"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing"
Edmund Burke
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21 June 1985. Thought for the Week: "When
the victim of a bureaucrat protests in Court, the judge does
not consult the Common Law, which has given the common man
protection for centuries, and which many believe is still
part of the structure of our Constitution; the judge does
not consult the Law of Equity; the Law of God, of course,
is a thing of the past. All that happens is that the government
spokesman hands the judge the latest regulation produced by
the Bureaucrat and 'justice' is satisfied.''
James Guthrie B.Sc. in Our Sham Democracy |
NATIONAL PARTY REVERSES ITSELF ON FUEL PRICINGThe media generally ignored the dramatic decision by the Federal National Party to reverse itself on the present policy of parity pricing for oil. The National Party headed by Mr. Doug Anthony enthusiastically supported the introduction of a fuel pricing policy, which forced Australians to pay escalating prices for their own oil. When the last savage increases in oil prices was announced by the Hawke Government, it was applauded by Shadow Treasurer Howard, with no sign of any disagreement from the National Party. What, then, has been the cause of the National Party's about turn, one that is going to have far-reaching effects on the Opposition? The answer is the grassroots movement now sweeping the rural areas, with tens of thousands of electors using anti fuel price "voting" forms to say, in the words of one Riverina protest group, that "Enough Is Enough". National Party Members have been feeling the electoral heat and have decided to shift their position on fuel pricing. Initially some National Party Members, both Federal and State, tried to discount the organised protest meeting by getting on the old anti-League of Rights hobby horse. But politicians are increasingly discovering that attempts to smear the League are proving insulting to growing numbers of people who have come to see that the League has been consistently proved right, and should be heeded. The National Party's change of policy was announced from Darwin on June 6th, in a statement which said, in part, "Mr. Sinclair said that the entire Parliamentary party this week had reviewed oil pricing policies and had agreed that it would support the freeing of the market for crude oil and the resultant move away from import parity pricing arrangements." The statement also said that the National Party "would be pushing the government for a reduction on federal excise on petrol and diesel." We are informed by the coordinators of the fuel price protest movement that approximately 400,000 "voting" forms, similar to those sent to all subscribers last week, have now been printed and circulated. It is anticipated that tens of thousands will be distributed at the big farmers' rally in Melbourne next Monday, June 24th, and at the rally in Canberra on July 1st, when the "Tax Summit" gets under way. Clearly the anti-fuel price campaign is but the first stage of an ongoing campaign against the Hawke-Keating programme for a massive increase in consumer taxes. As Australia moves towards escalating convulsions, now is the time for all "On Target" readers to get behind the anti fuel tax campaign. The shift in the attitude of the National Party proves once again that politicians only change direction when confronted by organised public opinion. |
A STUNNING MESSAGE FROM TIMARUKeen students of the "Sport of Kings" know that the legendary racehorse, Phar Lap, was exported to Australia from a property near Timaru, Provincial City in the South Island of New Zealand. Last weekend saw another export to Australia from Timaru, one that has sent tremors through backbench Labor Party Members at Canberra. In a stunning by-election result, the electors of Timaru, which had been a safe Labor seat for 57 years, told the New Zealand Labor Government just what they thought of the proposal to introduce a consumer tax, following the lead of the Australian Labor Party Government .The Trade Union vote in Timaru went strongly against the Labor Government of Mr. Lange. The by-election was the result of the death of a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sir Basil Arthur, great-great grandson of Governor George Arthur of Tasmania. Even allowing for the late Sir Arthur's personal vote, the election result obviously shocked the Lange Government, which had steeled itself for a loss after public opinion polls showed that the National Party would win. But it was thought that this would only be by a small margin. Prime Minister Lange said before the by-election that people who used it as a protest were "simply' wasting their vote". However, shocked by a massive swing of 10 percent away from his Government, Mr. Lange immediately announced a six-months delay in introducing the Government's proposed consumption tax. The Government now proposes to refer the proposed consumer taxes to a select committee for scrutiny. It has got the message that traditional Labor Party voters not only object to the proposed consumer tax, but also reject the Lange Government's proposed homosexual "reform" legislation, which was vigorously attacked by Mr. Eric Butler during his last tour of New Zealand. C.H. Douglas said that the essence of genuine democracy is the right to say NO to any proposal. The evidence is mounting that the great majority of the Australian people are opposed to the Hawke Keating consumer tax policy. We agree with well-known political analyst Katharine West, who draws attention to the fact that it is the Australian women who will decide the fate of Mr. Keating's tax "reform". While some men may be impressed with a reduction in direct taxation, it is their wives who do most of the shopping and would feel immediately the effect of prices inflated by 12 percent. Mr. Hawke is going to find that he has gone to "the Summit" once too often, and that an anti-consumer tax movement is starting to sweep Australia. Mr. Hawke must be praying that there ore no deaths of any of his Federal Members, resulting in a by-election which could see Australian electors following the lead from Timaru. As we have said before, the Hawke Government is now in a state of serious decay. But the chilling spectacle remains that there is little evidence that the "Opposition" could do any better. Although the reversal of the National Party on fuel pricing may be the first sign of some genuine improvements. As a footnote to the above item, we record that Timaru has also produced the young New Zealand National Director of the New Zealand League of Rights, Mr. Bill Daly. We expect him in Australia for a short tour before the "The 'New Times" 50th anniversary Dinner on Friday, October 4th, followed by the National Weekend. We look forward to another encouraging message from Timaru. |
