ARE INFLATION AND TAXATION HAUNTING MR WHITLAM?

"Australia cannot afford to have reduced income taxes in the August Budget, the federal secretary of the Taxpayers' Association (Mr. Risstrom) said last night." - The Australian, June 11th.

In these pages in recent issues we have remarked upon the near desperation with which the Federal Treasurer, Mr. Frank Crean, has been closing many taxation "loopholes". We have further remarked that the principal purpose behind these stringent measures is to avoid, at all costs, the necessity for an overall increase in taxation by Mr. Crean in his August Budget. We observed in last week's ON TARGET that we think it is unlikely that Mr. Crean will be able to avoid such an increase. Mr. Risstrom has said that the Government had either to dramatically increase indirect taxes or the Federal Treasurer (Mr. Crean) had to go back on his promises of taxation cuts in the Budget.

In the June Bulletin of W.D. Scott & Co., management consultants, the forecast is given that wage inflation might increase more than the expected 10% in the next 12 months, and prices will rocket by between 6% and 8%. This Bulletin also forecasts that the Australian economy is likely to be propelled into severe inflation within three months. The League forecast this nine months ago, as reference to our issue of August 25th last year will show; this was issued immediately after Mr. Snedden brought down his 'bribery Budget' in order to save the sagging McMahon-Anthony Coalition Government: it didn't succeed; that is history.

We quote from our Budget item of that issue:-"And of course it is hoped that they (the electors) will not ask any difficult questions about what will happen next year (1973) as continuing inflation produces a new wave of crises!"

Under present Fabian-Socialist finance-economic policies (Keynesian) these crises are as certain as the sunrise. Unless these policies, generating an increasing burden of debt, are drastically modified, crisis will follow crisis irrespective of which set of politicians are at Canberra after the coming Federal Elections." Unfortunately, Mr. Risstrom, of the Taxpayers' Association, added that income taxes should be increased by the Government because of the Inflationary economy. We suppose that this is really all that can be expected from those who can think only in terms of inflation and deflation.

The standard economists have no idea at all of the real causes of inflation and are able to grasp only the misconception that all inflation is a demand inflation (too much money chasing too few goods), whereas real demand inflation is comparatively rare in highly industrialised economies; the enemy is cost inflation, and this is not "cured" by withdrawing purchasing power from the economy by such techniques as increased taxation, and an increased bank rate. All that this does is to "cool" and "overheat" economy, with a resultant escalating unemployment rate; which was precisely what happened last year. Remember?
The "seasonally adjusted" farce grew out of this situation as Mr. Lynch (then Minister for Labour) attempted to lay the spectre of rapidly rising unemployment.

In a recent re-reading of the Canadian ON TARGET (issue of May 7, 1973) we were taken with the observations which the London Banker, Walter Solomon, made in his book, "One Man's View" in 1937. He was writing on the subject of inflation, he said:-
"Let us not make any mistake that inflation now rampaging with ever-increasing speed, is the greatest threat to the free world. It makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. The 'solvers' have thought of many ways to deal with it, of which the most popular are high taxation and high interest rates. (our emphasis) They don't realize that high taxation and high interest rates are two major contributory factors toward inflation, (This is quite correct. Ed.) "Let me again repeat that inflation must come to be regarded as morally wrong and politically dangerous. There is no reason . . . why a sound medium of exchange should not be re-created."

Mr. Whitlam and Mr. Crean, and their colleagues will very shortly discover just how "politically dangerous" inflation can be; if they have not learned so already. We consider that the "moral" aspect of inflation would be the least of Mr. Whitlam's concerns. But double dissolutions and Senate elections are very much Mr. Whitlam's concerns indeed, and the worsening condition of the economy; due principally to an escalating rate of inflation will haunt Mr. Whitlam in the months ahead.

SENATE DEFENDS MONARCHY

"The oath of loyalty to the Queen in naturalisation ceremonies was restored by the Senate Opposition yesterday." - The Sun (Melbourne) June 6th.

We commented on the Citizenship Bill in the ON TARGET of May 25th. The purpose behind the Citizenship Bill is to alter the oath of allegiance, so that a new settler, at the naturalisation ceremony, swears allegiance not to the Queen, the Constitutional head of Australia, but to the Australian Constitution. This Bill was piloted through the House of Representatives by Mr. Al Grassby, the Minister of Immigration; the real intent behind it is an obvious weakening of the bonds between Canberra (Australia) and the Crown.

We expressed the hope that the Senate would reject this Bill; and it has. An amendment moved by Senator Davidson (Lib., S.A.) restored the oath of allegiance to the Queen. This will not be the end of the affair. The Canberra socialists are utterly determined to convert our Australia into a republic; this will be the step prior to the intended conversion, by subversives, of Australia into a Peoples' Republic. The Crown is hampering and frustrating the pernicious designs of the Socialists, Communists, One Worlders, pink clergy, woolly-headed idealists; and all the rest of this mixed bag of knaves and fools. The Crown is protecting Australians from future totalitarianism; if they only could be brought to realize it.

True to form, the Minister for the Media, Senator Douglas McClelland, said that the Government would not accept the amendment. Senator McClelland and Mr. Grassby are affecting a mock indignation because they claim that the Davidson amendment does not comply with the Royal Styles and Titles Act, which Mr. Whitlam is already attempting to change, as he had discussions on this matter with the Queen in London recently. The mock indignation is of course a pretence to mask the real intent- weakened monarchical links, leading to a republican Australia.

