THE PROBLEM OF 'TRUE LEADERSHIP'

If public opinion polls are to be believed, a majority of Australian electors still believe that Prime Minister Hawke is the man most likely to lead them out of the deepening finance economic crisis. And a media public opinion poll reveals that an immediate election would see the Hawke Government re-elected with a comfortable majority. While public opinion polls are far from being infallible, they tend to confirm our own assessment of the current political realities. But while it is true that the media promoted Hawke still has the support of the majority of the electors, it is also true that Prime Minister Hawke appears to be the only accepted leader because of the lack of what appears to be a credible alternative.

The well publicised criticism of the present Liberal leadership by Bob Hawke's anti-South African friend, Malcolm Fraser, helped to reduce still further the credibility of the Federal Liberal Opposition. The essence of the current national political situation is that there is a tremendous ferment of concern about many issues, ranging from economic to social issues, but as yet this concern is expressed through fragmented and incoherent policies and activities.

Katherine West, who has presented a realistic picture of some aspects of the nation's problems, says in last Weekend Australian that we "lack true leadership". Much of what Katherine West says is true, but like so many of what is called "the new right", she fails to deal with the basic causes of the national crisis. The central thrust of her argument is that there is an urgent necessity to reduce wage costs in order to obtain "greater productivity".

Every objective student of the Australian industrial system agrees that its efficiency could be greatly increased. But what would Australia do with an even greater flood of production than that which threatens to overwhelm consumers? The orthodox argument is that Australia would become more competitive in "the battle for foreign markets". Unfortunately every industrialised nation is striving to do the same, thus the growing trade war. "Greater productivity" is not going to solve the problems of the hard-pressed primary producers. The big increases in production in all primary producing nations has, in recent years, resulted in these nations subsidising exports in an attempt to get rid of the huge surpluses. This has resulted in big price falls. The World Bank has forecast a further fall in commodity prices of around 10 percent over the next three years.

Increased wage costs are but a reflection of constantly rising financial costs, including usurious interest rates, which are inevitable under the present debt financial system. "True leadership" would offer some alternative to the current policy of escalating debt. It is counter productive to point out, quite correctly, that Australia's external debt has soared to approximately $80 billion under the Hawke Government, but fail to take the logical step - to demand that a first step towards sanity is to immediately halt all further foreign borrowing. The first step towards curing alcoholism is to stop completely the consumption of alcohol. A substantial reduction in interest rates will not take place under a policy of financial orthodoxy, which insists that the Australian economy requires a continuous injection of "foreign capital", and high interest rates are the only way to attract it.

The latest contribution to Australia's political ferment, the establishment of yet one more political party, "The Advance Australia Party", merely confirms the lack of understanding of economic realities. There is a case for a "flat tax" taxation policy as advocated by "The Advance Australia Party", but we are then told, "Low taxation will encourage overseas investors on a large scale creating employment in a stable and orderly country, Australia."

It is Black Magic to claim that Australians can only employ themselves making use of their own vast resources if figures in Australian bank books are written against similar figures written in overseas bank books. It may not be without significance that "The Advance Australia Party" makes no reference to the basic issue of immigration, tending to confirm one rumour that the new party has the backing of overseas non-European financial interests.

Australia does not need more divisive political parties, but a non-party movement uniting Australians on a limited objective programme of National Recovery. The following should be the basic features of that programme:
1. Restoration of control of the Federal Constitution to the Australian people and the rejection of the Bill of Rights and other legislation based on UN Conventions.
2. A halt to the current pro non-European immigration policy.
3. The complete abolition of Sales Tax and the re-introduction of the Consumer Price discount system used with such success by the Curtin Government during the Second World War.
4. All capital works to be financed, not out of taxation, but out of new credits, issued for the cost of administration and progressively withdrawn over the estimated life of the assets. The implementation of steps 3 and 4 would eliminate inflation and permit the present level of taxation to be substantially reduced.
5. Current interest rates to be cut by 50 percent immediately, with all Municipal and rural debt to be re-scheduled on a long-term basis.

This programme would not solve all Australia's problems, but it would start the nation on a road leading away from the disaster now threatening. Confucius said that the longest journey must start with the first step. Let Australians unite to take that first step. "True leadership" will come from those who unite Australians in support of what is outlined.

BRIEF COMMENTS

Our trendy Prime Minister shows his underwear to prove that he takes his own recent advice to the nation and buys Australian made. But what about Mr. Hawke's Government and its Departments? The Government's own Department of Local Government and Administrative Service admits that most Departments ignore the Prime Minister's call to the nation. Australian manufacturers and designers can provide numerous examples of being cold-shouldered by the Australian Government. Australia's struggling computer industry is often overlooked when it comes to competing for government contracts. Typical of the Hawke Government's double talk was Prime Minister Hawke's address to the nation, imploring Australians to buy Australian. The cassettes used to distribute the Prime Minister's address to radio stations around Australia were made in New Zealand!

