Lang Hancock, The Australian, April 27, 1978, p. 8, as a letter to the editor.

Prior to the last election the P.M. said that $7090 million worth of new projects were ready to go.

Nothing has happened.

Your publication (April 17) says: “Private enterprise is planning to invest $6692 million in new projects.”

Nothing can happen. Why?

Because before “capital” will have confidence to invest any such figures in new enterprises in Australia, the Government will need to change course 180 degrees and return to the path of free enterprise. It must declare:

  1. An absolute guarantee of security of tenure right from the discovery through to its production stage.
  2. That there will be no more Fraser Island repudiations.
  3. That export licences will be dispensed with henceforth.
  4. That F.I.R.B. will be abolished and that there will be no restrictions on the amount of foreign ownership of raw resource ventures.
  5. That the variable deposit rule has been abolished.
  6. That there will be no more super-tax levies such as the 56 tonne levy on certain coal mining companies.
  7. That there will be no “resources tax.”
  8. That the Government will honour agreements henceforth and that retrospective tax legislation will not be countenanced.
  9. That mining (which is the basis of all civilisation) must not be molested by environmental considerations.
  10. Our internal cost structure must be lowered by an across the board tariff reduction, at least equivalent to the amount of devaluation of the dollar and the adoption of an instant inflation-curing scheme that I suggested at the International Press Institute’s gathering in Canberra.

These things are necessary if we are to shed our recently acquired reputation as a “banana republic” in which the Government can no longer be trusted.

We must regain our position of having a special relationship with Japan, otherwise we will inevitably lose out to Brazil.

In August 1972, I wrote an article headed “Why Brazil? Why not Australia?” Here’s why. The Australian of April 22, 1978 had a headline reading: Brazil poised to challenge our market. In other words, we are well and truly falling behind the in the international race for markets.

The problem is how to arrest our decline. Mr Fraser is obviously trying, but is powerless to do any good because it is not the elected representatives of the people that are the true Government of Australia. The power lies with the giant Canberra bureaucracy, the communist-controlled unions and the big manufacturing lobbies.

Short of the help of the media, there is no hope of restoring this power to where it rightfully belongs.

Here’s hoping you will do your part in persuading the Australian public and Canberra to bring about the reforms listed above. If we don’t return to the path of free enterprise, can you imagine anyone risking $5000 million in the North-West gas venture knowing that the Government at any time could cut off their export licence, as they did in the case of Fraser Island?

Can you imagine the hue and cry that would go up if the North-West gas investors made a profit even as low as bank rate interest on their investment, say $500 million per year?

The time for wishful thinking is over. It is time to educate the public to face facts.

LANG HANCOCK,
Perth, WA.