our country was built by people who are sometimes referred to as ‘ordinary Australians’ but are in fact the real heart of...

Politics is not about abstract theories. It is about people and how they want to live their lives. Sir Robert Menzies, founder of the Liberal Party, once said that a government must remember ‘the forgotten people’. Today, as Australia moves into the new decade, that mission is more important than ever. In the past few years, Australia has become a ship without a rudder. The fundamental truth is that our physical, human and financial resources are not being used in the most effective manner...

We all agree on at least one thing in this election campaign – our country is in a big economic mess, and we would like to see it put right. The burning question is how we do it? I believe the one and only way that Australia can get on top of its economic problems is to become more productive. That means giving everyone – you, me, your friends, your family, everybody else – more incentive, more encouragement and more reason to work harder. Everything that I am saying in this election campaign...

It is with an immense amount of personal pride and also an enormous amount of humility that I bring together today the essential argument as to why, after 13 long and difficult years, this nation of ours needs emphatically a change of government. Thirteen years is a long time in anyone’s language, but I don’t ask that the Government be turned out simply because it’s been in power for 13 years. When Labor came to power Australia owed the rest of the world about $23,000 million. We now owe the...

Thank you very much Peter Costello and to all of my fellow Australians gathered here today and can I particularly acknowledge the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the National Party, Tim Fischer. If you ever get into a political trench, make sure Tim Fischer is there beside you because he’s the best. Ladies and gentlemen, and my fellow Australians. Election campaigns are never held in a vacuum. They are not dry comparisons of neat policies, be it economic, taxation or...

Peter Costello, Chris McDiven, my parliamentary colleagues and my fellow Australians. This campaign, more than any other that I have been involved in, is very much about the future of the Australia we know and the Australia we love so much. The one single, irrefutable question that must be asked and answered by the Australian people on the 10th of November is who is better able to lead Australia over the next three years into difficult, challenging but times and circumstances which ought not to...

Three years ago, I asked the people of Australia to entrust to Labor the most important responsibility a government can have – I asked Australians for a mandate to create jobs and help the unemployed. To create jobs, I asked Australians to give Labor the task of creating sustainable economic growth on which jobs depend. To create jobs, I sought a mandate to make Australia stronger; to find our place in Asia and the Pacific; to encourage the industries of the future; to massively expand education...

This election is not about John Hewson, and it is not about Paul Keating. We are servants of the people of Australia. This election is about the people of Australia and their problems. We hear about the debt rising to $200 billion, increasing by about $50 million a day, or $2 million an hour. We hear about the fact that there are 1,017,600 Australians who can’t find work and nearly as many others who can’t find as much work as they want. We hear about the 700,000 children who live in homes where...