Whitlam under fire as jobs dwindle

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33712, 9 December 1974, Page 20

Whitlam under fire as jobs dwindle

New Zealand Press Association)

CANBERRA, December 8.

Leaders of Australia’s Opposition parties today called for the resignation of the Prime Minister (Mr Whitlam) and his Government after the release of unemployment figures which presage the bleakest Christmas for the nation’s workers since the Depression of the 19305.

The official unemployment figures, released by the Minister for Labour (Mr Clyde Cameron) showed that in November the number out of work in Australia rose by 22,380 to 211,626 —which represents 3.59 per cent of the work-force.

The Federal Opposition 11 spokesman on Labour (Mr I Malcolm Fraser) said the i Government should resign i because if present policies ' continued, unemployment ] w.ould approach 400,000 by i February. i Mr Fraser said Aus-

tralia’s unemployment had been caused by ill considered tariff cuts, unreasonable wage demands, a “continuous squeeze ,of the private sector,” and an “unreasonable explosion of Government activity. The Federal Opposition

spokesman on Social Security (Mr Donald Chipp) said he had challenged the Government to detail its plans to provide emergency relief to victims .of unemployment.

The Whitlam Government must accept responsibility for providing relief assistance on a national scale, Mr Chipp said. The deputy leader of the opposition (Mr Phillip Lynch) described the November unemployment figure as “tragic.” The Government had shown itself to be incapable of effective national administration, and because .of this Australia was facing a “19305-style employment collapse.” In releasing the latest figure, Mr Cameron said the major contributing factors were a continuing slump in the building industry, and business declines in clothing, textiles, and electronics because of import competition. Young workers Mr Lynch replied that two years in office had revealed serious deficiencies in Labour’s decision-making methods, and an arrogant rejection of the processes of consultation. “There is now no doubt that even the most conservative forecasts of 250,000 to 300,000 jobless would be correct. "It is impossible to absorb the estimated 190,000 schoolleavers into the workforce in the present conditions. The early part of 1975 will be a difficult and testing time for thousands of young Australians unable to find work,” he said.