GREENHOUSE 'CON'

by Jeremy Lee
There is an increasing awareness of the fact that 'global warming' and 'greenhouse-emission-targets' are convenient excuses for government programmes that involve tax-increases for further regulation. Nothing is really done to solve these problems. For example, the unnecessary use of transport in the import-export game is a case in point. Pork is shifted in an export programme from the northern hemisphere to the south. A different programme then exports pork from the recipient country to another set of export markets. The unnecessary duplication involves enormous transport costs and, obviously, needless carbon emissions. Yet conservationists never seem to focus on this aspect of global pollution, preferring to harass small, defenseless industries such as timber industries, displaying a callous disregard for the plight of those thrown out of work.

A classic example is the recent allocation of $300 million to the renewal of Perth's bus fleet. The new buses will be diesel, one of the worst polluting fuels, now shown to be carcinogenic. The State Opposition has correctly pointed out that the same money could have been allocated to a completely pollution-free transport fleet. Buses running on hydrogen are on trial in Germany and Canada. Hydrogen fuel-cell technology uses hydrogen produced from fuels such as natural gas to produce electricity, which then powers the engine. Water vapour is the only emission produced. Such advances could have been achieved years ago had governments done something more than pay lip service to the concept of conservation.

REVOLUTIONARY TACTICS

The current confrontation in West Australia's logging industry has produced some red-hot confrontations. There are good arguments on both sides. It is true there have been large areas of over-logging. Equally, it is an over-reaction to close down logging altogether, as many of the more extreme conservationists demand. Missing is reasoned debate.

A former Editor-in-Chief of the West Australian, Bob Cronin, had a penetrating article in The Australian on 8/7/99, in which he described the tactics used by the green activists, who have "followed the blueprint for such campaigns; start with modest demands and keep increasing them as success is achieved; keep the message simple and avoid any reasoned debate; excite the media and thus the public by exaggerating claims and throwing in a few celebrities; and move the issue as quickly as possible to the political arena, further exciting the media and removing any chance of reasoned debate being revived..."

Those who remember the old communist rules for revolution developed by the Trotskyists and teachers at the Lenin School for Political Warfare will recognise the same technique.

UK SOVEREIGNTY SLIDES AWAY

The UK Mail (27/7/99): THE GRAVY TRAIN

The French are laying on a free Eurostar gravy train for asylum-seekers to reach Britain in a bid to solve their growing refugee crisis. The exiles, from Eastern Europe and the Balkans, are being put on London-bound trains at Calais and, in some instances, being given free tickets, according to a confidential report from British immigration officers to the Home Office. French Police are said to have intervened when British railway staff attempted to turn away passengers who did not have tickets or passports. One Eurostar employee was threatened with arrest when he tried to turn off a number of would-be asylum-seekers trying to reach Britain illegally.

The revelations come at a time when official figures show that a record number of refugees are landing in Britain. More than 60,000 are anticipated this year. Last month 1,090 people entered Britain on the Eurostar service without proper documentation. In January there were only 400. The July total is expected to be more than 2,000.

The cost of state support for only 1,000 asylum-seekers is around £10 million a year. A spokesman for Eurostar said: 'It is an immigration issue to sort out who has papers'.
News of the French situation comes as Home Secretary Jack Straw's crusade to stem the flow of refugees pouring into Britain suffered a major setback in the Court of Appeal. A ruling that three asylum-seekers should not be returned to France or Germany, even though they were the first safe European countries they had reached on their way to the UK, is a severe blow to the Government's attempt to force Britain European partners to stop sending their unwanted refugees and accept their share of the exiles. "The judgment could send out the message that Britain is a soft touch for asylum-seekers."

More details followed in the next week's issue (UK Mail, 3/8/99): "... senior judges said that because three refugees - from Somalia, Algeria and Sri Lanka - risked being sent straight back to their original homes from France or Germany, which have stricter rules than Britain, they were not safe countries for asylum-seekers to be returned to. The judges ruled that the Home Secretary acted unlawfully when he ordered the two men and one woman to be returned across the Channel."