BRIEF COMMENTSWhen politicians leave office, they sometimes start to make sensible statements. Sir James Killen, Minister for Defence in the Fraser Government, is an example. In one of his recent newspaper columns, Sir James suggested that realistic solutions to the problems of South Africa were not as simple as some of the critics suggest. Not even his best friends would suggest that Sir James was an outstanding Minister for Defence. Some claim he was a disaster. But he did know that Rhodesia and South Africa were vital to Western defence. And yet he remained Minister in a government, which played a major role in the betrayal of Rhodesia and adopted an increasingly hostile attitude towards South Africa, one that Mr. Hawke has praised. Now Sir James has turned his attention to inflation, much of what he says is correct. Except that his readers are given no genuine solution. It is certainly true that governments are spending too much, but this is not the basic cause of inflation, which is debt finance. This is a subject, which Sir James studiously avoids. The recent State Conference of the Queensland National Party voted unanimously (according to press reports) in favour of a resolution directing all party Senators and Members of the House of Representatives to vote against any legislation imposing a capital gains tax, death duties, or Wealth tax, including any money or Supply Bill that imposes such a tax. Federal National leader Ian Sinclair has protested, saying he did not think it "proper" for National Party senators to block Supply. Ever since the Senate quite constitutionally blocked Supply and created the situation where the Governor General, Sir John Kerr, dismissed the Whitlam Government, the Opposition parties, both in the Federal and State Parliaments, have adopted a policy of not blocking Supply in Upper Houses. In taking this attitude, they have surrendered to the Socialists. Reports from the U.S.A. continue to show that the much-publicised American "Recovery" has been progressively declining. In spite of a relatively more liberal credit policy by the Federal Reserve Board, in the words of some analysts, a "Tired", expansion is on the verge of collapse. Imports are flooding the domestic markets. Thus the desperate call for devaluation of the American dollar. Unemployment is scheduled to rise further. The Reagan Administration managed to inject a slight stimulus into the American economy with massive debt policy. Now the debt chickens are coming home to roost. |
THE 'I.D.'CARDSThere is heated debate now stirring some sections of the wider community concerning the "need" or otherwise of compulsory identity cards for all citizens. The concept is most appealing to certain minds, and particularly the Socialist mind essentially immature - which sees man as bad, and again in need of being "molded" into the perfect citizen by the force of the State (Big Brother). The same sorts of socialists/communists argued vehemently against the abolition of compulsory identity cards when World War 2 ended. The League of Rights opposes, to the hilt, compulsory identity cards! They are an invasion of the privacy of the individual with respect to a snooping bureaucracy, the servant of Big Brother. They would be open to all manner of misuse and abuse. Proponents who argue about taxation "benefits" to all merely demonstrate their ignorance of economic reality; they invoke the argument of support for fallacious finance economic systems to legitimise a thoroughly immoral principle. |
HARD-HITTING ARTICLE ON ABORIGINESThe Sydney Morning Herald (May 29th) pronounced:"....Commonwealth expenditure on Aboriginal welfare, $263 million a year, is already large and is unlikely to be significantly increased. What needs to be accepted by Aboriginal leaders and politicians is that the raw deal Aborigines get has less to do with lack of spending and almost everything to do with a failure of policy and administration The basic problem is that not enough money actually gets where it could do the most good.... "....The National Aboriginal Conference, for instance, has been found to be 'seriously deficient' in its financial arrangements. Now the Aboriginal Development Commission, which receives $66 million a year from the Federal Government, has failed what could be described as a parliamentary audit. The money that has been spent to lift the standard of living of Aborigines is plainly not being used wisely... .His (Mr. Holding's) term as Minister has seen the continuation of wasteful spending…" |
ANDREW AND JOHN'S 'DREAM-RUN'Confirming our assessment of the Great Tax Debate, Mr. Peter Robinson, The SunHerald (June 2nd) observed "Should a package anything like that being favoured by the Government actually come into effect, the conservative Coalition parties will not only have a dream-run up to the next election, but will take up the reigns of government with some of the toughest decisions already taken for them." Our Comment Mr. Keating was recently roaming the
financial centres of the U.S.A. taking his instructions for
financial warfare against the Australian people: his electors.
Regrettably, the joke's on us Australians. Peter Robinson
continues: Our comment |