DOES A CENTRALIST DECENTRALIZE?

"The Prime Minister, Mr. Whitlam, shocked Northern Territory leaders in Darwin yesterday by declaring that Federal Government would not give the Northern Territory statehood." - The Australian, June 8th.

Perhaps these rather naive "leaders" in the Northern Territory expected that they would receive their statehood from Canberra because Canberra is thrusting independence upon Papua -New Guinea. They would be well advised to gain some understanding of the philosophy underlying Fabian Socialism, and then they would realise that their chances of disgorging any power from a Socialist Canberra are exactly nil! Socialism lays down a strong " anti-colonialist" policy, in conformity with Lenin's dictum that the colonial powers would be attacked at their periphery. This means an economic attack on powers such as Britain, France, etc. by depriving them of the resources of their colonies, which has been done by such means as inciting and fostering insurrections, as in Kenya, Algeria, Malaya, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos etc. some of which were escalated into actual wars; Vietnam the most notorious.

Following the dogma of Fabian Socialism then, we must expect that Canberra, under a socialist Government will lean over backwards to give independence to whoever gets in the queue. But this does not mean that such "nations" (developing is the descriptive adjective; no 'nation is underdeveloped any longer) are really any more "independent" at all. They are swiftly propelled into the United Nations to be absorbed into one of the great "voting blocs" and in order to become eligible for "foreign aid" such a new "nation" must align itself with one major world power or another.

The "non-aligned" tag is rather spurious as even India is heavily penetrated by the Soviet Union, as are the Arab nations of the Middle East. The "developing" nations of East Africa are heavily penetrated by Peking, and it is nothing short of a miracle that Indonesia did not fall under the Communist yoke in 1965. So although on the surface of events it would appear that the Socialist dogma that "colonial" areas of the world are to be "liberated" and given "independence" is valid, in reality this does not happen, as instanced by the examples of the former French Indo-China, now all but in the Communist sphere of influence, as are the Middle East Arabic nations, Tanzania, Zambia etc. etc., and where this has not yet been fully realised, as in Uganda and some other African areas, the Communist pressure is really "on": witness Mozambique, and now Rhodesia.

To return now to Mr. Whitlam, Fabian Socialism, and new States, we have to understand that the essence of Socialism is centralisation of power. The small nations to which we have referred above are being centralised, by being brought under the control of one power bloc or another; although this fact is being obscured by Socialist propaganda. The centralization process is also ruthlessly pursued on the national level, and that is why Mr. Whitlam will not tolerate at all the concept of further States in Australia; for this would be decentralization of government, which is anathema to a Socialist. Mr. Whitlam stated at Darwin "it would be a 'disaster' to see the Northern Territory and the A.C.T. as Australia's seventh and eighth states. He said that territorians who expected statehood were being unrealistic; "the present system of States was most unsatisfactory and not working properly. It was based on the situation in the 19th century."

There are very good reasons why the States and Australian Federalism are not working properly, the chief of which is that the States do not have financial sovereignty, and are dependent upon Canberra for the yearly hand-out which is given, with strings, at the Premiers' conference. "The man who pays the piper calls the tune". It is to be hoped that some of the above facts will be brought to the attention of citizens in the Northern Territory who have been harbouring aspirations that they would one day have a State Parliament at Darwin.

Mr. Whitlam revealed what he really thought of decentralized government in his speech to the Sydney branch of the A. L.P. on June 9th: he said: that the Federal Government would have a bigger say in State government work and added that State branches should be "concerned with people's rights rather than this nonsense of the so-called sovereign rights of State governments".

If his State branches are really concerned with people's rights, then they will struggle to protect decentralized government over which the individual does have some measure of control which would assuredly not obtain in a situation where Mr. Whitlam centralized political power at Canberra and then had the individual at the mercy of an enormous, Socialist-directed, bureaucracy. There are indications that this truth is recognised in the N.S.W. branch of the A.L.P. at least as evidenced by the decision by the N.S.W. State A.L.P. Congress on June 10th to bring the pre-selection of A.L.P. senators and Legislative Councillors under State control.

VICTORIAN ACTING PREMIER NIBBLES AT FEDERAL BAIT

"Victoria will accept Federal Government aid for special education - but will fight Commonwealth attempts to dictate how education grants should be spent. The Acting Premier, (Mr. Thompson) yesterday accused the Federal Government of 'political blackmail' following its threat to deprive Victoria of money for special education." - The Age (Melbourne) June 12th.

Mr. Lindsay Thompson is having the truth brought home to him, which Gary Allen enunciated in our Thought for the Week in last week's ON TARGET; viz. "As soon as the States and Local Government get hooked on the Federal funds the controls will be put on."It's all very well for "Victoria to demand that the Federal Government give the States money for education without tags, restrictions conditions, and qualifications ", but the harsh reality is that Canberra is holding the business end of the stick and can dictate terms. There is no possibility at all of the States enjoying their rightful political sovereignty until they have financial sovereignty; and that means the return of their taxing powers.

ON TARGET BULLETIN

Major Factors Causing Deficiency of Purchasing Power: Growing Mountain of Debt