WHAT MALCOLM GIVETH, MALCOLM TAKETH ..."

Amid the national storm concerning the Fraser-Howard Budget, there has been much harsh criticism. But Gary O'Regan, News Editor, writing in "The Geelong News" of August 18th, takes a lighter look at this Budget. While we have made it clear that the 1978 Budget is a serious - even deadly - matter, we also feel that one of the virtues of true conservatives is the capacity to inject a little humour into the most threatening situations. We therefore pass on Gary O'Regan's unusual approach:

"And it came to pass that there was born to Australia a saviour; and he was called Malcolm. And the people rejoiced in him. "And he went out from that place which is called Nareen and took to him disciples; and they were named Doug, Tony and John. "Now it came to pass that there was a great and bloody battle and the Tribes of Gough were driven from the land, and Malcolm was made to rule over the land. "And Malcolm spake thus: 'Verily I tell ye, there is a great pestilence and great suffering in my Kingdom. Lo I will vanquish it with mighty armies. Ye jobless shall have jobs; ye who want will not want; ye who suffer shall rejoice in me who will banish thy suffering. "Thy wicked inflation shall be cast out and accursed among all things on the face of the earth.
"But it came to pass that Malcolm and Doug and Tony and John were possessed of a great despair and sorrow for inflation was still upon the land. And the jobless had not jobs; and the suffering suffered yet. "And Malcolm went to a high place and spake again to his people. "But he saw the people were much troubled. And Malcolm wept. "And he called to him Doug and Tony and John. And they wrote a Budget for the people, which is called the Book of Horrors, so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. "And he spake again to his disciples thus: 'Verily, I say unto you: Life was not meant to be easy. What Malcolm giveth, Malcolm taketh away. This is The Word.'
"And John, son of Howard, went forth into the land with a mighty army to vanquish the tribes of Inflation, Recession and Depression. And there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth and tightening of girths. "And Malcolm revealed himself through John, saying: 'We will make a tax to put upon the fruits of the hops and of the vines. 'And we will raiseth up the price of petrol and that leaf which is consumed in fire. 'This is my judgment I giveth unto you; That ye people shall make more offering from thy pay packets; and from thy wallets. 'And ye shall know that Malcolm is good'. "And it came to pass that Malcolm went again to the high place and spake unto his people. "And Malcolm ascended into that Holy Place, which is called Canberra, saying - 'Lo, I am with you all the days, even to the end of the Parliament. And the votes of the Party, nor the people shall prevail against me.' "Whereupon he fed the multitudes with promises - but the multitudes ate them not, seeing they were broken."

MR. JEREMY LEE, NATIONAL SECRETARY OF THE INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY, REPORTS

Monopoly Marketing
Queensland woolgrowers may be surprised to learn that they soon will not be able to sell their own wool in their own State. A recent decision by Queensland wool brokers will mean the end of wool selling in Brisbane. From January 1979 the intention is to sell all Queensland wools by separation in Sydney. This has occurred as the result of the setting up of "The Centralised Wool Selling Markets Steering Committee" the result of cooperation between the Australian Wool Corporation and the Joint Wool Selling Organisation.

At a recent meeting of this Committee in Sydney on July 20th, Mr. P. M. Creagh of the A.W.C. conceded that the move to centralise wool markets was not free from legal doubt. He suggested that, to avoid legal pitfalls, future action should not be under the auspices of the A.W.C. Furtive deception is the tactic to be used. The minutes of the meeting reported Mr. Creagh as advising: "...When any specific centralised sales are proposed (whether as trials or as a regular thing) by trade and industry organisations, AWC and JWSO will need to be careful not to "endorse" such rosters - because that could be interpreted as "imposing" them: perhaps "accept" is safer..."

This devious attitude should finally convince woolgrowers that the A.W.C.- whatever denials it makes in public - cannot be trusted, and is bent on acquisition. The whole stealthy campaign to socialise and then internationalise the wool industry is brilliantly exposed in Barbara Treloar's booklet "FLEECED", which will soon be available from the Institute of Economic Democracy.

