PRIME MINISTER HAWKE'S POWER STRATEGY

In her biography of Mr. Robert Hawke, Blanche d'Alpuget deals with an incident, which took place at an International Labor Organisation in Geneva in 1978. A French delegate, Mr. Bernard Fortin, asked Mr. Hawke what he felt would be a difficult question, "What do you enjoy most?" Hawke answered, "Power!"

Anyone who has taken the trouble to read Mr. Hawke's considered statements over the years are aware that Mr. Hawke has consistently urged the greater centralisation of power in Australia. He sees the present Federal Constitution as a barrier to the centralised power he seeks and his Summit Conference will be seen in retrospect as part of a long-term power strategy.

Since we first warned ("On Target", March 18th) that Prime Minister Hawke's Summit Conference, being held in the Parliament where the elected representatives of the people should sit, was the first step towards establishing the Corporate State advocated by both the Bolsheviks and Mussolini, we notice that others are now also making the same point. It is rarely that we find ourselves in agreement with Mr. Max Teichmann, senior lecturer in politics at Monash University, but writing in the current issue of "Australian Society he comments that "The overall shape of the Hawke political approach resembles that of a corporate state - big business, big labor and Big Government carving up the cake, buttressed by the bureaucracy...."
Mr. Teichmann's comment is interesting, coming from a man whose sympathy for the Labor Party is well known.

Political scientist, Dr. Katharine West, best known for what might be described as a strictly pragmatic approach to politics, also has some fears about the Hawke approach, stating at a recent Seminar of The Australian Institute of Public Administration that "the proposed Hawke style of decision making bears more than a passing resemblance to the policy making triad of Mussolini's corporate state in wartime Italy."

Several other similar statements to the above have been brought to our attention. Liberal Opposition leader Mr. Andrew Peacock has also belatedly warned of the far-reaching implication of the Summit, but the disastrous record of the Fraser Government is so fresh in the minds of the electors, that Mr. Hawke and his supporters have been able to turn Opposition criticism to their advantage, stressing that the Peacock criticism is a case of "sour grapes"; that the Opposition parties had seven years in office, leaving behind a deepening national disaster.

Mr. Hawke speaks contemptuously of the "political Opposition rump" and the electors' rejection of all that the Fraser Government stood for. He claims to offer something completely new and it should be carefully noted that Mr. Hawke's Big Business friends have been amongst the enthusiasts for the Summit.

Desperate people always tend to heed the cry for a Caesar, a strong leader. The Italians accepted Mussolini, as did later the Germans accept Hitler. Both Mussolini and Hitler were Socialists, many of their supporters being former Communists. They were also supported by Big Finance and Big Business. It is not suggested that Mr. Hawke is either a Hitler or a Mussolini, but the reality concerning power never changes; "All power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely." Mr. Hawke's "charisma", his burning ambition "to do good", merely masks the grave danger now facing Australia.
As the national crisis deepens, Mr. Hawke will be tempted to use this crisis to persuade Australians that more sacrifices will be necessary for "the common good", and that a different style of government, with changes to the Federal Constitution, will help bring "consensus".

As we write on the eve of the Summit Conference, the red warning lights are starting to flash. So far from even mentioning the basic problem of financial policy, the Summit is designed to condition Australians for what we predict will be a bitter August Budget. There may well be a Mini-Budget, claimed as essential to deal with what has been persistently featured as a type of monster, The Dreaded Deficit, which must be slayed at all costs.

The only note of realism from one of the Summiteers has come from ACTU President, Mr. Cliff Dolan, who has said, "Despite the fact that we are told that the budget deficit is unusually high that is no excuse for further tightening the economy. In this situation the budget deficit might need to be higher than it is in order to stimulate the economic activity."

What is called "the deficit" is merely figures. Of itself is of no importance. What IS important is Australia's real credit, its productive capacity. It is that capacity which is great enough to provide every Australian family with an adequate house, necessary household appliances, furniture, and a supply of nourishing food. Primary and secondary producers know that there are no PHYSICAL problems; that all they lack is adequate financial demand. Even with unemployment continuing to rise, Australia has no production problems.
We defy any politician or Economic "expert" to deny this truth. It is a truth, which Mr. Hawke and those who share his power philosophy will not face. What is urgently required at this critical time is that a growing number of electors demand that truth be the basis of a financial policy which ensures that what is physically possible, and required by the people, be made financially possible.

A MINISTRY OF PEACE?

Running in a number of Australian papers during the election campaign was a large advertisement sponsored by the United Nations Association of Australia, suggesting that the Australian Government should establish a Ministry for Peace. The U.N. Association claimed it had "no national, political, religious, sexist or ideological alignments". A book and an audiotape on the project are soon to be published.

Every candidate standing in the recent Federal elections received a copy of the advertisement, with a covering letter, which read: "We feel confident that high on the list of your priorities is a deep concern that conflict should be resolved without violence and that the threat of war should be abolished. Indeed, it seems evident that the survival of the human race depends on this. Will you help to establish the nonviolent peace-making process at the highest level of government and decision-making? Enclosed is a copy of our newspaper advertisement on our proposal for Ministries of Peace. May we have your support? Your comments will be welcome. Your participation will be deeply valued."

The-letter was signed by Stella Cornelius, OBE, FAIM, Convener, Peace Program (sic).
The letterhead of the United Nations Association of Australia, on which the letter was written, said that its President was Mr. Keith D. Suter of New South Wales, and its Patron was H.E. the Rt.Hon. Sir Ninian Stephen, A.K., G.C.M.G., K.B.E., K. St J., Governor General of Australia.
Would the Governor General's allegiance to the increasingly discredited United Nations - the majority of whose members are not democratic, explain his last judgment as a High Court judge, wherein he ruled that international treaties over ruled traditional State rights in the Constitution?

DURACK SPEAKS OUT ON CONSTITUTION

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