SOUND AND FURY SIGNIFYING NOTHING

The media has had a "field day" concerning the manner in which the party politicians are attempting to score political points about the revelations of the Costigan Commission Report. It is probably true that Labor leader Bill Hayden, using the type of colourful rhetoric for which Mr. Gough Whitlam was famous, scored heavily on political points last week.
In a desperate attempt to prevent his Government from sliding towards defeat, Prime Minister Fraser is saying in effect that his government is the best equipped to deal with the "tax avoidance" affair, even if he has to rely upon the Labor party to pass his obnoxious retrospective legislation.

We have not the slightest doubt that there is a large amount of organised crime in Australia. But is it a crime for taxpayers to avail themselves of all legal methods to minimise the amount of taxation they are called upon to pay to governments? Is there no limit to the level of taxation governments can impose upon the individual?
Those who claim that taxation demands can be limited by changing party politicians either overlook or conveniently ignore the reality that under the current financial policies, a major feature of which is the escalation of total debt, it is impossible to reduce taxation.

The basic crime against Civilisation is the stealing of the community's credit. This crime is ignored by the big media, which finds it much safer to deal with effects rather than causes. During the current frenzied bout of political mudslinging, some quite extravagant charges have been made concerning the alleged loss of revenue to the Government as the result of "tax avoidance". One Labor politician claimed that as much as $7,000 million had been lost. This and similar claims are meaningless, made primarily for political reasons. Mr. Fraser himself has fostered the idea that all tax avoiders are greedy people who use the money saved to retreat to the Gold Coast. Sober investigation suggests that in the overwhelming majority of cases, those who have used legal taxation schemes to minimise their taxation, have invested the tax saved into their own businesses.

Tables published by "The Bulletin" of September 14th, provide convincing evidence that large numbers of Australian businesses who used quite legitimate methods to minimise their taxation, will be seriously crippled if retrospective legislation is used against them to collect "avoided tax". Professor David Watson, of the Commerce Department of the University of Queensland, estimated that at the height of the "tax avoidance" industry in 1979-80, the amount avoided was perhaps $757 million, a far cry from the claims of the politicians.

Assuming that this amount had been collected and spent by the government instead of the taxpayers, it would have provided little scope for any serious reduction in total taxation. It is certain that a number of those engaged in tax avoidance are also linked to organised crime, some of it relating to drugs. It is a national disgrace that Griffith anti-drug campaigner, Mr. Donald Mackay, was disposed of without trace and that no one has been charged with murder.

Where there is smoke there is fire, and we have no doubt that prominent, outwardly respectable Australians are involved in crimes much more serious than illegal tax avoidance. We trust that such persons will be exposed and dealt with appropriately. But we repeat: We are concerned that the question of tax avoidance is being grossly exaggerated for cynical party political purposes and is being exploited to give the Federal Government powers, which it does not need.

As pointed out by Mr. John Bennett, Secretary of the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties, in a letter to the press. He wrote Federal Treasurer John Howard, in July, pointing out that three Queen Councils had unanimously agreed that the Federal Government had the power to prosecute those engaged in promoting illegal tax avoidance schemes. Mr. Bennett says, "The real issue in the debate over these quite contrived and blatantly artificial evasion schemes is not whether the tax avoided should be recovered, but why those who participated in the schemes have not been prosecuted. Much more important than all this, however, is the question of how do taxpayers protect themselves against politicians who impose a system of taxation which can only be described as legalised robbery.

THE CAMPAIGN TO DISRUPT THE BRISBANE GAMES

Former Canadian under-cover agent with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Mr. Patrick Walsh, files the following special report:
"Stay in the background…. let our friends do our work…." - Demitrov at the 7th Congress of the Comintern (Communist International)

For the past month and a half this writer has been carefully researching the various Australian Communist publications in order to pinpoint the extent of the Red manipulation behind the planned disruption of the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane at the end of September. Here are some of the hitherto unknown aspects I have uncovered)

The Trotskyite rag, THE BATTLER, of August 14th, 1962, reports: "Groups like the newly formed Land Rights Support Group are gathering strength for both rallies (the Black Protest rally and the Socialist ALP one) and will now be having open night time meetings so more people can become involved...the bigger the demonstrations, the bigger the body blows we can deliver to Petersen and his plans to perpetuate the oppression of Blacks in Queensland."

The Communist Front "BLACK NATION" of August, 1982, makes no bones on what they consider "sacred land" in a front page editorial: "Every square inch of this land is sacred to us.... This is our place...Invasion, Genocide, and oppression will never make it otherwise.. . Black Australia."

