24 November 1989. Thought for the Week:
"Destructive and irresponsible freedom has been granted boundless
space. Society appears to have little defence against the
abyss of human decadence, such as, for example, the misuse
of liberty for moral violence against young people, motion
pictures full of pornography, crime and horror. This is considered
to be part of freedom, and theoretically counter balanced
by the young people's right not to look or not to accept.
Life organised legalistically has thus shown its inability
to defend itself against the corrosion of evil."
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, in Speech at Harvard (U.S.A.) 1978 |
THE DEBT EXPLOSION IN CANADAEric D. Butler reports from Alberta,
Canada At the very time that Lech Walesa is appealing to the Canadians for help, the Canadians are also being prepared for a lower standard of living through the imposition of a GST tax. One headline reads, FEDERAL DEBT EXPLOSION FEARED UNLESS TOUGH MEASURES TAKEN. The Economic Council of Canada has warned that the future of the nation is threatened by a major debt explosion. The Council suggests a number of drastic measures all of which would have a depressing effect on the standard of living. The total debt is now listed at $15,000 for every man, woman and child in Canada. This is a total of $60,000 for an average Canadian family of four. But while the "experts" are calling for a halt to the debt explosion, figures show that in spite of increasing interest costs, consumer borrowing is still expanding. However, the "experts" are expressing the hope that eventually the high interest rates will slow down the expansion of consumer debt. This view completely ignores the realities concerning the working of the present finance economic system: that increasing amounts of debt finance must be injected into the economy to prevent it from collapsing in chaos. Financial debt is like a drug, which must be progressively expanded. Any attempt to curtail the rate of debt creation must produce disaster. South of the border, the attempts by the U.S.A's. "experts" to "cool" the American economy have already had a devastating effect on the car industry, with production at the lowest level for a long time. Manufacturer in both the U.S.A. and Canada are expressing grave doubts about the future. Those who believe in the inevitability of a major world depression are predicting it is already starting. A major collapse is not in the interests of the Debt Merchants who obviously favour a steady programme of lowering the real standard of living whilst at the same time 're-structuring' the economies of the world on a global scale. The heady excitement concerning what is happening throughout the former Soviet bloc of nations may mask the attempt by the International Debt Merchants and planners to expand their global programme by financing the 're-structuring' of the economies of the Communist nations and integrating them with the centralised economies of the West. "Clearly there are those in the Soviet Union who are looking ahead. An obscure report in the American press reports that the Soviet Union has opened its first bank in the U.S.A." |
PACIFIC BASIN AND MULTIFUNCTION POLISby David Thompson It appears that the MFP idea began with the Japanese - with a Ministry of International Trade and Industry pre-feasibility study. It has been "sold" to the Australian Government on the basis that it will be the "hub" for the Asia-Pacific region, and will bring investment of funds to the tune of $40 billion. According to the "concept statement", the objectives for Australia include: the establishment of a strategic role for Australia in the Asia-Pacific growth economy, and increase the internationalisation of Australian business. "Cosmopolitan spirit: MFP will be an incubator for new industries, a powerhouse for new ideas, a cosmopolitan city of people from countries around the world. The MFP is obviously based on two important assumptions, which we do not accept have yet been established in Australia. The first is that Australia is a multicultural society. While the media, politicians and the vested interests in the ethnic 'industries' pay lip service to this, it is far from accepted in the wider Australian community. Second, the MFP is obviously to be the 'centre' for the emerging Pacific Basin (Economic) Community, to which the Australian people have not vet agreed at all. And yet, this very expensive feasibility study has being going on for at least two years without our knowledge! Not only that, but our money is (partly) being used to fund the study. ELEMENTS OF NEW CITY FINANCE WHO IS INVOLVED? WHERE WILL MFP BE LOCATED? While this project is perhaps not entirely secret, Australians have had no opportunity to decide whether they find it desirable to have a multicultural, high-tech city, with all that it involves. It appears that in March 1990, we will be presented with a fait accompli, and perhaps asked where do we want it to be. What will it mean for Australia's immigration policy? What will it mean for our sovereignty? How will it affect our debt structure? Finally, if it is such a great idea, why are not Hawke, Button and other Ministers out using it as a number one election issue, and flogging it for all they are worth? Clearly, a long period of community debate needs to precede even a feasibility study of such a proposal. This seems to have been deliberately avoided. Why? Are we too dumb to know what is in our best interests? Or are we too 'parochial' to accept such an advanced idea? Or do we, perhaps, reject the drive toward the regionalisation of the world, in which Australia is simply required to become a huge sheep station, or quarry? |
GOING DOWN THE GURGLERThis letter, published in the Sunday Mail (Qld.) 12/11/89, over the name of "Richard H. Webber", Public Relations Officer, Grey Power Movement, Sunshine Coast, P.O. Box 212, Caloundra, Qld., 4551:"H.W. Herbert's Economist's View (Nov.5) makes plenty of sense. However, I would like to make two points. "First, we should keep shouting the message loud and clear to try and make Australians wake up to the fact that they are losing their country very, very, fast. "Second, Mr. Herbert has obviously not heard of the 'multi-function polis' or he would not state that his suggestions of what could happen are 'an extreme view'. "The Federal Government has already chosen the sites for seven Japanese techno cities with reported populations of up to 700,000 each. "The timetable for this is final agreement with the Japanese next March and, I quote, 'building is expected to commence before 1992'. "New Zealand and Canada have already knocked back similar suggestions by the Japanese. "This Federal Government project, apparently supported by most State Governments, must be stopped. Next March will be too late." |
ALERT ON HEALTH SURVEYfrom The Sun (Melbourne), Nov.13"Privacy must be the paramount consideration when a woman provides personal information about her own health to a government agency. "The Australian Bureau of Statistics (A.B.S.) National Health Survey (N.H.S.) contains a voluntary, self-completion questionnaire in which women are quizzed about matters like pap smears, hysterectomies, mammograms, intra-uterine devices, and oral contraception. "However, it has been discovered that information on these (women's health) issues is also being sought in the main body of the N.H.S. which has compulsory status and involves face to face questioning by an A.B.S. interviewer. "As the 'women's health' section is completed last, female respondents are unaware that information divulged in the main body of the N.H.S. may be the same information which has been deemed so 'sensitive or embarrassing' that it should only be collected in the separate, voluntary, questionnaire. "Furthermore, despite assurances that the completed 'women's health' questionnaire is to be afforded total privacy by its being placed in an envelope, there is an identifying mark on that envelope which links it back to the main survey questionnaire. "The Privacy Commissioner is now examining these matters. A number of peak health organisations that originally supported the N.H.S. have also expressed concern about the way it is being conducted. "Australian women have a right to be alerted to these important facts." Senator Jocelyn Newman (Opposition Spokesman on the Status of Women); Dr. Michael Wooldridge, M.H.R. (Federal Member for Chisholm). |
PARENTS COULD LOSE RIGHTS OVER CHILDRENfrom the front page of New Life,
November 16th, 1989 "For further information contact John Heininger, (02) 661 0334, 7.30 a.m.-3.30 p.m., or (02) 524 9966 A.H." Senator Gareth Evans will be the official (Foreign Minister) to ratify the Convention of the Rights of the Child, unless we can stop it being ratified. Senator Evans is a former President of the Humanist Society, a Fabian Socialist, and architect of the (presently) defeated Bill of Rights. His views on children are now of intense interest, viz. "Children wanted a right to sexual freedom and education and protection from the influence of Christianity'. (Our emphasis) - quote from the Sydney Morning Herald, 7/5/76, page 11 |