It could be asked why private brokers are cooperating in their own destruction? The truth is that the smaller brokers have suffered from the rural crisis as much as producers. They carry large debt loads, and their capacity to fight has been eroded to a point of nonexistence. The large firms have grown to a point where they are no longer private or competitive. They have made their peace with the internationalisers. But will the Queensland Government countenance the loss of all State wool sales? Does it even know what is going on? Are State Departments cooperating in a process without the knowledge of politicians?

Mr. Creagh of the A.W.C. said at the same meeting referred to earlier that "The concurrence of any State Government(s) concerned would materially assist." We don't mind betting they will try to snare Queensland without letting Joh know!

BRITAIN JOINS THE CREDIT-RUSH TO CHINA

"In a move that will give British exports an important competitive edge, three British banks are negotiating a $170 million credit facility for China," The Australian, August 19th.

The terms of the loans have not been revealed, but the article mentions "the move is seen as an attempt to match cut rate terms reportedly offered to China by Japan." There would be many hundreds of thousands of large and small enterprises in Britain itself which would enjoy some cut rate credit facilities; but no, Lloyds Bank International, the Standard Chartered Bank, and S.G. Warburg and Co. Ltd. find the Red Chinese market more attractive.
It goes without saying that Red China, although in ideological conflict with the Soviet, is sworn to destroy the capitalist system of the West, and that means Britain and other capitalist nations from which China is taking credits. The same goes for the U.S.S.R. It is essential that we always bear in mind that the ideological confrontation between the Kremlin and Peking is not over the issue of the destruction of the West; that is agreed upon, no worries! The point at issue is the best way to destroy the West.

BRIEF COMMENTS

Articles on Federal Treasurer Howard's background reveal that he has always been weak on arithmetic. There is striking confirmation of this when his Budget statement concerning defence is analysed. Defence expenditure has in money terms been increased by 5.2 percent, $124 million. Last year's inflation rate was 7.9 per cent as measured by the CPI figures. Even if the Fraser-Howard-Treasury deflationary policy achieves the estimated 6 percent inflation rate for this year, this means that there will be a further reduction in defence in real terms. But Mr. Howard's arithmetic is such that he says there will be a 1 per cent increase in real terms!

Australia desperately requires a massive increase in its defence system. The productive capacity for such an increase exists. But any suggestion that an expansion of more financial credits should take place to make use of this capacity is met with the defeatist bleat that such an expansion would generate a new upsurge in the inflation rate. A government that cannot devise a financial policy to enable an adequate defence programme to be developed, this in turn assisting a depressed economy, without inflation, is intellectually bankrupt.|
If the Fraser-Howard financial policy continues to prevail, then the Australian defence system must continue to deteriorate. This is why Fraser and Howard must be replaced as soon as possible with colleagues who have a better grasp of finance-economic realities.

When Sir Raphael Cilento warned many years ago that non-European immigration could not be discussed realistically without reference to the dangers of bringing dangerous diseases into Australia, he was sneered at by opponents of Australia's traditional immigration policy. In a recent address at the Australian Institute of International Affairs, Dr. Ella Stack, Mayor of Darwin, injected some realism when she warned of the growing threat to Australia from exotic plant and animal diseases being brought into Australia. Dr. Stack appealed for the establishment of an effective national coastguard system. Yes, yes, Mr. Howard! We can hear you bleating, "But we must continue to practise restraint." Unfortunately diseases do not do this!

The Deputy Premier of Queensland, Treasurer W. Knox, Liberal Party leader, charges that his Government had been "hoodwinked" by the Fraser Government over the proposed Brisbane airport. The "peanuts" allocated in the Budget contradicted promises made by Mr. Fraser before the last Federal Elections. The Fraser record of broken promises is starting to make the Whitlam Government look like a model of honesty and moderation.