The organ of the Communist Party of Australia (August 25th) TRIBUNE, boldly announces that: "People for land rights and justice meetings to plan support for Commonwealth Games Project every Wednesday, 5.30 p.m. at Murri Jama...all welcome."

In THE NEWS (September 8th) we read: "Award winning Australian actress Helen Morse will attend the Black Protest Committee Cultural Festival in Brisbane during the Commonwealth Games. The Black Protest Committee is awaiting replies from American actors Robert Redford, Marlon Brando..." and the media reported last week that R.C. priest Rather Dobson, of Alice Springs, boasted he had met with Black African leaders and got a commitment that they would boycott the Commonwealth Games if the Aboriginals were not granted NATIONHOOD!

In the new book, WE WILL BURY YOU, top Soviet strategist Boris Ponamarev is quoted as telling the Australian Communist leaders: "You must understand that if we wish to control Asia we must first control Australia."

The Australian League of Rights is now distributing bulk copies of a special "Aboriginal Land Rights" issue which poses the Red manipulation behind this Black Protest demonstration and League speakers, including this writer, are now criss-crossing Australia to alert the population of the dire implications behind this Red instigated campaign to use the Aboriginals as "cannon fodder" to further Soviet designs on Australian territory rich in uranium deposits."

BRIEF COMMENTS

The action by Israel's national water company, Mekeret, to take control of the water resources of the West Bank is another direct contradiction to President Reagan's call for West Bank resources to come under the jurisdiction of an autonomous Palestinian council. Israeli settlements in the West Coast and the Gaza strip are to be increased. Former terrorist Begin arrogantly demonstrates that with the backing of the international Political Zionist machine he can defy the President of the United States. He attacks Pope John Paul for planning to talk to PLO leader Yasser Arafat, and repeats the old Zionist lie that Pope Pius remained silent while the alleged gassing of millions of Jews took place during the Second World War. Like the Red Cross, Pope Pius could not oppose that which was not taking place. A further ominous development concerning Israel is the news that diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union may be renewed. Is this also a warning to President Reagan that he should desist in his call for some justice and rights for the dispossessed Palestinians as a basic requirement for easing Middle East tensions?

Hard-pressed Australian taxpayers should be interested in Treasurer John Howard's support for greater Australian aid for the Third World. Mr. Howard told the annual conference of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, meeting in Toronto, that Australia was willing to play its part in solving the funding problems of the International Development Association in providing interest free loans for the underdeveloped nations. John Howard is opposed to interest free loans for Australians. Discussions at the Toronto Conference highlighted the growing strategy to bring the New International Economic Order into operation. The world recession, created by the credit monopolists, is being exploited to convince individual nations they cannot solve problems on their own. Even the Reagan Administration agreed at Toronto that the U.S.A. could make a bigger contribution toward assisting the under developed nations. In most cases this means pouring vast resources down bottomless holes.

Castro's Cuba is the latest Communist dominated country to admit openly that it is heavily in debt to International Finance. Total debt is US 1.3 billion, due to be met between now and 1985. Cuba's Communists now want payments postponed. International Finance continues to use the "decadent" non-Communists to sustain the Communists, the ultimate result of which must be a type of international Socialism.

From Hansard
Senate: Constitution Alteration (Fixed Term Parliaments) Bill, 1981. Senator MacGibbon (Lib. - Qld.):
'This Bill.... is complex with rather obscure objectives. The apparent objectives conceal the real ones because this Bill despite its title is not about fixed term parliaments or about 4-year terms. It really sets out to destroy the Senate with a degree of subtlety (our emphasis). It also seeks to restrict the reserve powers of The Governor General. In looking at this Bill we have to go back to the origins of A.L.P. dogma in relation to upper houses in Australia. The Labor Party's doctrine...related to the concentration of power, the infallibility of Caucus and all those central accumulative goals it has to put power in very few hands. It was a dogma of the A.L.P. - until its conference in Adelaide in 1979, for over 60 years - that the Senate be destroyed...there was an example in Queensland in the 1920s where the upper chamber was destroyed.
"A Morgan Gallup poll was taken in 1980 which showed that only 22% of the people in Australia wanted the abolition of the Senate; but 78% saw the need for checks and balances on the legislature. They saw the need for a State's House, they saw the need for a review chamber; above all, they saw the Senate as a place where the rights of the minorities in this country could be preserved."