Senator Chipp did concede in his retirement announcement that there would be a reduction in the Democrats' Senate representation after the next elections. The truth is that the Democrats are heading towards a wipeout. Don Chipp is going before that happens. And we have no doubt that the Hawke Government will find a suitable reward for the help received from the Democrats. The retirement of Chipp should make it easier to block the threatened Bill of Rights.

While Prime Minister Hawke and his colleagues call for greater efficiency among Australian businessmen and primary producers, they introduce an Orwellian type Fringe Benefits Tax that will enmesh employers in a massive paper war. Even before the new tax starts, the paper war is well under way. Your local tax office will, if you drop in, explain that they have five separate booklets to explain how the new tax is going to work. The 16-page booklet on Income Tax and Travel Expenses has a half page explaining that you "must" keep a travel diary while travelling overseas and while you are travelling from home for more than five nights in a row. Businessmen who comply with all the requirements will be so exhausted that they won't have much energy left to conduct any business! George Orwell is obviously now out of date! If Australians tamely accept the Fringe Benefits Tax they are ready material for the complete Sovietisation of Australia.

The monstrosity known as the new Commonwealth Parliament House should be a permanent reminder to Australian taxpayers of the extravagance of politicians with our money. C.H. Douglas once wrote that the merry game of voting oneself benefits at the expense of one's neighbour must stop! Peter Costigan, writing in The Australian (June 28) remarked that the 1978 decision to build the "Politicians' Palace" was not criticised at the time by John Howard (then Treasurer) nor B.Hawke (then President of the ACTU). In 1980, Malcolm Fraser gave the go ahead, and the estimated cost was $200 million. It is now estimated that the final cost will be at least one billion dollars.

What Ho the Census! We are assured that Big Brother is disinterested in us, really. He just wants to have our names and addresses (in case these come in handy!). He wants to have our gross income (in case, perhaps, the Deputy Commissioner of Taxation missed out). Don't we trust Big Brother, who loves us? ?? No, we don't!

ALARMED BY THE BILL OF RIGHTS

This letter, from Mr. J.K.Bowen, Barrister and former Crown Prosecutor, well known for his opposition to the Bill of Rights, was published in Wake Up, Australia (10th Edition):
"Having spoken on the Bill of Rights at a number of public meetings in Tasmania and Victoria, it is apparent to me that many politicians and journalists are not addressing the following aspects of the Bill which are causing great concern to many Australians.
"Without consulting us, the Federal Government has declared in its Bill of Rights what it considers the basic rights and freedoms of Australians should be henceforth. I have found that many Australians are outraged by the Federal Government's assumption of authority to dictate what our rights and freedoms are to be.
"The Bill of Rights is socialist in concept. The Federal Government has resisted attempts to include in the Bill basic rights of a free enterprise society, such as the right to own private property.
"The Bill makes the revamped and renamed Human Rights Commission - with its reputation for arbitrary and biased behaviour - the guardian of these basic rights of Australians. This is a frightening prospect!
"The Commission has been equipped with far reaching, intrusive and coercive powers to carry out investigations. The Bill undermines our federal system of government by permitting the Commission to investigate State governments and authorities, including local government councils.
"Parents are rightly alarmed at the power given to the Commission to tell our children how much freedom from parental control they are entitled to, because the Commission has indicated in its published educational materials a bias against the traditional family which it has described as 'sexist, racist, and materialistic'.

Indoctrinate
"In its published educational materials the Commission directs teachers to indoctrinate children for the purpose of 'systematic political action against oppressive power blocs' in Australia (Occasional paper No.9 p.72). The concepts and terminology in these publications are clearly Marxist. The Commission has offered teachers grants as high as $1,000 to engage in such indoctrination with their students.
"The Bill does not give parents the right to object to indoctrination which may undermine the religious and moral values of a family - only an entitlement in Article 14(d) to mere respect for their views.
"With serious crime, especially crimes of violence, reaching alarming levels in our major cities, the Bill of Rights ignores the rights of law abiding citizens by curtailing severely police powers and offering new and powerful protections to criminals. The undermining of police powers by the Bill appears to be incompatible with a serious commitment by the Federal Government to the fight against crime in Australia.
"In conclusion, Australians need to be aware that the platform of the Australian Labor Party commits that party to extending the Bill of Rights to cover private relationships, so that children will be able to complain to the Commission about the behaviour of their parents."