When this is associated with the global "refugee" situation, its implications for the future of nations becomes apparent. The Australian (8/7/99) reports: "An estimated 30 million 'undocumented migrants' are moving around the world, feeding the booming people-smuggling rackets, according to an Australian crime expert (Institute of Criminal Technology director Adam Graycar) . . . Chinese triads, Japanese yakuza, Korean gangs and the Russian mafia were all believed to be involved in the rackets, generating revenue of up to $7 billion for the crime gangs. People smuggling is, for the most part, a relatively low-risk activity when compared to gun - or drug -smuggling. . . . the maximum penalty for facilitating immigration fraud - two years jail or a $10,000 fine - was 'little deterrent to an organiser who stands to make hundreds of thousands of dollars out of a boatload of paying customers'.. . Mr. Graycar said little information was available on what happened to illegals who made it into the community and workforce."
It seems that nations are simply to be seen as global dormitories.

Whether one is a Turk, an American, a Pakistani or British is purely a matter of geography. If you sleep in France, you're French, if you can make it into Australia, you're Australian. Culture, language, race, history, religion or traditions are irrelevant to nationality?

Where does your mass bear down upon the earth's crust?
This is the definitive consideration? There is evidence that the jury of Australia's future is listening. The natural leadership can't be heard at the moment for the chattering classes and the media loud hailers directing the traffic into dead-end streets. Where are the sanctions on the volume controls? The ones who get them will ultimately be those who want them the most.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

by Philip D. Butler
What has amazed me over the years is the Marxist doctrine - still in vogue today - that so long as you give the "peasants" the land they will therefore end up creating a society where they will be self-sufficient in sustaining their way of life - even more important - FREE!!! The classic example is Rhodesia - now Zimbabwe - where I spent some time. The then much maligned Rhodesian Government had set up agricultural colleges to train the native farmers in modern agricultural techniques. Very practical training right down to the meals provided during their training. Their meals were traditional native - in other words, no bacon and eggs, etc. - so when they went back to their own community they could apply their newly acquired agricultural skills without thinking they had to have the latest agricultural equipment available and place them immediately under enormous debt. We can see the end result when this was abandoned.

Today Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) is under the rule of the murderous Marxist thug Robert Mugabe, whom former Australian PM Malcolm Fraser helped foist on the Rhodesians. Notice Fraser never apologises for the destruction and misery he helped foist on the black population of a once very prosperous and civilised country! Now Mugabe has decided that farms run by the few remaining whites - lifeline for agricultural survival - should be "nationalised" - so that Africans, with little or no agricultural experience can take control. This will not create any more food - in fact, will guarantee the further erosion of food production and poverty. That is why the item by Andrew Holt, Herald-Sun (12/8/99) is so important because it really does reflect the basis that the individual does have to relate to their own actions - something politicians find it hard to deal with these days!

Giving "rights" and land of itself does not guarantee quality of life of the individual. Andrew Holt wrote: "The biggest threat to Aborigines may now be the whites who insist on treating them as children, denying them any responsibility for the lives they lead. "Take last Monday's Age. It uncritically reported how hotheads would shame the Howard Government by taking foreign journalists at the Sydney Olympics to see Aboriginal slum housing. "The Age helpfully showed TJ. Yanner, brother of the head of the Carpentaria Land Council posing in such a 'house of shame' in Doomadgee, west of Cairns. "To me the picture in fact proves that some shame belongs to the three women who share what could be a decent enough home. "Heavy cobwebs hang from the ceiling, filth coats the fridge, dirt mottles the walls, the glass is gone from the window, and spirits bottles are crammed on a cupboard. "Few of the 90-odd houses in Doomadgee are much better, although $6.6 million of taxpayers' money is being spent on renovations and building.

Mr. Yanner has said some black children deliberately break the law, because 'at least in jail it's clean and there are three meals a day'.

Increasingly, we must now look to Aborigines to feel a little shame themselves and tackle their own problems. More taxpayer cash will not clean their fridges or cook their food. It cannot in itself make their children study, or end the ruinous alcoholism or rampant wife bashing. Nor can we expect it to, if we care for Aboriginal self-respect.

HOW VERY UN-AUSTRALIAN

by Alfred King
How excruciating it was to buy a newspaper for the first time in years. I am reading the press again after years of self-imposed exile from the Murdoch Empire. "Empire" is not too strong a word to use here...What is it that drives this man who has accomplished so much already? Why not step back from the stresses of business life and enjoy the benefits of enormous wealth for the last few years of his life? Clearly it is power. The natural tendency of all governments (and individuals) is to want to increase their own power. At what point, I wonder, would this man be content?

So what do I find in the flagship of the Murdoch press? It's certainly a weighty tome, a broadsheet of five sections that lends it immediate credibility; but I am yet to find anyone who has the time to read it all daily. So much for the form, what about the substance? The front page offers me the promise of "select your dream AFL team and win a car", and an expose of the many backstage revenge 'knifings' in the world of opera. Hoo Rah!

I remember the Australian employing a lofty tone and language of reporting, which was produced mainly for an educated readership. Clearly it has shifted ground, and, like our loveable 'pollies' is trying to please everyone. It now mixes 'serious' news with trivia and sensationalism. My grandmother, the product of a non-existent Edwardian educational system, who couldn't read or write, advised us: "Anyone can live in the gutter, that doesn't take talent or effort. You should look upwards and always try to better yourselves and help those around you."

I've gone on to learn that indulging in the gutter aspects of life invariably involves the exploitation of someone else. Not the sort of thing the 'caring nineties' is supposed to be about.

Back to the front page
John Howard has compromised (given in again) and changed the wording of the republic referendum question to boost the republicans' chances of winning. This story is written by a small 'l' liberal of Internationalist persuasion, and accompanied by the opinions of many republicans, one (questionable) monarchist, plus the 'informed' comment of the political left-wing editor. Hardly a balanced presentation, but the aim of the article has been achieved - to influence the reader towards the republic, while maintaining the appearance of detached reporting of the facts.

The other page one story backfires against the internationalists. It describes the "unpredictable and ailing Russian president" (for life?) abruptly firing yet another prime minister and appointing a former KGB spy as the new PM. He is the fifth PM in less than 18 months and the reporter explains, "Mr. Yeltsin is keen to ensure his successor is favorably disposed towards him (Yeltsin) and his inner circle, to guarantee immunity after Mr. Yeltsin leaves office."

All in all, things haven't changed that much since I last parted with my 'hard earnt' to read what makes news'; the tactics are clever, but also repetitive, and uncreative with new ways of deceiving us. Perhaps it should be called an 'oldspaper' or 'old tricks paper'. All is not wasted, however; at this time of year I need some kindling for my wood fire.

AUSTERITY MEASURES CONTINUE

In all cases of IMF interference in National economies, they have demanded austerity measures as part of the terms for financial help. The list is quite extensive and in many cases when the measures have been imposed the result has been a backlash; the abolition of bread subsidies in Jordan resulted in riots.

Australia's position is an unhappy one despite what the Prime Minister and Treasurer would have us believe. They quote figures but completely ignore the dilemma that almost everything in Australia is now a tradeable commodity - including the dollar. The current rate allows investors to acquire our assets at 'fire-sale' prices, but the rise and fall of our dollar is not our only worry. Almost no mention is made in the media of the workplace in which Australians are struggling to gain a living. The workers' jobs are also a 'tradeable commodity' via job tendering and other workplace schemes.

This country will not change directions until Australians force their parliamentary member to stand up for them. [T.C.]

JEREMY LEE REPORTS FROM WEST AUSTRALIA